CJ: chapeau?

[Henry Zenk]

For Grand Ronde CJ I have both s/S(i)yapuL (S for the shibilant, L for
barred-L) and Sapu, both as 'hat'.  The form siyapuL occurs also in
Lower Chinook, from whence it evidently comes into regional CJ.  I'm not a
Chinookanist, so don't know if there is a Chinookan explanation for the
terminal -L:  certainly, it creates a problem for the usually accepted
French etymology (<chapeau, evidently indeed the source of GR CJ Sapu).
It could however be explained as another instance of traders' distorted
Nuuchaahnulth, had they come to the lower Columbia with a Nuuchaahnulth
word for 'hat' terminating in -uxs.  Very intriguing suggestion.  Another
Henry

> Well, the Nuuchaahnulh word is
> tsiyapuxsim  {[x] is palatal fricative}
> (Most speakers just say tsiyapuxs today.)
>
> two suffixes can be isolated:
> -uxs "used as headgear"
> -im  "thing" (it is sort of a word formative, similar to a nominalizer)
>
> This leaves the root
> tsiyap-
>
> I doubt that this would come from a French or CJ loan, the "o"-Sound in
> chapeau being too prominent to just be dropped.
>
> Henry
>