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1 Louisiana Place Names of Indian Origin PREFACE [v] During the preparation of this study I have received help from many persons. I wish to express my cordial thanks to Mrs. T. P. Thompson for the privilege of using her fine library of Americana; to my colleagues, Professors James F. Broussard and Hoguet A. Major, for information with regard to certain Creole-French terms; to my colleague, Professor Walter Prichard, for assistance on the early history of Louisiana; to Mr. Cecil Bird for numerous suggestions, both timely and valuable; to Mr. Robert Glenk, Curator of the Louisiana State Museum, for the opportunity of studying some rare maps and volumes; to Professor Charles H. Grandgent for notes on the etymology of grôler; to Dr. John R. Swanton for the analysis of several Indian names; and especially, to Mr. William Beer,* Director of the Howard Memorial Library, for his scholarly and generous aid on the bibliography of my subject. Many thanks are also due to those who have answered my inquiries concerning local history, geography, pronunciation, and legends. Those to whom I am chiefly indebted—I have not space to name them all—are the following: Mr. Frank J. Burke, Land and Industrial Commissioner, Texas & Pacific railway; Mrs. C. L. Breazeale; Mr. Upshur P. Breazeale;** Mr. J. A. * Died February 1, 1927. **Died February 3, 1927. 2 Chapter 1 Broussard; Mr. Carl Campbell, Chief Clerk, State Land Office; Mr. P. A. Cloutier; Mr. George P. Covington; Judge Clay Elliott; the Hon. Harvey E. Ellis; Miss Lucy Foote, Assistant Librarian, Louisiana State University ; Mr. George T. Goodman; Mr. J. H. Gilfoil; Mr. Fred Grace, Registrar , State Land Office; Miss Lucille Grace, Assistant Recorder, State Land Office; Miss Marie Gross; Mr. S. L. Herold; Mr. A. P. Hopkins; Mr. Henry Jastremski, Secretary of the Louisiana Public Service Commission ; Mr. D. F. Perkins, Chief Clerk, Dept. of Agriculture and Immigration ; Professor E. D. Perkins; Miss Stella Pierce; Miss Lois Quinn; Professor E. S. Richardson; Senator William J. Sandoz; Mr. L. F. Sherer, Chief Clerk, Louisiana Public Service Commission; Mr. Robert Towles; Mr. Harry D. Wilson, Commissioner of Agriculture and Immigration, State of Louisiana. William A. Read Louisiana State University [vii] CONTENTS Introduction 5 Bibliography with Abbreviations 7 Phonetic Symbols 9 The Etymology of Bayou 10 Alphabetical List of Place Names 11 Index of Place Names 69 [viii] INTRODUCTION Louisiana has numerous place names of Indian origin. With relatively few exceptions these are derived from the Longtown dialect of the Choctaw language, a dialect which was spoken in the western part of the old Choctaw nation. The phonetic system of this dialect is not complicated: it is poor in the number of consonants, but rich in the number and character of its vowels. The consonants are [p], [b], [t], [k], [g], [f], [j], [l], [l], [m], [n], [n], [s], [1], [t1], [w], and [h]. [g] seems to occur, however, solely in the word bok or bog, “creek,”“bayou,”“river,” while [n] arises only as a glide between a nasalized vowel and a following [k], as in [polãnka], “finally.”The voiceless [elcee], like that in Welsh, is accompanied by a distinct friction of the breath along the side or sides of the tongue. Another point worthy of mention is that in some words m is a substitute for b, as in maleli or baleli, “to run.” The Choctaw vowels are, [a:], [o:], [v:], [i:], [?], [e:], [3], and [V]. [V] is said to have the value either of u in cub or a in sofa. There are also five nasal vowels, [ã], [õ], [u], [i], and [Î], as well as two diphthongs, [ai], and [¤], the latter resembling approximately the corresponding English sounds in find and found. Perhaps the most striking feature of this vowel system appears in the ease with which [o] alternates with [u], as in oski, uski, “cane,” homma, humma, “red,” itola, itula, “to fall,” and many other words. In words of two or three syllables the stress usually falls on the penult: ‘chito,“large,”fa’laia,“long.”Atai or atai,“buckeye,”however,has end-stress. Moreover, a word that ends in a consonant takes the stress on the final syllable as a substitute for the verb “to be”: thus ’hatak, “man”; ha’tak “it is a man.” In words of four or more syllables there is a secondary stress on the second syllable before the penult: ’hachun’chuba, “alligator,” a’numpu’lechi,” to annoy.” Elision of vowel and consonant is extremely common; so also is assimilation...

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