Affrication Diminutive Marker (Re: butterfly)

[Rory M Larson]

John wrote:
> This reminds me of the example haNegaNc^he
> 'dawn' = 'night' + 'like' + 'the (time), when',
> or 'when it's *a bit* like night'.

I think I'd interpret it using the other version
of egaN.  (I think we were arguing about these a
couple of years ago, along with our infamous =bi/=i
disputation.)  In Dorsey, e'gaN usually seems
to mean 'like that', or 'like (the foregoing)'.
But egaN' usually means 'the foregoing having
occurred', usually as a conjunction, and often
with the sense of 'since', 'because'.  Anyway,
I've always understood the haNegaN part of that
as haN egaN', "night having occurred (and hence
being over)", or "night-is-over" = 'dawn'.

I've never really understood the c^he part of
it though.  I gather that it is the positional
thE, used to indicate a point in time, transposed
into grandmother speech?

Rory