suyapi, Ktunaxa etc.; French influence in Nez Perce land

[David Robertson]

LaXayEm!

nixwa nayka wawa wEXt tEnEs-Ikta khapa ukuk:

i:xt)  In A.F. Chamberlain's "Report on the Kootenay Indians of Southeast
British Columbia", page 614, "BORROWED WORDS:  There appear to be but very
few borrowed words in the Kootenay language.  These are as far as
ascertained--
	From Nez Perce sui"apo, Kootenay suuya"pi, 'white man.'
	"    Klikatat  nooksi, 'otter,' Kootenay na'ksak, 'marten,' or
							    vice versa.
	"    French    le capot, Kootenay tlii'kaapoo' (dlii'kaapoo'),
							        'coat.'
	"    Chinook jargon Bo'stEn, Kootenay Bo'stEn, 'American.'
	"    "       "      Kindza'tc, "      Kindja'tc, 'Canadian.'
	"    French  de la soie, Lower Kootenay dla'swaa, 'silk.'
	"    a Salishan dialect, staa'tlaam, canoe."

The two words marked as having come from French could as easily have
entered Kootenay from Chinook Jargon, viz:

a)  Jargon words from French often had two parallel, or competing, forms:
One from the simple French word, and one with the French article preposed.

b)  Notice the initial sounds in Kootenay tlii'kaapoo'/dlii'kaapoo' and
dla'swaa, and let us consider that the sound {dl} in that language may
reflect simply the {l} of another language.

c)  Chamberlain on page 612 notes, "When the Lower Kootenay
['French'?] half-breeds speak Indian, they tend to make this dl a simple
l.  English half-breeds of the Upper Kootenay tend to make it kl, as do
most Europeans trying to speak Kootenay."

d)  I know of no other indigenous language of the adjoining Interior
regions which adopted any words ultimately of French origin *along with
the partitive preposition {de}*.  No Spokane word for "silk" is known to
me, so I'll have to try asking my teacher if there is one; nor can I find
such an entry in the NLe7kepmx (Thompson River) Salish dictionary, nor in
the Q'way'ayiLq' (Upper Chehalis Salish) volume of Kinkade.
Correspondingly, there are no Chinook Jargon words of French known to me
to have incorporated the French preposition.

e)  And so on.

2)  A reliable source has indicated to me that at least one family on
the Nez Perce reservation, apparently an Indian family, is historically
French-speaking and may still be, within the home.  This might be of
interest for considerations of French influence on Nez Perce, though
perhaps not an explanation for your question, Phil, about the word meaning
"isn't it so?"

Best,
Dave


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