Sky and clouds

[RLR]

Yeah, awaxa fits maNghe perfectly, initial syllables undergoing syncope
in Mississippi Valley Siouan.

Rgraczyk at aol.com wrote:

> Crow has awa'xa for 'sky' and ahpaaxi' for 'cloud'.  Perhaps Hidatsa has
> lost
> the awa'xa term and uses ahpaaxi' for both 'clouds' and 'sky'.  Actually
> awa'xa looks like a better candidate for a cognate with the other Siouan
> terms.
>
> Randy

I still tend to think that in the more southerly languages *maxpu is the
prototype in Chiwere and Dhegiha throughout, with -pi turning up only in
those languages (QU, OM, PN) in which *u > i with absolute regularity.
That still leaves Dakotan and Winnebago.

Bob