Pasayuks inapu

[Francisc Czobor]

LaXayEm!
   
  Maybe this is nothing new for the member of the Chinook list, but I noticed this fact only now: the Chinook Wawa word inapu or inEpu "louse" (that, as far as I know, is of Chinookan origin) was considered by Le Jeune to be of French origin!
  In his "Chinook rudiments" (1924), under the heading "More French Words" (page 30) is listed, among others, the word "un pou" = "louse" (in French "un pou" means "a louse"). In shorthand it is written [inpo] or [inpu] (I can not distinguish it clearly).
  But the form "inpu" for "louse" appears also in Demers (page 15), and a form "enpooy" (also with the vowel between n and p dropped) appears in other dictionaries (Hutchings&Rosenfield-1860, Hibben&Carswell-1862, Macdonald-1863). Thus I thing that Demers' "un pou" is the same as CW inapu/inEpu, and this French form is due to it's apparent similarity (like in folk etymology).
   
  Francisc
   

 			
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