ON THE COMPARATIVE PHONOLOGY OF FOUR SIOUAN 



LANGUAGES.* 



By Eev. J. Owen Dorset, 

 of the Bureau of Ethnology. 



The term "Siouan" lias been applied to that family of Indians which 

 has been known heretofore as the "Dakotan Family." 



It is unfortunate that we are obliged to use this adjective, which is 

 derived from "Sioux," as the latter is not a genuine Indian word. Ac- 

 cording to Dr. J. H. Trumbull, "Sioux is the termination of the French 

 plural of the Ottawa Kadowessi. by which a Dakota was designated. 

 The Ottawa plural is Nadowessiicag (or -aJc); the French made it Nado- 

 wessioux, and the couriers de bois reduced it to Sioux." "Dakotan" 

 should have been the appellative, as the Sioux call themselves " Da- 

 kota" and "Lakota." But, in honor of Albert Gallatin, who was the 

 first to classify the Indians of this family as the " Sioux," the Bureau 

 of Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution has adopted the new term, 

 "Siouan," as the name of this family. 



The writer is responsible for "(pe-gi-ha^ as the name of the second 

 group appearing in the following list, and for "j^oi-we^re," the name of 

 the third group. $egiha means, " Belonging to the people of this land," 

 or, "Those dwelling here," i. e., the aborigines or home people. When 

 an Omaha was challenged in the dark, if on his own territory, he usually 

 replied, "I am a (pegiha." So might a Ponka replyY under similar cir- 

 cumstances, when at home. A Kansas would say, "I am a Ye-ga-ha," 

 of which the Osage equivalent is, "I am a (pe-jpi-ha." These answer to 

 the Oto " L r J oi-w6'-re" and the Iowa " j v o£-:>u-w6-re." " To speak the home 

 dialect" is called "(pegiha ie" by the Ponkas and Omahas, " Yegaha ie" 

 by the Kansas, "^oiwere itc'e" by the Otos, and " j^oesp were itc'e" by 

 the Iowas. "When an Indian was challenged in the dark, if away from 

 home, he must give his tribal name, saying, "I am an Omaha," "I am 

 a Ponka," etc. 



LANGUAGES OF THE SIOUAN FAMILY. 



1. Dakota, in four dialects: Santee, Yankton, Teton, and AssiniboTn. 



2. (pegiha, in four dialects: Ponka (spoken by Ponkas and Omahas), 

 Kansas, Osage, and Kwapa. 



•Read before Am. Assoc. A. 8., Section "H," at Montreal, August, 1882. 



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