Welcome to The Mad Logophile. Here, we explore words; their origins, evolution, usage. Words are alive; they are born, they change and, sometimes, they die. They are our principal tool for communicating with one another. There are millions of words yet only an estimated 171,476 words are in common current use. As a logophile, I enjoy discovering new words, using them and learning about their origins.
This week we have a look at native American words that we use all the time. Many place names are Native American and we recognize most of those. But everyday words with a NA source hide a little better...
The Native American words we use are from nearly every tribe in the western hemisphere: from the Algonquin tribes in the northeast, to the Navajo in the southwest, from the Inuit in Alaska to the Tupi of South America. It is important to remember that, in many cases, etymologists are taking their best guess as to a word's origins. Native American languages are incredibly complex and often difficult to trace to their original source. This is one reason that Navajo tribe members were recruited to codify messages during WWII - their native language was unlike anything the Axis powers had ever heard before and they were stymied by it. Etymologists are still stymied by the exact origins of many NA words, but they are doing their best.
The world of botany owes a debt to Native languages. The hickory is from Powhatan (one of the Algonquin languages), and is a shortening of pockerchicory, a name for this species of walnut. The pecan also derives from Algonquin. Specifically, it is from the Cree pakan, meaning "hard-shelled nut." The word, yucca comes to us from Central America. The Spanish picked it up on their journey through, probably from the Taino natives of Haiti. The mesquite is a member of the pea family and the name comes to us from the Aztec mizquitl. The Pima tribe of the southwest gives us the name for the giant cactus, saguaro. The Bearberry is also known widely as kinikinnik and is from Ojibwe, meaning "berry with spikes." The atamasco lily gets it name from the Powhatan, attamusca. The pipsissewa, a small perennial flowering plant, comes from the Abenaki kpipskwáhsawe, "flower of the woods." The peyote cactus gets its name from the Nahuatl word from peyōtl. While we're on the subject of plants used as drugs, the coca plant gets its name from the Quechua word, kuka. The camas, or blue flag, gets its name from the Nez Perce qém’es. A common evergreen shrub native the the northwest, the salal gets its name from the Lower Chinook salál.
A lot of fauna still bears their native American names. This is just a sampling... Caribou is from the Micmac kaleboo, literally "pawer/scratcher," from its habit of scraping the snow aside to feed on moss and grass underneath. The chipmunk is an animal with a Ojibwa name meaning, "one who descends trees headlong" or upside down. The cougar's name comes from South America. It's either from the Guarani guaçu ara or possibly from the Tupi word, susuarana. Etymologists aren't sure. The names for the jaguar and the ocelot, however, they are sure about. Jaguar is a Tupi word jaguara, which denotes any large beast of prey. The toucan, tapir, pirahna and macaw all got their names from the Tupi, also. Ocelot is from Nahuatl ocelotl, which means "jaguar." Several animals got their names from the Quechua of the Western part of South America: the condor, llama, puma and vicuña all come to us from that tribe. Pocahontas would have known the opossum as it is from the Powhatan apasum, meaning "white animal." Iguanas get their name from from an Arawakan word, iwana. The moose gets its name from the Narragansett word, moosu, "he strips off," in reference to the animals' stripping bark off the trees for food. Muskrat is probably Powhatan; muscascus literally means "it is red," describing its coloring. The woodchuck is altered from the Cree, otchek or Ojibwa otchig, the name for the local species of marten. Wapiti is another word for elk, from Shawnee waapiti, "white rump." From the cold north, the Inuit gave us the word malamute from the name of the tribe which developed the breed. The kinkajou gets his name from the Algonquin word, kwingwaage, meaning "wolverine." Both the raccoon and the skunk get their names from Algonquin. The raccoon from arahkunem, "he scratches with the hands." The skunk from seganku, which goes back to the Proto-Algonquian sek, "to urinate" + akw "fox." So their name for the skunk means "a fox that smells of urine." Don't tell Pepe LePew!
The cuisine of the world has gained much from the discovery of the Americas. Most of the foodstuffs became known worldwide by their original names. The avocado was called "alligator pear" until the Nahuatl word for it, ahuakatl ("testicle" from its shape), caught on with the Spanish. The delectible dish made from it, guacamole, is also from the Nahuatl. The dish ahuaca-molli, is derived from ahuacatl "avocado" + molli "sauce" (also the source of "mole", a chocolate/chili sauce). To the Europeans, "corn" was a designation for any food grain. Then maize was introduced from the New World and eventually usurped the title. The word comes from the Arawakan (Haiti) word mahiz. Hominy, which is definitely an acquired taste, is probably from the Powhatan appuminneonash, meaning "parched corn," or "that which is ground or beaten." The persimmon comes from Powhatan, too. The word pasimenan, comes from the way it was prepared, "dried fruit." As best as they can pin it down, etymologists think succotash is from Narragansett misickqatash, meaning "ear of corn." Lean dried meat, pounded and mixed with fat and ground berries then formed into cakes is called pemmican. This is from the Cree pimihke "he makes grease." The squash, a staple of Native American cuisine, is a shortened borrowing from askutasquash, literally, "the green things that may be eaten raw," from the Narraganset tribe. The delicious clam called a quahog, comes from the Narragansett poquaûhock. I wonder if the Griffins know that? Another yummy clam is the geoduck (GOO-ee-duck), from the Nisqually gídəq. We owe the name of the world's most perfect food, chocolate, to the Nahuatl. Their word for the drink made from the cacao plant comes from xocolātl, derived from xococ "bitter" and ātl "water." The Nahuatl also invented the tamale or, as they knew it, tamalli. The Arawakan languages are spoken in the Caribbean and South America (this includes the Tupi and Taino tribes). They gave us one of our favorite summer pastimes; barbecue derives from barbakoa, meaning "framework of sticks" from their method of cooking. The guava, cassava, potato and papaya all came from the Taino of Haiti. The Tupi gave us cayenne and cashew in addition to tapioca. This food from roots of the cassava plant was known to the Tupi as tipioca, from tipi "residue, dregs" + og, "to squeeze out." Back again to the Nahuatl, they gave us the tomato, from their word tomatl.
Some articles of clothing still go by their Native American names. The moccasin comes from the Powhatan mockasin. The nice warm anorak is derived from a Greenlandic Inuit word, annoraaq. Furry boots made of sealskin are called mukluks, from the Yupik maklak. The poncho came from the tribe of Mapudungun's word, pontho, meaning "woolen fabric." The word muʻumuʻu means "amputated" in Hawaiian. This began as a formal dress introduced by Protestant missionaries to Hawaii in the 1820s, the holoku. As that dress became more elaborate, the mu'umu'u was designed as a shorter, informal version.
There are so many place names that either are derived from or are the original Native American words, that I can't hope to cover them all. I will mention a few and give you a link to a more comprehensive list. In my corner of the country, the Pacific northwest, we have oodles of places with their original names... Some are named for the tribe that lived in the area, such as Yakima, Palouse, Skagit, Tulalip, Snohomish and Snoqualmie. I live on the Kitsap Peninsula, the namesake of Chief Kitsap, an 18th- and 19th-century warrior and medicine man of the Suquamish Tribe. To my north, British Columbia bears a great many NA place names. Named for tribes are Squamish, Saanich, Kitimaat, Bella Coola and Okanagan. States in the US which are derived from Native words include Alabama (Choctaw for the tribe of "thicket clearers"), Connecticut (Mahican, meaning "at the long tidal river"), Kentucky (from an Iroquois word meaning "at the meadow"), Minnesota (from Dakota mni-sota, "turbid water"), Missouri (named for the Missouri tribe), Ohio (from the Seneca ohi-yo’, "beautiful river") Oklahoma (invented as a rough translation of "Indian Territory"; in Choctaw, okla means "people" and homa- means "red" thus: "Red people") and Utah (named for the Ute tribe). México was named after the Aztecs aka the Mexica. Most of the states in México come from Nahuatl and related languages. Guanajuato means "hill of frogs" in the Tarascan language, Michoacán means "the place of the fishermen" from the Nahuatl word michamacuan. Tamaulipas derives from tamaholipa, a Huastec term that means "place where there are high hills." There are many, many more place names listed here: http://en.wikipedia.org/... which also has links to place names in New England (a very long list).
Other words we get from Native American languages are all over the board. Two modes of transportation on water are canoe, from Arawakan canaoua, a word for dugouts, and the kayak, from a Greenland Inuit word, qayaq, literally meaning "small boat of skins." If you were born on the bayou, you are from a "small stream" derived from the Choctaw bayuk. The Chinook (from Salishan činuk), a tribe that dwelt on the Columbia River, gave their name to both a species of salmon and a warm spring wind. When you relax in that hammock try to recall that it's from the Arawakan word meaning "fish nets." The wigwam is from the Algonquian wikewam "a dwelling," while the tepee comes from Dakota (Siouan) thipi "dwelling, house." The igloo comes from an Inuit word meaning the same thing. To complete the set, we have the hogan, a Navajo dwelling from their word, hooghan. The long, flat-bottomed sled called a toboggan is from the Algonquin word for - wait for it - sled! From tobakun, "a sled." Despite the fact that it has become derogatory to some, squaw is actually Algonquin for "woman" while papoose is from the same language and means "child." Another stereotypical word is powwow from the Narragansett powwaw, "shaman." While it originates from the northeast, most American tribes now use it to describe a gathering of tribes. Up here in the NW, we also use potlatch, which is from a Nootka word meaning, "to make ceremonial gifts." The Quonset hut is probably from an Algonquian language of southern New England (etymologists aren't certain which one) possibly meaning "small long place." The root qunni means "long" in the Algonquin language family. The tomahawk is a small hatchet, the word coming from the Powhatan tamahaac, "an instrument for cutting." The Nahuatl gave us copal, an aromatic resin, from copalli. And shack is possibly from xacalli, "grass hut." The Quechua gave us the word for bat droppings, guano, from wanu. They also gave us the name for another tribe indigenous to their area, the Inca. From the Arawak tribes, we get cay, a small island. The dreaded hurricane was a familiar thing to the Taino of Haiti. The Spanish brought their word for it, hurakán, back to Europe. Another thing the Spanish brought back was tobacco, both the plant and the Taino word for it. And based on the erroneous belief that the Carib Indians ate human flesh, they gave us the word cannibal from a Cariban language, meaning "person." A ceremonial doll is a kachina from the Hopi katsína, "spirit being." You might find one in a kiva, an underground ceremonial pit, derived from kiv, meaning "house." Maybe you believe in the legendary Sasquatch, whose name comes from a Halkomelem word. But, alas, the sasquatch is gone to Oklahoma with the former Seattle Supersonics.
That is just a sampling of words that came from the tribes indigenous to the North and South American continents and surrounding areas. There are, oh so many more if you wish to look.
One group of indigenous peoples that often get overlooked when we refer to Native Americans are the Hawai'ians. The Bureau of Indian Affairs does not recognize them as an indigenous American people, but their representatives have introduced legislation to change that. So far, it has not passed. The Akaka Bill was RE-introduced in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House on Thursday, May 7 by the state's four Democrats: Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye and Reps. Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono. Please take a moment to contact your Reps and ask them to support this bill.
The Hawai'ian language is beautiful. We are familiar with a few words here on the Mainland - aloha, lei, kahuna, lanai - but there are others we could start using and see what happens. Kahuna, BTW, is a title for an expert in a particular field. And did you know that aloha can mean love, affection, compassion, mercy, sympathy, pity, kindness, sentiment, grace, charity; greeting, salutation, regards; sweetheart, lover, loved one; beloved, loving, kind, compassionate, charitable, lovable; to love, be fond of; to show kindness, mercy, pity, charity, affection; to venerate; to remember with affection; to greet, hail. Greetings! Hello! Good-by! Farewell! Alas! That's quite a lot for one little word!
Here are some other words to learn:
Aina (eye-nah); land, earth
Akamai (ah-kah-my); smart
Halau (hah-louw); long house, a hula group and/or their home
Heiau (hey-ee-ow); Hawaiian temple, shrine
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (who-moo-who-moo-noo-koo-noo-koo-ah-poo-ah-ah); the state fish of Hawai'i, a lagoon triggerfish. The name means "triggerfish with a snout like a pig"
Kama'aina (kah-mah-eye-nah); a longtime resident of the Islands
Kapu (kah-poo); forbidden, taboo, keep out
Kumu (koo-moo); teacher
Kupuna (koo-poo-nah); ancestor or elder
Ku'u ipo (koo-oo-ee-poh); sweetheart
Lani (lah-nee); beautiful
Laulima (louw-lee-mah); cooperation
Lokahi (loh-kah-hee); unity, gathering
Lolo (low-low); stupid
Mahalo (muh-hah-low); thank you
Makana (muh-kah-nuh); gift, present
Makua (muh-koo-ah); parent
Malahini (mah-lah-hee-nee); newcomer, foreigner, tourist
Malama (muh-lah-muh); care for, protect, honor
Mana (mah-nah); spiritual energy
Mele (may-lay); song
Ohana (oh-hah-nah); family
Ono (oh-no); delicious, a kind of fish that is. If you want to add a strong modifier, say ono loa (low-ah)
Pakalolo (pah-kah-low-low); marijuana
Pau (pow); finished, done
Pule (pooh-lay); prayer
Tutu (too-too); Grandparent
Wikiwiki (wee-kee-wee-kee); hurry, fast
and a few phrases...
Aikola!(eye-koh-lah); serves you right/I told you so
Aloha 'aina; love of the land, to nurture and care for the land
E komo mai (ay-koh-moh my); come in
Hana Hou! (hah-nah how); do it again, encore
Kilohana! (kee-loh-hah-nah); the best, excellent
Mâkaukau! (mah-kow-kow)); get ready
Malama pono (muh-lah-muh poh-no); take care
Oia (oy-ah); start, begin, go
Pau hana! (pow hah-nah); quitting time
Wela ka hao! (veh-lah-kah-how); strike while the iron is hot!
I hope you enjoyed the selection. If the Hawai'ian language really interests you, pick up the Hawai'ian Dictionary by Mary Kawena Pukui, the Treasury of Hawaiian Words in One Hundred and One Categories by Harold Winfield Kent or the Illustrated Hawaiian Dictionary by Kahikāhealani Wight.
Well, that's it for this week. What Native American words do you have to share? Do you live in or near a place with an indigenous name? Tell us about it!
UPDATE: Rec list?! Thanks folks. I'm honored.