Town; Clan (Re: Tomahittan?)

[Rankin, Robert L]

Oops, sorry John.  I responded before I read your more comprehensive and explanatory note.
 
Bob

________________________________

From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of Koontz John E
Sent: Wed 11/9/2005 1:03 AM
To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
Subject: Town; Clan (Re: Tomahittan?)



On Tue, 8 Nov 2005, Tom Leonard wrote:
> ttaN'waNgdhaN is the modern day Ponca word for "clan"

It's applied in that sense in Omaha to some extent, too, though I think
there are other words for the concept, too.  (Straying form the subject,
there is no word
for 'moiety' or half-tribe that I can discover.)  The Dakota cognate
form thuNwaN is the formant at the end of subtribe names, e.g., Yankton =
IhaNkthuNwaN, Wahpeton  = WakpethuNwaN, etc.

In Omaha ttaNwaN- tends to be be reduced to ttaN-aN (rearticulated or long
with falling pitch) as I recall it, and I gather that something similar
happens with Dakota thuNwaN, explaining why French speakers conventionally
recorded it as -ton.  (I think David mentioned this once, long ago!)

I think the independent Dakotan form is othuNwaNhe 'town', as in
Mniluzaha othuNwaHe 'Rapid City'.  Compare Omaha(-Ponca) S^aaN
TtaNwaNgdhaN 'Sioux City'.  I think the relatedness of 'clan, tribe' and
'village' provides a historical insight into the culture of Native America
pre-contact, in the same way the connection or identity of words for
'cloud' and 'sky' does, and so on.