Number & Counting Comparisons in Dhegiha

[Koontz John E]

On Tue, 13 Nov 2001, Rankin, Robert L wrote:
> I guess Rory's 'wadhawa' "something [you] count" is as good a noun as
> any.  Kaw would be *wayawa.

I wondered about we'dhawa (we'yawa?) 'with which you count', though
perhaps that would be a closer equivalent to 'numeral'.  (This would
definitely be at least an etymologically long e, too.)

In consideration of Alan Hartley's comments, I'd guess you'd say 'let's
count things', which would, in fact, require wadhawa.

I suspect the Kaw forms without -wa are simply somewhat contracted.  A w
is easily lost between vowels in many languages.  In that case the final a
should probably sound rather long, and we all know how easy it is to miss
long vowels ...

And speaking of etymology, a verb root beginning in w- is a little
unusual, isn't it?  For a Mississippi Valley Siouan language, that is.

JEK