Year, Earth
Catawba Cultural Center
ccpp at cetlink.net
Tue Mar 20 15:58:14 UTC 2001
In Catawba, the word for "earth" and "year" is the same, and the word for
"month" and "moon, sun" is the same.
Catawba Cultural Preservation Project
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu
[mailto:owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu] On Behalf Of Richard L. Dieterle
Sent: Monday, March 19, 2001 5:48 PM
To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Year, Earth
"Lakhota also has o'makxa - season, year. I wonder, how/why do these words
in
Siouan relate to makxa 'earth'?" --"Wablenica"
I had assumed that maN, "earth," and maN, "year," were accidental homonyms.
Here's what I've gotten so far in Wi:
maN year, years [Dorsey-Longtail, Gatschet]
maN time [Marino-Radin]
maNn year [Gatschet]
maNiz^aN a year [Dorsey]
maN nubohanaNga to elapse (of years) ? [cf. nup] [Marino-Radin]
maNjiregaN as the years go by; year by year [cf. maN, earth;
jire, to
go by] [Marino-Radin]
maNgicawaN forever, for eternity [cf. maN, time; ca, waN]
[Marino-Radin]
maNnegus all the years past [narrator of "Worxega"]
maNnegusdi forever (to measure by the earth) [narrator of "Ghost
Dance"]
maNnegusji forever, always [cf. maN, time] [Marino-Radin]
maNni winter [cf. ni, agentive nominalizer ?] [Marino-Radin]
mani winter [Gatschet, Dorsey]
mani hinz^i huwire the last year [Gatschet]
maNnina (maah-nee-nah) year, winter. "This really means 'winters' -- the
Winnebago count years by winters." [George]
manit'e this winter [Dorsey]
manine this winter [James StCyr]
manine last winter [Gatschet]
maninga in winter [Aleck Lonetree]
maNniniz^aN a year [George]
maNs'ireja long years ago [Rufus Tiver]
MaN canaha raniz^e? How old are you? [Gatschet]
mokahi a number of years [cf. kahi ?] [Marino-Radin]
maNci to winter [cf. maN, time; ci, lodge][Marino-Radin]
marace to plan [cf. maN, earth, time][Marino-Radin]
maNna the ground [Dorsey]
maNra (maun-dah) ground [George]
ma earth, ground [Gatschet]
ma lands, country [Gatschet]
maN earth [Gatschet, Dorsey-Longtail, Marino-Radin]
maN ground [Gatschet]
maNna the land [narrator of "Worxega"]
mo earth, time (an older form of maN) [Marino-Radin]
MaN'u«na Earthmaker, the Creator [Dorsey]
The narrator of "Ghost Dance" gives the gloss for maNnegusdi as "(to measure
by
the earth)," but that, I think, is just folk etymology. I find it odd that
Marino suggests that the root of maNjiregaN, "as the years go by," is maN,
"earth."
maN also means, "a spring, shell, nest, arrow, wind, to strike." Some of
these
homonyms give rise to mythological symbolism (arrow for time, perhaps).
More information about the Siouan
mailing list