Omaha athe, etc.

[rlarson at unlnotes01.unl.edu]

>> For /athe'/, it looks like we have two hypotheses:
>>     1)  It is the 1st-person inflected form of /the/.
>>     2)  It is a separate, uninflected particle.

>> I think I'll start by trying Catherine's excellent suggestion of

>>     aNzhaN' aNthe'

> My only caveat here has to do with the fact that the verb 'sleep' here
has a
> final nasal vowel.  Since the beginning of the putative 'we must have
slept'
> contains the same vowel, there is some possibility of confusion on the
part
> of speakers.  Maybe some verb that ends in an oral V would improve
chances.

That's a good point, although 'sleep' is advantageous
semantically in the first person because it is something
one does unawares.  I'll try to vary the verb to cover
different possible vowel endings though.

Rory