bear, acorn

[Koontz John E]

On Mon, 26 Feb 2001, Richard L. Dieterle wrote:

> I wonder if anyone can answer this: which came first, the bear or the acorn?  Is
> the bear the "acorn-eater", or is the acorn "bear-food"?  Some material
> (Winnebago unless otherwise stated):
>
> hujera 	              acorn [Foster]
> huc, huj, hunjra	     acorn [Gatschet]
> huNc 	                bear [Marino-Radin, contemporary Hocak]
> hunc 	                bear [Radin]

> Ofo: uthi             bear [Dorsey]
> Biloxi: oNt'i, oNdi   bear [Dorsey]
> Biloxi: anyaN, udi    acorn [Dorsey]

I don't recall all the details, but the 'acorn' set is basically oral,
while the '(black)bear' set is nasal.  The 'bear' set is widely replaced
by forms meaning 'the black one' in Mississippi Valley Siouan, cf. wasabe
in Omaha-Ponca.  The 'acorn' set is somewhat irregular.  The Omaha-Ponca
correspondent is bu'de.  The two sets are not obviously related.

JEK