ku'uytEn 'horse'

[janilta]

Hello, Aron,

The point is not really to confuse moose with horse, I think. Everyone
can make the difference. But the linguistic point is what do you can
call a reality you never saw before, and in this very case, what do you
call an animal never encountered before.
The easiest way is to take the name given to these animals by the people
on the spot (or from those bringing it). But European languages in
America have numerous examples of names of European animals given to new
realities (somethimes adding 'Indian' or 'American' to make a
distinction).
On the other hand, Native nations being confronted to a new beast called
'horse' could whether create a new word, or take the imported
denomination (we saw many examples of 'caballo' borrowings) or even
extend the meaning of an existing word : eg Comanche 'tihiya' (deer)
being used for 'horse' (the Comanche did not confuse 'deer' with
'horse', they only had to find a denomination) I mentioned before.

Let me give another example taken from 'Australian Aboriginal Words in
English' (Oxford Reference).
When Cook went ashore in North Queensland in 1770, he (and his crew) saw
strange animals and asked the local Aborigines what they do call them.
The Guugu Yimidhirr people apparently said something close to 'kanguru'
for the edible male large black variety of this very animal.
When other Britons later went down to Botany Bay, they used the word to
local Iora Aborigines who thought they were taught the English word for
'edible animal' and thus called 'kangaru' the first cows they met.
When later Europeans settled along the Darling River, the local
Baagandji people used the 'kangaru' word they heard for the first time
to call animals they never met before, 'horses'...

Regards, Yann.