horse paper

[Rory M Larson]

> I mentioned that Allan Taylor had suggested 'big dog' for Santee.  I
> haven't checked this and wonder whether he might have been thinking of
> Assiniboine instead, as he also mentioned it as the etymology of the Cree
> term, and he is elsewhere on record as explaining many details of Stoney
> phonology as due to Cree influence.  Perhaps lexical influence also
> occurs.

The Williamson dictionary (English-Dakota) gives S^uNkthaNka
as the primary entry (presumably Santee), followed by
"Y. & T. S^uN'kawakhaN".  The Riggs dictionary (Dakota-English)
agrees in multiple entries.

I believe Winnebago uses the 'big dog' form too.  Perhaps
the two versions were just alternate qualifiers in the
northern MVS languages early on, with one form or the
other eventually becoming standard.  As John indicates,
the actual head of these constructions is simply 'dog'.

Rory