Proverbs

[Trechter, Sara]

John's original caveat when introducing this subject was that it is in some
way 'extra-linguistic' or something like that. However, it seems also to be
of great interest. I think that in the western stereotype occurring in
movies, etc, there is always some scene where the Native American explains
some obscure, wise "saying." This pop culture strategy has also been adopted
in more modern 'native American' movies such as Pow Wow Highway, and "Smoke
Signals." It's a representation of other cultures common in the Charlie Chan
movies many of saw when we were younger. I do wonder if this is just
complete western invention, or if there are some language groups that go
heavy on the proverbs. The grammatical structure, style, and origin of
proverbs (or lack of, however we define them) in Native North America would
make an interesting planned session for the next SSILA when it meets with
the AAA:New Orleans.

If of any interest at all, I'm willing to be an organizer and put the word
out.

sara t

-----Original Message-----
From: Koontz John E [mailto:John.Koontz at colorado.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2001 10:29 PM
To: 'siouan at lists.colorado.edu'
Subject: RE: Proverbs


On Tue, 18 Dec 2001, Trechter, Sara wrote:
> The metaphorical usage common with proverbs that John alludes to, is why I
> think the speaker went to great lengths to 'explain' an origin for the
> "no-napping" saying...as if he thought it was a bit obscure. Too bad I
don't
> have a context for this one where the napping is metaphorical.

That makes sense, and we can at least keep our eyes open for obscure
metaphorical uses of recurring phrases, though I have the impression that
if you go looking for metaphors in language it's hard to stop.

Incidentally, the homily text is Dorsey 1890 is "Address to the Young Men"
pp. 628-9.  The source isn't given, but it may be a sort of immitation
composed by George Miller, who spent some time in Washington with Dorsey
editting the texts.  The Notes section for this text reads "According to
George Miller, an Omaha, the old men of his tribe often make such an
address to the young men."

The first sentence is:

Ni'ashiNga=mashe,
people     you the-COLLECTIVE

wadha'kkigdhithaN=i      nu'de  ttaghu'gh[e]
you work for yourselves  throat panting

udhi'zhi=xti= kki=naN,
you fill very if  ONLY

e=da'=daN wiN dhakki'shkaghe=       tta=i  ha!
what      a   you make for yourself FUTURE DECL

"Oh ye people, if you ever accomplish anything for yourselves it will be
only when you work so hard for yourselves that you pant incessantly
thereafter."  (Dorsey et al.'s free translation.)

The essential framework here is "You will [irrealis!] make something for
yourselves, if you only [i.e., exclusively, habitually] work [handle
things] for yourself."  The "you very much fill your throat with panting"
is essentially an adverbial phrase of manner inserted in the conditional
clause between the verb and the final conjunction, a fairly common pattern
in Omaha-Ponca.

The word ttaghu'gh, presumably ttaghu'ghe contracted with the following
verb, is not the usual word for panting, which is gaski'.  It's not even
translated in the interlinear version, but corresponds to panting in the
free translation.

I'm not sure if this is a proverb, or just rhetorical style.  The phrase
that recurs in the texts comes a few sentences later, and it's the
imperative washkaN=i=ga, here given as "Try!" in the interlinear and as
"Do your best!" in the free translation.  Elsewhere it is often "Be
active!" or "Make an effort!"