John Lennon Memorial Query: No. 9

[Eric]

Ok, I'll ask the obvious: could "nine" be the original Choctaw meaning with
the "(be) pregnant" meaning referring to number of the month the pregnancy
is in?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pamela Munro" <munro at ucla.edu>
To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2002 4:14 PM
Subject: Re: John Lennon Memorial Query: No. 9


> The only thing I can add to what Jack's written is to clarify that this
> word for '(be) pregnant', Choctaw chakali, has a somewhat odd status.
> It's not the normal way any modern speaker I've consulted with expresses
> this concept, but is used in Byington's translation of the Bible
> (expressing 'great with child', which in the numbers, if I am correct on
> this connection, would be extended to 'great with ten' (!)). Speakers
> know the word, but perhaps only because of this use. It's possible,
> though, that it has some other, earlier meaning we haven't discovered.
>
> Pam
>