Possible loanwords in Dhegiha

[VOORHIS at BrandonU.CA]

> > Other Algonquian languages don't don't do as Cree does, but t~c cor=
> > respondences in cognates suggest they may have done something > > similar
formerly: Kickapoo and Mesquakie cahkw-, Ojibwe takkw- > > 'short'.
>
> Cf. Dhegiha languages (except Quapaw?)
>
> OP  dappa/jappa 'short'
> OS  tahpa/cahpa 'short'
> KS  dappa/jappa 'short'
>
> OJ  takkw-
> FX        cahkw-  both 'short'
>
> I'm a little hesitant about proclaiming these unambiguous
> loanwords from Algonquian to Siouan, but they do fit.  The kw > p
> isn't common in Siouan (which had no kw sequence as far as we
> know) but it is common throughout the world.  The rest fits
> pretty well phonologically and semantically, and the root isn't
> known outside of Dhegiha as far as I know (tho' I could easily be
> corrected on that).  Thus it only stands to reason we might look
> for a source for Dhegiha 'short' outside of Siouan. (Quapaw may
> also have the word, but I don't recall it and would have to
> search.)  Chiwere should be checked.
>
> Bob

One problem with borrowing a stative root from an Algonqian language into a
Siouan one, or vice versa, is that the Algonquian root, unlike the Siouan, can
never be an independent word by itself, but must always be attached to
something, most frequently to a suffix meaning 'be' plus a bound pronominal
subject, though the latter could sometimes be zero in some of the languages.
The root tahkw-/cahkw- as quoted would not normally be cited, recognized, or
even considered pronounceable by native speakers of these languages.

'be' in Algonquian is fashionably irregular, but not in the Indo-European way,
where the suppletive alternants are conditioned by person of subject, tense,
and mode.  In Algonquian, the suppletive alternants of 'be' are conditioned by
gender of subject, and then especially by root, that is, as if by the predicate
adjective from the Indo-European point of view.

So typically tahkw-/cahkw- will be encountered with a 'be' suffix followed by a
third singular suffix; I list below the forms that make a statement (=
independent or indicative forms) followed by the forms that modify a noun (=
participles or relative forms) after a slash:

Mesquakie (animate) cahkwiihiwa / ceehkwiihita
M (inanimate) cahkonoohiwi / ceehkonoohiki
Kickapoo (an.) cahkwiihia / ceehkwiihita
K (in.) cahkwaahenwi / ceehkwaaheki
Ojibwe (an.) takkoosi / teekkoosit or kaa takkoosit
O (in.) takkwaa / teekkwaak or kaa takkwaak
Cree (an.) tahkosiw / kaa tahkosit
C (in.) tahkwaaw / kaa tahkwaak

The languages disagree among themselves about the irregularities.
Nevertheless, without going into further convoluted Algonquian detail on a
Siouan list, I think a case could be made for the Cree and Ojibwe inanimate
forms being old, and the Kickapoo cahkwaahenwi is just a diminutive of the same
thing, based on *cahkwaai or *tahkwaai.  If these full words are the source of
the Dhegiha ones, they may also explain the a at the end of dappa, jappa, etc.

(Anyone who wants the convoluted Algonquian detail can e-mail me for it.)
	Paul