Identity of Ogalala2

[Robert L. Rankin]

Just as an aside to Blair's answer to Ted's question about n, d and r in
Catawba, these three phones at one time had almost exactly the same
distribution in Catawba as they do in modern Mandan.  Kennard, Hollow,
Carter and Mixco all agree that the distribution in Mandan is:

[d] in word-initial position before oral vowels,
[r] in non-initial position before oral vowels, and
[n] in any position in the word preceding nasal vowels.

The sounds are complementary in Crow and Hidatsa also, but their
distribution has been skewed by the fact that vowel nasality has been lost
in those languages.  The older Catawba and modern Mandan distribution of
d, n and r may be quite old.

I hope I interpreted the Mandan specialists correctly.  If I made any
mistakes, please let us know.

Bob