Possible loanwords in Dhegiha

[Koontz John E]

On Mon, 13 Sep 1999 VOORHIS at BrandonU.CA wrote:
Bob Rankin's hesitant suggestion:
> > Cf. Dhegiha languages (except Quapaw?)
> >
> > OP  dappa/jappa 'short'
...
> > OJ  takkw-
> > FX        cahkw-  both 'short'
>
> 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.
...
> So typically tahkw-/cahkw- will be encountered with a 'be' suffix
> followed by a third singular suffix; ...
...
> Kickapoo (an.) cahkwiihia / ceehkwiihita
> K (in.) cahkwaahenwi / ceehkwaaheki
...

It's a very interesting question how borrowing of a verb root between an
Algonquian and a Siouan language would work.  All the borrowings I'm aware
of are nouns or at least manifest as nouns in Siouan.  I'd expect some
invariant simple form, not the extracted root.  If so, that would be a
problem here.

The Dhegiha form suggests underlying PS *taCpa, where C is some stop (t or
k in the context) or preaspiration.  Typically Dhegiha tense stops (CC or
hC)  correspond to Dakotan aspirates (Ch), and *hC is reconstructed or to
stop-stop clusters C1C2 in Dakotan, with assimilation being to C2, though
tk and kt both end up tt ~ ht. Siouan stative stems are typically of the
form (C)CV(C), with e ~ a added.  The vowel varies with the language, and
if there is some form of ablaut in the language, it may alternate withina
language.  The formant -ka often occurs, too, as with *htaN-ka 'big', and
if -ka is added to a C-final form *<stop>ka or *h-ka (after -h#) may
occur.  I have seen *-riN as a formant, too, I guess.