<html><body>
<p><tt>> Lakota has a modest number of examples of gm-clusters - relying here only<br>
> the words starting with gm, and not looking further. This would seem to<br>
> imply a Proto-Mississippi Valley cluster *kw followed by a nasal vowel.<br>
> There are also a few cases of gw, implying *kw. The problem with this<br>
> implication is that corresponding forms seem not to occur.<br>
><br>
> The main cases of *kw with any cognate are wagmuN' 'squash' and igmuN'<br>
> 'cat', where the cognates show up with gdh in Dhegiha, dw in Ioway-Otoe,<br>
> and c^Vw in Winnebago. Both words are likely to be loans - or areally<br>
> widespread forms.</tt><br>
<br>
<tt>Couldn't this cluster be reconstructed as *kyw, a combination velar stop, fronting of the tongue, and pursing of the lips, all roughly simultaneous? I think French recognizes a semivowel consisting of the latter two phonotactic factors, basically the consonantal form of u-umlaut, as in /lui/.</tt><br>
<br>
<tt>By this model, Dakotan would have lost the tongue fronting (*kyw -> *kw); Dhegihan would have lost lip-pursing, or had it absorbed into following [uN] (*kyw -> *ky -> *kr); and Ioway-Otoe and Winnebago would have cancelled *k and *y by fronting *k as a palatalized stop (*kyw -> *c^w), progressing to c^Vw in Winnebago and dw in Ioway-Otoe.</tt><br>
<br>
<tt>Rory</tt><br>
</body></html>