[Algonquiana] Indefinite Pronominal Prefix in Ojibwe?

[David Myers]

Boozhoo!

I am new to the mailing lists to which I am messaging the following questions, but I have had it suggested to me by someone familiar with these groups of people that I send my question out this way. I am very glad these mailing lists exist, and I thank you all for your work with the Algonquian languages, and I thank you in advance for any help you might be able to provide me with on this topic, too:

I am an amateur linguist interested in Ojibwe, and am currently wondering about the possible use and distribution of a historical indefinite pronominal prefix in the language. Valentine, in his “Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar” (2001, p. 198–199), makes reference to a historical indefinite/unspecified pronominal prefix in Ottawa, with the form  /i/. He draws this from Bloomfield’s “Eastern Ojibwa: Grammatical Sketch, Texts and Word List” (1958, p. 24). The presence of an indefinite pronominal prefix in PAc is discussed in Proulx’s “Proto-Algic I: Phonological Sketch” (e.g., p. 169 in “International Journal of American Linguistics” Vol. 50, No. 2 (Apr. 1984)). However, based on Proulx’s analysis, one would, to my understanding, expect the reflex in Anishinaabemowin to have the form /mE/ (indfinite pronominal prefix |(-)m+| and link element |+E+| before consonants). (The form given in Proulx (ibid.) is indefinite pronominal prefix *|(-)m+| plus link element *|+e+|. I would expect this rendered in PA in the same form, thus becoming underlying /mE/ →[mi]/_C in Anishinaabemowin.) So I am wondering if anyone can tell me whether at one point in Ojibwe and Ottawa, the indefinite pronominal prefix had a preceding /m/ that was dropped, after which the remaining historical /i/ was dropped due to the onset of vowel syncope in the southeastern dialects and a possible instance of apheresis in the other dialects. Is this possible? Has it been found that this is the case? If not, why has PAc *|me| been realized as |i| in historical Ottawa? Was this the case for Ojibwe too? Lastly, what was the distribution of the indefinite pronominal prefix in Ojibwe, if it used to exist there? Proulx (ibid.) says that the indefinite pronominal prefix occurred in PAc on dependent nouns that were not kinship terms. Bloomfield (1958, p. 24) also says that it was used on certain dependent nouns. Does this mean that, if it occurred in Ojibwe as well as PAc and Ottawa, it only occurred in the contexts specified by Proulx (1984, p. 169)? Or did it occur elsewhere? If it occurred elsewhere, in which specific contexts?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Please feel free to correct any of my points or ask me to clarify them. Any evidence from related language forms would also be helpful.

Gichi-miigwech in advance!

Sincerely,

David Myers