Siųamo

This blog will be used to discuss and explore the Alopian language, my creation.

ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME SIŲAMO:

The name of the language comes from the word siųa meaning 'of the foxes'. Siųamo could then be understood to mean 'the language of the foxes'. However, one has to take into consideration the fact that the word siųa is an irregular form. Let us look at the declension of the word fox:

retema nom.sing
reųa gen.sing
sitema nom.pl
siųa gen.pl

As can be seen from its declension, the word seems to have two or more stems. The stem of the singular seems to have the infix -te/-ta-, making the root re(te)ma. This infix is fairly prolific in irregular nouns, and usually shows singularity or plurality in kindship terms (and sometimes geographical features) , e.g. sema 'sister' vs. tsema 'sisters' (earlier *tĕsema). The ending -ma/-me has a similar behavior within kinship terms and geographical features in that it sometimes disappears, moves around or ocillates between labial qualities (-ma, -b-, -w-), e.g. etus 'father' vs. etema 'fathers' or sema 'mother' vs. metama 'mothers'.
This points out to retema having had only the root *re as its origine. Because retema is not considered a kinship term, it cannot be analized has having either -te/ta- or -me/ma- to mark singularity or plurality. But this can be discussed, if one takes into account that the plural of the word, sitema also means children (though usually not one's own). The actual word for child is iruųo which is made up of r-yv-o, with a prefix and a suffix - the root is yv- meaning small, little. It could be a fairly new word, though the prefix r- is fairly rare and should be considered quite old.
Sitema might be related to the root *sit-/set- meaning to change, which would make the root *sit- with the addition of the sufix -ma which, as it was mentioned before, is common in kinship terms.
This supports the fact that although the singular root *re- might have originally meant 'fox', its plural stem si(te)ma might rather have meant children.

Some kind of confusion might have arisen because both words behave similarly, i.e. loose the infix -te- in genitive and the -ma ending becomes -ųa. This might have strengthen somekind of association between the two words. It is not uncommon for mothers to call their children fox, and it is also a common name - they can seem playful like children.

This being said, it is to be considered that the origine of the name the Alopians call themselves might not be fox but infact children. However, considering that the root for fox has lost its plural, the only conclusion to be taken is that it must have been a fairly recent change, i.e. they started calling themselves 'people of the foxes' AFTER the root *re- lost its plural and was replaced by children.