Saturday, February 21, 2009

GRAMMAR p 18

===begin p 18===

3 --By adding a pronoun in the possessive
case.

NOTE. Nouns expressive of kindred, or relation, are
exceptions to this rule.

V.
OF NUMBER.

9 --The number of nouns is indicated,
not by a change in the noun, but by
the singular, or plural form of the
verb, or, of the fragment-pronoun
used in its conjugation. as,

ma-he cae a-rae-kae,----here is the knife.
ma-he cae a-rae-nyae-kae, here are the knives.
fe-gae a-rae-kae,------ it is a squirrel.
fe-gae a-rae-nyae-kae, -they are squirrels.
mu-ncae e-ya a-ta-kae, --I saw a bear.
mu-ncae wa-ta-kae, ---I saw (several) bears.
e-ce-nce-gae he-gke-cae-
kae, ----------------my child is dead.
e-ce-nce-gae he-gke-cae-
nyae-kae, -----------my children are dead.

10--If the noun is in the objective case,
then the singular, or plural form of the
fragment-pronoun, by the help of
which the verb is conjugated, is em-

===end p 18===

Lance's Notes on p 18



MAHI



ma-he cae a-rae-kae,----here is the knife.

mahi che are ke (H/I)

mahi je'e are ke (today)=

mahi (knife) + je'e (this(here)) + are (is)+
ke (statement of fact)

ma-he cae a-rae-nyae-kae, here are the knives.

mahi che arenye ke (H/I)

mahi je'e arenye ke (today)=

mahi (knife) + je'e (this(here)) + arenye (are)+
ke (statement of fact)

THINGE




fe-gae a-rae-kae,------ it is a squirrel.

thinge are ke (H/I)

thinge are ke (today)
(thinge = THEENG-eh or THEENG-ay)

thinge (squirrel) + are (is) + ke (statement of fact)

Today's materials indicate thinge is used by the
Otoe, while Ioway use thinye; this seems
to be an interesting change from H/I's time

fe-gae a-rae-nyae-kae, -they are squirrels.

thinge arenye ke (H/I)

thinge (or thinye) arenye ke (today)

Thinge/thinye also means "tail";
it makes sense that the squirrel would
have been named based on its most
obvious feature! In this case, thinge refers
to tree squirrels rather than ground squirrels.
There are two native tree squirrel species for Iowa
and the midwest, the Eastern Gray Squirrel
(Sciurus carolinensis) (top) and the
Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) (bottom).

MUNJE




mu-ncae e-ya a-ta-kae, --I saw a bear.

munche iya ata ke (H/I)

munje iyan ada ke (today)

munje (bear) + iyan (a/one)
+ ada (I see/saw) + ke (statement of fact)

mu-ncae wa-ta-kae, ---I saw (several) bears.

munche wata ke (H/I)

munje wada ke (today) or
munje adanye ke

munje (bear) + wada (see more than one)
+ ke

I have heard more people use the regular
form of adding -nye to the verb; apparently
ada was once an irregular verb with a special
verbal form, wada...interesting.

The black bear (Ursus americana) (top photo)
was the main species of bear in Iowa's woodlands.
The plains grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) (bottom)
extended as far as Iowa before the contact
period. Their claws have been found in
Oneota archaeological sites. Some believe
the claws were indications of trade, but folklore and
tradition indicates the Ioway were familiar
with the grizzly bear, and distinguished the
grizzly from the black bear.

The Ioway term for grizzly bear is mahto
(compare Winnebago: macho (yep!), Omaha
monchu, and Dakota mato). The Ioway term
for black bear is munje (compare Winnebago
hunj(a) and Omaha wasabe "something black").


ICHINCHINGE



e-ce-nce-gae he-gke-cae-
kae, ----------------my child is dead.

ichinchinge hingke che ke (H/I)

ichichinge (child) + hingke (my) +
che (dead) + ke (statement of fact)

-compare->

ichichinge mintawe ch'e ke (today)

ichichinge (child) + mintawe (my) +
ch'e (dead) + ke (statement of fact)

Here we see a shift from a specialized
term of possession through kinship
"hingke" which was lost over time and its
replacement by the generalized term
for possession "mintawe".

e-ce-nce-gae he-gke-cae-
nyae-kae, -----------my children are dead.

ichichinge hingke chenye ke (H/I)

ichichinge mintawe ch'enye ke (today)

The word "dead" is ch'e, and as they said
earlier, H/I used an abbreviated system that
did not mark all the sounds less familiar
to English-speaker's ears, such as the
glottal stop. Yet there is a profound difference
between che "buffalo" and ch'e "dead."

You can try to remember:

che ch'e ke. --"It is a dead buffalo."

But this last example is very sad and odd...
that the missionaries would use the example
of "Ichinchinye hingke ch'enye ke."
"My children are dead." But considering
the times, the wars, and the disease epidemics,
it must have been heard too often.