Word for 'prairie' in Hochunk.

[Rankin, Robert L]

> Actually, the CSD does have a small 'field' set including the
Winnebago form - Dakotan ma(N)'gha 'field, cultivated area', ma(N)'ghahu
'cornstalk', IO maN'aNxe 'cornfield', Wi maN'aNx 'field, tract, garden'.

Good point.  I'd forgotten about that entirely.

> This doesn't sem to have a Dhegiha cognate, maybe because any
comparable form would conflict with maN'(aN)ghe 'sky, upper world'.

In Dhegiha the stems with final -i often fall together with those having
-e.  So it's entirely possible that maaNxi/e fell together.  Winnebago
is very good at keeping them separate.

> while a loan would be interesting, it is also possible to see this as
a compound *maNaN-ska 'white earth'.

I'm not inclined to buy into that one.  It's true that throughout
Dhegiha there is a tendency for /aN/ after an /m/ to be pronounced [oN]
or simply [o], but I've never seen this extended to Hochunk at all.  HC
seems to be very good about keeping it's /aN/'s in the [a] range.  It
would make a good folk etymology, but I think it's much more realistic
to assume that [maaskw-] simply transferred its rounding from /kw/ to
the preceding /a/ in the borrowing process.  I have nothing to offer for
the rhyming hooska though.

Bob