Yuecetu - Re: A great Polymath

[Clive Bloomfield]

Hello Dave, Sorry for taking so long to reply: I've been rather busy.  
Thanks for all of that wonderful information you so kindly supplied!  
Actually I was expecting that D-S Biloxi dictionary to be fairly  
difficult to use, with inconsistencies & confusions galore, not just  
in orthography, judging from my experiences with other dictionaries/ 
grammars of yesteryear, like Rev. Cyrus Byington's Dictionary of  
Choctaw, for instance. So the Einaudi treatise also has some  
orthographical problems also, eh? (Actually I have applied to obtain  
it on inter-library loan : when I do get it, & I have a clearer idea  
of the language's basic grammatical/syntactic structures,  I may have  
a go at  writing you a short letter in Biloxi.)  Thank you also for  
that analysis of the Biloxi sentence : most interesting. Would one be  
correct in assuming aNk to be cognate with Lakhota "wa-", (1s "actor"  
pronominal prefix); with initial semivowel "weakening" to the point  
of disappearance, and nasalisation also?  Is that "-k" interpolated  
due to the following vowel, as in Lakhota "unk[oyaka]pi" 1pPl. of  
"oyakA" [=tell; recount]? Can't think of any Lakhota analogue of  
"ade" ("iya/ia" [=speak]; "iyapi"[=speech, language]??). Might "- 
iNxti-" conceivably be cognate with Lakhota "-ic'i-" (reflexive  
infix), or even possibly with : "iyechinka" (adv. "of one's own  
accord")?? ; "-spe" seems fairly obviously a cognate of Lakhota :  
"(uN/oN)spe" [= to know how to..."] ; "uNspékhiyA" [=" cause to know  
how to=>teach"; "uNspéic'iciyA" [="teach oneself=>learn"] ; with  "- 
ye" a causal verb formant, as in Lakhota? One supposes "YaNdi" to be  
from same word-root as "chante" [=heart]; while "phi" [=good] might  
have many cognates in Lakhota : "phiic'iyA" [=to make oneself  
'good'=>prepare oneself/make ready]? ; "phiya" [=to make 'good'=>to  
mend/repair//conjure the sick]; not to mention the many derivatives  
of "phila" [=to regard as 'good'=>be glad/rejoice=>be grateful/ 
thankful]?? Does that reply to "YaNdi phi wo?"[=Heart good?], simply  
mean "( Indeed, my) heart is good/joyful"? I wonder whether Biloxi  
had an equivalent word/phrase for "goodbye/so long/see you!"  
involving the equivalent of the adverb "again" &/or an indefinite  
adverb of time corresponding to idea of "by and by/later on/before  
long" etc., like Lakhota's : "toksha akhe" ?? Does Biloxi show a  
greater or lesser degree of influence from Muskogean languages, or  
rather from Tunica? Chitimacha?   Thanks also for the sample of  
Rumsien Ohlone. Was it spoken in the Carmel area? Wonder if "Rowdy  
Yates" had ever heard of it? :), Best wishes, Clive.
On 28/06/2006, at 6:10 AM, David Kaufman wrote:

> Hi Clive,
>
> > Now regarding Biloxi & Ofo, I do know where I can get my hands on  
> a copy of J.O. Dorsey & J. Swanton's dictionary - guess what?:  
> another library stack! :)) I'd like to learn a little, so then you  
> will have someone to write/speak to >
>
> You might be a little frustrated, as so many of us are, at the user- 
> UNfriendliness of the Dorsey-Swanton (D-S) Biloxi dictionary.  I am  
> currently working to revise the Biloxi-English dictionary into a  
> more user-friendly format, and the English-Biloxi index into a  
> format where you can simply look up the English word and get the  
> full Biloxi translation(s).  If you pick up the D-S dictionary,  
> you'll see what I mean.  I am also working to revise the  
> orthography, which is also quite complex (and sometimes misleading)  
> in the D-S dictionary AND later in Einaudi's grammar dissertation.
>
> > could you kindly tell me what that phrase you wrote means  
> exactly, and if you have time, how it "deconstructs", grammatically  
> speaking? >
>
> Actually, I should have written it: TaneksaNya ade aNkiNxtispeye  
> (with the verb at the end).  Taneks-aNya = Biloxi person / ade =  
> language or speech / aNk = 1 sg / iNxti = self / spe = know / ye =  
> cause, or "I'm teaching myself Biloxi language."
>
> Einaudi's grammar is a good overview of Biloxi, since it's really  
> the first grammar ever done on the language.  But it is not  
> flawless in that she oversimplified Biloxi orthography by simply  
> stripping off all the accent marks, which, as we're now finding  
> out, is somewhat misleading.  I'm doing some Siouan comparative  
> research to find out how some of the D-S symbols actually should be  
> represented in Biloxi.  Hopefully I can get an updated/revised  
> grammar together along with the revised dictionary.   
> (Unfortunately, my time is quite limited, as it is for all of us  
> I'm sure, and I can't get as much done as fast as I would like!)
>
> > I must admit, I had never even heard of Rumsien Ohlone - I've  
> just looked it up in Mithun : I notice that she lists a "Rumsey"  
> under the Wintuan family, and a "Rumsen(Runsien)" (Utian-Miwok- 
> Costanoan). Would I be correct it assuming yours to be the latter?  
> Penutian seems to be such a vast family, does it not? >
>
> Not sure if I should be talking about Rumsien on the Siouan list  
> (although it is at least an Amerindian language), but to answer  
> your questions, it is indeed the latter (Rumsen).  I think the  
> jury's still out on what Penutian actually includes, although some  
> propose that it includes languages all the way up into British  
> Columbia and down into Mexico (Mixe-zoquean).  The Ohlone languages  
> are definitely close to Miwok.  Since, right now anyway, I live in  
> the Bay Area, I'm definitely enjoying working on one of the Ohlone  
> languages.  It's nice to know I'm treading the same ground upon  
> which these Indians once trod, and their descendants still do.
>
> > "Hello"/"How are you?"/"I'm well"/"See You" etc. in Biloxi? >
>
> Hello = he ha, or beshu (this latter from the Louisiana French  
> bonjour)
> How are you = (I think this would be) YaNdi phi wo?  Is your heart  
> good?
> I'm well = YaNdi phi (na)!
>
> Not sure how they said "goodbye" or "see you"!
>
> And just for good measure: Misix tuuxis (hello or "good day" in  
> Rumsien)!
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
>
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