noun plant
Proto-Siouan-Catawba
Proto-Siouan
Proto-Mississipi-Valley
Proto-Dakota *wakwų́ ~ *wakwą́
Lakota wagméza ‘corn’ [< wagmų́ héza] EJ , wagmíza, maɣá
Dakota wamnáheza SRR:515b
Proto-Hoocąk-Chiwere
Hoocąk wičąwás > wičą́ąs KM:3632 , wicąwąs ~ wicąąs
Cf. other corn terms for commentary on the diffusion and naming of ‘corn’. JEK has shown that this is in all likelihood derived from one of the cucurbit terms with origins in Algonquian. What we have reconstructed as Proto-Dakota here is more likely a borrowing archetype, not actually a Proto-Dakotan form.
The actually occurring forms for ‘gourd > squash’, q.v., may have originated in several different Algonquian dialects, where the reconstructible PA form is *e•mehkwa•ni. Compare also Kickapoo eemehkwaani ‘spoon’ (Voorhis 1988), Menomini ɛ•mɛhkwan ‘squash, melon, seed’ (Goddard p.c.). Note that *kw, Dakotan gm, mn, Chiwere/Hoocąk dw, čw is not a native cluster in Siouan. These terms virtually have to be loanwords, and Algonquian provides an attractive source.
| Language | Cognate | Phonetic Siouan | Meaning | Comment | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|