skub-e-you ... was ... Re: [humm]

[David D. Robertson]

P. Cash Cash wrote:

[See comments below. <snip> > > Its broader use is found in [humm opoots]
or literally ?stinks-his tail? > > or Skunk (see Thomas dict.). > > The
other term for skunk is "skubbyou"; which areas was this used in vs. >
which areas "humm opoots" is found?]

{I reply:}

While we were packing up & moving this weekend, Bates-Hilbert-
Hess "Lushootseed Dictionary" caught my eye.  They have a form I'm
remembering as approximately /sk'Ebiya7/ for "skunk", which may help answer
your question.  Like many of the words in Gibbs, this is one that was
mostly current around Nisqually, maybe Puget Sound generally.

I'd been wondering whether the final "-you" was a way of rendering /i/ plus
a final voiceless rounded /xw/, but the Lushootseed dictionary form
suggests otherwise.

I'd guess the Anglicized spelling "skubbyou", and others like it, reflect a
parallel with a contemporary pronunciation /dEbyE/ for the name of the
letter "W", as in the nickname of our president now.  Compare with the not
uncommon spelling "cla-how-you", for "klahowya".

-- Dave