Chinook Jargon origins for ethnonyms used in 20th c. Tlingit.

[Mitchell Roy]

Chinook Jargon origins for ethnonyms used in 20th century Tlingit.

It seems to me that at least two of the modern Tlingit words for foreigners
come from Chinook Jargon.  

It has been said that the Tlingit 'kingjichwáan' comes from "King George
One" which cannot possibly be true on the face of it.  First off, no English
king would ever be called King such-and-such One, nor King such-and-such the
First, while reigning.  (They are only called "the first" after another king
with the same name has taken the throne.)  And of course, in English, King
George the First would not be called King George One, even during the reigns
of George the Second or George the Third.

The clincher, of course, is to see that the '-waan' likely comes from
English>Chinook Jargon 'man' which comes out precisely as 'waan' in Tlingit
phonology.

C.J. for Englishman -- king chautsh man (Thomas)
Tlingit for Englishman/Canadian -- kingjichwáan / kingoochwáan

C.J. for USAmerican -- boston man
Tlingit for USAmerican/Whiteman -- wáashdan kwaan
  (with influence of Tlingit word 'kwaan' = 'tribe' or 'nation') 

The Tlingit for "Chinese" looks suspiciously C.J.-able:  Cháanwaan; does
anyone have a C.J. term for Chinese man?

Robert:  Do you have a list of Tlingit words that are likely borrowings from
C.J.?

Roy

Roy Mitchell
Sociolinguist
Sealaska Heritage Institute
One Sealaska Plaza, Suite 201
Juneau, Alaska 99801
http://www.sealaskaheritage.org
907.586.9272
Gunalchéesh         Háw'aa        'Doyck-shin 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/chinook/attachments/20030924/cfec14f4/attachment.htm>