Heart

Southern Uto-Aztecan words for "heart", fall into two groups: those derived from *sura and those derived from *hikwɨyawa. The forms are not neatly grouped, and indeed several groups have reflexes of both proto-forms, making it necessary to reconstruct both roots for PSUA.

Heart and Breath: In SUA and in PUA, words for "heart" are semantically related to words for "breath" and "life":

For example, Stubbs (2011#302) gives *hikwis "breath, spirit, heart". Voeglin, Voeglin & Hale (1962:140) give *hikwɨ(sɨ) "to breathe" from cognates in Tohono O'odham (ʔíibhɨ), Hopi (híkwsɨ) and Raramuri (iwí). In Nahuatl we see that both the word for "breath" and for "heart" as well as for "to live" are derived from the proto-Corachol-Nahua root *hiyaori, attesting to the cultural and semantic association between these words, also later on in the development of the SUA languages.

This suggests that these roots participate in a semantic complex of words related generally to "life force", "soul", "animating principle". It seems this force has been located at different times and among different groups in the breath or in the heart. Also words for "blood" and "liver" participate in this complex, though they seem to be more related to "thought" and "emotions".

*sura

Tepiman

Proto-Tepiman: *hura

Nevome: huura-di

Northern Tepehuán: úra

Southern Tepehuán: hur

Sonoran

proto-Sonoran *sura

Mayo: suula

Guarijío: sulá

Tarahumaran: surá

Cora?

• xáijnyu'kari (Muñiz); xaíjnyu'ucari (Casad)

xuure "sangre, rojo" Wixárika

ʂúure'e "sangre" Náayeri Chuisetyana, Kwaxataana

*hikwɨyawa

In PSUA *hikwɨyawa was a stem, composed of two roots *hikwɨ(s) probably meaning "breath" and the suffix *-yawa, which seems to have been used to derive abstract nouns referring to something like an essence or the "property of being X", something like the suffix -ness in English, or indeed the cognate suffix -yo:tl in Colonial Nahuatl (Launey 19????). The literal meaning of PSUA *hikwɨyawa thus seems to have been something like "it's breathness" (inalienably possessed), referring to the life force of a living entity.

Tepiman

• 'ibɨdaga < *híkwɨyáwa

Ópatan

• Eudeve: híbes (apparently loaned from a Tepiman source where /kw/ in *hikwis has become /b/)

Cahitan

• hiapsi < *híyáwri

Nahuan

• yo:l < *iyáuri

Coracholan

• (i)yauri

ruuri < *yuuri

iyaari

Development

PSUA *híkwɨyáwa

Tepiman *'ibɨdaga "?"

Sonoran: *hiyawari < *hikwyawa-ri

Cahitan hiapsi "heart" < *hiyaw-ri

Corachol-Nahuan *hiyao-ri

Coracholan: *iyau-ri

Wixárika iyaa-ri "heart, soul"

Náayeri ruu-ri "heart", "life"

Nahuan *yo:li "life" < *yao-ri "heart"

/yo:llo:/ < yo:l-yo:- "heart"

/yo:lloh/ < yo:l-yoh- "heart"

Nahuan ihiyo: "breath"

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