WiNj^age (Re: Make-Believe in Omaha)

[Koontz John E]

I've done some additional pondering on the toponym WiNj^age for 'Village
of Make-Believe Whitemen'.

This is pretty strained, but it's the best I've been able to come up with.
(I have asked some Omaha speakers about this name in the past, but nobody
had any ideas at the time.  Obviously I haven't asked far and wide.)

wiN 'one'

da 'what, something indefinite', cf., da in edadaN, iNdadaN 'what' or
dadaN 'what, something' (discussed on the list in the past)

ge 'the (scattered inanimate)'

The dubious part is the middle da.  In edadaN 'what specific thing' and
iNdadaN 'what indefinite thing' the e- and iN are essentially
demonstratives, and =daN may be a particle that occurs elsewhere as a
contingency marker at the end of clauses, and in things like adaN
'therefore'.  The base form dadaN is mostly used in the sense of
'something'.

The form da- corresponds to Dakota ta- in taku 'what' and Winnebago j^aa-
in j^aagu 'what'.  (In Dakota, all the indefinite pronouns use ta or
something similar as their base.)  I think the final -ku and -gu in these
matches OP gu 'yonder', though you'd expect -ko and -go in a regular
correspondence.

It also occurs in OP agudi 'where' which looks to be a- 'indefinite,
interrogative' -gu- 'yonder' -di 'in, at', so, historically, this might be
something like "where away" or "where off," while the Dakota and Winnebago
what-forms would be historically something like "what yonder."
Expressions of this nature are not without parallel in English, but I have
no general information on the typology and evolution of demonstratives and
interrogatives.

The da element also occurs (as e=da) in OP ede 'what did he say' <
e=d(a)=e=e.  The construction there is obscured by vowel contractions.
Clearer is edes^e 'what did you say' < e=da=e=s^e.  Compare e 'he said' <
e=e (usually a=i 'he (proximate) said') and es^e 'you said' < e=s^e.
Verbs of saying in Siouan languages all start with equivalents of OP e
'the aforesaid' or ga 'the following'.  It's as if the 'that' in 'he said
that' or the 'what' in 'what he said was' had gotten glommed onto 'to
say'.  Forms for 'to say what' (used in questions) are also widespread.
Dakota has analogs, too.  (Again, this has been discussed on the list
before.)

So, if this assessment is correct, wiNj^age is a diminutive (essentially
pejorative) version of wiNda=ge which might be something like 'the
(little) scattered ones of whatever nature'.  I suppose such a name might
be a condescending or even contemptuous reference to the novel dwellings.