Hancock list words Part two (A-B-E) -Reply

[Tony Johnson]

Kanawi-Laksta,

I haven't had time to comment on these, but I thought I would quickly
comment on one issue below...

>>> Sally Thomason <sally at THOMASON.ORG> 03/27/99 04:11pm >>>
Mike and all,

  Here are a few comments on the latest list of Hancock items.


ada - to wait for: This is CJ ata (stress on the 2nd syllable),
                   from French attend(-) `wait for'.  It's not
                   very widely attested in CJ, but it occurs in
                   Jacobs' Chinook-CJ texts (from Mrs. Howard)
                   and Jacobs' Kalapuya-CJ text.  Both texts have
                   d rather than t.

sha - interj. yes: I bet this is a typo for aha (stress on 2nd
syllable).
It occurs pretty widely in CJ, with this meaning: Mrs. Howard (text
published by Jacobs), Harrington, Grand Ronde elsewhere too, Parker,
Winthrop, Palmer, etc. -- even, probably, the same word in Mozin~o
1792: e-o `yes'.  Etc.  Shaw says it's from Chinook; Nootka has
ha'a; and aha itself occurs in several Salishan languages in this
meaning -- Nisqually (Gibbs), Cowichan (Gibbs), Halqemeylem...but in
the Salishan lgs. it seems to have initial stress, so it may be a
different word in origin.

I ASSUME THIS IS A TYPO BECAUSE OF ITS LOCATION IN THE LIST, BUT ONE OF
MY FATHERS UNCLES GIVES 'SA-HA' AS THE FORM FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE IN BAY
CENTER, WA (ON SHOALWATER BAY).  THIS IS WHERE MUCH OF MY FAMILY IS
FROM, AND HE WAS BORN AND RAISED THERE.  HE SAYS THE OLDER WOMEN WERE
ALWAYS USING THIS FOR YES.  ANYWAY, JUST AN INTERESTING NOTE.

LaXayEm--Tony
Grand Ronde, OR

ak - nephew: The only word for `nephew' I've found occurs just once,
in Ross, who spells it Ack.  It is conceivable, though maybe not
very likely, that this comes from a Chinookan form cognate with
Kathlamet i-c-uulX `my nephew' (Hymes, p. 121).

apeta - salmon eggs: CJ apta `roe' is attested (in my files anyway)
only in Demers et al. and in Pinart, both in the meaning salmon egg
(but the plural would be the same).  Lower Chinook has a word
i-qapta in this meaning; Wishram (Chinook) has iL-qapt, and
Kathlamet Chinook has L-qapt `salmon roe'.  This looks as if it has
to be connected, but something's still odd about it, because of the
missing root-initial q- (I assume it's root-initial in Chinook?) in
the CJ forms.

apola - spitroast: CJ forms vary (depending on the source) between
ap at la and lap at la (both have final stress).  Shaw says origin unknown
but perhaps from French le foyer (but this certainly doesn't fit
semantically).  The CJ form is glossed as roasted or baked (before
the fire).  The form beginning in l is given by Harrington, Demers
et al., Shaw, Pinart, and on Grand Ronde; the form with no initial
l is given by Swan 1857 and Allen 1855 (which may be based in part
on Swan).

awolt - incapable: This is probably the CJ word xauqwaL `unable,
impossible'.  It's mostly attested with initial x (but that could
easily have been missed by Anglo and French hearers, because in at
least some Native languages of the Northwest it's a very soft
fricative x, not all that easily heard) and with q or qw in the
middle.   But Demers et al. have AwHolt `unable, incapable', where
the H = their special cut-off "h" letter, used for a velar fricative
(if I'm remembering right); and one Grand Ronde form (from Henry
Zenk's work, probably?) is roughly haUwEL, which fits Hancock's
form pretty well, once you allow for Anglo mis-hearing of the lateral
fricative L as an lt cluster (or, more often, tl).

eke - brother-in-law: This is CJ iqix `brother-in-law' (the x = a
velar fricative, not a "ks" sound as in English).  It's fairly widely
attested -- Harrington, Demers et al., Palmer, Shaw (who says it's
"not strictly CJ, or only local"), Ross, Boas, Le Jeune (who says
it's "used in other districts").  The source is Chinookan: both
Lower Chinook and Kathlamet have i-qih in this meaning.

ekwonot, ekwEnEt - spring salmon: This is CJ (i-)q'waniX/ikwanat,
from Chinook (Lower Chinook has the latter, Kathlamet has the
former).  Parker 1842 has quanagh `salmon'; Cox 1824-1830 has
equannet `salmon' and Lewis & Clark had quinette as a river
name.  I think Lee has the same form as Parker.

elake - sea otter: Gill and Long give this word for sea otter;
it's from Lower Chinook i-laki `sea otter'.  There's another
word for sea otter too, inamuks (in Demers et al. and Stuart,
but Stuart says it means `land otter' -- though Stuart was I
think inland, so he wouldn't have encountered sea otters,
presumably?).

emay - chest, breast, emik - the back: The closest I've found
to these are two forms from Ross: Emets-aughtick (pl.) `breast'
and Emeck-kuts-ach `back (of the body)'.  I don't have a guess
as to the etymology, though one might possibly compare Kathlamet
Chinook ts-ka-kucX-iks `their backs'.

emist, emits - nose, beak, prow: This occurs in Shaw (spelled
emeets) and in Ross 1849 (Emeeats), with the annotation that
it comes from Chinook.  The closest thing I've found to a possibly
relevant Chinookan form is Lower Chinook S-me-ktSXict `thy
nostril' (Boas 1911:585).

esal - come: Could this gloss be a typo for `corn'?  There's a
well-attested CJ form isaL `corn' (stress on 2nd syllable), which
(according to Shaw according to Gibbs) is from Wasco.  Phonetically,
it fits Hancock's form quite well.

etamana - prophet, seer: This looks like an i-prefixed variant
of CJ t'amanawas (stress on 2nd vowel) `guardian spirit, magic'
(and other similar meanings).  Boas (1892) gives a Lower
Chinook form it'amanoaS; Shaw and Gibbs give similar forms, also
from Chinook.  None of the CJ sources I've found this word in
has a prefixed i-, though, so this may be from a "Chinooky" CJ
source rather than from more general CJ.

etsum - heart: Swan 1857 ives a form aitsemar `heart'; this is
the only CJ source I've found such a form attested in, but it's
clearly connected to Hancock's form.  The source is Chinook --
compare Chinook e-tSa-mxtS `my heart'.

eye (ayuh) - yes: I've found this form only in Shaw, who says it's
"not strictly CJ, or only local".  It'd be spelled iye (stress on
2nd syllable); probably it's basically the same word as the more
common aha.  Shaw says it's from Nootka.

  -- Sally