Number 'nine' in Chiwere.

[Rory Larson]

Ø  I think perhaps the Dakotan term relates to counting in sign language where 'nine' leaves one finger bent over, i.e., "lying", in the palm of the hand.  napcóka is 'palm' and yųka and wąka are ‘to lie’ in Lakota and the so-called D-dialects respectively, so I don't think Sky's term is related to the napci- part of the Dakotan term, although I'm afraid I don't have anything better to offer except the obvious fact that it looks like English 'nine', [nayn] with a metathesis of the y and n.


You’re probably right; that was a long shot.  I understand from the old Otoe-Iowa Indian Language Book I that was put out in 1977 that there is a regular difference in certain endings between Otoe and Iowa.  Where one ends in -nge the other ends in -nye.  I’ve never been quite sure about how the first was pronounced, whether that is supposed to be an eng or a nasal vowel + /g/.  nanye ought to belong to the -nye dialect, but checking the booklet that turns out to be Iowa, so I’m somewhat confused here.  It sometimes seems to equate to Omaha nasal vowel + /g/, but I wasn’t sure if it was the only thing that ending could relate to.

It’s still an interesting find, even if it does turn out to be English ‘nine’.  In this case, it would be a true borrowing, because it is thoroughly incorporated into an Otoe numerical sequence.  Also, that metathesis of y and n shows that the word was forced into an Otoe phonological structure, rather than leaving it in plain English.  Perhaps both the cumbersome, analytic terms used for ‘nine’ in so many North American languages, and the tendency to borrow the term, say something about how irregular the usage of it was?

Rory

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