Word for 'prairie'?

[Rory M Larson]

John wrote:
> The texts have udhaN'da 'island' (JOD 90:436.8), udhaN'da 'middle of the
> tribal circle' (JOD 90:601.17), niN'udhaN'da 'island' (JOD 91:39.2). I
> haven't detected any other uses of the root dhaNda. [...]
>
> I guess this is 'the island hill'.

Yes, I'm sure that's right.  I looked up 'island' in the
Stabler/Swetland dictionary and came up with

  niu thoNta  (i.e., ni-udhoNda)

I'm guessing that the -da is an old positional or
nominalizer that occurs in conjunction with the
leading u-:

  u-dhaN-da
  IN_CONTEXT-GLOB-THING

which probably means a (globular) eminence standing out
upon an otherwise level surface.  That would nicely explain
both the 'island' and the 'hill arising from the center of
a plain' interpretations.  The 'middle of the tribal circle'
reference is to the Orphan story, I think when he is
exalting himself.  Perhaps that usage applies as much to his
position of prominence as to his centrality in the tribal
circle.

At any rate, I guess it has nothing to do with 'plain' or
'prairie'.

Rory