Reconstruction:Proto-Siouan/nǫ-

This Proto-Siouan entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Siouan

Alternative forms

• *rǫ-

Numeral

*nǫ-

1. one (1)

Usage notes

• This is one of two words for "one"; the other is *wį(y)ą (“one”).
• Rankin speculates that nǫ- is probably older than rǫ- because "nǫ- is the more widely distributed of the two forms [...being] found in the subgroups that are most distant from each other, both linguistically and geographically" and because nǫ- is present in Catawban in Catawba nepen/nəpə̨ (“one”).

Descendants

• Biloxi: *sǫsa (“one”)
• Quapaw: nǫ(xt)- in hí nǫxtį (“once, one time”)

References

• Robert Rankin, A Relic of Proto-Siouan rǫ-/nǫ- 'one' in Mississippi Valley Siouan