Turnips, potatoes

[David Robertson]

Yo!  (Kwak'wala greeting, not youth slang)

>From HF Nater's truly excellent 'Stem List of the Bella Coola Language:'


Turnips:
7yanahu 'turnips' (Heiltsuk y'a`na`hu'; Kitimat y'a'naho // Haida
y'a'a'naahuu, 7innu'u')

***Are these all from Chinook Jargon?


Potatoes:
kwusi 'potatoes'  (Heiltsuk gwu`si' // Tsimshian sgusiit // Haida
sgu'u'si'i't, sGa'wsiit // cf. Squamish sqawc // Nootkan qa:wac)

***Is the old story true, that the forms in the northern languages come
from English 'good seed'?  And aren't the southern (Sq, No) forms
separate, native (at least in Salish) terms?


Now that I'm getting the opportunity to work on Kwak'wala a little, I'm
grateful for Nater's listing so many similarities of form among Salish,
Wakashan, and other languages.  This little book is a gem.

--Dave R.