Biloxi nominal markers

[Rory M Larson]

>> For nouns, we seem to have a generic deictic e which, at least in OP,
can
>> be placed after a noun to sort of sum up the previous noun phrase for
>> clarity of feeding into the following verb, in the manner of: "My
friend's
>> older brother HE shot a deer".
>
> Could you provide the example?  I'm guessing this is the focus marker -e.

I might have to read through a few Dorsey stories to find one, so let me
temporarily retract the above statement until I do.  But yes, I think we
could probably call it a focus marker.  I'm assuming this is the same as
the generic deictic e which can stand alone.


>> For verbs, I've been thinking for some time that there is an old
>> declarative e that pops up now and then in OP and other Siouan languages
>> I've looked at, and which, in conjunction with a preceding -a, might be
>> responsible for Winnebago -ire and OP -i.
>
> I bewlive -e occurs after verbs, too, in Biloxi, when it is the clause is
> focussed.

If we accept that Biloxi -di arises from -e, with preceding epenthetic r,
-(r)e, with raising of e to i and shifting of r to d, then yes, it's very
common after verbs in some stories.


>  I still see the plural markers as something else, even when
they mark proximate singulars.

I acknowledge that.  Let me take a stab at summarizing our two models for
the OP bi and i particles.

Model 1.  In proto-MVS, there was a pluralizing particle *pi, or perhaps
*api.  In OP, this particle diverged into two functionally different
particles, bi and i, in which the latter lost the initial /p/.  The i
particle was retained for pluralizing, while the bi particle was used
for reporting hearsay.  This development affected only OP.

Model 2.  In proto-MVS, there were three particles, *a, *e, and *pi.
*e was a declarative or focus marker that came at the end.  *a may
have been the original augment, or some particle conveying a third
party active sense.  *pi may have been a "softening" particle used
for hearsay, generalizing, or politeness.  *a came directly after
the verb, and could be followed either by *e or *pi.  *pi was used
only after *a, but *e could come alone directly after the verb.  The
possibilities were: [Verb]-e; [Verb]-a-e; [Verb]-a-pi.  The [Verb]-a-e
combination needed an epenthetic separation, which developed as
[Verb]-a(y)e, [Verb]-aiye, [Verb]-aire.  In Winnebago, the latter
form was retained for 3rd person plural; in OP, the final -e syllable,
together with its epenthetic consonant, was generally dropped, leaving
[Verb]-ai.  At the same time, the /a/ was generally lost whenever
the verb stem ended in a vowel.  Its third party active, augmentive,
semantic sense was shifted onto the sound that followed it, which
could be either *=pi or *=i(re).  These two secondary augments
developed differently in different branches of MVS, with *=pi
completely taking over in Dakotan; *=pi being used as the augment
in most positions of Winnebago with *=ire retained for 3rd person
plural; and *=i(re) used as the action or augment marker in OP,
with *=pi being retained for marking hearsay and hypothesis.

I'd consider either of these models possible, and on the table.
Model 2 has been developing gradually in my mind for some years,
and it owes a lot to ideas that you have suggested on this list,
including *a as an action/agentive marker, *e as a focus marker,
and the minimal-augment paradigm.  It does not have the advantage
of having been vetted by the very broad and rather deep knowledge
of all the Siouan languages that you and Bob have at hand.


>> So how about Biloxi -di following verbs as originally a declarative, and
>> -di following a noun as an emphatic summarization of the noun?

> Or, if it followed a verb where a declarative wasn't appropriate, then it
> could be a nominalizer or clause final focus marker.

> Apart from our perennial divergence on *=pi we seem to be on the same
> page!

Yay!


Rory
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