Osage

[Michael Mccafferty]

I would like to add that an even earlier Iroquoian hydrological
conception of the Ohio started at the headwaters of the Allegheny and
flowed all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.



Michael McCafferty
On Sat, 19 Jan 2002, Wallace Chafe wrote:

> Dear Siouanists,
>
> This is irrelevant to the Siouan discussion, but I have to throw it in
> anyway. Seneca ohi:yo? (with a Y) actually refers to what is conceived of
> as a single river from its source in Pennsylvania to its confluence with
> the Mississippi. In English we conceive of this as two rivers, the
> Allegheny (in NY spelled Allegany) and the Ohio, changing its identity in
> Pittsburgh. The -h- means "river", but the -iyo- part is a little harder
> to translate. Perhaps "nice river" comes closer. "Beautiful" as an
> aesthetic judgment doesn't quite do it. The cognate in Tuscarora means
> "big", but the other languages seem to have moved away from the size
> meaning alone. It's interesting to compare English "grand", with both the
> size and value judgments. Seneca, at least nowadays, has moved toward the
> value end of it. Wi:yo:h (without any incorporation) means "it's good" or
> "nice".
>
> The Osage name has been borrowed into Seneca as wasa:se?, which is the
> name for the war dance.
>
> Wally Chafe
>
> > There are also some etymological problems.  For example, Ohio actually
> > comes from something like Seneca ohi:o?  'Beautiful River' (the
> > Allegheny), probably via French, because the English pronunciation acts
> > like a spelling pronunciation of a fairly accurate rendition of the Seneca
> > name in French orthography.  If it did come from a name used by this
> > wandering collection of Siouan tribes, what process would explain its
> > transmission into English?  For that matter, if a suitable process exists,
> > why wouldn't it transmit the Osage equivalent Opha=p=a instead?
>
>
>


Michael McCafferty
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Indiana University
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mmccaffe at indiana.edu

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