white bear (fwd)

[Jan F. Ullrich]

John Koontz wrote:

> wahaN[']k[-]s^ic^a [destroyer evil] 'black bear'

> Actually, though I'm assuming, and I think others are, too, that wahaNk-
is 
> related to wahaNk=ya 'to destroy; one who destroys', it looks like it's
within reason 
> as a match for the wahu(N)te set.  The -e is essentially a formant, the
status of which is debated, 
> but it is regularly deleted in compounding, and t-s would dissimilate
regularly to k-s.  

Actually, both Riggs and Williamson give waxaNksic^a in their Dakota
dictionaries (not wahaNks^ic^a). They both regularly often omit glottal
stops after x so I have been assuming that one possible etymology is wax?aN
'to act' + ksíza 'stern' + ka 'such'.

Shaw gives wax?aNksic^a for 'bear' in a sentence recorded at the Sioux Valey
Waxpeton dialect of Dakota.

Buechel lists the same word (including the glottal stop after x) but his
informant Laban WhiteHorse translates it as 'marten'. I asked over a dozen
contemporary Lakota speakers about the word and none new it to be a Lakota
word. They use matho for bear in general and mathoxota or s^akehaNska for
grizzly specifically. For black bear I have recorded matho sapa but not
wasape.

Jan