Reconstruction:Proto-Siouan/nǫ-
Proto-Siouan
Alternative forms
Numeral
*nǫ-
- 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