postural verbs, verbs of motion

[Koontz John E]

On Fri, 18 Jan 2002, Koontz John E wrote:
> The wic^ha- form for 'them' (animate) is related to indendent forms
> wic^has^a ~ wic^hasta 'man', depending on the dialect.  Wic^ha- is also
> used a first term in bodypart compounds in the sense of human.  This noun
> is unique to Dakotan, unless it's irregularly related to waz^az^e 'Osage',
> say from *wi/ayas^-.  I'd guess the root there might be *yas^- 'name', but
> this etymology has never pleased anyone but myself.  Other Mississippi
> Valley Siouan languages use wa-, presumably from wa- 'indefinite object'
> where Dakotan has wic^ha-.

I omitted to say that this association only makes sense if the the -s^a of
wic^has^a and the -s- of wic^hasta are taken as part of the root, i.e.,
the stem is something like wic^has^- ~ wic^has- matching (albeit
irregularly) waz^a'z^(e) to suggest w(a/i)yas^-.  Another problem with
this is then accounting for the -ta in wic^hasta, though, as far as I can
tell, we're not a whole lot ahead trying to account for -s^a vs. -sta.