Missouri

[Alan Hartley]

David Costa wrote:

>>And does 8ic8es mean 'bark'?
>
>
> It's an archaic morpheme that's not attested in modern Miami, so I'm not
> positive what it means. But it's not the basic word for 'bark'. Judging from
> Gravier's Illinois form <8ic8essimingi> 'bouleau arbre' ('-imingi' = is a
> morpheme meaning 'tree'), it probably means 'birch', so <8ic8es mis8ri> and
> its alternate <8ic8essi> would actually mean 'BIRCH boat'.

But I imagine the operative idea here is that of the BARK of the birch,
not the birch-tree itself, so 'birchbark boat'. Cf. Ojibway wi:kwa:s
'birchbark, birch-tree' and wi:kwa:si-^ci:ma:n 'birchbark canoe'.

Alan