h- vs. x-aspiration in LDN

[Koontz John E]

On Sun, 25 Feb 2001, Kathleen Shea wrote:

Without reiterating the details, it's interesting that you get somewhat
different answers from different individuals - different also from others
elsewhere at other times.  PW appears more in line with "traditional
knowledge" among Siouanists, but BL's views show that Siouanists should
beware trying to apply historical data in modern situations.

There are various techniques for working with ethnotaxonymy.  The one
example that comes to mind is that one can investigate classifications by
using possible superordinate terms in referring back to an example in the
immediate context, e.g., in English:

That tarantula is one ugly !spider/?bug/*animal/creature!

We had to put a wire cover on the chicken coop to protect them from eagles
and other birds/animals/?creatures like that.

This is an iguana.  A lizzard/*bug/creature like that is fairly common
around here.

I think you usually get better results with tests like this than by asking
people to classify things themselves, especially if there's a competing
system (like the Linnaean one or the English one) in the way.

It's also interesting to notice the differences in gloss between the
"progressive" and the non-progressive examples' glosses.

> a~'b(a) akha' ma~xpi'i  (AN'ba akHa' maNxpi'i.)    'The day is cloudy.'  (PW
> says this is like a warning, i.e. to take a coat.)
> a~'b(a) akha' ma~xpi' akha'  (AN'ba akHa' maNxpi' akHa'.)  'It's cloudy out
> there, here.'  (PW says that it's as though you
> just noticed or just stepped outside and noticed.)

> a~'ba the kke'dha  (AN'ba tHe ke'tha.)  'It's clear; today is clear.'
> a~ba' akha kke'dha akha  (ANba' akHa ke'tha akHa.)  'It's clear out there.'
> (just noticed)