Siouan and Iroquoian "buffalo"

[Pamela Munro]

Creek yanasa, Choctaw yanash.

Pam

David Kaufman wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I was intrigued to find that the Biloxi word for "buffalo" is yinisa
> (or nsa abbreviated).  The Cherokee word for buffalo is yanssi.  Am I
> totally off the mark in thinking these are somehow related, perhaps
> through borrowing?  Especially since the Biloxi word is so far afield
> from the northern Siouan (e.g., Hidatsa and Dakota) words for buffalo:
> mité and pte.  I don't know what the word for buffalo is in other
> Iroquoian languages (e.g., Seneca or Mohawk) and I don't know what the
> Muskogean words are.  I'm wondering if both the Biloxi and Cherokee
> words may be borrowed from Muskogean, since both the Biloxi and
> Cherokee tribes originally bordered on opposite sides of Muskogean
> territory?  Does anyone know the Muskogean (e.g., Creek or Choctaw)
> words for "buffalo"?   (BTW--the Ofo dictionary does not show a word
> for buffalo.)
>
> One other thing: has anyone done comparative wordlists for both the
> Siouan and Iroquoian families, and/or comparative grammars, that are
> available and accessible?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dave
>
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--
----
Pamela Munro
Professor, Department of Linguistics, UCLA
UCLA Box 951543
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1543 USA
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/linguistics/people/munro/munro.htm



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