Hello Cybalist Members,
What a great list you are.
I've been studying the etymology of place names on maps of the
North
American Continent east of the Mississippi. From earliest
explorations to about 1700, I've examined thousands of map
details.
One thing I've noticed is that some words presumed by American
scholarship to have been Amerindian in origin are not. Recently my
finding on Hochelago was crossposted to Cybalist (December 26). The
maps I cite show an Iberian origin for Hochelaga Many names, assumed
to have Amerindian origins, have Latin rooted origins.
My current problem is I need help translating French past participle
chu, chue and its reflexive pronoun into the Iberian languages of the
16th Century -- as the word appears on maps, in its naming
association with the falling movement of rivers. This morpheme was
one of several "water" roots used widely in Iberian/French
Cartography. What the maps suggest is that 16th Century French chuca
was Spanish chiaga/chiaca/chiacha. Could someone help me? What is
French chuca in Portuguese, in Galitian? In Normande/Cauchois? A name
for a mythological river, apparently Portuguese, is Chiogigua. Is
this "to fall" + reflexive pronoun + water?
Could the reflexive pronoun be, in fact, an adverb of place, de lieu?
Any information you can send would be appreciated,
private responses to
carljweber@...
Carl Jeffrey Weber,
Chicago