i- in Dhegiha i-POSITIONAL=...CAUSE (RE: Word for 'prairie'?)

[Rankin, Robert L]

In Kansa and Osage the initial V in these forms is never /u/ (U-umlaut),
so the motion verb would presumably not be (h)u 'come', but one of the
others.  BOB

> There are two sorts of evidence against i as a locative - instrumenal,
dative or otherwise - though I admit that I initially took this as a
locative myself, and we are lacking evidence of the most desirable sort
- a case of, say, A12 or P1 aN coming up against the i and not doing the
standard aNdhaN thing that characterizes the locative i.

> The first kind of evidence is internal (and applies throughout
Dhegiha, as far as I know).  It happens that idhaN, ithe, and ihe occur
frequently in causatives (form=...dhe) in the sense 'put and object of
such and such a shape down' or 'put an object positioned in such and
such a configuration'.  However, they also occur alone and with
causatives in the sense 'be positioned; begin; do suddenly; do suddenly
and repeatedly', and in all these situations they alternate with
thi-forms like thidhaN, thithe, or thihe.  And we also see some cases
with hi initial in such sequences.  So it appears that i alternates with
thi and hi, which are clearly motion verbs ('to arrive here' and 'to
arrive there'). Thus, it seems likely that it is a motion verb itself,
and, of course, there is i 'to come'.  However, dhe 'to go' never occurs
in this context, so there are some oddities to the slot.