Number & Counting Comparisons in Dhegiha

[Rankin, Robert L]

>I wondered about we'dhawa (we'yawa?) 'with which you count', though
perhaps that would be a closer equivalent to 'numeral'.

Actually, that word exists in Kaw, but it means 'counting stick' and it is
an artifact in the possession of one of the clans.

>I suspect the Kaw forms without -wa are simply somewhat contracted.  A w
is easily lost between vowels in many languages.  In that case the final
a should probably sound rather long, and we all know how easy it is to
miss long vowels ...

Probably.  But the 2nd person form with the -bl- is simply a mistake someone
somewhere along the line made.  they've formed the 2nd person on the basis
of the irregular 1st person!

>And speaking of etymology, a verb root beginning in w- is a little
unusual, isn't it?  For a Mississippi Valley Siouan language, that is.

Yes, that would be strange.  I wonder of the ya- here is the instrumental or
maybe just the 1st syllable of the root?  So far I have found Osage and
Omaha-Ponca cognates.

Bob