Query: Possessor Raising

[Koontz John E]

On Fri, 19 May 2000, Koontz John E wrote:
> S^iN'gaz^iNga aNttaN'=i  ede, we't?a=i ha.
> Child         we had him but,  he died to us
> A child which we had (?)
> jod 1890:347.10-11

I omitted to comment that *ede* (e'=de) is the marker that Dorsey
translates 'but' that I think may be the Omaha-Ponca equivalent of Dakotan
*c^ha* used as an indefinite head relativizer.  Rood & Taylor indicate
that *c^ha* tends to indicate something unexpected, which is consistent
with the "but" reading.  The contexts are more or less consistent with the
indefinite head reading.  I'm wondering what others interested in Dhegiha
or Siouan syntax think about this.  In my limited fieldwork I don't
believe I ever encountered an example of e'=de, though I'm not sure I
would have been able to distinguish it from e'=di 'there, at it' except
from context.

Like =iN=the 'perhaps', =de tends to occur attached to e=, but can also
occur with simple verbs.  It also occurs with (e)gaN appended, etc.

JEK