Locatives and wa- problems.

[Rory Larson]

Thanks, Bob!  That helps.

I'm still a bit puzzled by Lakhota chi though.  If first person *wa is actually missing from the portmanteau, why isn't the outcome the same as we get for second person *yi alone?  And why doesn't second person undergoer *yi itself go to aspirated /chi/ rather than (I think) ni ?

For Dhegiha wi, we apparently get a second *wa after the wi and before the verb when the inflected root starts with a simple stop or *r (non-standard or consonant-type inflection).  That fact had thrown me, since it led me to suppose that the *wa came after the *yi rather than before it.  But I suppose this is just a secondary reanalysis in Dhegiha making for double inflection?  Is it only Dhegiha that does this after the portmanteau?

Best,
Rory


From: Siouan Linguistics [mailto:SIOUAN at listserv.unl.edu] On Behalf Of Rankin, Robert L.
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 6:13 PM
To: SIOUAN at LISTSERV.UNL.EDU
Subject: Re: Locatives and wa- problems.

> I think that portmanteau is common across MVS, though I don't fully understand the phonology.

Yes, it's irregular.

> Dick Carter worked it out on the board for me for Lakhota /chi-/ once when he was teaching at UNL in the 1990s.  He was pleased with himself, but went so fast he left my head spinning.

First person *wa is missing in action.  Second person *yi turns up regularly in Lakota as chi because PSI *y becomes aspirated ch in Lakota.  This irregular portmanteau is a good part of the evidence for considering the second person historically *y, not r-  Irregular morphology retains the more conservative pronominal.

> In Omaha, the corresponding morpheme is /wi(p)/, which again I don't really understand the derivation of.

First person *wa plus second person *yi contracts to wi.  And, again, the irregular morphology retains the conservative form -- this time of the 1st person.  The W was lost everywhere else in Dhegiha.

Bob

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