was^icuN

[Rory M Larson]

Bob, I think your proposed etymology is way too fascinating to
discard this easily.  You have:

 * wa-       s^ikE       ?uN
   one-who   evil        practices

==> was^i'c^uN in Dakotan.

Granted that the term was^i'c^uN is probably based directly on
s^ic^uN', which Louie defines as a "live spirit" and John as
"the immortal component of the soul", doesn't it seem likely
that s^ic^uN' itself is originally a compound of *s^ikE + *?uN
as you suggested?

I'd be doubtful that a term presently glossed as 'evil' always
had that meaning.  In this case, I would guess that *s^ikE
originally meant something like present day wakhaN' or xube',
sacred, holy, mysterious.  It would have been practiced by
shamans, *s^ikE-?uN => s^ic^uN.  Shamans doing their mysterious
things, perhaps wearing masks so they wouldn't be personally
recognized by the uninitiated, could be regarded as "live spirits",
and possibly as returned ancestors, which could lead to the
philosophical conception that the soul has the s^ic^uN' as
its immortal component.

But the practice of *s^ikE could take on a sinister hue if it
were done selfishly.  In this case, it would be what the Old
Norse called seidhr, or witchcraft, magical knowledge and power
that could be used to hurt one's enemies.  Then the concept of
*s^ikE would take on the sense of supernatural malevolence and
mortal danger, perhaps during a period of witch lynching.  When
no one was left who dared to practise *s^ikE, the term would
extend to cover evil generically, and shamans would devote
themselves more righteously to being wakhaN' or xube' instead.

Rory




                      "R. Rankin"
                      <rankin at ku.edu>             To:       <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
                      Sent by:                    cc:
                      owner-siouan at lists.c        Subject:  Re: was^icuN
                      olorado.edu


                      03/10/2004 01:48 PM
                      Please respond to
                      siouan






I haven't really looked into the possible etymology of the Dakotan term,
but I
guess my own linguist's folk etymology of the term was simply 'evil-doer'.
I
made this up without access to the information that there is a religious
term
that might serve as a source.  I read the item on John's web site and
pretty
much agree with it.

But that first impression of mine was based on the fact that the root
*s^ik-E
means 'bad' all across Siouan, although it is more prominent in some
languages
than others.  It undergoes the fricative symbolism series and is found in
various languages as s^ik- and xik- (I don't know about *sik-).  And
although
apparently some Dakotan lexicographers translate ?uN as 'wear' in this
context
(the "they wear bad clothes" analysis), the real pan-Siouan verb for 'wear'
is
*?iN, not ?uN.  *?uN is more specifically 'be, do' and it is found all
over.  I
have discussed the distinction between 'do/be' and 'use' (to do with) on
this
list before and will not recapitulate that discussion here.  But *?u:N
clearly
had the common Siouan meaning 'be', or, more likely 'do'.  This verb is
also
pressed into service as an auxiliary of verbal aspect in a number of
languages -- nearly always with some 'past' meaning, most often
'imperfective'.
I mention it in my Quapaw sketch.

The K-palatalization rule in Dakotan would give s^ic^- 'bad' in that
language,
and, compounded with ?uN 'do', would mean 'do evil'.  Wa- nominalizes it to
'evil-doer'.  And, bingo, a ready made (folk?) etymology.  And if it is a
relatively old term for evil-doers of various sorts, the constituent
morphemes
might well retain their etymological meanings whether or not they retain
those
meanings standing alone as s^ic^A and ?uN respectively.

On a related topic, the term 'long knives' is also very common, and I used
to
think it referred to US Cavalry sabres.  I seem to recollect, though, that
Ives
Goddard has researched this and found a much more specific explanation for
the
term (Kansa maNhiN-ttaNga).  I'll check into this and see what I can find.

The term "Little Worker" found, I think, in Hochank, wasn't it?, is
interesting.
I wonder how widespread it is.  It is particularly interesting to me
because the
way you say Little Worker in Delaware is "Tonganoxie", the name of the town
nearest to my home here in Kansas.  I live on the former Delaware
reservation in
NE KS.

Bob