[Fwd: Meacham's CJ in Oregon 1870]

[janilta]

Hello, Alan,

I did not know this Fr. Can. 'dalle' either. I also thought of
Scandinavian 'dal', as Mike did. In standard French, 'dalle' is
'flag/paving stone', but it may have another meaning in regional French
and thus in Canadian French.

'Piccaninny' (as well as 'savvy', with sometimes slightly different
forms) are common to many pidgins (even if they actually originated in
Portuguese-based pidgins) : we also find them in English-based pidgins
as Australian Pidgin, as well as Chinese Coast Pidgin and Jamaican
Patois. They are both strong clues for the existence of an older more
global maritime pidgin/jargon...

Regards, Yann.