Nebraska

[Mark Awakuni-Swetland]

22 Feb 2001
Aloha All:
I've been listening in on the various conversations about poison ivy,
aspiration, and stellar objects. Quite interesting.

I will ask my Omaha Language class instructors about the Nebraska term.
Generally I have heard the elders gloss it as "flat", but some would swing
out the hand as though to simulate something spread out, too. No one
specifically suggested "shallow".

The Stabler lexicon listed shallow as "xe'be"
I will check the Dorsey lexicon to see what he offers for xe'be.

Stabler:lumber, board, floor, and tile are all glossed as "zhoNbthaska",
i.e., flat wood (or could we say "to lie flat"?)

Stabler: blackboard (classroom chalkboard) as "zhoNbthaska sabe"
i.e., flat black wood (or could we say "to lie flat black"?)

uthixide
Mark Awakuni-Swetland, Lecturer
Anthropology/Ethnic Studies
c/o Department of Anthropology-Geography
University of Nebraska
Bessey Hall 132
Lincoln, NE 68588-0368
Office 402-472-3455
Dept. 402-472-2411
FAX 402-472-9642
mawakuni-swetland2 at unl.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: Koontz John E <John.Koontz at colorado.edu>
To: Siouan <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Date: Wednesday, February 21, 2001 10:49 PM
Subject: Re: Nebraska


>On Wed, 21 Feb 2001, Alan H. Hartley wrote:
>
>> Can anyone tell me exactly what Omaha bdhaska means as used in the name
>> of the Platte? Does it mean 'flat' in the sense 'spreading out'? Can it
>> mean 'shallow' in any of the Siouan languages? (Of course, a widely
>> spreading river will generally be shallow.)
>
>Or it could be - in fact I think it may be - Ioway-Otoe braske.  It
>depends on what -ka represents in something like ne-bras-ka.  Ne is
>clearly niN, which tends to suggest ka is ke.  It is, of course, very
>difficult to tell.
>
>In any event, this is always translated 'flat' in the sources.  It might
>be difficult to tell this from 'shallow' or 'spreading out', but the
>latter is supposed to be the sense of ubdhadha in Niobrara.
>
>Mark Swetland is perhaps in the best position at present to find out what
>other readings might be possible, or what other things could be bdhaska.
>
>JEK
>