Sky and clouds

[Bruce Ingham]

Thanks Richard.
  Yes amah^piyas^ni is something I should have thought of.  The
verb amah^piya occurs in Buechel's dictionary.  It confirms
something I 've always thought about learning languages, which is
that, if you've been working on a language for a few years, you
probably know all the words that you need to know, but if you are
not  exposed to it in an everyday context, you don't know the
context in which the words are used and keep looking for a new
word, where you don't really need to.
	I mentioned at the Siouan conference a couple of years
ago that my daughter, who learnt Persian as her first language, at
the age of 1 year 8 months had 30 verbs and about 50 nouns, but
seemed to be able to say absolutely everything that she needed to
with very passable grammatical correctness.  But then we all know
that it's easier for children.



Bruce

.   Date sent:      	Mon, 19 Feb 2001 10:35:35 -0600
From:           	"Richard C. Lundy" <rlundy at huntel.net>
Send reply to:  	Richard, C., Lundy, PO, Box, 216, Macy, NE,
68039
To:             	bi1 at soas.ac.uk
Subject:        	Re: Sky and clouds

Greetings All!

I continue to enjoy reading these materials generated by your
interest in our Native
languages.  Hello to Shannon West in Canada.  I hope all is well
for you and your
work.  In response to the question re: clear sky or not cloudy,  I
can tell you how
I've learned it in actual on the rez Lakota.  We say "amaHpiya Sni".
 Note that the
"H" is the so called guttural "H" often written as an "x".  The "S" is
as "sh" in
English.  Once again I apologize for my lack of linguistic
symbolism and training.
Also,  one can say "maSte"  (again with the S=sh)  which means
"it's a sunny day" or
the Santees will say "kasota"  referring to a clear, cloudless day.
In Lakota we
also will say "kaska iyaye"  re: it has cleared up.  These don't
directly or
literally say "it is cloudless".  That would be "amaHpiya Sni".

Bruce Ingham wrote:

> Dear Siouanists
> Something has been at the back of my mind for years.  In Lakota
the word
>  given in dictionaries and elsewhere for 'sky', 'cloud' and 'heaven'
is mah^piya.
> Sometimes also in Lakota prayers the equivalent for 'heaven' or
'sky' is
> waNkatuya or WaNkal  literally 'up there, high up'.  Therefore I
wonder
> how to say such a thing as 'there are no clouds in the sky' .
There is a verb
>   kaska iyaya 'to clear (of clouds in the sky)' and one sees
sentences
>  like, I think,  mah^piya ska wan woslal he 'a white cloud stood
vertically
>  (in front of them)'.  Any ideas.  Is this the same in other Siouan
languages.
>
> Bruce
>
>
> Dr. Bruce Ingham
> Reader in Arabic Linguistic Studies
> SOAS
Date sent:      	Mon, 19 Feb 2001 11:05:15 -0600
Send reply to:  	Richard at hooch.colorado.edu, C. at hooch.colorado.edu,
       	Kimberly.Lundy at colorado.edu, PO at hooch.colorado.edu
From:           	"Richard C. Lundy" <rlundy at huntel.net>
To:             	siouan at lists.colorado.edu
Subject:        	Re: Sky and clouds



"Richard C. Lundy" wrote:

> Greetings All!
>
> I continue to enjoy reading these materials generated by your interest in our Native
> languages.  Hello to Shannon West in Canada.  I hope all is well for you and your
> work.  In response to the question re: clear sky or not cloudy,  I can tell you how
> I've learned it in actual on the rez Lakota.  We say "amaHpiya Sni".  Note that the
> "H" is the so called guttural "H" often written as an "x".  The "S" is as "sh" in
> English.  Once again I apologize for my lack of linguistic symbolism and training.
> Also,  one can say "maSte"  (again with the S=sh)  which means "it's a sunny day" or
> the Santees will say "kasota"  referring to a clear, cloudless day.  In Lakota we
> also will say "kaska iyaye"  re: it has cleared up.  These don't directly or
> literally say "it is cloudless".  That would be "amaHpiya Sni".
>
> Bruce Ingham wrote:
>
> > Dear Siouanists
> > Something has been at the back of my mind for years.  In Lakota the word
> >  given in dictionaries and elsewhere for 'sky', 'cloud' and 'heaven' is mah^piya.
> > Sometimes also in Lakota prayers the equivalent for 'heaven' or 'sky' is
> > waNkatuya or WaNkal  literally 'up there, high up'.  Therefore I wonder
> > how to say such a thing as 'there are no clouds in the sky' .  There is a verb
> >   kaska iyaya 'to clear (of clouds in the sky)' and one sees sentences
> >  like, I think,  mah^piya ska wan woslal he 'a white cloud stood vertically
> >  (in front of them)'.  Any ideas.  Is this the same in other Siouan languages.
> >
> > Bruce
> >
> >
> > Dr. Bruce Ingham
> > Reader in Arabic Linguistic Studies
> > SOAS
Dr. Bruce Ingham
Reader in Arabic Linguistic Studies
SOAS