Sky and clouds

[Bruce Ingham]

Dear Siouanists
Something has been at the back of my mind for years.  In Lakota the word
 given in dictionaries and elsewhere for 'sky', 'cloud' and 'heaven' is mah^piya.
Sometimes also in Lakota prayers the equivalent for 'heaven' or 'sky' is
waNkatuya or WaNkal  literally 'up there, high up'.  Therefore I wonder
how to say such a thing as 'there are no clouds in the sky' .  There is a verb
  kaska iyaya 'to clear (of clouds in the sky)' and one sees sentences
 like, I think,  mah^piya ska wan woslal he 'a white cloud stood vertically
 (in front of them)'.  Any ideas.  Is this the same in other Siouan languages.

Bruce



Dr. Bruce Ingham
Reader in Arabic Linguistic Studies
SOAS