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

[Ros' Haruo]

>From: Mitchell Roy <roy.mitchell at SEALASKA.COM>
>Reply-To: Mitchell Roy <roy.mitchell at SEALASKA.COM>
>To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>Subject: Chinook Jargon origins for ethnonyms used in 20th c. Tlingit.
>Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2003 10:41:15 -0800
>
>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.

But of course "One" here *could* be the common noun "one". Highly
implausible, but possible.

>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.

Perhaps a clinchier clincher is the fact that it was precisely George III,
not George I, who lent his name to all British North Americans, n'est-ce
pas? On the other hand, isn't it possible that "waan" here is an allomorph
of "k_waan" as in the USonym? A K-type consonant can easily lose itself in
an abutting Ch-type sequence, I think. Of course this doesn't mean the
Tlingit terms are not of CJ origin, only that maybe the -(k_)waan part
isn't. I think it's highly likely that the "King George" and "Boston" parts
are of CJ (or NJ) origin, but I'm less convinced about that final syllable.

>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?

Sainaman? (i.e. Saynaman)

>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
>

lilEnd

_________________________________________________________________
Get McAfee virus scanning and cleaning of incoming attachments.  Get Hotmail
Extra Storage!   http://join.msn.com/?PAGE=features/es