wakhan in nominal position

[Jan F. Ullrich]

Bruce Ingham wrote:
> Although I'm not up on the theology of all this, an alternative word
> smetimes said to be an alternative of WakhaN ThaNka is Taku
> s^kaNs^kaN 'thing  which moves' as in moves upon the water'
> perhaps.

Yes, Taku ShkaNShkan is relatively widely used in ceremonies today
(especially in Yuwipi) and there are many records about its use in early
20th and the second half of 19th century. According to J.R.Walker's
materials citing some of the 1900s elders Taku WakhaN was to designate all
the visible/hearable natural phenomena, such as wind, Sun, lightning,
thunder moon etc. Taku ShkaNshkaN is considered above these, because it is
the ONE that makes everything move – shkaN. The elders told Walker "all we
can see from it is the sky". They also told him that WakhaN ThaNka embraces
all of these, it is the ONE that includes MANY.
Most of Walkers informants were Christian converts, and even if they weren't
we still do not know whether WakhaN ThaNka was a pre-contact concept/term or
not.
Many elders told me (and Violet Catches e-mailed a similar notion) that
WakhaN ThaNka was not for everyday use, only for prayers and songs. In
everyday language Taku Wakhan is used. But you won't hear Taku Wakhan on the
reservation very often today. Instead Thunkashila is heard far most often.
Interestingly, while we can find only Taku WakhaN and not WakhaN ThaNka in
early missionary reports, today there are hundreds of ceremonial songs with
WakhaN ThaNka, while there are really few with Taku WakhaN.

> Another   example of wakhaN as head of a clause is the
>  Lakota word for 'electricity' or 'lightning' which is WakhaN gli
> mysterious thing which comes'.

This is a "good shot". Why haven't I thought of this one? I probably always
perceived this wakhaN adverbially ("it comes mysteriously"), it could have
even been contracted from WakhaNyaN gli, but that's a guess.

Jan


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