more French conundrums

[Leanne Riding]

Balsam applies to resinous wood, I think we might more often say
"pitch". In the old days, more commonly than today, all
cone-bearing trees would be referred to as "Pines", and the cones
of all these trees "pine cones." However the generic term "Pines"
includes Pine, Spruce, Fir, etc. Europeans used the pitch of these
trees to make turpentine which had medicinal uses. A famous brand
of medicine which included turpentine, which more than likely your
source was familiar with, was "Gombault's Caustic Balsam".

Anyways, there is not much similarity between a pine tree and a
maple tree, apart from the fact that they are both trees, so I bet
that "kastik" and "kooo stik" is just a coincidence.

I find it very funny that Vine Maple was called Bois de Diable,
while the truly diabolical Devil's club, which can rip a hiker to
shreds, was as far as I know, named something akin to "prickly
tree". All of these bushes have such personality that I can't help
relating a childhood anecdote about them. As kids, me, my brother
and my cousins built a fort by the creek out of tarps and lumber
and painted a sign which said "Devils Club". Our fort was quite
well protected from all comers by maples and prickle bushes such as
Devils clubs and black currants. All of those had palmate leaves
like a maple, so I wonder if some broad classifying, similar to
that with "Pines" are went on?

The closest to "kooo stik" I know of offhand is "koko stik" for
woodpecker (knock wood).

I plugged the word "stik" in my word lookup tool and some results were:

Toholal stik, hazel tree. 	Demers, Modeste (the "h" is one of his
short stemmed h's. I guess I should make a font for that.)
Latsikanstik, oak. 	Demers, Modeste
Kalakwat stik, cedar. 	Demers, Modeste
Kalakwahtie stick, cedar tree. 	Hale, Horatio
Tlosh stik, cedar. 	Demers, Modeste
Eena stik (beaver wood), willow. 	Hale, Horatio
Kanawe stik, oak. 	Demers, Modeste
Kastik, balsam. 	Demers, Modeste
Oak, kull stick. 	Hale, Horatio
Isik stick (paddle-wood), the elm. 	Hale, Horatio
Koko stick (knock-tree), woodpecker.

P.S. if you'd like to try that tool it is at:
http://timetemple.com/index.php?option=com_cj_wordlookup
I put both the english->chinook and chinook->english entries into
the database, since they were often different!! Like Demers, et.
al's "oak".

If you want it to show all the plants, type in plantae
and " animals " animalia

It seems like the names were based on the uses of the wood. So
"kooo" might be related to the plants uses. However the best CJ
word I can find that might match is "kow", which means to tie,
fasten. Perhaps, in reference to the bothersome aspects,
"hinder?" :)



On Tuesday, February 22, 2005, at 04:36 , Alan H. Hartley wrote:
>
> Mathews Dict. of Americanisms has "bois de diable. = vine maple... 1823
> D. Douglas Journal (1914) 108 This Acer forms part of the underwood in
> the pine forests... It is called by the voyageurs Bois de Diable from
> the obstruction it gives them in passing through the woods." And "vine
> maple..a small tree, Acer circinatum, of the Pacific Northwest, the
> stems of which are often prostrate."
>
> Alan
>
> To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond
> privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!
>
>
=( : ] )-[--<

- Leanne
- homepage: timetemple.com

To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!