horn, spoon, shell

noun physical_somatic_body_part_animal

Proto-Siouan-Catawba

Proto-Siouan *ą•šé

Proto-Crow-Hidatsa *a•šE

Crow a•šxa•wí ‘antler, buck’ RG, GG:3

Hidatsa a•šÉ ‘horn, spoon’ J , a•ší ‘antlers, elk antlers’ J , a•šixa•wi

Pre-Mandan *ąsE

Mandan ąsé ‘horn’ RTC , wą́ʔse ‘spoon’ RTC

Proto-Southeastern

Proto-Biloxi-Ofo

Biloxi aⁿski´, aⁿsŭki´ , †ąs(ə)kí ‘shell’ D&S:178a

General comment

The semantic link between ‘horn’ and ‘shell’ is through ‘spoon’. Since Proto-Siouan *htú•ki ‘shell > spoon’ probably meant only ‘shell’ originally, the present form was probably ‘horn’ originally.

Other languages

  • JEK: Atakapa: uk ‘shell, oyster’ Swadesh-9, Chitimacha: ʔukšču ‘oyster’. Goes with ‘horn (1)’.
Language Cognate Phonetic Siouan Meaning Comment Sources