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<TITLE>Re: Wanikiya Tun -> omaka</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Verdana">I’m sure that the connection is as you say makha ‘earth’ and the abstract making or locative prefix o-, linking time with the changing phases of mother earth in the year.<BR>
I believe that this is also true in Cree, which often mirrors Lakota in such things although they are not etymologically related but not far from each other geographically. I remember that they use pipon ‘winter’ for ‘years of age’ as in nisosaap e piponeyaan ‘when I was 12 years old’, but I’m sure that they also use askiy ‘earth’ in some way for year, but cannot remember how and have not got any Cree books to hand<BR>
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Bruce<BR>
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With spring, Chinookans, like flowers, emerged from underground to a new world. The root for "world, country, land, earth" indeed also has the meaning "year", pointing up the interdependence of recurring time with the recurrences of the seasonal round." (p. 21)<BR>
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Apart from all this sounding very familiarily Chinese to me, here's my query: how's this in Siouan etymology? As for Dakota, the word for 'season/year' _omaka_ obviously comprises _maka_ [makxa'] 'earth' etc. plus the locative (or whatever) prefix _o-_.<BR>
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Alfred<BR>
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Bruce Ingham<BR>
Professor of Arabic Dialect Studies<BR>
SOAS. London University<BR>
Thornhaugh St. Russell Square<BR>
London WC1H OXG. England<BR>
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