Switching topics

[Koontz John E]

On Mon, 11 Jun 2007, Bryan Gordon wrote:

> I don't suppose yunkhan might be similar in function to egithe
> ('egiðe) in Omaha and Ponca? This one is usually translated in Dorsey
> as "behold" or "eventually" or "it happened that", and I've heard good
> translations such as "turns out" or "on the other hand".

I visualize e'gidhe as 'and then, just as you'd expect', so I find it a 
bit difficult to think of it as a marker of unexpectedness, or some 
surprising development, but it does seem to mark some kind of a period or 
transition in a narrative.

My recollection is that the "beware lest you ..." construction is

e'=gidhe ...=ttE

pairing e'gidhe with the future (irrealis).

The marker that is usually associated with something surprising is -de-, 
as in e'=de or e'=de=gaN, etc., cf. the focus marker e or the conjunct 
marker =e=gaN.  Dorsey usually renders it 'but'.  My own paltry text 
collection seems to be free of this form.