Chinook Jargon word for Donkey?

[Leanne Riding]

A question at the Chinook-Wawa group on Yahoo ended up puzzling me too -- the 
question was:

"What is the Chinook Jargon word for Donkey?"

Considering there are words for Mule (ie. "le mel" or "moola"), why not Donkey?
  Maybe "burro" or "l'ane"? For the question, "What is the Chinook the Chinook 
Jargon word for Donkey?" -- Should the correct answer for the question be,
  "Donkey"?

Did the word Donkey come from l'ane cay? "Mule colt / hoofed animal which 
is a mule/looks like a mule?"

:) I know, a stretch. The Cayuse thread has been putting thoughts in my head.
   However, I couldn't come up with anything better because the word Donkey 
seems itself a little mysterious. Here is what Wikipedia had to say about 
the etymology of the word Donkey:

"The word "donkey" is one of the most etymologically obscure in the English 
language. Until quite recent times, the standard word was "ass", which has 
clear cognates in most other Indo-European languages; no credible cognate 
for "donkey" has yet been identified, though it is possible that it is a diminutive 
of "dun" (dull greyish-brown), a typical donkey colour; originally, "donkey"
  was pronounced to rhyme with "monkey". In the late 18th century, the word 
"donkey" started to replace "ass", almost certainly to avoid confusion with 
the word "arse", which, due to sound changes that had affected the language,
  had come to be pronounced the same way (/æs/ > /ɑ:s/ and /ɑ:rs/ > /ɑ:s/). The 
/ɑ:s/ pronunciation of "ass" was eventually restored to /æs/ in order to reserve 
the distinction, but not without the curious consequence of American English 
losing the word "arse" entirely and handing over its meaning to "ass".

(Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey, Saturday, February 5, 2005 
16:59:18)

I also found "1785, slang, perhaps from dun "dull grey-brown," the form perhaps 
infl. by monkey. Or possibly from a familiar form of Duncan (cf. dobbin). The 
older Eng. word was ass."

(Online Etymology Dictionary, http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=donkey&
searchmode=none, Saturday, February 5, 2005 17:21:06)

I wonder the 1785 reference referred to George Washington's donkeys which 
he received in 1785? He apparently also had a Chincoteague pony which he called 
"Chinky." Need to know more...

=( : ] )-[--<

- Leanne
- homepage: timetemple.com

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