The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Composition of Indian Geographical Names, by
J. Hammond Trumbull

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: The Composition of Indian Geographical Names
Illustrated from the Algonkin Languages

Author: J. Hammond Trumbull

Release Date: April 28, 2006 [EBook #18279]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COMPOSITION OF INDIAN ***

Produced by Thierry Alberto, Henry Craig, Linda Cantoni,
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
generously made available by the Canadian Institute for
Historical Microreproductions (www.canadiana.org).)

THE COMPOSITION OF

INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES,

ILLUSTRATED FROM THE

ALGONKIN LANGUAGES.

BY J. HAMMOND TRUMBULL.

PRESS OF
CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD,
Hartford, Conn.

[Transcriber's Note: Published 1870]

* * * * *

[Transcriber's Note: The original book contains some diacriticals that
are represented in this e-text as follows:

1. A macron is represented by an =, e.g. [=a]

2. A breve is represented by a ), e.g., [)a]

3. [n] represents a superscripted n (see Footnote 4).

4. [oo] represents an oo ligature (see Footnote 4.)]

* * * * *

ON THE COMPOSITION OF

INDIAN GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES.

A proper name has been defined to be "a mere mark put upon an
individual, and of which it is the characteristic property _to be
destitute of meaning_."[1] If we accept this definition, it follows
that there are no proper names in the aboriginal languages of America.
Every Indian synthesis--names of persons and places not excepted--must
"preserve the consciousness of its roots," and must not only have a
meaning but be so framed as to convey that meaning with precision, to
all who speak the language to which it belongs. Whenever, by phonetic
corruption or by change of circumstance, it loses its
self-interpreting or self-defining power, it must be discarded from
the language. "It requires tradition, society, and literature to
maintain forms which can no longer be analyzed at once."[2] In