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32X
1
2
3
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5
1
6
ON ALGONfclN NAMES FOR MAN.
/
Bt J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL.
(From tlie Transactions of the Anieiicnn Philological Association, 1871.]
lini] ,
ON ALGONKIN NAMES FOR M/lN.
The Indian speaker never generalized. His language sup-
plied him with specific names for all known objects, qualities,
and relations, and its marvelous possibilities of synthesis eh-
abled him to frame new terms as often as new distinctions were
required. It grew by progressive diflerentiation, — from genera
to species, from species to varieties and individual peculiarities.
There is not, perhaps, in the Indian mind — certainly not in
the structure of Indian languages — absolute incapacity for
generalization, but the scrupulous avoidance of it as a defect,
whether in thought or speech, is a characteristic of the race.
Though the Algonkin languages are poor in general names,
yet we find in all of them certain elements of synthesis which
may be regarded — from one point of view, or another, — as
rudiments, or as vestiges, of such names. These aie not used
as independent words, but in composition they take the place
of the ground-word, or principal root — their denotation being
limited or directed by the attributive prefixed. Such, for
example, is the (Chip.) terminal -abo (after a vowel, -ooaho ;
Abnaki, -aPhco, -wabo),') denoting " drink," found in many spe-
cific names, but never without a prefix : as in Chip. miasH-
abo (meat-drink) broth, ishkote-mabo (fire-drink) whiskey or
other ardent spirit, mashki/d-mabo (herb-drink) liquid medi-
cine, totosh-abo (breastdiink) milk, etc. In a few instances,
such a generic expression which in one dialect is inseparable,
in others has attained — or has not yet lost — independent
positiorfasa speeific name. In the Massachusetts language,
-min, denoting " small fruit" (berry, nut, or grain), does not
appear to have been used without an attributive, e. g. wuttahi-
min (Chip. odSimiii) heart-fruit, a strawberry, weno-min, twine-
fruit, a grape, wompi-min white-fruit, a chestnut, etc. : in the
Delaware and in some western Algonkin languages, -min is
similarly employed in composition, but is also used inde-
On Algonkin Names for Man.
3
N.
lis language sup-
objects, qualities,
of synthesis eh-
distinctionswere
3n, — from genera
iual peculiarities.
- certainly not in
te incapacity for
of it as a defect,
istic of the race,
in general names,
f synthesis which
or another, — as
'hcse aie not used
»ey take the place
r denotation being
ixed. Such, for
p a vowel, -coaho ;
)und in many spe-
» in Chip, mtass-
Irink) whiskey or
ink) liquid medi-
i a few instances,
ect is inseparable,
ost — independent
jhusetts language,
r grain), does not
tive, e. g. wuttahi-
y, weno-min, twine-
itnut, etc. : in the
languages, -min is
s also used inde-
pendently as the name of a single species — the bill)crry or
huckleberry.
Other grammatical devices by which the deficiency of these
languages in general names is compensated need not here be
pointed out. That such a deficiency exists is indisputable,
yet it lias l)ecn often disregarded in tlic selection of words for
comparison of different languages and dialects. No one lias
recogni/.ed more clearly than did Mr. (Jallatin "llie extreme
precision of tlie Indian languages," and their poverty in "ge-
neric designations or words,"* but of the first twenty English
words in bis " Comparative Vocabulary of fifty-tliree tribes"
(ill Trans. Am. Antiq, Society, vol. i., pp. .307 and after,) fif-
teen are relative and general names not one of which can be
accurately translated by a single word in any Indian language.
Every Algonkin dialect has names for an " elder brotiier," a
" younger brother," a " twin-brother," a " son of tlio same
father," and a " son of the same mother," and lias moreover
two forms of some or all of these names, one used exclusively
by men, the other by women. But in no dialect can there
be found the precise equivalent of tlie English " l)rother," in
its largest denotation. The nearest approximation to it is,
perhaps, l)y a term which, in some languages, designates
" one of the other sex, born of the same parents ;" spoken by
a woman, this word means " brother," — by a man, " sister."
The names by which Man has been designated, by difi'erent
triljcs, or, more accurately, which most nearly correspond to
the English appellative in its two meanings, " an individual
of the human race " (homo), and " one possessing in a high
degree the distinctive qualities of manhood " (vir), have occa-
sioned much perplexity to vocabulary makers. Mr. Hale,
in a note to his Vocabularies of North America (Tm/fs. Am.
Ethnol. Society, ii. 74), remarks that " in general, there was
no means of ascertaining witii precision the existence of this
distuiction." He has, however, nearly indicated its true
character by the suggestion that, in vocabularies, the term
" answering to vir will usually bo found under man or hus-
* Transactions of the Am. Ethnological Society, vol. ii., p. cxxxi.
J. H. Tfumhully
,»
hand;' and tlie " terra answering to homo, under ' Indian, na-
tive r The truth is, it is as impossible to find an Indian
equivalent for hmo as for man. By resorting to the Latin,
we only halve the difficulty, not remove it. Tliere is not in
any American language any single name ai)pli';able alike to
the red man and the white, to native and foreigner, to ally .
and enemy, to chief and counselor and to prisoner and slave,
and in its largest sense common to both sexes. For vir a
term nearly correspondent may be found in every dialect —
though seldom, if ever, as a primary word ; but homo is un-
translatable by an Indian.
In Algonkiu languages— and the same probably is true of
all others spoken by North American nations — we have three
classes of names for Man, into the composition of which enter
three or more different roots. These are indicated, not very
clearly, by Roger Williams, in the introduction to. his Key
into the Language of America (1643) :
"I cannot observe that they ever had (before the coming
of the English, French or Dutch amongst them) any names
to dilference themselves from strangers, for they knew none ;
hut two sorts of names they had, and have, amongst them-
selves. First, general, l)elonging to all natives, as Ninnuock,
NinnimissinnHtvock, Eniskectompaiiwog , which signifies mm,
folk, or 'people. Secondly, particular names, peculiar to the
several nations of them amongst themselves, as Nanhiggane-
uek, Massachuseuck," etc.
Of the three " general " names, the second, ninni-missinnu-
wock, is formed from missin (with indef. suffix, missin-nin,)
a derivative of missi great, much (multus), and comprehends
all homines who are not viri, corresponding etymologically
and in its denotation to the Greek ol naWiA, or tiie Latin mul-
titudo. It was a general name for tributaries, captives, slaves,
— that is, for all mankind, the speaker's nation and its allies
excepted. The prefix ninni-, however, limits it to inferiors
of the speaker's own race, as will presently be shown. Eliot
employs missinnin for " man " {homo) in Gen. vi. 7, and in the
plural, missinninnvog, for " people," Exod. xxiv. 2, 3, Deut.
iv. 33, etc. In Jonah, i. 8, howa4 missinnin ken? " of what
On Algonkin Names for Man.
nder ' Indian, na-
find an Indian
ting to tlie Latin,
Tliert) is not in
i|)pli';able alike to
foreigner, to ally .
risoner and slave,
sexes. For vir a
n every dialect —
; but homo is im-
probably is true of
s — we have three
;ion of wliicli enter
indicated, not very
uction to. his Key
before the coming
them) any names
r they knew none ;
,ve, amongst them-
itives, as Ninnuock,
liich signifies rnen,
as, peculiar to the
'es, as Nankiggane-
md, rdnni-musinnur-
sufiix, mUsin-nin,')
), and comprehends
ling etymologically
f)(, or tlie Latin mul-
•ies, captives, slaves,
nation and its allies
mits it to inferiors
y be shown. Eliot
Jen. vi. 7, and in the
)d. xxiv. 2, 3, Deut.
nnin ken? " of what
people art thou?" would convey to an Indian tlie meaning of
" what kind of slave (or, whose servant) art tliou ?"
In Williams's otiier names, ninnu-ock (_ninnu-og, Eliot) and
enuhcetompaii-wog, both plarals, we find two roots common to
all Algonkin languages. They vary in pronunciation (and in
the phonetic notation employed by different writers), one as
m'/t, nen, enin, aren, len, illin, etc.; the other as omp,a"be, ahe,
dpi', dp, etc. These two roots are combined in the Abnaki
aren-a"b(' and the Delaware len-dp^, and the former is repeated,
as a prefix, in the Delaware tribe-name lenni lendpe.
Mr. Heckewelder, who received with unquestioning faith
the legends of his chosen i»eople, the Delawares, and was
convinced that theirs was the parent stock from which all
Algonkin nations were derived, found in this tribe-name
new evidence of their high antiquity and purity of race.
Lenni lendpe, he says (^History of the Indian Nations, p. 25),
" signifies original people, a race of human beings who are
the same that they were in the beginning, unchanged and
unmixed.'''' As to the analysis of the name, he is not quite
clear. Lenno, he says, signifies "a man;" in the names
of quadrupeds," a male." Lendpe signifies man — "in a
more extended sense," — and "in the name of the Lenni
LmapS, it signifies people, but the word lenni which precedes
it has a ditferent signification and means original, and some-
times common, plain, pure, unmixed.'" " Under this general
description [and very general it is, certainly,] the Indians
comprehend all that they believe to iiave been first created in
the order of things." {Corre»p. "'lih Dvponceau, pp. 368, 412.)
Mr. Cass, in the North Amerion^ Review for January, 1826,
remarked the " confusion in Hecuewelder's ideas of the name
in question," and offered another — and a worse — translation
of it. Lenee, he says, " generally and properly means * male',"
and " the true meaning of lenaupS is ' common'." He was
as far as was Mr. Heckewelder from detecting the connection
between lenno " man " and a word meaning " original, com-
mon, plain," etc.
To discover the primary signification of each of the two
roots found in len-dp4, we will look first to the Massachusetts
./. li. Tnuiibull,
huvma^o, where the materials for oty.n.^logical research are
more abundant and, generally, more trustworthy than in the
Delaware. . ,
Every savage believes in the superiority of his own triDe
and nation to all others. lie and his arc the rei.l m,;i : il>e
rest are servants, tril)utaries, mkxuminnwHj. Wliatovor is
greater than himself passes out of his order of being auil l)e-
eomes to him manitou 'preternatural.' The llhno.s, says
Marquette, call themselves The Men, " comme si Ics autres
sauvages au pr<5s d'eux ne passoient que pour des /.^s•^'S.
This conviction of personal and tribal excellence stmnps itselt
on every savage language. In some of the North American
ton.nies its traces are very plainly marked. Notwithstanding
the want of a substantive verb, " I am " is a constant clement
of Algonkin grammar. The demonstratives and relatives
which" in Indo-European languages ai.pear to have been de-
rived from the primitive pronoun of the third person arc in
the Massachusetts and other eastern Algonkin dialects mani-
festly related to the pronoun of the first person. The Indian
conception of man was as one ' like ' himself. Men of his own
nation were " such as I," Hox^mf.^s, and his was the "original,
"common," normal, type of humanity.
The cMass.) pronoun of the first person singular is mn ; as
? prefix, n'; plural nin-amm. The demonstrative of inanimate
obiects is ni .• of animate beings, m (n./., Eliot) ; of place, na
there. The distributive 'some,' 'any,' 'of the kind of,
is 'nni or ,mm. Resemblance or identity was expressed by
,a--imrti C"^""^. Eliot) such as this, or wa« same ; m-mm the
same thing, «ona» the same person; %mr7t (Eliot), 'rmiw (K.
W ) it is .so, or it is the same ;' nanad {namve Eliot) common,
usual, i. e. ' such as ' ours, or ' of our kind,' hence, ' native,
' indigenous.' Eliot wrote namve mminMunuog " common
people," Mark xii. 37 (= ninnimissinniiwoelc of Roger Wil-
"* C.,n.p. Chip. !n-, /«/-, prefixcl to verbs, " to signify a certain „.«^ or manner
■ T- .1 In,, L ,1nnP or used " etc ■ c. s. iN-a'.i he so k)oks ; od 'if^abanmn
u whuli something IS (lone or usca, cic, <-■ " ,. ,„,j' <.:f
he .0 sees him; imffode "ithanRSSo: nin,l ^nan,a ■' I «..«W. h.m n.A U
is cooked in a certain manner" (so) ; i^.gini " he is so large; ino .t .s so
Baraga.
On Algonkin Names for Man.
cal rcrtoarch are
i-thy than in the
1)1' his o-.vii trilie
c rci.l iiifii : iho
r. Whatever is
)t' l)oiiijj; anil he-
lic Illinois, says
line si Ics antres
our (los /<(•,s•^'s."
Slice stamps itself
North American
Notwithstanding
constant clement
es and relatives
to have been de-
ird person arc in
un dialects mani-
(on. The Indian
Men of his own
as the "original,"
,iii<>;ular is nin ; as
a live of inanimate
liot) ; of |)lace, na
'of the kind of,'
was expressed by
same ; ni-nan the
(Eliot), '««m (R-
we Eliot) common,
I,' hence, 'native,'
linnuog " common
)ck of Roger Wil-
a certain way or manner
a so looks ; oil 'itiabaman
resemble, him ; iNirfe " it
f) large;" iNo"it is so"
liams, before quoted), and namve wut-eptstli'-vm Jude for " the
general epistle" etc.*
'Nnln-ii (enhi), pi. ninnuog, which Roger Williams gives as
one of the '"general names belonging to all natives" and "sig-
nifying men," was occasionally used by Ehot in the plural
and, with an attriimtive prelixed, in the singular, for ' man,'
' men ;' l)ut the Indians restricted its denotation to men like
thrmxilves, of the commuH or native type, of the speaker's
kind (though not necessarily of his tril)e or nation). It
is o|)posed io penmivi (^khw. pirmi) strange, foreign, of another
kind.
In other Algonkin dialects, the Massachusetts 'ninnu or ,
enin-u becomes (Abnaki) ufcni, (Quinnipi)iac) ren, (Dela-
ware) hnno, (Illinois) illini, (Cree) etfiiriu, etc., — meaning
* Sohleicher ( Veiyl. Gminmatik, 2te Auti. p. 042) considers the root of the 1st
Hiiifi;. pronoun in liido Kuropenn liiii;rua};es — ma 'I,' 'mc,' — identical with the
verbal root ma ' to tliink,' ' to measure,' and with the ma in Sansk. ma-nii, Goth.
ma-n ' tlic thinker,' 'man': for since "we must not a'cril* to the jirimitivo
langnafie the abstract com eption of the A'70, — what," he asks, " should ' 1 ' he,
originally, hut 'man ' !" The likeness of the corrcspondinj; roots in AI};onkin
lani;naKOS is as noticeable — and the ])robability of their original indentity is at
least as great — as in the Indo European. Compare Ch^p. nin I, me, ini so, such,
!NiN-( man, and iii'iid' iNKN-fAim (intrnns.) I think, sup|K)se, it seems to me, I am
(so) minded, niiid' iNKS-ddn (trans, inanimate) I think of it, think it (so), nind'
iNKN-/wa (trans, nnim.) I think of him, think him (so). But I do not believe
■ that the Iiulian — of Asia or America — waited for the demonstration " cogito,
ergo sum," as a necessary i)reliinitmry to self as.scrtion or to the vocal designa-
tion of his fellow-savage. Without rising to " the abstract conception of the
lujo," he in some way discovered and expressed the distinction Iffitween ' this, —
me ' and 'that, — my Like,' — alter tyo. His mental states and activities, — his
likes and dislikes, opinions, regards, emotions, — how he was affected by an exter-
nal object, what he thomjht of it, how he estimated or measured it, — he would
naturally express by "it is so to me" (though perhaps tiot so to another); " / so
regard, feel, esteem, lielieve, think it." Of the same object, one might say nin
mino-f.ndan I well think it, it to me Is gooil ; another, nin Jin(/-KK-dan 1 hate it, it
to me is odious ; toward the same individual and with reference to the same act
one would ex|)ress his emotion by nin-nis/ik-Kt<-ima I am angry minded at him, an-
other by nin hiip-iKBH im I am laughter-minded, joyful; what one rememlHirs
(mikwindiin = mikoa-K-H-ddn finds in thought), another forgets {wanfndan =
ivani-uv-dan misses in thought, or bon-en-ddn ceases thinking of).
In Chip, inindam (= Del. e^'n(/aw. Aim. ererrfa w, Mass. unantam), only^n rep-
resents the root : -dam is the grammatical formative, and the prefixed in- is the
the adverbial 'so, 'in such manner,' which is dropped when the verb receives
any other prefix — as in minwEvdam, nlshk&siman, etc.
>ii;Slft#^^
8
J. H. Trunihill,
always, a • common man,' of the speaker's kin or kind. Used
a^ an adjoctive, the Mass. nanmi, Al)n. areni, Del. lenni, de-
notes the 'common,' 'usual' or 'native,' as distinguished
from prnmwl, Abn. pirmi, the ' strange,' ' foreign,' of ' other
kind': e.g. Al)n. areni (ndama common or native tohacco,
iiren-aihnr' lie speaks Abnaki (comp. pinn-a'dai/'- lie speaks a
foreign language) ; Del. len-nchpoan, common (i. e. Indian)
bread, lenna-meek commonfisli (the sucker, found in almost
uU streams), hn-rhum common or Indian dog, (distinguished
from tiu! species introduced i)y Europeans), etc. Zcisberger
translates " Lennape, an Indian ; Linni lenape, Indians of the
same nation."
Ill Imdpr, we have this adjective in synthesis with an in-
separal)lo generic. Heckcwelder {Corrrsp. with Dupmceaa,.
411) says that the termination ap or upe " belongs to animals
walking in an erect posture ; hence, lenape man." It is
found in all pure Algonkin languages (Mass. -omp, Abn. -a'b^',
Penobscot -omAe^, C\\\\). dhe, etc), but nowhere as an inde-
pendent word. As a generic suffix it denotes ' an adult male.'
With a demonstrative prefixed (7i') it designates ' the male,'
or as an adjective, simply, ' male.' The primary meaning of
the root may have been nearly tliat which Heckewelder sug-
gests. It appears in the Mass. oMPa-, Chip. oMBt-, a prefix
to vorl)s of lifting, raising, erecting, etc.: e. g. Mass. OMPa-
ndeu '' he lifts himself up," from a stooping position, John viii.
7 ; Chip. 0MBi/irt« " he lifts or raises it up," omidbate " the
smoke ascends," omb«8/«"« "the bread rises," etc. (comp.
Abnaki ABrfst a standing tree) ; as all adjective, in Mass.
n()MP«a« male, nouPusliim male beast, pish noMVait/euw kah
squalyeuco there-shall male-be and female-be (Gen. vi. 19) ;
ill Chip. MADE male, nin-nxBEm " my husband" (Baraga), etc.
The dependence of the Indian warrior and hunter on his bow
is expressed in its designation as "belonging to the adult
male," and by transferring it from the class of inanimate
(' ignoble ') objects to the animate or ' noble ' : Mass. ohtoup,
Abnaki ' kah
be (Gen. vi. 19) ;
id" (Baraga), etc.
hunter on his how
iging to the adult
jlass of inanimate
le ' : Mass. o/<