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<DIV><FONT size=2>I would have responded sooner, but for some reason I didn't
receive any messages at my KU e-mail address until last Saturday when 75
messages on the Siouan list came through! It took me a while to read them
all. I'll try to comment here on responses sent under the above heading
and those under RE: any more chairs?, RE: a wish?, and so forth.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>My first reaction, since we've recently had the dedication of
the Dole Institure for Politics here on campus and Kansas symbols are fresh in
my mind, was that the inscription might be an attempt to render the Kansas state
motto (since 1877) into Kansa from Latin: "ad astra per aspera," usually
translated 'to the stars through difficulties.' Of course, the Kansa
version wouldn't have to have the word for "star" in it, but might mean
something like "to the farthest reaches through striving." Unfortunately,
I'm in Lawrence, Kansas, at the moment, and my copy of La Flesche's Osage
dictionary is in Ponca City, along with most of my other Dhegiha
materials. The only resource I have at hand is Fletcher and La Flesche's
_The Omaha Tribe_. This morning I did call my 90-year-old Ponca language
</FONT><FONT size=2>consultant, Uncle Parrish, who had just gottten back to his
home in Oklahoma from a trip. I spelled out the syllables of the
inscription to him, which he painstakingly wrote down, and then I tried to
pronounce it to him in various ways, without it resulting in his being able to
recognize very much. He did remark that we Poncas would say
"maNthiN" instead of "maNniN." (I told him that the words could be Kansa,
Osage, or Omaha-</FONT><FONT size=2>Ponca, since we think that La Flesche
himself or his writing system had probably been the source for the
writing.) Naturally, it was very difficult for us to hear well
and to communicate about this over the phone.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I'll try to address some of the comments raised earlier.
Yes, the "TH" indicates that at least some of the inscription must be
Omaha-Ponca or Osage, which I understand has edh intervocalically and
word-initially, as in the Osage /</FONT><FONT size=2>kkodha/</FONT><FONT
size=2> 'friend' that Carolyn Quintero pointed out. And, by
the way, I have seen the word /</FONT><FONT size=2>kkodha/</FONT><FONT
size=2> (written "kola," as I recall) written in at least one Ponca song
that was shown and played on tape to me several years ago by Henry Collins,
a well-known Ponca singer and drum maker and a fluent (middle-aged) speaker of
Ponca, who lives here in Lawrence. He was the person who initially
provided me with the contacts for my consultants in Oklahoma, giving me the
names of four of his uncles. He has been recording and writing
down some of the Ponca songs for his children and, without my asking,
just pulled them out to show me and play for me. I remember remarking
at the time on the word "</FONT><FONT size=2>kola"</FONT><FONT
size=2> 'friend' and his telling me that it was an alter</FONT><FONT
size=2>nate word for /kh</FONT><FONT size=2>aage/</FONT><FONT size=2> that
sometimes ocurs in Ponca songs. Considering the fact that the Poncas are
traditionally the singers for the Osages at their dances even today, and that
the Osages received (some Poncas say stole!) their Ilonshka ceremonial
dance from the Poncas (from the Ponca Hethushka), it's not surprising that
/</FONT><FONT size=2>kkodha/</FONT><FONT size=2> occurs in Ponca
songs. Although I haven't visit</FONT><FONT size=2>ed with him
recently, I think Uncle Henry (Collins) might be a knowlegeable
person to ask about this inscription. Speaking of songs, I noticed
that many of the songs written in _The Omaha Tribe_ are addressed to a group, in
the second person plural. It makes me wonder if the inscription could be a
quote from a well-known song, or even Curtis's family song, if he had one.
In that case, the word "MO-NI" could have the second person reading 'you
walk.' On the other hand, I have observed that [</FONT><FONT
size=2>dh]</FONT><FONT size=2> sometimes alternates</FONT><FONT
size=2> with [n]</FONT><FONT size=2> in the </FONT><FONT
size=2>pronunciation of /dh/ </FONT><FONT size=2>in Ponca speech, although the
only example I can think of right now might exemplify a difference between Ponca
and Omaha pronunciation, as in the word for the trickster /is^tinikhe/ (Ponca)
versus /is^tidhiNkhe/ (Omaha). And by the way, I have never heard /s^/ or
/h/ before n in r-stem verbs pronounced as the realization of a second-person
prefix or before /naN/ and /namaN/, the habitual marker, in modern Ponca,
as also </FONT><FONT size=2>John Koontz says he hasn't in Omaha.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>The main issue that I would like to raise is why we haven't
considered the possibility that "C" could be La Flesche's c-cedilla without the
cedilla (to look more "American"?) and so could ambiguously represent /s/
or /z/, as La Flesche does consistently in _The Omaha Tribe_ and elsewhere
(e.g., in ",ci" for both /</FONT><FONT size=2>si/ 'foot'
and /zi/ 'yellow'), despite his saying in the "Phonetic Guide" in the
opening pages that c-cedilla "has the sound of th in thin." I'm not
prepared to say what meaning a reading of "C" as /s/ or /z/ would give the
inscription, but, if we don't have to interpret "C" as the lax stop written "G,"
we are free to assume that the two "K's" represent lax stops, rather than
inconsistently reading the first "K" as tense (as it would have to be if the
word is /kkodha/ 'friend') and the second "K" as lax (more likely than if it
were the tense stop of the first-person form /kkobdha/ 'I want, wish' if the
verb in the inscription i</FONT><FONT size=2>s in fact /</FONT><FONT
size=2>koNdha/, inflected with the plural/proximate ending /i/. I'm
somewhat hampered by not being able to refer to La Flesche's Osage dictionary,
but as Carolyn has pointed out, he does use "g" in the dictionary for the
(unvoiced) lax velar stop in Osage and "k" with a dot underneath for the tense
velar stop. L</FONT><FONT size=2>a Flesche inconsistently represents the
tense stops of Osage in _The Omaha Tribe_, where he doesn't use subscript dots
(with the exception of one place that John noticed?), for example, /kk/ as "k"
in "WakoN'da" ('God') on page 65 and "gk" in "Gka'washiNka" 'Little horse' (a
personal name) on page 64, unless I haven't noticed a consistent pattern for his
written Osage.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>As far as the length of the first stem vowel in Osage /koNdha/
(Ponca "</FONT><FONT size=2>gaNaN</FONT><FONT size=2>tha"</FONT><FONT
size=2> ' to wish, want, desire,' or in one instance, 'to try to become' as
in, "</FONT><FONT size=2>Gini gaNaN</FONT><FONT size=2>tha(a)!"</FONT><FONT
size=2> 'Try to get better!' (imperative, female speech), written in the
practical orthography adopted by the Ponca Nation), I think that it probably is
long (/oNoN/). At least it is in the Ponca counterpart, I would
say</FONT><FONT size=2>. John raised this question about length.
I've been transcribing some stories recently, and in all the person forms, most
of which have the accent on the first--or stem--syllable, I seem to hear a
long vowel. Even in the I-you form, where the accent shifts
to the portmanteau person prefix /wi-/, I think I hear a long /aNaN/:
/wi'kkaNaNbdha/. However, in the inclusive form that occurs in one of the
stories, I definitely hear a long vowel: /aNgaNaN'dhai/ 'we want.'
This could be explained by the presence of an infixed inclusive person marker
/aN-/ in this doubly inflecting verb, which I think is present, but even in
t</FONT><FONT size=2>he third person, where the accent often shifts to the
following stem vowel in verbs, it remains on the first, as shown in John's
example using /gaNaN'dha</FONT><FONT size=2>/ of a type 1 g-stem active verb at
his website under "Morphology," an indication that the first stem vowel is long,
having "attracted" the accent: gaN'=dha=i 'he/she heard it'
(sic).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>A few stray thoughts that I had were that the two "KO's" could
be a deictic or a discourse marker, such as gaN, and that "-SHE" might be the
/-s^e/ that occurs after second-person plural verbs in Ponca, Kansa, and I guess
the other Dhegiha languages. I'm afraid, though that my ruminations don't
bring us any closer to a meaning for the inscription. I just thought I'd
offer my observations.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Kathy</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=rankin@ku.edu href="mailto:rankin@ku.edu">Rankin, Robert L</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=siouan@lists.colorado.edu
href="mailto:siouan@lists.colorado.edu">siouan@lists.colorado.edu</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, July 29, 2003 3:49
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Attn. Dhegiha specialists.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><!-- Converted from text/plain format -->
<P><FONT size=2>I have received the appended request from one of the curators
for the U.S.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Senate to translate an inscription he
believes to be in the Kaw language.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>It includes a
photograph of the inscription, which is on a chair presented</FONT> <BR><FONT
size=2>to Charles Curtis when he was Vice President of the United States
from</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>1929-1933. Curtis was part Kaw. I
hope the Colorado listserver permits</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>photo
attachments. If it doesn't come through and you'd like a copy, let
me</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>know.</FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=2>I thought I'd give all of you a crack at it. I'll be
trying to translate it</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>as well. It's pretty
clearly written in a Dhegiha dialect. It may be Kaw,</FONT> <BR><FONT
size=2>but written down by someone using the Osage dictionary as a source
(since</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>there was no Kaw dictionary, Osage would be the
closest source of lexicon in</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>published form). It
looks as though it has "TH" where Kaw would have [y]</FONT> <BR><FONT
size=2>(both now and in the 1800's). You'll want to look at the photo
rather than</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>the curator's rendering of it, as someone
has scratched in a small, raised</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>"n" above a vowel to
indicate nasalization. It's easily visible near the</FONT> <BR><FONT
size=2>top. In other instances, a syllable-final <n> is written
for nasalization.</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Whoever wrote it pretty clearly had
access to La Flesche's Osage Dictionary,</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>as they write
"real" as /xtsi/. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>Any ideas appreciated. Naturally, I'll share credit
where credit is due</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>when I send in my
rendering.</FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=2>Bob</FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=2>-----Original Message-----</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>From:
Doerner, Rich (Secretary)</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003
10:15 AM</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>To: Rankin@KU.EDU</FONT> <BR><FONT
size=2>Subject: Translation</FONT> </P><BR>
<P><FONT size=2>Dear Mr. Robert Rankin:</FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=2>Ms. Virginia Wulfkuhle, Public Archeologist at Kansas,
recommended that I</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>write to you. I am the Museum
Specialist in the Office of Senate Curator</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>conducting
research on a chair presented to Vice President Charles Curtis.</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=2>I am interested in translating the following Native American
Indian (Kaw ?)</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>word(s) that appear on a circular
medallion in the center of the backrest on</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>the carved
walnut chair. The letters may be out of order. I have
enclosed</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>a digital image of the medallion for your
translation.. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>KO-THA-U-CA-SHE / THI-CE-XTSI MO-NI / KO-ON-THAIHA-IN</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT size=2>In addition to the above, the chair is also inscribed "From
the Original</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Curtis Boys and Matthew Quay
Glaser". I am reading numerous books on</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Curtis,
reviewing New York Times articles, and conducting research at the</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=2>Library of Congress to learn more about them.
</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2>THANK YOU in advance for any help you may be able to provide.
</FONT></P><BR>
<P><FONT size=2>Richard Doerner</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Museum
Specialist</FONT> <BR><FONT size=2>Office of the Senate Curator</FONT>
<BR><FONT size=2>Room S-411, U.S. Capitol Building</FONT> <BR><FONT
size=2>Washington, D.C. 20510-7102</FONT> </P>
<P><FONT size=2> <<jpg chair.JPG>>
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