more French conundrums

[vincent yann]

Bonjour,

Funny. This 'bois de diable' ('bois du diable' should
be more logical though) does not ring a bell. I'll see
if I can find something on this side of the Atlantic
Ocean.

Cheers, Yann

 --- "Alan H. Hartley" <ahartley at D.UMN.EDU> a écrit :
> hzenk at PDX.EDU wrote:
>
> > bois diable [appearing as French equivalent of
> CW:]  kooo stik
> >
> > "stik" is of course usual Chinuk Wawa for 'wood'
> as well as 'tree, bush'.  But
> > "kooo" is a real head-scratcher, especially since
> Lionnet uses continental
> > values for vowels elsewhere.  Maybe a scribal
> error.  Anyway, what the heck
> > could "bois diable" have possibly meant to a
> mid-19th c. Frenchman (French
> > French, not a Canadian recall)?  Any ideas?
>
> Mathews Dict. of Americanisms has "bois de diable. =
> vine maple... 1823
> D. Douglas Journal (1914) 108 This Acer forms part
> of the underwood in
> the pine forests... It is called by the voyageurs
> Bois de Diable from
> the obstruction it gives them in passing through the
> woods." And "vine
> maple..a small tree, Acer circinatum, of the Pacific
> Northwest, the
> stems of which are often prostrate."
>
> Alan
>
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>


	

	
		
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