Sacred Syllable

[Koontz John E]

On Tue, 10 Apr 2001, Richard L. Dieterle wrote:

> I think this is something of interest that I have not found elsewhere:
> In battle when a great feat is accomplished, and the "holiness" of the
> event requires a cessation of hostilities out of respect, a "holy
> syllable" is uttered -- gu.  When anyone says gu, the battle comes to
> an abrupt end.  I have found reference to this in more than one
> Winnebago story.  Has anyone heard of this in other Siouan traditions?
> Does anyone have an idea of the origin of this word in that role?

I haven't seen anything like this mentioned in an Omaha or Ponca context.
Dorsey's texts include various "ku" representing khu or kku referring to
things like the sound of a bow, a gun, drumming, a whirr of wings, and so
on. There is one gu(u) representing the sound of many feet striking the
ground in a charge.

Apart from this, so far as I am aware, there are just cases of
demonstrative gu.