More "ablaut".

[rankin]

> That would certainly be the gold standard.  I wonder
> though if you would be willing to bend the *same
verb*
> rule just a little bit here.

Well, evidence always accumulates slowly, and,
naturally the truly "minimal" distinctions emerge more
slowly than near-minimal ones sometimes.  With "ablaut"
affecting every -e stem verb though, I'd expect to find
massive cases of such minimal meaning distinctions
if -e/-a really has any morphemic status at all.  Not
only have I not found a lot -- I haven't found any at
all.  But I'm not working with Omaha, so I defer to
those of you who are.  Looking at the problem as a
comparatist, I don't see much evidence within Dhegiha.
Winnebago could be different in detail, but, since it's
Mississippi Valley Siouan, not different in principle.
I can't explain the use of -a with -ire since that
particular suffix (or suffixeS) doesn't have obvious
reflexes in Dhegiha or Dakotan.  The Hochunkers among
us will have to deal with that over time.  There are a
lot of post-verbal enclitics (or suffixes) in Dakotan
that interact with "ablaut".  Since most of them lack
cognates in other MVS groups, I've assumed, maybe
wrongly, that they all came into use in Dakotan
after -a had spread analogically in the Dakotan
subgroup.  It's the forms with the cognates across MVS
that tell the tale; the others aren't talking to me
right now.  And WI -ire is one of them.  :-)

Bob (back in Kansas now).