ho 'circle'

[R. Rankin]

> It seems to me that the usual analyses of hoo-c^aNk, etc., 'Winnebago' in
> terms of 'big voice' and 'big fish' make less sense than 'big-(camp)
> circle', which strikes me as an excellent village name - and village names
> are likely sources of ethnic names.  However, since *ho (3) isn't attested
> in Winnebago, this alternative has only been considered, or even occurred
> to anyone, in the context of the CSD project.

Well, even the /-caNk/ < *htaNka 'big, great' of /ho:caNk/ is otherwise pretty
much missing from WI.  I think /ho/ 'circle' is a very reasonable explanation.

Bob