The Composition of Indian Geographical Names - Illustrated from the Algonkin Languages by J. Hammond (James Hammond) Trumbull
page 52 of 83 (62%)
page 52 of 83 (62%)
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1611, is the Abnaki _peme'teki_, 'sloping land.' _Pemaquid_ appears to
be another form of the word which Râle wrote '_Pemaa[n]kke_,' meaning (with the locative suffix) 'at the place where the land slopes;' where "le terre penche; est en talus."[85] _Pymatuning_, in Pennsylvania, is explained by Heckewelder, as "the dwelling place of the man with the crooked mouth; _Pihmtónink_" (from _pimeu_ and _'t[oo]n_). [Footnote 85: Abnaki Dictionary, s.v. PENCHER. Compare, p. 545, "_bimk[oo]é_, il penche naturellement la tête sur un côte."] WANASHQUE, ANASQUI, 'at the extremity of,' 'at the end;' Abn. _[oo]anask[oo]i[oo]i_, 'au bout;' Cree, _wánnusk[oo]tch_; Chip. _ishkuè_, _eshqua_. See (pp. 18, 19,) _Wanashqu-ompsk-ut_, _Wonnesquam_,[86] _Winnesquamsaukit_, _Squamscot_. _Wonasquatucket_, a small river which divides North Providence and Johnston, R.I., retains the name which belonged to the point at which it enters an arm of Narragansett Bay (or Providence River), 'at the end of the tidal-river.' A stream in Rochester, Mass., which empties into the head of an inlet from Buzzard's Bay, received the same name. _Ishquagoma_, on the upper Embarras River, Minnesota, is the 'end lake,' the extreme point to which canoes go up that stream. [Footnote 86: _Wonnesquam_ (as should have been mentioned on the page referred to) may possibly represent the Abnaki _[oo]anask[oo]a[n]a[n]mi[oo]i_ or _-mek_ 'at the end of the peninsula' ('au bout de la presqu'ile.' Râle).] Names of _fishes_ supply the adjectival components of many place-names on the sea-coast of New England, on the lakes, and along river-courses. The difficulty of analyzing such names is the greater |
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