wakhan in nominal position

[Michael Mccafferty]

If I'm not mistaken, there's has also been discussion in Algonquian realms
as to whether "Kitchimanito" ('big spirit') was a precontact idea or came
with the black robes.

Michael McCafferty
On Wed, 5 Jun 2002, Koontz John E wrote:

> On Wed, 5 Jun 2002, Jan F. Ullrich wrote:
> > In the term WakhaN' ThaN'ka the adjectival stative verb wakhan (to be
> > sacred/mysterious/supernatural/incomprehensible) stands in the nominal
> > position and is followed by another adjectival stative verb (thaN'ka – to be
> > big/large/great).
>
> This is very interesting detective work - a case of Siouan philology, in
> fact.
>
> > Any hints from Dorsey's materials? He was a missionary as well, right?
> > Any comparative possibilities? I know some of the other Siouan tribes use
> > Wak(h?)aNda.
>
> Omaha-Ponca has wakkaN'da, Osage wahkaN'ta, etc.  The kk/hk set would
> correspond to Dakotan kh.  A Dakota equivalent would be something like
> *wakhaNl- ~ wakhaN'ta.
>
> Dhegiha also has forms like OP wakkaN'dagi 'water monster' (or 'doctor' in
> some Dhegiha languages), which looks strangely like it has the Dakotan
> article added.  I think that the Omaha Shell Society (and the Mide complex
> generally) may moderate some of this terminology, since it involves both a
> water monster and doctoring in its basis story.
>
> Both these terms are nominal in OP, and there are various other nouns with
> wa-prefixes, some from stative sources, like wasa'be 'black bear'.  There
> is also a class of stative verbs in wa-, e.g., wa..khe'ga 'be sick' and
> wa..s^u's^e 'be brave, generous':  aNwa(N)'s^us^e 'I am generous' (bad
> form to say), wadhi's^us^e 'you are generous', etc.
>
> Finally, there are at least some other anomalous compounds in OP, e.g.,
> the name iNs^ta' maN'ze 'iron eye' (or 'glinting eye'?).  The pattern here
> of modified noun + modifying noun (treated as a stative?) is different,
> but I've always thought that this, and maybe some other examples that slip
> my mind, suggest that there are still some mysteries to the syntax of
> (relatively) simple NPs in Siouan languages.
>
> JEK
>
>
>


Michael McCafferty
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