ABORIGINAL PLACK NAMES OF NEW YORK II 



As we are not dealino- with languages so much as a class of 

 names, this may suffice for Algonquin names, though very briefly 

 stated. In considering Iroqrois words of the same class, a few 

 words may be quoted from Sir William Johnson, written in 1771 : 



The article is contained in the noun by varying the termination, 

 and the adjective is combined into one word . . . Caghyiing- 

 hazv is a creek; Caghyiuigho, a river; Cag}!,yunghaozva)ia,a great 

 river; Caghynngheeo, a fine river; Haga^ the inhabitants of any 

 place and tierhan, the morning; so if they speak of eastern people, 

 they say Ticrhans-aga, or people of the morning. 



Mr L. H. Morgan gave a comparative list of 24 local names in 

 the six dialects of the New York Iroquois, and a few of his remarks 

 may be quoted. He reckoned 19 letters common to these, but two 

 or three of them are not needed. " The Mohawks and Oneidas use 

 the liquid L, and the Tuscaroras occasionally employ the sound of 

 F, but these letters are not common to all the dialects. It has been 

 customary to exclude the liquid R from the Iroquois alphabet, as 

 not common to the several nations, but this is clearly erroneous." 



These sounds are now rare among the Onondagas, if used at all. 

 He says further : " In connecting the adjective with the noun, the 

 two words usually enter into combination, and lose one or more 

 syllables. This principle or species of contraction is carried 

 throughout the language, and to some extent prevents prolixity." 

 He gives as an example: " 0-ya, fruit; 0-ga-iih', sweet; O-ya- 

 ga-iih, sweet fruit. In other instances the adjective is divided, and 

 one part prefixed and the other suffixed to the noun thus : Ga-nun' - 

 da-yeh, a village; Ne-wa'-ah, small; Ne-ga-nun-da'-ah, a small 

 village." 



Among the few prepositions applicable to place names but modi- 

 fied in composition, he mentioned: " Da-ga-o, across; No'ga, after; 

 Na'-ho, at; O'-an-do, before; Dose-ga'-o, near, etc." He added a 

 remark which should be modified, as towns often changed their 

 sites and yet retained their names : " Names of places as well as of 

 persons, form an integral part of their language, and hence are all 

 significant. It furnishes a singular test of their migrations, for 

 accurate descriptions of localities become in this manner incor- 

 porated into their dialects. The Tuscaroras still adduce proof from 

 this source to establish a common origin with the Iroquois." In 



