﻿606 
  THE 
  OMAHA 
  TRIBE 
  [etii. 
  ANN. 
  27 
  

  

  Mo 
  n 
  'Tce 
  bthi'.ro" 
  ha, 
  "I 
  broke 
  the 
  arrow 
  with 
  my 
  hands" 
  (man 
  

   speaking): 
  mo", 
  arrow 
  (the); 
  Tee, 
  long; 
  b, 
  I; 
  (hi, 
  action 
  with 
  the 
  

   hand 
  or 
  hands; 
  ao", 
  broke; 
  ha, 
  masculine 
  termination 
  of 
  a 
  sentence. 
  

  

  Mo"'ki 
  a 
  uti" 
  xo 
  n 
  ha, 
  " 
  I 
  broke 
  the 
  arrow 
  with 
  my 
  feet 
  " 
  (man 
  speak- 
  

   ine) 
  — 
  no", 
  action 
  bv 
  or 
  with 
  the 
  feet. 
  

  

  Mo 
  n 
  'Jce 
  bpixo" 
  lui, 
  "I 
  broke 
  the 
  arrow 
  by 
  the 
  weight 
  of 
  my 
  body" 
  

   (man 
  speaking) 
  : 
  bpi, 
  action 
  by 
  the 
  weight 
  of 
  the 
  body, 
  lying 
  or 
  

   sitting; 
  here 
  the 
  pronoun 
  "I 
  " 
  is 
  implied; 
  ga 
  implies 
  action 
  by 
  

   striking; 
  tha, 
  action 
  by 
  biting; 
  ba, 
  action 
  by 
  pushing 
  or 
  thrusting. 
  

  

  While 
  there 
  are 
  definite 
  meanings 
  for 
  the 
  particles 
  attached 
  to 
  

   nouns, 
  idiomatic 
  usage 
  changes 
  the 
  meanings 
  and 
  applications. 
  For 
  

   example: 
  Pa'heke 
  tu 
  ithe 
  ha 
  may 
  be 
  literally 
  rendered 
  thus 
  — 
  

  

  Pahe' 
  ke 
  tu 
  ithe 
  ha 
  

  

  Hills 
  (the) 
  long 
  blue 
  conn' 
  tnasc. 
  termination 
  of 
  sentence 
  

  

  But 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  the 
  literal 
  translation 
  fails 
  to 
  give 
  the 
  meaning 
  of 
  the 
  

   sentence, 
  namely: 
  "The 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  long 
  range 
  of 
  hills 
  that 
  lay 
  far 
  in 
  

   the 
  distance 
  came 
  to 
  our 
  vision 
  as 
  merged 
  in 
  blue." 
  Such 
  an 
  example 
  

   (many 
  similar 
  ones 
  could 
  be 
  given) 
  indicates 
  how 
  much 
  of 
  the 
  real 
  

   meaning 
  of 
  a 
  myth, 
  a 
  story, 
  or 
  a 
  native 
  conversation 
  can 
  easily 
  elude 
  

   the 
  foreigner, 
  or 
  one 
  who 
  obtains 
  these 
  only 
  from 
  a 
  literal 
  translation. 
  

  

  In 
  an 
  unwritten 
  language 
  like 
  the 
  Omaha 
  it 
  is 
  difficult 
  for 
  one 
  of 
  

   another 
  race 
  to 
  master 
  all 
  the 
  verbal 
  details 
  and 
  grammatical 
  com- 
  

   plexities 
  of 
  form 
  and 
  usage, 
  a 
  difficulty 
  augumented 
  by 
  the 
  rare 
  that 
  

   must 
  be 
  exercised 
  in 
  training 
  the 
  ear 
  and 
  the 
  vocal 
  organs 
  in 
  the 
  

   phonetics 
  of 
  the 
  speech 
  and 
  the 
  observation 
  of 
  the 
  accents. 
  A 
  mistake 
  

   in 
  either 
  sometimes 
  changes 
  the 
  direct 
  or 
  the 
  implied 
  meaning 
  of 
  a 
  

   word. 
  

  

  There 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  five 
  sounds 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  vowels 
  a 
  and 
  u: 
  four 
  of 
  e; 
  

   three 
  of 
  i; 
  and 
  two 
  of 
  o. 
  The 
  vowels 
  i 
  and 
  o 
  are 
  frequently 
  followed 
  

   bv 
  the 
  nasal 
  n. 
  All 
  vowels 
  are 
  sometimes 
  "exploded" 
  as 
  are 
  also 
  at 
  

   times 
  the 
  consonants 
  />, 
  p, 
  and 
  /. 
  The 
  following 
  consonant 
  sounds 
  

   correspond 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  English: 
  h, 
  ,1, 
  g, 
  m, 
  n, 
  p, 
  s, 
  t, 
  y, 
  z. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  

   consonant 
  kindred 
  to 
  d 
  and 
  t, 
  but 
  distinct 
  from 
  either, 
  and 
  another 
  

   similarly 
  related 
  to 
  b 
  and 
  p. 
  Other 
  sounds, 
  particularly 
  the 
  few 
  

   gutturals 
  of 
  the 
  language, 
  must 
  be 
  indicated 
  by 
  combinations 
  of 
  two 
  

   or 
  more 
  letters. 
  Tit 
  has 
  two 
  sounds, 
  one 
  as 
  in 
  "the," 
  the 
  other 
  as 
  in 
  

   "thin;" 
  /'and 
  I 
  sounds 
  do 
  not 
  occur. 
  The 
  phonetics 
  of 
  the 
  language 
  

   has 
  never 
  yet 
  been 
  scientifically 
  investigated. 
  

  

  While 
  Omaha 
  speech 
  is 
  not 
  unmusical 
  it 
  is 
  forceful 
  and 
  virile 
  rather 
  

   than 
  liquid 
  and 
  flowing. 
  

  

  Accents 
  are 
  important; 
  there 
  are 
  cases 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  shifting 
  of 
  an 
  

   accent 
  completely 
  changes 
  the 
  meaning 
  of 
  a 
  word. 
  In 
  certain 
  forms 
  

   of 
  address 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  accent 
  denotes 
  the 
  sex 
  of 
  the 
  person 
  

   speaking. 
  The 
  determinative 
  particle 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  a 
  sentence 
  changes 
  

   according 
  to 
  the 
  sex 
  of 
  the 
  speaker. 
  

  

  