butterfly

[Koontz John E]

On Sat, 1 Nov 2003, R. Rankin wrote:
> I'd have to say that neither works for me. Dhegiha doesn't seem to share
> in any of these varieties of 'little' with /n-/ as far as I can tell.
> Doublets /z^iNka/ 'little' and /z^iN/ 'diminutive' are common, but I
> can't recall any at all with /n/.

It would certainly be unusual - read phonologically irregular - to have
*yiNk- 'be small' appear as if from *riNk- in either Dhegiha or Dakotan,
so, of course, it would be a long shot.  I tried to suggest a
compound-internal context as the conditioning factor.  It does look like a
comparably similar element, whatever it is.

> > Winnebago, which merges *r and *y regularly, has niNk as a diminutive,
> > as in wake'(niNk) 'raccoon', s^uNuNgniNk 'puppy', ...
>
> But not in the South.

Where - in case it's not clear - Bob means, 'not in Dhegiha', not 'not in
Nebraska Winnebago'.

> I think that is entirely possible, especially given Osage /hkihtanika/
> with the single /k/, written <g> by LF.

> BTW, Biloxi has /tiNskana'/ 'jay', with simple /tiNska/ meaning 'back of
> the neck'.  But Ofo is /teska itho:hi/ 'bluejay' = 'bird' + 'blue'.
> And tiNska/teska may somehow be related, given the Dakotan and other
> forms.

I think that all the somewhat irregularly matching TV(s) syllables here
are onomatopoeic representations of the jay's "jay" call.  For example, I
suspect tiNskana and teska are essentially tiNs-ka (+ ???) and tes-ka 'one
(that goes) tiNs' or 'one (that goes) tes'.

It's hard to say, of course, with onomatopoeic terms.  They can include
non-imitative morphology, and once formulated they undergo sound changes
like everything else, so that when inherited they often have a
family-typical form and may correspond regularly, but, by definition they
are imitative in origin, and they are prone to being refreshed, which can
produce irregularities.  In fact you have to expect both rather
regular-looking similarities and irregularities.  In this respect
onomatopoeics are a lot like loans, which, in effect they are.  It helps
to know what sorts of terms are often onomatopoeic, and what the
onomatopoeic basis of particular terms might sound like.  Bird names are
often onomatopoeic (think of whippoorwill), but can be borrowed (jay) or
inherited (crow) for all that.

One pattern I haven't noticed in Siouan is using "nicknames" for birds -
things like robin (redbreast) or magpie or tomtit.  Of course, names are
not used in as many contexts in Siouan cultures as they are in European
cultures, but maybe I just don't recognize the examples when I see them.