<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<br>
One possibility of where the final [m] came from - Lower Chinook,
according to Boas, did not distinguish [m], [b], and [w], by which I
assume he means that they were allophones of the same phoneme (although
Boas himself didn't believe in phonemes). Lower Chinook also did not
have [f]. It would not be too far fetched to think that a native
speaker of Lower Chinook would have pronounced the English word
"handkerchief" substituting for the final /f/ the Lower Chinook phoneme
which most closely resembles English /f/, which would probably be the
phoneme pronounced [m] ~ [b] ~ [w]. This of course also assumes that
the English word "handkerchief" was introduced into Chinook Jargon by
speakers of Lower Chinook (or perhaps some other language which also
didn't distinguish these sounds?), which again would not be too hard to
imagine.<br>
<br>
We see a similar phenomenon with the Jargon word "lamiyay" 'old woman',
which comes from the French word(s) "la vieille". Again, Lower Chinook
did not have had a phoneme /v/, so a speaker of that language would
have substituted the nearest Lower Chinook phoneme, which would be the
one pronounced [m] ~ [b] ~ [w].<br>
<div class="moz-signature"><br>
<img alt="Portland State University logo"
src="cid:part1.05010206.04020509@pdx.edu" align="left" height="35"
width="165"><br>
<br>
<p
style="font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><b>Tom
Larsen</b><br>
Database Management and Catalog Librarian<br>
Portland State University Library<br>
PO Box 1151<br>
Portland, OR 97207-1151<br>
<br>
Phone: 503-725-8179<br>
Fax: 503-725-5799<br>
<br>
email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:larsent@pdx.edu">larsent@pdx.edu</a><br>
</p>
</div>
<br>
<br>
Dave Robertson wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:LISTSERV%25200803071848206713.21BC@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Just a quick note that may not be awfully on-topic:
In recent reading of stuff by Charles Dickens and Robert Louis Stevenson, I
find versions of a word spelled <'ankercher> for "handkerchief". It also
turns up WW Jacobs's writing. And it's a Lancashire dialect word:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.mawdesley-village.org.uk/dialect.html">http://www.mawdesley-village.org.uk/dialect.html</a>.
Having the interests I have, I'm reminded of Jargon <hankachim>,
<hakatshum>, and so on. Still don't know where that final <m> came from!
--Dave R
To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'. To respond privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'. Hayu masi!
</pre>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>
To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'. To respond privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'. Hayu masi!