Benefactive Reflexives

R. Rankin rankin at ku.edu
Tue Nov 16 15:45:00 UTC 2004


> In Assiniboine I have one clear context-free example of such a form:
> kiknaN'ka    'to put away/save for oneself'  from e'knaNka 'put'

I guess I'm still having trouble contrasting the two possibilities.  In Dakotan,
would 'to put away/save ones own' be formally different?  I'm still wondering if
the distinction between 'to X for oneself' and 'to X ones own' is a purely
English one.  I'm looking for formal evidence, and we already know that the
dative/benefactive and the possessive in Siouan can by and large be inflected
with the same prefix -- well, at least in most of Dhegiha.  So why are the
reflexive versions of these two somehow different?  Sorry, but I'm having
trouble getting my head around this.  Maybe not enough coffee this morning.

Bob



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