Omaha fricative set

[Koontz John E]

On Fri, 29 Sep 2006, Rankin, Robert L wrote:
> Mmmm, the use of "sophisticated" here reminds me of von Neumann's comment on the use of the term "elegant" in the description of mathematical explanations:  "Elegance is something best left to shoe salesmen."  (I used to be able to quote it in German.)  Actually, my explanation is more "historical", I would say.  We know that *tk  >  kt first because some of the languages preserve that stage, or an obvious reflex of it.  Chiwere gives instances.  Then, as usual, the second element of the cluster "wins" and you ultimately get *tk > kt > ht > tt.  The ht stage is Osage.  Compare 'drink'
> Lakota  yatkaN   <  tk
> Winn.   racgaN   <  tk
> Chiwe.  rahtaN   <  kt
> Omaha   dhattaN  <  kt
> Kaw     yattaN   <  kt

That's a better example than I gave, since it's native.  The point is that
the hd in IO is presuambly from *kt, but the cluster is actually *tk in
Dakotan and Winnebago, so that explains why Dh has *ht *or *tt, take your
pick) from both *tk and *kt (and *ht).  Shifts of *kt to ht are pretty
common, linguistically.

> Does MVS *tp do the same thing?  Can you offer any example words?

Haven't gotten back to this, but I wonder if 'egg' is one?   Or
'rib/side'?  I thought about 'evening', cf. OP ppaze, but that is *kpas- I
think.  It's varies between tpaza and kpaza in Dakotan dialects, but *tp
and *kp merge as one or the other in Dakotan.

Hint, if you're in a hurry:  search your Winnebago dicitonary, preferably
electronically, for c^w < *tp.  Then look for Dakotan forms with kp
(Teton) or tp (Santee) - I think! - that match it.  Instrumental roots are
good places to look, but harder to find than nouns if you have to look
things up in paper sources.

I almost think that Siouan dictionaries should list things like wethiN and
agdhiN or bixoN as -thiN, we-; -gdhiN, a-; -xoN, bi-.  If they're
electronic you can have your cake and invert it, too.  You should
definitely list -xoN and then cross-reference all the derivatives in
anything ocmprehensive.