St. Louis?

[Rory M Larson]

John wrote:
> It's interesting to consider that ppahiN (I think the nasalization is
> right here) z^ide might be related to pain cort, but it doesn't look like
> it holds up, and I've always assumed that Fletcher & LaFlesche were
> correct in asserting that it was a reference to Clark's residence there.

The nasalization ought to be right if we're understanding ppahiN'
as ppa 'head' + hiN 'hair', as is only sane.  Fletcher and La Flesche
(p. 107) actually don't show it as nasalized: pahi', even though they
do show the nasalization for hiN', 'hair', and pehiN', 'hair on forehead'.
It seems like a lot of nasalization is lost in 20th century Omaha,
especially for [iN].  As far as I can make out, our speakers seem to
prefer the pronunciation to be ppahi'.  If there's a nasalization there,
it's awfully slight.

Dorsey also gives the St. Louis name in his dictionary, and he says
explicitly that it is ppa'hi z^i'de, "Those who have their necks red".

If we are assuming that punning humor played a role here as John suggests,
then there could actually have been several valid forms of the word.  The
ppahiN' z^ide, "red hair", form might have been coined in the early 1800's
during the tenure of Governor Clark, while the ppa'hi z^i'de, "red neck"
form might have been an older form dating to the late 18th century in
reference to the blatantly sunburned necks of the first white men they
had much contact with, who would have arrived from St. Louis every summer
around August having poled their craft up the Missouri with their backs
mostly to the sun all the way from the Kansas City region.  This form
itself might have been a pun on a prior, possibly non-Omaha form which
incorporated the first element of the French Pain Court.  We may never
know for sure, but I think it's premature to say that the relationship
doesn't hold up.  I'd still like to know what IO and other Dhegihans
called St. Louis.

Rory