Q's re origin of coho and chum

[Alan H. Hartley]

Jeffrey Kopp wrote:
>
> Hi.  I received an inquiry from an author of a book about fishing who
> needs to find the origins of both "coho" and "chum."  He said he
> couldn't find anything on "coho," though my trusty American Heritage
> Dictionary shows it (under "coho salmon") as "Alteration of cohose,
> from Salish (Halkomelem)."
>
> However, my AHD shows "chum" as "origin unknown."  The author who
> wrote me did not tell me where he found this:
>
> >The common name chum derives from the Native American Chinook
> >language word for "striped" or "variegated" and is descriptive of the
> >streaks and blotches markings on the body of the chum as it enters
> >fresh water to spawn.

coho, alteration of cohose < Halkomelem k'wExwEth [k' = glottalized k; E
= schwa; w's are superscript, representing labialization of preceding
consonants; th = theta] (HNAI VII.50, and AHD ed. 3).

chum (salmon) < CJ cam 'spotted, striped' [c = ts] < Lower Chinook c'Eam
'variegated' (AHD ed. 3); cf. tzum 'stripes' in Harper _Chinook_. Note
that dictionaries consider this separate from chum in the sense of
cut-fish scattered in the water as bait, for which the origin is
unknown.

Alan