Ind'an (was INDIAN vs. INJUN)

[Beverly Flanigan]

Very good points--thanks, Dale.  In fact, two of us were talking about
"fol(i)age" just the other day (was it with you, Alice Faber?).  I do not
think Lakota is the main influence in the "Ind'an" case, and I didn't mean
to imply that.

At 05:35 PM 1/10/01 -0500, you wrote:
>In a message dated 01/10/2001 2:18:16 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>flanigan at OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU writes:
>
><< Injun" originated as a palatalization of "Indian," as in Brit Eng
>  "immedjate."  Of course, there's no excuse for continuing this
>  pronunciation into Am Eng, at least today.  Interestingly, Lakota Sioux
>  (and other tribes as well, I'm told) pronounce the word "Ind'an" [IndEn],
>  reducing the medial vowel instead of palatalizing it.
>
>This version may be the result of influences within Lakota, but it could also
>be the way they first heard it pronounced by whites.   Historically this sort
>of ending sometimes lost the high front vowel before schwa (and I can't
>recall more details without Dobson)... but Lydia for example was Lydda for my
>grandfather (b. 1893), and Shakespeare has a spelling somewhere that
>indicates 'ruffian' was 'ruffin'.  There's lots of other examples, notably
>the -iage group, marriage, carriage, and for some foliage, though lots of us
>put the /i/ back in on that one.
>
>Dale Coye
>The College of NJ


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm