squash

[Rankin, Robert L]

It could be.  Alternatively, the 'twisted' meaning could be derived from 'squash'.  The reason I wonder about this is because there is a common Siouan term, something like *wriN, and it occurs in numerous languages and subgroups.  GmuN, as far as I know, has this meaning only in Dakotan.  Gm just isn't an ordinary Siouan cluster with a clear source.  So far it seems to come from a nasalized [kw] cluster, which doesn't occur in native etyma, or, assuming JEK is onto something with his sound symbolism argument -- which seems reasonable -- then that might be a second source.  But as far as I know, there is no proto-Siouan source for gm.
 
Bob

________________________________

From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of Jan F. Ullrich
Sent: Mon 8/28/2006 3:13 PM
To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
Subject: RE: squash


Could Lakota wagmu 'squash' be related to the stem gmu 'twisted' ? It occurs with instrumentals pa-, na-, yu- :
 
pagmu - to twist smth by pushing with the hand
nagmu - to twist of its own accord
yugmu - to twist smth in the hand
 
 
wa-gmu would then be 'something-twisted' .
 
Jan
 

	-----Original Message-----
	From: Rankin, Robert L [mailto:owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu] On Behalf Of Rankin, Robert L
	Sent: Monday, August 28, 2006 6:26 AM
	To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
	Subject: RE: squash
	
	
	> BTW, Bob, what is the geographic distribution of this word in Siouan? All 
	over, or only in the Mississippi Valley languages, or what?
	 
	Northern part of Mississippi Valley only:  Dakotan (wagmu, wamna, dialectally) and Chiwere-Winnebago only.  Dhegiha is different.  Note that, even within Dakotan, the vowels don't match.
	
	> (Far as I know, the word doesn't reconstruct in Muskogean, either. The word 
	obviously has a special status in Algonquian.)
	 
	Depends on what word we're talking about.  There's a 'squash' reconstruction in Muskogean, but it's not like the Siouan or Algonquian terms under discussion.  
	
	Bob
	 
	(I'll be in Oklahoma the next few days and may or may not have access to email.)