the guardian, the Intellect, the Lakota word for conscience

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The book, “Lakota Belief and Ritual” by James Riley Walker seems to me to be the holy grail of the language and culture of all that was sacred to the Lakota and that outlines a belief system that passed away with the last Lakȟóta Wičháša Wakȟáŋ (Holy Man). “Lakota Belief and Ritual” explains concepts that definitions in the “New Lakota Dictionary” only hint at and, in some cases, completely omits. One example is that the dictionary has no word for the English word “conscience,” but in “Lakota Belief and Ritual,” Walker explains the words naǧí (spirit), niyá (ghost), and šíčʼuŋ (guardian) and how the Lakȟóta see them as pertaining to human beings. Besides being translated as a guardian, šíčʼuŋ is also defined in the book as being “the Intellect.” Walker described the meaning of the word as “… an influence that forwarns of danger, admonishes for right against wrong, …” Since šíčʼuŋ is not found in the “New Lakota Dictionary,” under the influence of the dictum of George Sword a rendering of the word was undertaken as a concatenation of component syllables. Thus it is observed that ší (an auxiliary verb) meaning “to command or order someone to do something” combined with čʼuŋ (the definite article) meaning “the aforesaid, the past,” can be connected to form the word šíčʼuŋ. And though the literal translation is not a perfect rendering describing the word that Walker defined, perhaps it is in close proximity to the meaning to the word. A related word to šíčʼuŋ is wašíčuŋ, the mysterious and incomprehensible sacred power that a Wičháša Wakȟáŋ holds in a wóphiye.

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The common people of the Lakotas call that which is the wrapping of a wašíčuŋ
[the mysterious and incomprehensible sacred power of a Wičháša Wakȟáŋ], wóphiye.
Most of the interpreters interpret this wóphiye as medicine bag. That is wrong, for the
word neither means a bag nor medicine. It means a thing to do good with.
A good interpretation would be that it is the thing of power.
-- Sword Owner (Míwakȟáŋ Yuhá)(1847-1910)( George Sword)

[witkola]

Feb 12, 2017 18:19:46 GMT -5 @georg said:

Thus it is observed that ší (an auxiliary verb) meaning “to command or order someone to do something” combined with čʼuŋ (the definite article) meaning “the aforesaid, the past,” can be connected to form the word šíčʼuŋ. And though the literal translation is not a perfect rendering describing the word that Walker defined, perhaps it is in close proximity to the meaning to the word. A related word to šíčʼuŋ is wašíčuŋ, the mysterious and incomprehensible sacred power that a Wičháša Wakȟáŋ holds in a wóphiye.

Interesting. Regarding "ši" +"kɂų" > "šičɂų́", "-ši-" also appears in Lakȟóta relationship terms: "hokšíla" (boy); "šičɂé" (my brother-in-law); "šičɂéši" (my male cousin - female reference) and etc.

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Yes, I will look into the instances were ší is used. Thanks for the input.

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And, yes, there are numerous kinship terms that include the ší syllable, including the words for mother's brother, son, and daughter.