Yuecetu - Re: A great Polymath

[Clive Bloomfield]

Hello again, Dave, Thanks for that cordial greeting in Romanian &  
English! Your command of Româneşte looks pretty comprehensive to  
me :)! In answer to your query, I guess my fascination for  
Lakhotaiyapi all began,(probably) when, as an avid juvenile TV-viewer  
of the "Mickey Mouse Club", way back in the mid to late 1950's, on a  
Wednesday ("Anything Can Happen Day"), they had a Lakota kid, (prob.  
about 9 or 10 years of age,), all bedecked in traditional garb -  
buckskins, hairpipe breastplate, and impressive feathered war-bonnet  
(the lot!) ,saying some words in Lakota for us, and telling us about  
the Oyate's way of life. I can still see his face, & hear him  
saying : "Lakhota",  "washte"; and of course, "thathanka"! :D (I  
wonder who he was, & what ever became of him? : but perhaps it is  
better not to know, eh?) My next contact after that, (apart from the  
usual Hollywood Western-derived "noble/devilish Sioux" stereotypes),  
would have been at Sydney University's Fisher Library stack, decades  
later, when one day I unearthed an long-neglected, yellowing original  
1939 edition of Father Buechel's Grammar of Lakota. At the time, I  
was supposed to be studying Ancient Greek & Latin, so I took it back  
in, making a mental note of its location. Then about 15 years after  
that, I remembered it & acquired it, via interlibrary loan. (By this  
time I had transferred to Melbourne, abt. 600 miles south.) Also,  
Hollywood had "roped me in" again, with "Dances with Wolves", but  
this time I could actually, for the first time ever, hear Lakhota  
spoken! I was hooked forever, by the sheer beauty of its sound, and I  
decided to knuckle down and make a serious effort to learn it. Then  
came the Information  
Superhighway...!                                                         
                                                                         
                                                                         
      So, you're doing research on Biloxi, eh? I must say Dave, that  
I find it unutterably melancholy to hear that a language has become  
extinct, and that you have nobody to speak it with! In my forebears'  
language, Irish Gaelic (an Ghaeilge), we have a wistful proverb that  
translates : "Bitter is the bird, which sings for (or 'to') itself  
alone." I am interested in all Native American languages, but  
particularly in the Siouan, Na-Dene, Algonquian & Muskogean families.  
If I had another lifetime,(alas!) I would probably try to learn  
something at least about all the Siouan ones! Now regarding Biloxi &  
Ofo, I do know where I can get my hands on a copy of J.O. Dorsey & J.  
Swanton's dictionary - guess what?: another library stack! :)) I'd  
like to learn a little, so then you will have someone to write/speak  
to, if you like. Dave, could you kindly tell me what that phrase you  
wrote : (Ąkįxtispeye taneksąye ade) means exactly, and if you have  
time, how it "deconstructs", grammatically speaking? Would you  
recommend Einaudi's Grammar (1976)? Toksa ake,  
Clive.                                                                   
                              P.S. I must admit, I had never even  
heard of Rumsien Ohlone - I've just looked it up in Mithun : I notice  
that she lists a "Rumsey" under the Wintuan family, and a "Rumsen 
(Runsien)" (Utian-Miwok-Costanoan). Would I be correct it assuming  
yours to be the latter? Penutian seems to be such a vast family, does  
it not? P.P.S. How do you say "Hello"/"How are you?"/"I'm well"/"See  
You" etc. in Biloxi? :)

On 27/06/2006, at 4:31 AM, David Kaufman wrote:

> > Hello to Dave also, Bună dimineața! Ce mai faceți?  
> Mă bucur că vă văd : Încîntat să vă cunosc!  
> Unde ați învățat romîneşte? Eu am  
> învățat cîteva cuvinte şi expresii româneşte.  
> Noroc! La revedere! >
>
> G’day Clive! Bine aţi venit la lista! Placere! Am învăţat  
> Româneşte de sine. Adeverat, nu putesc vorbi româneşte foarte  
> bine. Îmi place limba româna, dar putesc să vorbesc alte limbe  
> latine mult mai bine.
>
> I'm impressed with your Lakota ability!  How did you get interested  
> in Amerindian languages, particularly Siouan?  Ąkįxtispeye  
> taneksąya ade.  That is, I'm working on Biloxi, but the problem is  
> there's no one left to speak it with!  The other Amerindian  
> language I'm currently involved with is Rumsien Ohlone (Penutian),  
> also unfortunately extinct, helping to transcribe John P.  
> Harrington's voluminous piles of notes on the language.
>
> La revedere!
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> > ________________________________
> >
> > From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of David Kaufman
> > Sent: Sun 6/25/2006 1:12 PM
> > To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
> > Subject: Re: Yuecetu - Re: A great Polymath
> >
> >
> > Vreau sa stiu ce întelesul Lakotei.
> >
> > Approximate translation from Rumanian: What's this say?
> >
> > (I know the first is Lakota and the second Hungarian. Would my
> > Dakota dictionary be of any help here?)
> >
> > Dave
>
> >
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta.
> >
> > advision.webevents.yahoo.com/handraisers>
> >
>
>
>
> Sneak preview the all-new Yahoo.com. It's not radically different.  
> Just radically better.

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