Language contact

[David Costa]

It can't be Potawatomi, since Potawatomi 'eight' is /shwadso/ (which has a
clear Algonquian etymology), which doesn't look anything like /hkietóopa/ or
/kki(y)adóba/. I'm not aware of any Algonquian nos. that look like those.

I think you're thinking of Miami-Illinois, which (as Bob discovered 20 years
ago) borrowed its word for 'eight' from Tutelo.

Dave


 
> I may be mistaken, but I think one of the two forms of 'eight' is probably a
> borrowing in both Osage and Kansa.  I believe the popular thinking is that
> the original source is Potawatomi, but I've never heard that particular
> word.  The loans are hkietóopa (OS) and kki(y)adóba (KS), which vary with
> the historically Dhegiha-derived form ppeyá(a)bliN in KS, and possibly
> *hpeyáabriN in OS, but I don't know if the latter form is attested.
> 
> Wow, that sounds pretty vague!  Hope it helps, though...
> 
> -Justin 
> 
>