Assiniboine and Stoney.

[Koontz John E]

And while we're at it, I don't think there has ever been much work with
Yankton-Yanktonai(s), perhaps at least partly because it was perceived
historically as an accidental nomenclatural association of a "D-dialect"
group and an "N-dialect"  group.  But then there hasn't been much (any?)
recent work on Santee-Sisseton either, so perhaps the problem has been the
neglect of the more easterly dialects, or all dialects, really, but Teton,
though recently things have improved for Assiniboine and Stoney.

I used to wonder if the perception of Yanktonais as an n-dialect was
confusion due to the =na diminutive in the name IhaNkthuNwaN=na.  As I
understand it, Santee has =daN ~ =na, with =na occurring after nasal
vowels, but I wasn't sure everyone considering the problem had realized
that.  In other words, perhaps some ethnographer deduced that the
Yanktonais spoke an N-dialect from their name.  However, I have since
noticed that the special status of the Yankton was actually part of the
original reports from Santee sources.

I don't know how the allomorphy of the diminutive works in
Yankton-Yanktonais, of course.

It is odd that the diminutive has nasalized =daN in Santee(-Sisseton?) but
is oral =la in Teton, but there are a number of other enclitics that are
nasalized in Santee(-Sisseton?) but not in Teton.  I don't know what the
nasality of the diminutive might be in Assiniboine or Stoney.  I mention
this from time to time hoping to discover someone who has thought of an
explanation for some of the conundrums!

On Tue, 25 Jan 2005, Anthony Grant wrote:
> -And a dictionary or two wouldn't go amiss either.  I'm especially
> interested in the impact that Cree has had on Stoney.