OP /the/ vs. /dhaN/ (Re: Dakota: verbs with 'hill' involved)

[are2 at buffalo.edu]

Whoops, I have a bandaid on one finger and accidentally hit send
somehow too early.  Sorry.  Below is the whole message.

> >> OP /the/ is actually pretty complicated in its usage.  It can
> > refer to a
> > >> standing inanimate thing, like a post or a house, but it is
> > perhaps most
> > >> commonly used to refer to ordered sets of things, like (an
> armload
> > of)
> > >> rocks, or both members of a set of paired body parts.  Thus, one
> > leg
> > >> would be /khe/, "elongate", but both legs would be /the/, "the
> > set". One
> > >> eye would be /dhaN/, "globular", but both eyes would be /the/.
> A single hand, however, is still /the/, I suppose because all the
fingers
> > >> composing it are regarded as a set.
>
 Ok, I am not sure about how these were elicited but the pairs of body
 parts associated with a given individual have taken the singular
article in most of the data I have seen produced naturally.
 Ex. Zhibe kHe abita-a.
      leg   the touch-Femal command
     'Touch your leg(s).'
This is ambiguous between singular and plural.  I'll try to elicit
some of these in case the times I've heard have all somehow been
singular. (this is possible.  I can't recall purposely eliciting
these.)

...> > I don't think that the distinction of /the/ as 'vertical'
> > and /khe/ as 'horizontal' really holds as such.  I'm pretty
> > sure I've seen more than one instance in Dorsey referring to
> > a rope or swing hanging down from a tree, i.e. vertical, and
> > the positional used for it was /khe/, not /the/.  I think /khe/
> > basically means 'elongate', or perhaps 'superficial'.  For a
> > vertical thing to be /the/, I believe it has to be actually
> > standing upright, not hanging.

I think this is easiliest explained through a concept of canonical
position.  Similar to hanging ropes, pencils standing up in a jar or
in your hand still get kHe.  It is their at rest position or how they
are canonically conceptualized in Omaha.  SImilarly a cup on its side
still gets tHe and not kHe.

> > I don't know how it works in other Dhegihan languages, but in
> > OP I think the essence of /the/ is 'ordered, founded thing',
> > something set up like a post or house, something that
> > obviously exists in defiance of entropy; or something that is
> > right there, just so, at a specific spot; or a well-defined
> > set of things that are tied together somehow.  The latter
> > usage nicely contrasts with /ge/, meaning 'scattered things'
> > not linked together belonging to an unbounded set.

Not quite so simple as ordered/bounded.  Ge is used as the plural of
tHe type objects even when they are not scattered and are bounded.
Ex. NiuthatoN ge 'the cups'

This set of plural cups can be well-ordered and bounded.  It is the
opposition of two articles which is used to create a sense of
plurality rather than order/disorder.
Also, I am not in support of a defiance of entropy account.  This
seems great for massive objects (houses, trees, poles) but what about
cups?  Do these defy entropy more than a pencil or blackboard (kHe) or
a table or flower (dhoN)?


> > Yes.  My impression has been that /the/ was used for an
> > instant of time, while /dhaN/ referred to a period.  I never
> > found enough examples to be quite sure about this though.

Hmmm.  I like this but have to offer a counterexample:
Hidhai tHe-di 'On Saturday'

This is not very instantaneous or particularly well-defined.  It is
bounded but refers to a general period. My jury is still out on the
time pattern.

-Ardis


All of my above info/examples/analysis are from chapter 3.6.2 (the
inanimate articles) of my (will the agony ever end? in progress)
dissertation and have been understood through the patience and
kindness of the Elders I work with (esp. Mrs. Alice Saunsoci and Mrs.
Marcella Cayou).  Misanalysis is my responsibility.