Cherokee term for 'china clay'

[Rankin, Robert L]

I had to take a class in "Georgia History" when I was in Junior High School and learned that kaolin (white clay) was one of Georgia's natural resources.  The teacher pronounced in [ke:olin] -- three syllables.  I never thought more about it until this thread.  I guess it's pretty clear that kaolin is a Chinese loanword in English.  I have missed part of this discussion -- what does kao lin mean in Chinese?  I assume it's pronounced [kaw lin] plus tones.
 
Bob

________________________________

From: owner-siouan at lists.colorado.edu on behalf of A.W. Tüting
Sent: Thu 7/13/2006 2:52 AM
To: siouan at lists.colorado.edu
Cc: A.W. Tüting
Subject: Re: Cherokee term for 'china clay'



Craig,
thanks a lot for your valuable input.
This makes a lot of sense to me. So it seems that my tentative
expectation that unaker is not a Chinese loan might be supported, since
terms for 'main' colours (like white) seldom are adopted from foreign
languages.

Any further contributions to this issue are highly appreciated.

Alfred


Am 12.07.2006 um 19:16 schrieb Craig Kopris:

> As far as attested Cherokee terms are concerned,
> according to Pulte & Feeling's 1975 Cheroke-English
> dictionary, 'unega' is Cherokee for "white"
>
> Craig Kopris
>>
>> (...)"
>>
>> I'm quite skeptical and would like to hear your
>> opinions on this issue
>> as far as linguistic aspects are involved.
>>
>> Here's the link to further details:
>> http://www.asiawind.com/zhenghe/
>>
>> Thank's in advance!
>>
>> Alfred
>
>
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