iron/ metal [and other loans and calques]

[Kathleen Shea]

MaN'ze (or perhaps long--maNaN'ze--since it does contrast with the word
maNze' 'breast' in OP) 'metal' is used in a lot of words for modern
inventions or machinery, like maNaNze waaN 'phonograph'; 'radio.'  It's in
the word for 'sewing machine,' which I can't recall off the top of my head
right now and in several other words, probably some for farming implements.
I had never thought about the words maNze 'breast' and maNge 'chest' in OP
having a connection in a shared morpheme maN- 'pectoral,' but it certainly
makes sense.

Kathy

----- Original Message -----
From: "Koontz John E" <John.Koontz at colorado.edu>
To: "Siouan List" <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Monday, November 03, 2003 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: iron/ metal [and other loans and calques]


> On Sun, 2 Nov 2003, R. Rankin wrote:
> > > Query from Jimm Good Tracks
> > > Has it been determined the source of the word iron [maza (L/Dak);
> > > madhe (IO); maNaNs (Winn); maNze (Q/K)]. There was no known use of
> > > metal or iron prior to the trading days with Europeans.
> > > So is the word borrowed?
> >
> > A friend of mine in California collected the words for 'metal' in all
> > the languages he could find -- European, Asian, American and all the
> > rest.  The words display some amazing similarities in
> > form/pronunciation.  I think his contention might be that they all
> > spread out from some spot in the Old World where smelting of iron ore
> > began, including into the new world.  But it is controversial, as you
> > can imagine.
>
> Precontact artifacts made from copper occur with some frequency in the
> Midwest.  As far as I know they are all ornamental an/or religious, i.e.,
> not pots or weapons.  Anyway, copper is the most likely original reference
> of the "metal" term set.  Meteoritic iron is another possibility, as Bob
> suggests, and silver and gold were certainly worked in Mesoamerica, and if
> any small samples found their way into the Midwest they may or may not
> have been considered as "metal."  Plainly various metals acquired later in
> trade were plainly considered so and today the "metal term" is usually
> considered to mean "iron."
>
> I remember Victor Golla (in California, but perhaps not the indivudual Bob
> refers to) asking about the Siouan terms.  I gather they somewhat resemble
> terms of similar reference in Athabascan languages, but I don't know the
> details.
>
> My recollection is that *waNs- "metal" has a rather restricted
> distribution in Siouan and some irregularities associated with it, so that
> it is actually a fairly good candidate for a loan, if an old one.
> Alternatively, there is enough of a resemblance to 'chest' that I've
> sometimes wondered about 'pectoral (making material)' as a source, with
> pectoral in the sense of a chest ornament - what was once called a gorget,
> as an element of European military ornamentation, though I don't mean to
> suggest a connection.
>
> I tend to think that the fairly widespread expression for "money," 'white
> metal', cf., e.g., OP maNze ska, more or less maN(s)ska in regular speech,
> was originally a calque of French argent, i.e., 'white metal' = 'silver'.
> I don't know how widely spread 'white metal' formations are in North
> America.  It might be interesting to track down the distributions of forms
> like this, 'fire water' (< eau ardent?), and so on.  I believe they occur
> in at least Siouan and Algonquian, and I think they are probably more or
> less coextensive with such probable actual loans as kkokkomaN 'cucumber'
> or kkukkusi 'pig' (OP forms), presumably from concombre and (certainly
> from) couscous, or, for that matter s^aglas^a 'British' (Da) or ragras^iN
> 'British' (IO), presumably from les Anglais/l'Anglais.  I know some of
> these forms have been investigated, but I don't think anyone has done it
> systematically, but only term by term.
>
> JEK