etymology of MANDAN

[Koontz John E]

On Fri, 20 Aug 1999, Alan H. Hartley wrote:

> You're right--my mistake: it should be miniN (where first -i- is raised
> and N = IPA eng).

Ah, the raised i indicates that Hollow considered it epenthetic, and the
eng indicates that the preceding vowel is nasal.  The first vowel is
nasal, too, though this isn't indicated explicitly.

> > I believe that Mandan has miNniN for 'water' normally, so the a has
> > to be explained, if only by hand-waving.
>
> Besides the forms like "Manetarres", Lewis & Clark also have
> "Wanutaries" (III. 31) and "Winitaries" (III. 234), and Jimm GoodTracks
> (Aug. 4) cites the Mandan word mani'ta:niro:te?esh 'he's a Manitaree'.
> Does analysis of the latter permit extraction of mani'ta:n 'Mandan'? If
> so, it would certainly make a good etymon for the English name.

L&C aren't entirely reliable at transcriptions, so I wouldn't count too
much on their vowels.  The source Jimm cites seems to be better.  I'm not
sure what it is, though I recognize the story:

> The Hidatsa were known by a number of terms, including Gro Ventres/ Big
> Bellies, Minataries and a collective term "Mirokac" which included the
> River Crows.   It seems that "mi'nitari" is the Mandan name for the
> Hidatsa, which oral history records states that a Mandan came upon a
> Hidatsa on northside of Missouri river and, asked: "What are you?
> (Nima'tawo^oro^osha)".   The Hidatsa did not understand, and replied:
> "I want to cross the water.  (wirihewa:ta:riwa:wa'hec)".  So the Mandan
> thought:  "He's (saying) he's a Manitaree. (Mani'ta:niro:te^esh)."  The
> two languages are not mutually intelligible.

There are several things of interest in this.  One is the version of
wiri-tari (Minitare), offered:

wiri- he- waa-tari- waa-wahe-    c
water (?) I  cross  I   want (?) DECL

Notice the -he- required in actual use.  I'm not sure what it is!  I'm
also not positive what waawahe is, though it seems clear in the context.

It does seem to me that the most likely origin of English Mandan is a
variant of Minnetare like manitani.