The Composition of Indian Geographical Names - Illustrated from the Algonkin Languages by J. Hammond (James Hammond) Trumbull
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it very often was, given to more places than one; but these must not
be so near together that mistakes or doubts could be occasioned by the repetition. With this precaution, there was no reason why there might not be as many 'Great Rivers,' 'Bends,' 'Forks,' and 'Water-fall places' as there are Washingtons, Franklins, Unions, and Fairplays in the list of American post-offices. With few exceptions, the structure of these names is simple. Nearly all may be referred to one of three classes: I. Those formed by the union of two elements, which we will call _adjectival_ and _substantival_;[3] with or without a locative suffix or post-position meaning 'at,' 'in,' 'by,' 'near,' &c. [Footnote 3: These terms, though not strictly appropriate to Indian synthesis, are sufficiently explicit for the purposes of this paper. They are borrowed from the author of "Words and Places" (the Rev. Isaac Taylor), who has employed them (2d ed., p. 460) as equivalents of Förstemann's "Bestimmungswort" and "Grundwort," (_Die deutschen Ortsnamen._ Nordhausen, 1863, pp. 26-107, 109-174). In Indian names, the "Bestimmungswort" sometimes corresponds to the English adjective--sometimes to a noun substantive--but is more generally an _adverb_.] II. Those which have a single element, the _substantival_ or 'ground-word,' with its locative suffix. III. Those formed from verbs, as participials or verbal nouns, denoting a _place where_ the action of the verb is performed. To this class belong, for example, such names as _Mushauwomuk_ (Boston), |
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