Moon Phases (Re: OP stative verb ablaut?)

[Alan Hartley]

Koontz John E wrote:

> I looked in the Dorsey texts and found various expressions that might be
> relevant.  One is miN'=khe t?e 'the moon died, was dead'.  In the contexts
> this seems to mean 'when the moon had waned entirely' because there is an
> emphasis on it being dark.

Ojibway has giizis nibo 'the luminary (sun/moon) is eclipsed', lit. 'the
sun/moon has died/is dead'. There are terms for the new moon based on
'new' and 'stops shining'. (When ambiguity arises, the moon is
distinguished as dibik-giizis, 'night luminary'.)

Alan