Our wish
Rory M Larson
rlarson at unlnotes.unl.edu
Wed Jul 30 20:58:11 UTC 2003
Carolyn wrote:
> In Osage there is e'bre (and e'kibre) for 'I believe' from, presumably,
> e'dhe 'believe', so I go along with the analysis of 'we think/believe' as
> the best candidate for aNdhe , which would be the expected 1p form of
e'dhe.
You're right, Carolyn! I was apparently mistaken when I
was reconstructing it as *(e)dha. In fact, it's in the
La Flesche dictionary as /e'dhe/, just as you say. It has
the I- and you- forms listed, but not the we- form. The
dictionary translates it as "think".
What I don't understand now is why the compound /koN'dha/
form comes out as an -a stem. Perhaps Bob or John can
shed light on this.
> Then 1p aNdhe is represented on the chair as oNdhe, not surprisingly
since
> modern aN was in LF oN; and dhe, as mentioned, becomes dha before i.
Yes!
> So I would take the phrase koN'oNtha iha to be something like 'we make
the
> wish'.
I agree.
> Then the whole thing loosely glossed would be approximately:
> "Our wish: Friend(s), go forth supremely untroubled!"
> ( Or: Our wish: Friend, walk in peace, go forth in peace, etc. )
Just one quibble here. As Bob and I argued last night, the
MO-NI is for /moN-hniN/, "you walk". So it should read:
Friend, we make the wish that you walk in peace/good health, etc.
(The great thing about Siouan is that you're not restricted
to a single finite verb per clause!)
> Peacefully,
> Carolyn
Good advice in any case!
Rory
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