NAME

[Mark Awakuni-Swetland]

Aloha All,
Here are a few ramblings to offer.

Following on Bob's suggestion that co-co => shoN-shoN.

Consider the Omaha male command 'shoN shoN ga!' that tells someone to continue whatever s/he is/was doing...

Applying the same vowel sound and nasal quality to the preceding syllable makes -to- => ttoN (or) tHoN.
To possess as a charecteristic as buffalo have horns.
or
The standing animate as in uheatHoN => in, linear inanimate, at/on, stand 'bridge, ladder, stairs'
or some other interpretation...?

And the wa- as 'class of' or 'them' or any of its various interpretations...?

Perhaps wa-to-co-co would be rendered in Omaha as wa-tHoN-shoN-shoN suggesting ...the class of things that continue to stand... but taking into account the animate tHoN, it could be refering to the person standing with the staff (first option), or the staff itself if considered animate in the manner that the Omaha Sacred Pole is considered animate (second option).

Taking a clue from Jimm's most recent note, he suggested the name may not be specific to a society staff.

An alternate consideration could be that perhaps it is specific to any/all society staffs but not personal staffs or staffs used to lead the buffalo hunt (Omaha), or a referent to a particular society in this group, but the name does not identify it since it has no contextual information.

Perhaps similar to a 19th century Omaha person mentioning the name 'wasabe' in conversation. The discussion had been about the recent meeting of the Bear Doctoring Society, so the term 'wasabe' (the class of black things, i.e. black bear) is a referent specifically of a society and not the animal.

Mark Awakuni-Swetland
From: Siouan Linguistics [mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] On Behalf Of Rankin, Robert L.
Sent: August 12, 2012 4:23 PM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu
Subject: Re: NAME

Well, if it's Dorsey's transcription he wouldn't have gotten the vowels wrong.  I don't recognize the name, but I was wondering of the -coco ending was maybe -shoN-shoN?  I don't know if this expression exists in Jiwere or not though, although it is found in all the Dhegiha dialects.

Bob
________________________________
From: Siouan Linguistics [SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] on behalf of Jimm G. GoodTracks [jgoodtracks at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 4:28 PM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu<mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu>
Subject: Re: NAME
I believe, Bob, this may be Dorsey's transcription.  Weather it is a K ~ Ch ~ Sh sound - the duplication would be unusual.  I would anticipated for "standing" = jida, nayin, dahe.  Possibly, the sound is a "j" and it would be more logical if instead of a "co" it was a "jeje."  There is a verb:  rujijire (walk to and from).  Perhaps it is meant to be: jije.  Then, it would have more of the context of Arrive Standing with Something, which is not specific to a society staff.  What do you think?

From: Rankin, Robert L.<mailto:rankin at KU.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, August 11, 2012 11:48 AM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu<mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu>
Subject: Re: NAME

The name isn't familiar to me.  Do you know how the letter "c" is supposed to be sounded?  Is it a K sound?  Or does it represent "ch" or maybe the "sh" sound it has in the Smithsonian alphabet??

Bob

________________________________
From: Siouan Linguistics [SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] on behalf of Jimm G. GoodTracks [jgoodtracks at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 3:17 PM
To: SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu<mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu>
Subject: NAME
On the 1891 OM census. the name "Wa-to-co-co" meaning something along lines of "Standing with Staff" or "Standing with Dancing Staff."   Among those of you who have worked with the names of Hochank, Kaws, Osage, Ponca/ Omaha, Quapaw, have anyone found a similar name that refers to holding a staff that represents some society?  It is not apparent in the name as documented here.
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