Comanche borrowings?

[Koontz John E]

For what it's worth, wa + sapA is the basis of terms for blackbear in some
Dakotan dialects, too, e.g., the CSD lists wasaben, as far as I can recall
for Assiniboine or Stoney.  This would correspond to Teton wasape=la.
I've always assumed this borrowing had to be motivated by some sort of
taboo avoidence process leading to borrowing of replacement terms for
native terms.

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004, Rory M Larson wrote:
> Has anybody noticed that the Comanche word for 'black bear' is wasape?
> (Comanche Vocabulary. Manuel Garcia Rejon, tr. & ed. Daniel J. Gelo,
> University of Texas Press, Austin, 1995.)  I assume that's a loan from
> Dhegihan, probably Ponka if not Kaw or Osage.