argument structure k'u etc.

[REGINA PUSTET]

[on analysis of wok'u 'to feed']

Surely if it was the indefinite, it would be wa- not wo-. It does occur in
a number of other examples, where it looks as though it might be from woyute
as in s^ungwok'u 'give food to horses', wocin 'ask for food', woai 'bring
food to', but also occurs as wol- (with presuambly the -t- of wota 'eat
things' becoming an -l as in wolkagli 'bring food to'.
Bruce

There is a well-known morphophonemic rule in Lakota which prescribes that wa- when preceding o- contracts into (stressed) wo-. In other words, assuming a basic verb form ok'u, we wouldn't get wa-ok'u, but rather, wo-k'u. So there is nothing that keeps us from analyzing wok'u as containing wa- 'non-specific patient' (I avoid the term indefinite). Buechel does have an entry ok'u 'to lend, give food to etc.' The examples that document this contraction are legion in the Buechel dictionary, e.g. wokiyaka 'to speak to', wokah^nig^a 'to understand', wohaN 'to cook, boil'.

Regina





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