January 6, 1888.] 



SCIENCE. 



Eskimo and the Indian. 



The criticisms of Mr. Chamberlain's letter {Science, Dec. 2) by 

 Dr. Boas and Mr. Murdochi are sound, forcible, and instructive ; but 

 tfiese critics liave confined their strictures wholly to the Eskimoan 

 words. So, using the alphabet adopted by the Bureau of Ethnology 

 for recording Indian languages, I will point out some errors made 

 by Mr. Chamberlain in the words of his comparative list taken from 

 the Iroquoian languages. 



After making due allowance for the rude and imperfect ' orthog- 

 raphy ' of the words, it is necessary to say that ata (' father ') and 

 ekening (' woman ') are not Tuscaroran terms ; that niip (' die ') and 

 ^zX^y ('water ') are not Mohawk words; that aitaa ('father') is 

 not Huron : these vocables, having these forms and with these 

 meanings, are not Iroquoian. 



(i) kwe'-ms, and not queiuiies, is the correct form of this term for 

 ' copper.' It is evidently the word ' penny ' or ' pence ' (possibly 

 penning or peningens), adopted by the Iroquois, and adapted to 

 their own peculiar utterance. In earlier times they most invariably 

 substituted kw iox p or b, because these sounds did not occur in 

 their speech. 



(2) kd-nd' -tcya is the proper form of kanadsia, and, being pre- 

 dicative, it signifies ' it is copper,' and not simply ' copper; ' it also 

 means ' it is a pot or kettle,' and is more frequently used in this 

 latter sense. Its derivation is not clear, but, in accordance with the 

 genius of Iroquoian speech, it presupposes the nominal or substan- 

 tive form, o-na'-tcyd' : this, in turn, points to an earlier o-na-tcyo" - 

 kwe, — a form still extant in some of the cognate languages, and 

 which form is evidently from the ^xiiXz'AXSs^ ye-nd-tcyo" -kwd' (' one 

 cooks rice (wheat) by which '), undoubtedly referring to the cone- 

 bottomed earthen ' pots ' or ' kettles ' so used. The circumstance 

 that unburnished copper resembles very much these clay ' pots ' in 

 color would quite naturally serve as a distinctive characteristic by 

 which to describe this metal. Kd-na-1cyd' as a predicative signi- 

 fies either ' pot ' or ' copper,' but as a substantive, only ' pot,' which 

 is probably its oldest meaning. 



Mr. Chamberlain compares the preceding two words with the 

 Eskimoan kannooyak (' copper '). One of the two is clearly of 

 European origin, and the other is possibly, but not probably, related 

 to the Eskimoan term. 



(3) e'-hne'-kin is the proper orthography of ehtieken. It is a de- 

 rivative term denoting 'above,' 'on the surface.' Its probable 

 original signification is ' sun-ward,' ' sun-side,' or ' toward-sun.' It 

 certainly never meant ' sky ' in Iroquoian speech ; but the Una- 

 lashkan innyak with which it is compared means both ' sky ' and 

 ' above ' in the list. 



(4) o-niii'-ya , and not onna, is the proper Iroquoian word for 

 ' bone.' The Eskimoan hrownik (' bone ') has clearly no ' fortui- 

 tous coincidence ' of sound with it. 



(5) he-gh~i-hd, and not haenyeha, is the proper form of this Iro- 

 quoian expression. It signifies ' my younger brother ' (literally, ' my 

 brother small '), and not simply 'brother.' 



(6) icyd'-td'-ie-kSn, and not jattatege, is the true form of this 

 vocable: it means 'ye two are brothers to each other,' and not 

 'brother' alone. The Eskimoan anayoa ('his elder brother'), 

 anaga, and agituda have clearly no evident similarity of sound or 

 meaning with the two preceding Iroquoian words, he-'g^n'-/id and 

 tcyd-id'-te-keh. 



(7) she-yS^'-hd, and not cheahhah, represents the orthoepy of 

 this predicative term, which means ' thy daughter,' and not simply 

 ' child.' Literally it signifies ' thou one hast small.' The Eskimoan 

 word iyaye (' child ') has no apparent affinity here. 



(8) e-nt''-se-rd' , and neither eghnisera nor ennisera, is the proper 

 form of this word, meaning 'day,' a form used mainly in composi- 

 tion. It is a derivative form of the word iii-td' or e-ni'-td' (' day,' 

 originally ' sun '). The Eskimoan anyark evidently means ' a long 

 day,' and not simply ' day.' No similarity of sound or meaning ap- 

 pears here. 



(9) koii'-ni's (meaning ' I make, build, or render it,' and not 

 simply ' do ') is a better form of konnis. K for ka- (' he — it '), -oh- 

 ni'- (' make,' ' build,' or ' render '), -s (terminative sign of customary 

 action), — this is the etymology of the word, which has no similarity 

 of sound or meaning with the Eskimoan tcheneyoag (' he works '). 



• (10) sM'^-iS'^'-kyS, and not siiniimke, represents the proper pro- 



nunciation of this word : it means ' on or against thy ear,' and not 

 simply ' ear ; ' the initial .r- is the sign of the second person posses- 

 sive, -kye is the locative, and -hgn-t- is the noun stem or root. The 

 Tchuktschi ichintak, or correctly siuta (' his ear'), apparently has 

 no affinity with this word. 



(11) e-nyeii'-kye, and not ayinga, misquoted from eyingia, is the 

 correct form of this word, which signifies ' on or against one's 

 hand,' and not 'finger,' as does the Tchuktschi aihanka, with 

 which it is questionably compared. 



{\i) yu''-naks,-3.T\A not yoneis, means 'it is burning,' and not 

 simply 'fire,' as in the list: yu- {' it'), -'?iak- {• to burn '),-.? (the 

 terminative sign of customary action). The Eskimoan oonoktook 

 (' fire ' or ' to burn ') has but a doubtful claim to relationship with 

 this word. 



(13) o-s%'-ta , and neither achita (Huron), nor ochaita (Ononda- 

 ga), is the correct form of this vocable, meaning ' foot.' The stem, 

 or root of the word is -sx-t-, a stem that never meant ' hand.' The 

 Eskimoan etscheak or arkseit (' foot ' or ' hand ') has certainly no. 

 evident affinity with this word. 



(14) yo-yS -nS-re' , and not ioyanere, is the true form of this term 

 or expression, which signifies ' it is good ' affirmatively : thus.j^;- 

 (' it '), -ya-ne-r- (' the good,' ' the right,' or ' the noble '), -re (' to 

 have or possess '). The Eskimoan ayitnitork or ayimiisog means 

 ' not bad,' and so ' good ' negatively. These two words evidently 

 have no affinity nor a common origin. 



(15) os-o'' -ia , a.nA not c/wiia, is the propar form of this word, 

 denoting 'hand.' With this meaning it is common to only two of 

 the Iroquoian languages. Originally it meant ' finger,' signifying 

 literally ' hand-protruding-thing.' 



(16) The orthography of noatsshera is so uncouth that it is very 

 difficult to discover its meaning. It does not mean 'head,' but 

 ' hat ' or ' scalp-covering.' It is properly written o-no-he'-icra, 

 which form has no relation whatever to 'Tchuktschi naschko (' head '). 



(17) o'-skwa, and not hechkivaa, is the proper orthography of 

 this term for ' lip.' It bears no resemblance to the Eskimoan word 

 kakkiviar ('lip '), with which it is compared. 



(18) e-'nx-hd, and not etii/iah nor aneehah, is the proper spell- 

 ing of this word, which means ' one is male,' but never ' man.' 



(19) oil' -kwe, but not OJiquich, is the correct form of this term, 

 which denotes ' homo,' 'man,' 'a human being,' but never ' male,' 

 to distinguish sex. This word, and e-nt-ka above, have no root in 

 common : so, having no Uteral meaning common to both of them, 

 they should not be compared with one and the same word. The 

 Eskimoan words angut and innuk (' man ') are not related, and why 

 compare them with two Iroquoian terms {e-'nX'-ha and on -kwe)- 

 likewise unrelated to each other ? 



(20) e°-'-ne'^' represents the true form of anehah (Huron), eanuk 

 (Tuscarora), ana (Nottoway), and means 'my mother,' not simply 

 ' mother.' The root of the word is -e"-, which signifies ' mother.' 

 It is my belief that it is related to -on-nV- (' to make or produce,' 

 ' to build or render '). 



(21) o-nyon'-sS , not yatmga, is the true form of this Iroquoian 

 word for ' nose.' It has no apparent affinity to Tchuktschi cki?iga 

 (' nose'). 



(22) kwe°-id' -ea, but not qiiechtaha, is the correct form of this. 

 Seneca-Iroquoian word, meaning ' red.' It is compound, and evi- 

 dently signified 'it is blood-marked,' and so 'it is red.' There is. 

 an evident metathesis of the first and second syllables. The 

 Tchuktschi kawachtuk (' red ') clearly has no affinity whatever to. 

 this word. 



(23) a-uie^-na" -sa and d-we°--ta" -se are the forms of ennasa 

 (' tongue ') found among the Iroquoian languages. They do not,, 

 howe.ver, resemble the Unalashkan ahnak (' tongue '). 



(24) o-nye'-ya and o-ni-ye-te are the true Mohawk forms of 

 ouniyeghte (' snow '); o-ni'-ya is the proper Seneca form oionyeiak 

 (also ' snow ') : these words have no apparent relation to Tchuktschi 

 annu or annju of the same meaning. 



(25) .y(?'-r(z^, not .rc/z^iri', is the true Mohawk word for ' duck.' The 

 Eskimoan word for ' duck ' is tchorle7-k. 



(26) 0' -she, and not oxhey, is the correct form in Huron of this 

 Iroquoian word for 'winter' or 'year.' Its stem is -sh-, and 

 means ' snow.' The Eskimoan ukshiok and ttkischttk have no ap- 

 parent affinity or relationship with this word. 



m. 



