Tomahittan?

[Rankin, Robert L]

So if we have:

PSi:  *kire'     *kiraN'     *kiriN'      *kiri'

we should get:

OP:    gdhe       gdhaN       gdhiN        gdhi

La:    gle        glaN        gliN         gli

Da:    hde        hdaN        hdiN         hdi

additional dialect material available in Doug Parks' on-line dictionaries.

QU   kde       kdaN       kdiN        kdi

KS      le          laN           liN           li  (Osage same)
BI                                                 kidi
TU                                                gili
also                                               gri
 
I didn't look up the other three stems, but they have a similar outcome in the SE.
 
Biloxi and Tutelo illustrate the Ohio Valley Siouan outcome of the cluster.  Dakotan hd is recent and descends from *kr.  Loss of the initial syllable vowel pretty much has to be before the breakup of Mississippi Valley Siouan as all languages of the subgroup are affected (Winnebago re-adds a copy vowel late).  
 
The /ithaN/ of Tomahitan would be a perfect Ohio Val. Siouan 'big', but the rest doesn't fit Siouan generally.  I wish it did.    Bob
 
A hypothetical set intermediate between Proto-Siouan and Dakota might be:

??:   *hide'     *hidaN'     *hidiN'      *hidi'

Or with a bit of de-voicing:

??:   *hite'     *hitaN'     *hitiN'      *hiti'

The word for 'town' in OP is something like ttaN'waNgdhaN.  The ttaN'waN
part of that is the root word for 'town', and seems to be used separately
in naming specific towns.  I've never been too sure what the gdhaN is
about.  My best guess has been that it indicates something inanimate
fitting or sitting in a certain area.  I'm don't know whether any other
Siouan languages use an equivalent with the basic 'town' root.

This Tomahitan name is tempting, though.  The "toma" has already been
suggested as meaning 'town', and could easily be an English orthographical
attempt at *htaN'waN or *htaN'maN, or some such.  The hitaN looks like a
reasonable reflex of *kiraN', which would give gdhaN in OP.  It would be
nice to know how the name was originally accented, though.

If the name is Siouan, I suppose Southeastern would be the likeliest guess,
followed by Dhegihan, Chiwere, and Unattested, in about that order.
Perhaps Bob can fill us in on how that cluster works in Southeastern?

Thanks,
Rory


> I've discussed Tomahitan with Ives and neither of us has an etymology for
it.  The H is in the way of considering it Siouan "Big Town".  Toma also
passes for Choctaw 'town', but hitan doesn't ring any Muskogean bells with
me.  Nobody really knows who these folks were.

>Bob