OP /the/ vs. /dhaN/ (fwd)

[Rory M Larson]

>> I have the notion that apertures tend to be =tHe.  If so, that will
>> explain 'mouth' and '(inner) ear', but checking it against other parts
>> of the anatomy may be awkward.

> Yes, I can see where it might.  Maybe 'navel' would be fairly neutral.
> 'Nostrils', unfortunately, are a set.

I've just met with the speakers again.  'Navel' seems, indeed, to be
=tHe, as in:

  dhe'ta tHe oNs^na'be  ...  moNdhiN'k[a] uz^i'
  'my navel is dirty    ...  it's filled with earth'
    (and on to further speculation in English about growing
     beans and potatoes in it)

I tried 'nostril', /pa'xdhu/.  By this time I had them fairly
conditioned with limb words to view =kHe as singular and =tHe
as plural.  (We're back to allowing =tHe for both eyes, by the
way, and a single hand is now =kHe.)  When asked directly, it
was tentatively decided that a single nostril was =kHe, and
both were =tHe.  But when I asked how to say: "My nostril is
plugged", I got:

  pa'xdhu tHe oNwoN'ske
    (oNwoN'ske = u-oN-ske < uske' = 'plugged')

This could refer to both nostrils, but I suspect that =tHe
is actually correct here for the singular.

Attempts to elicit the positionals for the more netherly
apertures were inconclusive.  One speaker suggested =kHe
on the philosophical grounds that a person only had one of
the kind, while the other favored =dhoN.  The expected =tHe
was not offered, and neither were any illustrative
sentences.

Rory