How widespread is Sound symbolism

[SHEA KATHLEEN DORETTE]

Omaha-Ponca has the pair s?adhe 'salty' and x?adhe 'sour,' which I think
is an example of sound symbolism involving the non-contiguous sounds s?
and x? of the glottalized fricative series.  Apparently, the word sh?adhe
doesn't exist.  (I checked with a couple of speakers.)

I haven't been reading the entire discussion about the origin of the names
of various tribes, but I did glance at the comments about the name for
"Comanche" in O-P, ppada~kka, which I'm told by Ponca speakers means
"hooked nose."  This could be a folk etymology, however.  I wonder if the
signs used for tribes' names in Plains sign language would shed some light
on their origins or if the signs, too, might be the result of folk
etymologies.

Kathy Shea

On Wed, 15 Sep 1999, Koontz John E wrote:

> On Wed, 15 Sep 1999, Robert L. Rankin wrote:
> > All fricatives are elegible to participate.
> >
> > s  sh  x
> > z  zh  gh [gamma]
> > s' sh' x'
> >
> > We've just been using the VL set as examples.  I don't recall if there
> > are any "fully functional" glottalized sets or not, but they are
> > potentially there.
>
> I believe there's a case in Omaha-Ponca with a term meaning 'hollow,
> depression' that involves the glottalized set.  It's interesting because,
> of course, *x? becomes just ? in Omaha-Ponca.
>
>