iron/ metal [and other loans and calques]

[Koontz John E]

On Sun, 2 Nov 2003, R. Rankin wrote:
> > Query from Jimm Good Tracks
> > Has it been determined the source of the word iron [maza (L/Dak);
> > madhe (IO); maNaNs (Winn); maNze (Q/K)]. There was no known use of
> > metal or iron prior to the trading days with Europeans.
> > So is the word borrowed?
>
> A friend of mine in California collected the words for 'metal' in all
> the languages he could find -- European, Asian, American and all the
> rest.  The words display some amazing similarities in
> form/pronunciation.  I think his contention might be that they all
> spread out from some spot in the Old World where smelting of iron ore
> began, including into the new world.  But it is controversial, as you
> can imagine.

Precontact artifacts made from copper occur with some frequency in the
Midwest.  As far as I know they are all ornamental an/or religious, i.e.,
not pots or weapons.  Anyway, copper is the most likely original reference
of the "metal" term set.  Meteoritic iron is another possibility, as Bob
suggests, and silver and gold were certainly worked in Mesoamerica, and if
any small samples found their way into the Midwest they may or may not
have been considered as "metal."  Plainly various metals acquired later in
trade were plainly considered so and today the "metal term" is usually
considered to mean "iron."

I remember Victor Golla (in California, but perhaps not the indivudual Bob
refers to) asking about the Siouan terms.  I gather they somewhat resemble
terms of similar reference in Athabascan languages, but I don't know the
details.

My recollection is that *waNs- "metal" has a rather restricted
distribution in Siouan and some irregularities associated with it, so that
it is actually a fairly good candidate for a loan, if an old one.
Alternatively, there is enough of a resemblance to 'chest' that I've
sometimes wondered about 'pectoral (making material)' as a source, with
pectoral in the sense of a chest ornament - what was once called a gorget,
as an element of European military ornamentation, though I don't mean to
suggest a connection.

I tend to think that the fairly widespread expression for "money," 'white
metal', cf., e.g., OP maNze ska, more or less maN(s)ska in regular speech,
was originally a calque of French argent, i.e., 'white metal' = 'silver'.
I don't know how widely spread 'white metal' formations are in North
America.  It might be interesting to track down the distributions of forms
like this, 'fire water' (< eau ardent?), and so on.  I believe they occur
in at least Siouan and Algonquian, and I think they are probably more or
less coextensive with such probable actual loans as kkokkomaN 'cucumber'
or kkukkusi 'pig' (OP forms), presumably from concombre and (certainly
from) couscous, or, for that matter s^aglas^a 'British' (Da) or ragras^iN
'British' (IO), presumably from les Anglais/l'Anglais.  I know some of
these forms have been investigated, but I don't think anyone has done it
systematically, but only term by term.

JEK