68 the Sutaio Dialect of Cheyenne: a Discussion of the Evidence Ives Goddard Smithsonian Institution
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68 The Sutaio dialect of Cheyenne: A Discussion of the Evidence Ives Goddard Smithsonian Institution The Sutaio1 became incorporated into the Cheyenne tribe in the protohistoric period. By tradition they were encountered by the Cheyenne somewhere on the Plains, and just as a fight was breaking out the two groups recognized that they spoke the same language and agreed not to fight, but to join together. Just exactly what the Sutaio spoke and how different it was from Cheyenne has been a mystery ever since. This paper reviews the few scraps of infor mation that exist on Sutaio and the problem of to what extent elements of Sutaio origin may have been incorporated into the Cheyenne language as we know it today. It appears that the only data obtained from Cheyennes who claimed to have learned some Sutaio from Sutaio speakers at a time when older Sutaio still spoke the language are in notes of George Bird Grinnell and Truman Michelson collected in the early years of this century. Grinnell's data are in a letter to William Jones of April 21, 1905 (Grinnell 1905). A note indicates that he obtained his information among the Southern Cheyenne in 1901. This seems to be the best Sutaio on record and the most likely, of what is available, to represent genuine examples of what the Sutaio spoke. The forms and phrases given are clearly volunteered, rather than elicited. Since it is most likely that they were remembered because of their divergence from the corresponding Cheyenne expressions, they probably present an exaggerated picture of the degree of difference between the two forms of speech. Grinnell's information about Sutaio is presented here in its entirety; the phonemic Cheyenne forms (underlined) are from Alford and Leman (1976), 2 supplemented and corrected by a personal communication from Wayne Leman (1978) and a few forms from Leman (1977). The forms are given as found in the manuscript, but the presentation has been rearranged: "By all the testimony that is to be had the Suh'tai language was very harsh and guttural. It was hard to under stand the words spoken, and difficult to comprehend them even if they were clearly heard." "Picking Bones Woman pronounces the word, Soh'taiYu. She says the Suh'tai always began to talk by saying, halyahch'. This reminds one of the Blackfoot exclamation haiyaZ" Sutaio Cheyenne Cheyenne (phonemic) 'Wlfe' na wuhk' na tsi im' nahtse?eme 'a long way ha'achkuh urk n ha'alsh haa?ese 'Iof amf na mi gen'i na vin'i naeveneohtse 'goindizzy'g t o ni ohk'taia' ah ni'tutas nu netanovetahtsema play' tsim'a wit'tsim " 69 "These are some of the calls of an old Suh~taiYU crier long ago. The words for men and women in his calls are Cheyenne, the others Suh~taiYU. The Suh~tai always repeated their words twice, while the Cheyennes were satisfied with a single call." 'it is insh nkaaa insh ko --?-- going to [2X] ha~o be stormy' (=It is going to snow) 'it is ensh ka ne~ha insh ko enesehko?hane?ha drizzling [2X] a~nih rain' 'wc,:>men, get he ist""sa he ist""sa he?estse sa?-mahane the [2X] hmahu"" wood' mah ki han~ [2X] 'men and he tan ists"" he tan hetanesestse he?eo?o women, [2X] ists"" go he I""yu hon""U:t heiu together' [2X] vi""o tsim ve?6htsema Michelson's data are rather less straightforward than Grinnell's (Michelson 1913). He gives several sets of words from Bull Thigh (reputed to be 81) and some short lists from Wrapped Hair ("about 74") . Both of these men were Northern Cheyennes who were living among the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma when interviewed by Michelson in August, 1913. It seems clear that neither was a real speaker of Sutaio in 1913, although they must have used the language to a certain extent with relatives in earlier years. Bull Thigh appears to have learned what he knew of the language from his paternal grandparents, both Sutaios. "In his grandfather's time nearly all Sutaio spoke the language;" but his grand father died over 60 years previously (about 1853) . Wrapped Hair claimed to have spoken Sutaio with his father, but had not spoken it since the latter's death 50 years previously (about 1863). He also claimed to be the only Northern Cheyenne who could speak Sutaio, with the possible exception of Peter Shell, and could recall only Old Crow as a speaker in Oklahoma. He denied that White Bull could speak it and said that Left Hand Bull (apparently another speaker) had recently died. He said there was not much difference between Sutaio and Cheyenne: "they can converse." Before his wordlist appears Michelson's note: "Wrapped Hair says he has forgotten a lot of it." Michelson's forms are given here in their entirety and in the order in which they were elicited, except as noted. Phonemic Cheyenne forms have been added when available, as above. Further notes on these forms follow the presenta tion of the data: 3 Sutaio Cheyenne Cheyenne (phonemic) 1. 'dog' hot am lhotam hotame oiskasiu oeskeso (pl. -eseho) 2. 'bear' WOpinaxkU naxku nahkohe 3. 'fox' wowoxtciamtuts w~xksiu vohkeso (pl. -eseho) 4. 'wolf' nisto ho?ni? h6?nehe 5. 'tree' mataa h6otsitU hoohtseto (pl.) 70 6. 'lion' ilxaiests nanusiham nanose?hame 7. 'duck' maxpivavikis sisiu ie?seo?o~7pl.) ('ducks') 8. 'prairie axwistivuxsts oniniwunus dog' 9. 'rabbit' oxtaxkunu waxko vohkoohe 10. 'skunk' tsihuxameusts xao xao?o 13. 'snake' oxtamiwuhun- sisinowuts se?senovotse sts ("anything crawl") 15. 'mocca kumhiwutci mutcanuts mo?cehanotse sins ' 16. 'Sioux' xw.iva?utunts oohomo ho?6homo?e 17. 'man' wosistan hitan hetane 18. 'woman' wiv he? he?e 19. 'boy' ka-skun "same" ka?eskone 'child' 20. 'girl' wiv [blank] 21. 'chief tsivawounsts tsavihani- tse-vehonevestse vsts 22. 'foot* ma- is matciku mahtse?ko 23. 1 arm' ma'ats heats he?ahtse 'his arm' 24. 'chin' misistuts matso mahtsest66?o Items 1 through 2 7 constitut e the first session with Bull Thigh. For 11 ('possum' ) a query is given in both columns; for 12 and 14 ('raccoon1 and 'chokecherries') the same word, equivalent to the presen t-day Cheyenne word, is gi ven for both; 25, 26, and 2 7 ('eye' , 'nose', and 'mouth') are like 23 in having the regular Cheyenne third-person pos sessed form in the Cheyenne col umn and what appears to be the regular Cheyenne indefin ite-possessed form in the Sutaio column (compare with 23: ma?ahtse 'someone's arm') . After this list is the note: " Bull Thigh spoke connected Sutaio for 5 to 8 minutes." Th e subsequent notes contain two more examples: 28. 'finger' hetsehinistutul*mo/is'kun mo?eskono (pl.) 29. 'White axwo"/utsina wo/utsina voetsena?e 'clay' Dirt' (Sutaio leader) There follows the second set of forms from Bull Thigh: 30. 'beaver' ahomai homa • homa?e 31. 'goose' ahoxwina/i hina • i hena?e 32. 'elk' axmo- mo-e mo?e, mo?ehe 33. 'turtle' amaxpimainu ma •enu e ma?eno 34. 'squir ahaXutkuwats noe - rel' no?(k)ee?e 36. 'stone' witkonoaitsats ho/ona ho?honaa?e 37. 'arrow' ^.xmahuts mahuts maahot¥e Tpl•) 38. 'bow' axmatsk matski ma?t^eske 39. ' stone hooux hukoi hohkoxe axe' The following day a third set of forms was obtained from 71 Bull Thigh: 40. 'dog' ahotam o/isk~si (See no. l . ) 41. 'my dau- nats naxtun nahf6na ghter' 42 . 'my son' nanis na~a nae?ha 43. 'my axnamsim nams~im naffieSe"me grand- father' 47 . 'my niocnis~im nesima nasemahe younger brother ' 4~. 'my fsiuxai~ha~tu na · ni· na?ne 5 older brother' 49. 'pipe' aih~potutsts heuxku he?6hko (?) 51. 'toba- heowipuCtitU tsinimoxkU cf . tse?nemoo?o cco' 52 . 'knife' mo·is6 · mutski motseske 53 . 'spoon' an6waniststs hamis~ku hame~ko 55. 'ankle' axmais (_ av~huun )- vtyuhu (?) ve?ho?o?o 'ankle bone' 57 . ' badger ' axmaha · u maaxku ma?hahko?e 1 - 58. 'bat' amusianutsio maxtsianu cf . mos~skanetsen nona =tsin6na· 6 oonahe 60. 'frog ' ahaona=~ · na onha· o6naha?e Here there are some notes about Bull Thigh ' s grandparents, followed by two more forms: 62. 'cane' atuktaiy£- hukCtuyu 8 ho?kohtoho nnistutS(?) 7 63. 'bear' amomatanists naxku (See no. 2 . ) Here there is a note in brackets : "Bull Thigh says the a part is the only difference between Sutaio and Cheyenne; the rest the same . " The first form given with this character istic is 29; others are 30, 32, 37, 38, 39, and (omitted above) 44, 45, 46, 50, 54, 56, 59, and 61 (some of these h~ve slight variations of transcription or differences of number) . It will be seen that others of Bull Thigh's Sutaio forms also have this prefixed element; it is spelled a-, a - , ax-, a-, aC-, a~C-, a -, aha-, ai-, and in perhaps other slightly variant ways. Bull Thigh's fourth set of forms follows (64 through 74) : 64. 'I see acnawo0 tca nawo0 tca nav6ohta 'I see it' him' 65. 'girl' nainowusts 9 hei·kaskun he?e-ka?eskone 67. 'woman' vivc he · e he?e (cf. no. 18) 68. 'young aw6·istan kasowa kasovaahe man' "stands for youg men, youn9: women, and children" 71. 'bas- ahamos~ikaka- ~mo6sis *emooseso tard' skun 72 After a few miscel laneous notes is the fifth set of forms (75 through 98) : 75 . 'jugular aCmi · mainim maximai ma?xe-ma?e (?) vein ' 76 . 'finger amistohivo maCtohiv maht6ohevo nail ' 77 . 'lance ' amxom6 xom6 xom66?o 79. ' red axmainin6o mai~uxkC ma?e~he?6hko stone ' ( ' pipe ' ) 80 .