Untitled - Smithsonian Institution
Untitled - Smithsonian Institution Untitled - Smithsonian Institution
10 BUBEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bmx. 99 Linguistic Notes The Cherokee language (Iroqiioian stock) has often been studied, but through various vicissitudes only very few of the results have been published. But two attempts to pubhsh a grammar of it have been made—one by J. Pickering (cf. p. 1), another by Von der Gabelentz. (See BibUography.) Pickering's attempt was not any better than could be expected at a time when so little of American Indian linguistics was known, and Von der Gabelentz's sketch, though interesting, is based on material gleaned from very inadequate sources. Neither of the two have found, for example, the typical Iroquoian system of pronominal prefixes in the Cherokee verbal series, nor the difference between the static and active verbs. There are still two Cherokee dialects extant^the Yv^estern (often called "Upper") dialect, spoken by the majority of the Cherokee in Oklahoma and by a few families in Graham County, N. C, and the Central (often called "Middle") dialect, spoken by the Cherokee on the Qualla Reservation, where these investigations were made. There is historic evidence of a tliird dialect, which may be called the Eastern (it has sometimes been referred to as the "Lower") dialect; the last Indian, as far as we know, who spoke this dialect died in the begiuning of this century. There is a possibility that one (or two?) more dialects existed in the past, but there is veiy scant and inadequate evidence of this. The differences existing between the two dialects that are still spoken are small indeed, nor does the extinct dialect seem to have diverged much from the two others. Allowing for such phonetic shifts as West. Dial, -tl-> Cent. D. -ts-; W. D, aGi-> C. D. e-; C. D, -W. D. -1-^ East. D. -r-, the vocabulary is practically the same; in the morphology there do not seem to be other differences than can be explained by these phonetic shifts; the syntaxis can not yet be compared as our knowledge of the Eastern dialect is so scanty; nor has the Western dialect been adequately studied. The formulas as written in the Ay. manuscript and in the majority of the other manuscripts that have since been collected are mostly written in the Central dialect. Still, a lot of Western dialect forms are to be found in them and there are also a great many archaic, ritualistic expressions the meaning of which is rapidly disappearing. (Cf. Ritual Language, p. 160 et seq.) I have given in the interlinear analysis a translation as correct and conveying the Cherokee meaning as faithfully as was found possible. Rather than speculate on probabilities or advance conjectures that can not be proved, I have indicated by a query mark those elements that can not be satisfactorily analyzed. If query marks are met with
— OlbrecIts] 'fHE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 11 more often than either the reader or the editor Hkes, it should be borne in mind that the language in which the formulas are couched is a ritualistic idiom, often very different from the ordinary language, both as regards vocabulary and grammar, and abounding in expres- sions which even the initiated do not always understand. As for this analysis, I have always given in the interlinear translation the original meaning as far as this could be ascertained, giving the semasiological evolution in footnotes to the free translation. Thus, Ga°ni' will be rendered by "arrow" in the interhnear translation, as this was its original meaning. In the free translation it will be rendered by "bullet," which is its meaning in the context, a footnote explaining the evolution in meaning: "arrow" > "bullet" > "lead." The same applies to such words as: aDe-'lo° that has gone through the following evolution in meaning: "seed(?)" > "bead" > "money" > "dollar"; or to: k*a'la-GWe-'kt'i "locust tree" > "bow" (because locust wood was used to make bows) > "gun" (the modem successor of the bow). — : It is hoped that a paper on Cherokee linguistics, on which the pres- ent writer is working, will soon be ready for publication. Phonetic Symbols and Abbreviations The following list will serve the double purpose of explaining the phonetic symbols and the abbreviations used in the texts, and of presenting a summary description of the Cherokee phonetic system as I heard it. Vowels—Oral Long or short Open — a, as in Engl, far, Gm. Band. Phonetics 0, as in Engl, not, nought; Gm. Gott. V, as in Engl, spoon, you. €, as in Engl, air; Gm. Wahlen; French scSne. 1, as in Engl. seat. Closed a, as in Gm. einmal; Gm. wahl. u, as in Engl. nook. e, as in Engl, baby, stain (this sound is very rarely heard in Cherokee, and then always finally; where it occurs at all it seems to be a contraction of e- (nasalized long e)+i). o, only occurs in songs. i, as in Engl. pin. Short— 0, as in Engl, bird, but very short; Gm. Gotter. u, a sound between a and o. 8, vowel of indefinite quality, as in Engl, father, believe. Parasitical Phonems that are scarcely audible and occur frequently as weakly articulated vowels are indicated by small superior characters: o'", e-', "w, 'y, etc.
- Page 7: SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION BUREAU OF A
- Page 11: LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL Smithsonian I
- Page 14 and 15: VI CONTENTS Disease and its treatme
- Page 16 and 17: Yin CONTENTS Page 32. This (is) to
- Page 19: ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES 1. James Moone
- Page 23: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I take this opportu
- Page 27: [N MEMORIAM—JAMES MOONEY (PL 1) I
- Page 30: 2 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bul
- Page 33: i BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULL
- Page 36 and 37: 4 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bul
- Page 38 and 39: 6 BUREAU OP AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bul
- Page 40 and 41: 8 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Uvu
- Page 42 and 43: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLET
- Page 46 and 47: 12 fetJREAtJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY
- Page 48 and 49: 14 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 50 and 51: 16 BXJREAIJ OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [
- Page 52 and 53: 18 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 54 and 55: 20 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 56 and 57: 22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 58 and 59: 24 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 60 and 61: 26 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 62 and 63: 28 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 64 and 65: 30 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 66 and 67: 32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 68 and 69: 34 BXJKEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [B
- Page 70 and 71: 36 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 72 and 73: 38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 74 and 75: 40 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 76 and 77: 42 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 78 and 79: 44 BUEEAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 80 and 81: 46 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 82 and 83: 48 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 84 and 85: 50 BXJREAtr OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [
- Page 86 and 87: 52 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 88 and 89: 54 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
- Page 90 and 91: BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLET
- Page 92 and 93: 56 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bu
—<br />
OlbrecIts] 'fHE SWIMMER MANUSCRIPT 11<br />
more often than either the reader or the editor Hkes, it should be<br />
borne in mind that the language in which the formulas are couched is<br />
a ritualistic idiom, often very different from the ordinary language,<br />
both as regards vocabulary and grammar, and abounding in expres-<br />
sions which even the initiated do not always understand.<br />
As for this analysis, I have always given in the interlinear translation<br />
the original meaning as far as this could be ascertained, giving the<br />
semasiological evolution in footnotes to the free translation. Thus,<br />
Ga°ni' will be rendered by "arrow" in the interhnear translation, as<br />
this was its original meaning. In the free translation it will be<br />
rendered by "bullet," which is its meaning in the context, a footnote<br />
explaining the evolution in meaning: "arrow" > "bullet" > "lead."<br />
The same applies to such words as: aDe-'lo° that has gone through the<br />
following evolution in meaning: "seed(?)" > "bead" > "money"<br />
> "dollar"; or to: k*a'la-GWe-'kt'i "locust tree" > "bow" (because<br />
locust wood was used to make bows) > "gun" (the modem successor<br />
of the bow).<br />
— :<br />
It is hoped that a paper on Cherokee linguistics, on which the pres-<br />
ent writer is working, will soon be ready for publication.<br />
Phonetic Symbols and Abbreviations<br />
The following list will serve the double purpose of explaining the<br />
phonetic symbols and the abbreviations used in the texts, and of<br />
presenting a summary description of the Cherokee phonetic system<br />
as I heard it.<br />
Vowels—Oral<br />
Long or short<br />
Open<br />
—<br />
a, as in Engl, far, Gm. Band.<br />
Phonetics<br />
0, as in Engl, not, nought; Gm. Gott.<br />
V, as in Engl, spoon, you.<br />
€, as in Engl, air; Gm. Wahlen; French scSne.<br />
1, as in Engl. seat.<br />
Closed<br />
a, as in Gm. einmal; Gm. wahl.<br />
u, as in Engl. nook.<br />
e, as in Engl, baby, stain (this sound is very rarely heard in Cherokee, and<br />
then always finally; where it occurs at all it seems to be a contraction<br />
of e- (nasalized long e)+i).<br />
o, only occurs in songs.<br />
i, as in Engl. pin.<br />
Short—<br />
0, as in Engl, bird, but very short; Gm. Gotter.<br />
u, a sound between a and o.<br />
8, vowel of indefinite quality, as in Engl, father, believe.<br />
Parasitical<br />
Phonems that are scarcely audible and occur frequently as weakly articulated<br />
vowels are indicated by small superior characters: o'", e-', "w, 'y, etc.
Change language