Otoe-Missouria term for "gun"

Saul Schwartz sschwart at PRINCETON.EDU
Thu Oct 10 19:41:47 UTC 2013


Hi Sky,
I think by radical he means that the /y/ is part of the word's root rather
than just a result of /i/ + /u/ coming together. His reasoning is that the
Hocąk cognate has /zh/ between /i/ and /u/, and /zh/ is not naturally
euphonious in that location. Thus, he also expects whatever is in the
equivalent place of the Chiwere word, the /y/ between the /i/ and /u/, to
be part of the word itself rather than surface euphony. Whether or not
Dorsey is correct, I don't know, but I believe that's what he's saying and
the reasoning for it. Btw, Helmbrecht and Lehmann in their dictionary have *
wiižúk* for 'gun' in Hocąk.
-Saul


On Thu, Oct 10, 2013 at 1:25 PM, Campbell, Sky <sky at omtribe.org> wrote:

> I’m trying to figure out the breakdown of the Otoe-Missouria term for
> “gun” (iyujį).  My first instinct was to go with this:****
>
> ** **
>
> i- (instrumental prefix and/or “with”) + ujį (hit/strike)****
>
> ** **
>
> And in there, the “y” would occur for the sake of euphony thus making
> “iyujį” (strike/hit with).****
>
> ** **
>
> Then I saw Dorsey’s entry with his term “i-yu-́ciⁿ” where he says:****
>
> ** **
>
> *“Were it not for the W. eq., we would be inclined to derive this word
> from uciⁿ, to hit, with the instrumental prefix, i-, changed making the
> compound i-uciⁿ, changed for euphony to iyu-ci; but the W. izhu- shows that
> the “y” in iyu- is radical.”*
>
> ** **
>
> Dorsey covered what my exact thoughts were but said no because of the
> Hocąnk cognate and that it is “radical.”  I haven’t been able to find the
> Hocąk term anywhere and have no idea what he meant by “radical.”  Anyone
> have any ideas?  I haven’t had any luck with any related cognates that I
> could find.****
>
> ** **
>
> Here are some spellings of this term I’ve come across that may help.****
>
> ** **
>
> *jútschä* (Maximilian)****
>
> His forms don’t have the initial “i-“ but just jump right into the “y”
> sound.  He also ends with “ä” (eh/ay sound) but clearly goes with “į” with
> his term “strike” (uh-tschin).****
>
> ** **
>
> *E-yock-a* (Major Albert Green)****
>
> Linguistic precision definitely isn’t Green’s strong point but his “ck”
> has me curious.****
>
> ** **
>
> *i-yo-ćeˊ* (Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (1862)****
>
> ** **
>
> *uyóci* (Wistrand-Robinson, 1972)****
>
> ** **
>
> Any help would be greatly appreciated.****
>
> ** **
>
> *Sky Campbell, B. A.*
>
> Language Director****
>
> Otoe-Missouria Tribe****
>
> 580-723-4466 ext. 111****
>
> sky at omtribe.org****
>
> ** **
>
>   ­­
>
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