Town; Clan (Re: Tomahittan?)

[Koontz John E]

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005, Tom Leonard wrote:
> ttaN'waNgdhaN is the modern day Ponca word for "clan"

It's applied in that sense in Omaha to some extent, too, though I think
there are other words for the concept, too.  (Straying form the subject,
there is no word
for 'moiety' or half-tribe that I can discover.)  The Dakota cognate
form thuNwaN is the formant at the end of subtribe names, e.g., Yankton =
IhaNkthuNwaN, Wahpeton  = WakpethuNwaN, etc.

In Omaha ttaNwaN- tends to be be reduced to ttaN-aN (rearticulated or long
with falling pitch) as I recall it, and I gather that something similar
happens with Dakota thuNwaN, explaining why French speakers conventionally
recorded it as -ton.  (I think David mentioned this once, long ago!)

I think the independent Dakotan form is othuNwaNhe 'town', as in
Mniluzaha othuNwaHe 'Rapid City'.  Compare Omaha(-Ponca) S^aaN
TtaNwaNgdhaN 'Sioux City'.  I think the relatedness of 'clan, tribe' and
'village' provides a historical insight into the culture of Native America
pre-contact, in the same way the connection or identity of words for
'cloud' and 'sky' does, and so on.