More on Noun Classes or Gender in Omaha-Ponca

[Koontz John E]

On Thu, 27 May 2004, Rory M Larson wrote:
> John wrote:
> > "KkaN=ha',       du'=akha u'z^iha a'na[N]xdh ihe'=dha=ga," a'=bi=ama.
> >  grandmother VOC this     bag     hidden     put it away   he said
>
> > I'm a little puzzled here by the du'=akha.  It seems most naturally
> > to apply to the bad itself, but I would expect du'=khe in that case.
> > Du'=akha seems to have an animate reference.  ...

> I'd suggest a fourth possibility.  I don't think that
> akha' necessarily has animate reference.  We've previously
> observed the passage in which Is^ti'dhiNkhe tricks Coyote
> into fishing with his tail through a hole in the ice, in
> which the ice akha' froze.  Akha' seems to be used to focus
> the listener's attention on an entity.  Usually that entity
> is animate, and is usually the active agent of the verb,
> but we seem to have exceptions both to animacy and to
> agentivity.  ...

That would be another problem - the lack of agency - because the bag is
clearly the object here.  But I'm relieved that there are other
exceptions.