Portatives in Omaha-Ponca

[Koontz John E]

The verb ?iN 'to carry on the back' is fairly familiar, but there is a
family of others based on gdhaN:

ttu'=gdhaN 'to transport, e.g., stones'  (dative ttu'=gigdhaN)
itti'=gdhaN 'to carry in the belt, to place in the robe above the belt'
mi'=gdhaN 'to wear or carry in the belt'
a'tta=gdhaN 'to carry on top of a pile'

It appears that gdhaN as the root here refers to rounded or compact
objects, what Dorsey calls 'curvilinear', because (a) he uses curvilinear
in defining a'tta=gdhaN, and (b) itti'=aNhe refers to putting a long
object in the belt.

itti'=aNhe 'to carry (a long object) in the belt'

There is also another alternative stem z^i 'insert':

itti'=(wa)z^i 'to put them (the wa-) (long objects) in the belt'
mi'=(wa)z^i 'to put them (the wa-) in one's belt'

The sense of long here probably comes from the concept 'insert'.  It is
difficult to insert a round object under the belt.  The verb uzhi can
certainly refer to putting round objects into a bag - u- here being the
locative.

The initial components of these verbs are largely obscure, but itti' is
'abdomen', cf. also dhi'tti 'ribs'.  I notice that mi resembles the
initial element of Dakotan mi'=la 'sword'.  OP 'sun' is miN.

Also relevant:

wadhahe gi 'to come carrying it (a dog) in the mouth'
a'=igadha adhe 'to go carrying it on the arm'

These are obviously based on motion verbs.

JEK