[chambers] the philology OF THE OUANANICHE 135 



when applied to the Canadian tish. One of the leading American 

 authorities on the subject, Mr. A. N". Cheney of Glen Falls, N.Y., State 

 Fish Culturist of New York, exjii-esses his intention of hereafter M'riting 

 of the fresh-water salmon as the ouananiche. no matter in what water it 

 may be found. And it will be observed that he does not employ thtr 

 form of the word given in Webster s. 



To Dr. Elliott Coues — a most eminent authority — was entrusted the 

 sui)ervision of the zocilogical terms in the Ccnturij. and he was assisted 

 in ichthyology by the very capable Professor Theodore N". Gill. Yet in 

 their use of the word ■ winninish " there would seem to be no justification 

 for either the orthography or their definition of it. They term the • win- 

 ninish " — •• the Schoodic trout," and upon turning up the woi-d '• trout " 

 with its various qualifving terms, the Schoodic trout is declared, by the 

 same authorities, to be identical Avith '-the great lake trout." 'Now the 

 great lake trout differs widety from the ouananiche, and is not a salmon 

 of any kind, either land-locked or otherwise. It is salvelinus luuiiaycush 

 or amethysfiis, — the Mackinaw trout of the great lakes. — the queue 

 fourchée of Fi-ench Canada, — the togue and salmon trout of certain parts 

 of the Xorthern States. — the l;okomesh of the Montagnais Indians and the 

 touladi of the country of the Micmacs and Abenaquis. 



There are many reasons for preferring •• ouananiche " to all the other 

 forms of the fish's name. It is true that its orthography is French, but 

 French was the original spelling of the written word. The name of the 

 fish is Indian, but the various sounds of the spoken language of the 

 Montagnais and Xascapee tribes were unrepresented in writing until the 

 arrival of the French missionaries in Canada. These latter employed 

 written characters for the use of their Indian converts and also reduced:, 

 the spoken language of the Indians to writing, using for the purpose- 

 their own French alphabet and system of orthography. The}' trans- 

 Terred to pa])er their etymology of the sound of this fish's name, and their 

 pictorial representation of the spoken Indian word remains to this day a 

 perfect philological refiex of the musical vibrations produced by its pro- 

 nunciation. English observers would probahl}^ have depicted the sound 

 on paper by writing •■ whananishe " or •■ wannahnishe." The French 

 having no •• w " employ ■• ou ' to represent the sound, as in otii. For the 

 sake of brevity and simplicity, the early French missionaries in Canada 

 used the numeral •• 8 " to represent not only huit or ehjld, but also the 

 Indian sound ordinarily represented by the French oui or ou. no matter 

 in what part of a word it occurred. Hence the origin of " .Sananiche.'' — 

 the first of the many forms of the word given in the commencement of 

 the present paper. No English spelling represents the sound of the 

 Indian name as well as does the orginal French form •' ouananiche '" or 

 '• Sananiche." It stands, too, the test of priority, being found printed in 

 the oldest existing book of the Montagnais mission, which, according ta 



