Michigamea is not Dhegiha (Re: Quappa)

Koontz John E John.Koontz at colorado.edu
Thu Sep 22 16:52:16 UTC 2005


By the way, the hypothetical examples of Michigamea *we-...=s NEG are:

 ouaipanis
*we-   bni(N)-s
 NEG + I am +    NEG
 'I am not'

 houe'nigue'
*we-   ni(N)ge(-   s)
 NEG + it lacks (+ NEG)
 'it is not lacking'
 (in the sense 'it is satisfactory')

Compare OP =bdhiN 'I am' < dhiN 'be (a kind)' and OP dhiNge' 'to lack'.
Analogous OP forms might be

bdhiN=m=az^i 'I am not'
dhiNga=z^i 'it is not lacking'

The roots and inflection are similar, but the negative morphology is
different.

It's possible final -s in ouaipanis is intended to be silent, in which
case the negative might just be *we-..., although an entirely prefixal
negative would be unusual in a Siouan language.

Because of the nature of the translations Bossu offers, my specific
glosses are uncertain in themselves.  For example, I am proceding from
indage' ouaipanis interpreted as 'je suis indigne de vivre, je ne me'rite
plus de porter le doux nom de pe're' ('I am not worthy to live, I am no
longer worthy to bear the sweet name of father') to indage' ouaipanis
*iNdaj^e web(a)ni(s) rendered with fewer histrionics as 'I am not (his/a)
father'.  I then interpret the Michigamea words in that light.  There's a
lot in such a procedure for a skeptic to seize upon, of course.



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