Dhegiha Plurals & the microfilms.

[rankin]

> I've been looking over Carolyn Quintero's "First
Course in Osage"
> book in Mark's office.  It looks like there are
number of cases
> where we get some sort of Cai sequence, including the
end sequence
> of the we-plural form.  I think she mentions these
somewhere as
> diphthongs.  This may be a phonological quirk of
Osage, and if so,
> that =tta=i=the would be explained away.  Are you
familiar with
> these?

I don't have the instructional materials, but I leave
it to Carolyn to comment on the Osage.  I did
recordings with 3 fluent OS speakers back about 1980
but never heard the -p- elided or missing.  But, as I
said, loss of post-accentual stops is not uncommon
within roots and stems.  Compare Omaha sne:de and Osage
ste: 'long, tall'.  There are many other such.

> As far as I can tell, pi generally functions as a
pluralizer,
> except in third-person declarative forms (pe/pa),
where it is
> used for either singular or plural.  Is this
understanding
> correct?

Again, I won't try to speak for Osage, but the
endings -api/-ape are the unmarked/female plural and
3sg markers (3rd sg. for some grammatical category
having to do with obviation, as discussed often on the
list).  These suffixes are bimorphemic (at
east).  -Ape incorporates the feminine declarative
marker -(dh)e.  If you also have a male
declarative, -ha, then -apa might occur too, I suppose,
but since the speakers I've worked with have been
predominently female, I cannot say for sure.

> There also seems to be a post-verbal particle =dhe ~
=e which is
> supposed to function as a sort of emphatic.  Does
this equate to
> anything in any language outside of Osage?

Yes, that's the female declarative (above).  It is
found all over Mississippi Valley Siouan.  You have it
(or used to have it) in Omaha and Ponca, all other
Dhegiha dialects, Dakotan and probably Chiwere in one
form or another.  Sara Trechter has a short comparative
study of the gender-sensitive modals, and I think she
found it everywhere in MVS except Winnebago.  In WI it
may have a few reflexes in songs, but I think that's
basically an open question.  She could tell you much
more.

> Finally, I'm going to ask again for comment from the
comparativists
> (John?  Bob?) on the alternate Winnebago 3rd-person
pluralizer
> =ire.  Is it known to be cognate to anything outside
of Winnebago?

Unless John has something on this I don't think it's
ever been tackled seriously by Siouanists.  I seem to
recall a Mandan 3rd person pluralizer that had a
similar sequence of -VrV, but I'm just saying this from
(an ever less reliable) memory.   I also have a vague
recollection of maybe an analogous Tutelo form.  (I'm
at home and can't look these things up at the moment.)

> > I think there actually are some Osage texts from
the 1880s, just not
> many, and unpublished.  They might be included in the
Swetland microfilm copies
> > of the Dorsey files.  There are also Dorsey's
lexical slips.

I just looked at Mark's microfilms last week.  The Kaw
Nation has copies.  Look on reel 7.  Reel 6 contains
some (not nearly all) JOD's Kaw material.  Reel 7 is
Osage and Reel 8 is Quapaw.  All are selective and not
complete versions of the Dorsey files, but we owe Mark
a debt of gratitude for including the (quite
respectable) amounts of those languages that he was
able to with his space/time constraints.  I assume all
of the first 5 reels are Omaha and Ponca.

There's still lots more to understand. . . .

Bob