More on Noun Classes or Gender in Omaha-Ponca

[Koontz John E]

We've mentioned the Omaha-Pocna verbs of position in the past.
Corresponding logically to the dhaN, the, and khe articles are
idhaN'=...dhe, ithe'=...dhe and ihe'=...dhe.  Note ihe', not the expected
*ikhe'.  Also, there is apparently no *ige'=...dhe corresponding to the
get 'the scattered' article.  The final inflected part ...dhe is the
causative, and forms like ...gidhe for the reflexive possessive or suus
also occur.  The inflected part makes the verb transitive 'to put (away),
to place'.  I suppose 'to set', 'to stand', and 'to lay' might be formal
alternatives for 'to place'.  There are uninflected intransitive forms
idhaN', ithe', ihe' that are used sometimes, too.  I wish I could say when
it was appropriate to use these instead of gdhiN 'to sit', naNz^iN 'to
stand', and z^aN 'to lie', but the light has not yet dawned.

It occurred to me to look to see if use of these verbs correlated with the
noun classes.  I'd have said yes on speculation, but I had never really
looked.

To begin with, this does appear to be the case, though there are
ramifications.  For example, the noun hiNxpe' 'fine feather' (a body
feather, as I think we established once) is usually hiNxpe'=khe (Dorsey
90:148.2, 151.6, 151.7, 155,11-12, 166.14, 170.5), though there are a few
cases of hiNxpe'=dhaN glossed, perhaps not coincidentally, as 'plume'
(Dorsey 90:614.14, 614.15).

It appears that this =khe usage with hiNxpe' affects other contexts where
the classification system enters into Omaha-Ponca grammar.  For example:

Dorsey 90:610.10
hiNxpe' ga'ghe       z^aN'= khe=  ama
feather appearing as he lay EVID QUOTE

He lay there looking like a feather.

Here the =khe seems to be the evidential.  This uses the idiom noun +
ga'ghe 'to make' that is used to indicate magically emulating something.
Notice that the class of hiNxpe' also probably determines the use of the
verb z^aN 'to lie', though this is presumably only the default position of
the feather.

In this example both the evidential =khe and the verb of placement
ihe'=...dhe occur with hiNxpe(=khe).  I've thinned the example down
somewhat, but it refers to a situation in which an eagle has been killed.
It still appears to be there, but it has been magically replaced with a
single feather.  This is a common story element.

Dorsey 90:52.6-9

... [The eagle is killed.  JEK]

... hiNxpe'=     wiN udhi'xpadha=bi=khe= ama.
... fine feather one it fell        EVID QUOTE

[HiNxpe'=wiN 'a fine feather' governs the =khe evidential, though the noun
being indefinite =khe is not present with the noun itself.  JEK]

Dhiza'=bi= ama.
He took it QUOTE

"Ga'= khe ihe'=dha=   ga," a=bi=ama, wa?u' e'  dhakha'=bi=egaN.
 this the put it away IMP  he said   woman she (he) meaning her

[Ga'=khe 'that/this specific one' refers to the hiNxpe=khe, and 'put it
away!' uses the khe-corresponding verb ihe'=...dhe.  This statement
involves a neat cleft in a subordinate clause, too:  "it being the woman
whom he meant (to put it away)."  JEK]

... [Omitting a quarrel over the eagle.  JEK]

E'gasani=kki, aN'ba=ama,  "Ma[N]'s^aN ihe'dhadhe=     khe
next day when day   QUOTE  feather    you put it away the

daN'ba=    ga ha," a'=bi=  ama.
look at it IMP     he said QUOTE

[Here the hiNxpe'=khe is referred to in a relative clause in which
ih'=...dhe is the relative clause verb.  Instead of hiNxpe' 'fine feather'
we get ma's^aN 'feather', yielding maN's^aN ihe'=dhadhe=khe 'the feather
which you put away'.  JEK]

So, it looks like the conceptual khe-class or khe-gender of hiNxpe'
governs the noun definite article and/or relative clause marker =khe, the
evidential of a sentence in which the noun is the (informational) theme,
and to the selection of a verb of placement which applies to the noun as
patient (or theme in the case grammar sense).  And this class/gender
extends across substitution of a more generic maN's^aN 'feather' for
hiNxpe' 'fine feather'.

Here's another example, with u'z^iha=khe 'bag'.

Dorsey 90:4-6

... u'z^iha=khe ...
... bag     the ...

"KkaN=ha',       du'=akha u'z^iha a'na[N]xdh ihe'=dha=ga," a'=bi=ama.
 grandmother VOC this     bag     hidden     put it away   he said

Here the reference to the bag as u'z^iha=khe (u'z^iha=dhaN is also
possible) seems to govern the choice of ihe'=...dhe 'to put away' in the
next sentence.

I'm a little puzzled here by the du'=akha.  It seems most naturally to
apply to the bad itself, but I would expect du'=khe in that case.
Du'=akha seems to have an animate reference.  I see several possibilities:

1) Dorsey heard and reported du'=khe as du'=akha.  Bear in mind that =akha
is [akh] or [akhA] (A = voiceless a) and =khe is [kh] or [khE].

2) Du'=akha refers to the grandmother, perhaps along the lines of 'You,
hide this away!'

3) Maybe du' forces akha?  Or at least =akhe as a variant of =khe?

One more causative example.  This comes from the story in which the
Trickster is caught in a tree while the robber beasts eat his turkeys, the
episode following his tricking of the dancing turkeys (or ducks, etc.).
Released by the tree too late he comes down and disconsolately licks the
spit.

Dorsey 90:62.11-12

GaN'kki hi'de  khi'=             egaN,
And so  bottom he reached again having

s^aN'=xti  z^aN'=z^iNga=khe gis^ni'be     ihe'=dhe     gdhiN'
right away stick        the he licked his he put it in he sat

akh=ama     Is^ti'niNkhe=akha
PROGR QUOTE I.           the

Here z^aN'=z^iNga=khe governs ihe'=dhe, or, rather z^aN'=z^iNga governs
=khe and ihe'=...dhe.  In the same way Is^ti'niNkhe governs =akha and the
=akha progressive marker.

These are nt the only examples of =khe class membership governing
evidentials and verbs of placement as well as articles, but they are
probably more than enough.  I haven't yet noticed any clashes, e.g., =khe
nouns governing something other than ihe'=...dhe or non-khe-nouns
governing ihe'=...dhe.  I believe I did see animate nouns used with
idhaN'=...dhe.

I also have a couple of examples of plain ihe' 'to be in a position'.

The first is from the Twins Cycle and occurs as their father (the Sun,
think) comes home to discover they have disobeyed him and brought home the
crying lizards.  These lizards cry out when you step on their tails, and
he happens to drop the deer he's killed on the lot of them, which clues
him in immediately.

Dorsey 90:214.16-15

tti=z^e'be=the=di uga'xpadhe=      kki=z^i,
door       the at he threw it down when (as it may be)

a'gaspa'=bi=egaN,
it pressing having

wa'huttaN       ihe'=               ama
crying about it they were in a line QUOTE

(Their father) throwing (the deer) down at the door, as it may be, having
(thus) pressed upon (the tails of the lizards), they were crying out at
this in a line (or all together as a group).

The lizards are nowhere referenced nominally in this sentence, and earlier
references are in terms of nouns plus the animate article, e.g.,
iN'j^e=wasni'be=ama 'the face-lickers' or nouns only wagdhi's^ka hi'=duba
'four-legged reptitles' or wana[N]'gdhe 'pet(s)'.

Another example involves the Orphan, elegantly costumed, carrying a club
that has birds (or their skins?) tied to it.

Dorsey 90:593.13-14

Z^aN=we'thiN=khe ihe'=dhe=    naN=    bi=dhaN=di,
wood striker the he laid down usually    the  at

waz^iN'ga=akha gahutt(aN)                ihe'=naN=    bi=ama.
bird      the  crying out from being hit lay  usually    QUOTE

"Generally, when (for the period?) he laid down his club, the birds (tied
to it) would lie there crying out."  ... or "would cry out as it lay
there."

I suppose the idea is that the skins tied to the club to ornament it are
magically alive.  It's not clear here if the second positional ihe' is
governed by z^aN=we'thiN=khe 'the club' or by the conceptual group of
waz^iN'ga, though the latter have the =akha article in the sentence as
cited, and the club is laid down in the first clause with ihe'=...dhe, so
that it would be a better parallel if it was the thing lying.

JEK