Dakota zipA cognates.

[Linda A Cumberland]

I've been trying to compile a list of Assiniboine verb roots over the past
few weeks and I was coming to the conclusion that  -zip/z^ip (based just
on Assiniboine words) has to do with cutting with something sharp and/or
poking gently.  There's a lot of overlap between zip and z^ip. As for
'erect, as a tent' I imagine the process of poking tent poles up under the
tent material to stand it up (or is this my own personal folk etymology?)
and 'broadcloth' perhaps having to do with the fabrication process (ditto,
last parenthetical statement). And 'bow', well, the purpose of a bow
certainly is to poke something *and* cutting (at least piercing) with
something sharp.

Here's a selection from my list, with a couple of Doug's thrown in:

iNkazipa ~ iNkaz^ipa		'a plane, for smoothing wood'
iNpazipa ~ iNpaz^ipa       	'a plane, for smoothing wood'
iNtazipa			'bow'
ozipa				'to erect, as a tent'
zipena				'thin'
zizipena ~ zipzipena		'broadcloth'

naz^ipa				'to pinch by stepping on'
paz^ipa				'to poke (the example I was given was
				"like getting a stick to poke an animal on
				the road to see if it's dead")
caNkaz^ipa			'to shave wood, to whittle'
yaz^ipa				'to nip lightly with the teeth'

and my personal favorite:

iNkpaz^ipa			'to make the sign of the cross, to cross
				oneself' (Doug's informant specified that
				this involved poking oneself')

Another interesting one from Doug's Ft. Belknap consultant is:

osni wiNchaz^iz^ipena		'to be a biting cold, a sharp cold, as on
				a clear winter day'

Linda

On Sun, 13 Oct 2002 BARudes at aol.com wrote:

> You can probably push the root back to Proto-Siouan-Catawban.  Catawba has
> the verb root sipni- 'sting' as in sipn'ihire: 'it (bee) stung it (him, her)'.
>
> Blair
>
>
>