Tomahittan?

[R. Rankin]

You must be corresponding with David Sorg.  :-)

No.  There is no locative prefix with the shape to- in Siouan.  Some people are
obsessed with "big turkeys" and also analyze Mosopelea as 'big turkey'.  What is
it about turkeys?

"Tomahitan" is another of those unanalyzable place/tribal names in the early
Ohio Valley that could come from a variety of sources.  The end, /itaN/, could
be OVS for 'big', as it is in Monyton.  The beginning could be the *htowaN
'town' term that we've discussed on the list.  It is found in Dakotan, Dhegiha
and maybe Chiwere-Winnebago, but I can't recall for the latter.  It is also
found in OVS with the form /taN ~ taNyaN ~ taaN/ in Biloxi (Dorsey and Swanton
1912, p. 271).  It is an areal term also found in Muskogean, Choctaw /tamaha ~
tomaha/ 'town' (maybe Chickasaw too?).  So from one source or another 'big town'
is a possible analysis.  The /h/ is troublesome for a Siouan analysis and the
/-itan/ is troublesome for a Muskogean one.  Unless external corroborating data
are found (like someone having written down that it means "big town" or the
like) I don't see any way to find a solution.

Bob

----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Mccafferty" <mmccaffe at indiana.edu>
To: <siouan at lists.colorado.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, September 28, 2004 6:03 AM
Subject: Tomahittan?


>
> Someone has told me that "Tomahittan" is analyzable as, and I quote,
>
> To = a variant of a prefix meaning "at"
>
> ma = "turkey"
>
> "itan" = "big or great"
>
> in Ohio Valley Siouan.
>
>
> Any truth to this?
>
> Thank you,
> Michael
>
>
>
>
>