Untitled - Smithsonian Institution

ol.BRECHTs] THE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 163
These formulas are now handed down in written form, but before
the art of writing was invented, about a century ago, they must have
been taught to the initiated orally, and there are quite a few indications
which lead us to believe that many of them must be several hundreds
of years old, at least. Many of them contain references to mythical
beings, spirits and animals, on which even the voluminous tribal
mythology is silent. Both in the vocabulary and in the grammatical
construction there occur elements which even the oldest priests and
the most traditionalist of the medicine men are at a loss to elucidate.
The only explanation they venture to offer is that "this was the way
it was said by the people who lived a long time ago."
Knowing as we do the jealous care with which this material has
been conserved, and the judgment and the discrimination used
when handing it down, it will be possible to make these data serve the
purpose of investigating some of the problems of historical Iroquoian
linguistics. A few illustrations taken from the different fields of
linguistics, viz, phonetics, lexicology, morphology, syn taxis and
semantics, will show some of the residts that can be obtained by this
method.
Phonetics.—K clan name a""nisa'o"'ni could not, so far, be identified
with certainty. It is true that its relation with sa'k'o*'ni ("blue")
has been suggested, but until further evidence was brought forward,
this explanation could only be called a plausible guess. It appears
now, however, that the exclamatory k'a' used in tribal language is the
equivalent of tlie 'a*' met with so often in the formulas; thus not only
making the etymology of a'nisa'o*'ni a certainty instead of a guess, but
also making it probable that once such a law as the shift from the
aspirate to the aspirated velar surd occlusive must have operated
initially resp. medially.
Lexicology.—With respect to the vocabulary there is a good deal to
be gleaned from the material. Most, if not all, of the formulas
antedating, as far as we can gather, the invasion of the whites, there
are many references to aboriginal fauna and flora, to artifacts and
utensils which are now obsolete, and the use of many of which has
now even been forgotten. In one hunting formula the name of seven
different kinds of deer are given, whereas now distinction is made
between two kinds only.
The name kVlo'Gwe' which is now used for gun or rifle is still used
in the formulas with the meaning of "bow," just as Ga^ni' now meaning
"bullet" or "lead" is used for "arrow" in the formulas.
"wane-'° which is now only understood as hickory (Hicoria alba
(L.) Britt.), is still used in the formulas as "arrow," because arrows
used to be made of them.
st"kwa which in the tribal language merely means "pig," used
to stand for "opossum," in which meaning the ritualistic language
invariably uses it,