Navajo term for "anthropologist"?

[awebster@siu.edu]

Dear all,

The forms that I have been given for linguist and 
anthropologist in Navajo are: saad neiLkaahi 'linguist' (where 
L is the voiceless l) and DinE neiLkaahi 'anthropologist'(where 
E equals high tone e). Both are based on the verb stem -kAA' 
(where A equals high tone a), which has a sense of 'track, 
trail, study, investigate'. And can gloss as roughly, those 
that study language/Navajo. And one of the kin terms used is, 
in my experience anyway, the -k'is form. -k'is is used for 
siblings of the same sex, but also "friend". But, and here I 
defer to Navajos, it depends on the contexts and circumstances. 
As anyone who has spent time reading through Aberle or 
Witherspoon will quickly figure out, Navajo kinship terminology 
is a rather complicated topic and, as always, it depends.

best, akw

---------Included Message----------
>Date: 28-apr-2009 15:01:32 -0500
>From: "James Crippen" <jcrippen at GMAIL.COM>
>Reply-To: "List for the Discussion of the Athabaskan Language 
Family and Related Languages" <ATHAPBASCKAN-
L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>,
> "James Crippen" <jcrippen at GMAIL.COM>
>To: <ATHAPBASCKAN-L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
>Subject: Navajo term for "anthropologist"?
>
>There's a standard joke that a Navajo nuclear family consists 
of a
>mother, father, children, and an anthropologist. I don't know 
when
>this started but it probably comes from around Clyde 
Kluckhohn's era.
>Related to this, rumor has it that Navajo has a kinship term 
for
>anthropologists, because they're exposed to so many. Can anyone
>confirm or refute this? If true, what's the term?
>
>Thanks,
>James
>
>
---------End of Included Message----------

Anthony K. Webster, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology &
Native American Studies Minor
Southern Illinois University
Mail Code 4502
Carbondale, IL 62901-4502
618-453-5027