Fw: Iowa-Ho-Chunk Languages

[R. Rankin]

Yes, that used to be the common story, but more recent
work by Goddard seems to show that these old stories
(widely repeated on dozens of internet sites most of
which seem to plagiarize from others) were mostly
untrue, with the term referring to "those who speak a
different language."  Apparently the two words are
somewhat similar.  Koontz's web site has probably the
best discussion:
http://spot.colorado.edu/~koontz/faq/etymology.htm#Sioux

Bob

>I have read two versions of the origin of Sioux:
>
> 1. The word Sioux is a French Canadian rendering of
> the Ojibway word nadewisou, meaning "treacherous
> snakes."
>
> 2. The word Sioux is taken from the abbreviated
> Algonquin (Ojibway or Ottawa) compound, nadowe
> meaning "snake" plus siu meaning "little," and the
> French Canadian rendering of it was spelled
> Nadouéssioux.