Desert Hawk Books

O Brave New Words!
Native American Loanwords in Current English

Charles L. Cutler

 

304  pages
1 chart, 1 map
5.5" x 8.5"
Paperback

Quantity:  $13.95 & S/H

 

Native American loanwords are a crucial, though little acknowledged, part of the English language. This book shows how the more than one-thousand current loanwords were adopted and demonstrates how the changing relationships between Indians and European settlers can be traced in the rate of loanword borrowing and the kinds of words adopted.

Appalachian: from the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States, from the Muskogean name of the Apalachee tribe of Florida
Moose: Eastern Abenaki mos; the animal
Papoose: Narragansett papoos, child
Squash: Narragansett askutasquash
Texas: from a Caddo word, meaning "friends" or "allies," that the Spanish and then Americans adopted as Tejas or Texas

"A wonderfully written and fascinating book."-Plains Anthropologist

"A unique collection of American Indian words that have gone beyond their original sphere of usage. It is a very valuable collection of terms from American ancestral languages, tracing the subsequent influence the terms have exerted upon a developing nation and upon the world."-American Indian Culture and Research Journal

"The University of Oklahoma Press charts new ground with the publication of this excellent book."-Booklist

"Cutler's works are a compelling read for a wide audience interested in American culture. For the American language specialist or cultural historian, they are indispensible."-Columbia Journal of American Studies

Charles L. Cutler is also the author of Connecticut's Revolutionary Press.