Omaha fricative set

[Rankin, Robert L]

> As I recollect it, gaghe is 'to make' and gaxe is 'branch', perhaps only
> in the context of a riverine system.

> You mean a branch of a river, not the branch of a tree growing by a river, right?  :)

The word you want is /gaxa/ 'branch' (stream).  Kaw and Quapaw accent the final syllable here.

>  There's a form for 'comb' that is
> somewhat similar that's not coming to me.

> Would that be gahe' ?  

Yes.  In Omaha and Ponca *ph > h.  It's /gaphe/ in Kaw.  

> As for bighoN and bixoN, one was something like 'make a farting noise',
> but I'll have to look this pair up.  What, you want meanings, too?

> For elicitation purposes, that would sure help!

What you have here is 'to break by pressure' and 'to blow by pressure', both with the prefix /bi-/.  The latter was translated 'to blow on a fire to start it' by Mrs. Rowe, but she laughed and dodged the equally obvious 'fart' interpretation.  You can try both.  I don't know how it may have specialized semantically in Omaha.

Bob