доʼӈ

See also: дон and Appendix:Variations of "don"

Ket

Alternative forms

доӈ (dɔ̄ŋ), дөӈ (dōŋ) (tonal disctintion)

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Yeniseian *dag-Vŋ (“pus”, literally “moisture-mass”). Cognate with Yug до’ӈ (dɔˀŋ, “pus”) and Kott takŋ (“pus”). See also Yug апдок (ap-dɔk, “sweat”, literally “heat-moisture”)

The sense "brain" is specific to Ket among the Yeniseian languages, with the semantic shift of "brain" < "moist mass".

Noun

доʼӈ (doˀŋ) n (no plural)

(anatomy) brain
Ап къят дөӈ бәнь далобедабет. (Kellog dialect)
Āp kʌjat dōŋ bə̄nʲ dalɔbɛdabɛt.
My brain isn't working.

Дөӈ онаӈ кеʼт. (Kellog dialect)
Dōŋ ɔnaŋ kɛˀt.
Smart man.
(literally, “The man with a lot of brains.”)

Иням сельда къйгар доӈдиль берольбетин няʼнь. (Maduyka dialect)
Inʲam sɛlʲda kʌjgar dɔŋdilʲ dbɛrɔlʲbɛtin nʲaˀnʲ.
Reindeer brains were used to be used to make bread.
(medicine, pathology) pus
Доʼӈ уӷаӷан. (Kellog dialect)
Dɔˀŋ uʁaʁan.
The pus is flowing.

Айэӈдиӈта доʼӈ. (Maduyka dialect)
Ajɛŋdiŋta dɔˀŋ.
Pus in the wound.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [dɔʔŋ̥˥˧]

Derived terms

доӈдий (dɔŋtij, “festering”)
доӈоль (dɔŋɔlʲ, “skull”)
доӈту (dɔŋtu, “suppurate”)

References

Kotorova, Elizaveta, Nefedov, Andrey (2015) “dōŋ/doˀŋ (1) (n., no pl)”, in Большой словарь кетского языка, Münich: LINCOM, →ISBN, page 153
Werner, Heinrich (2002) “до’ӈ (с) (мн. нет)”, in Словарь кетско-русский и русско-кетский: Учебное пособие для учащихся начальной школы‎^[1], 2 edition, Saint-Petersburg: Drofa, →ISBN, page 33
Vajda, Edward (2024) The Languages and Linguistics of Northern Asia: Language Families (The World of Linguistics [WOL]; 10.1)‎^[2], volume 1, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →DOI, →ISBN, page 428
Werner, Heinrich (2002) “(2) dɔˀŋ (II) (ket., jug.)”, in Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Jenissej-Sprachen, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 203