University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. First. Hardcover. Like new hardcover with green clothe on boards and gilt lettering to spine. Like new dust jacket has minor scuffing from shelf wear. 8vo. (6 x 0.75 x 9 inches) Clean text free of marks or underlining. Includes graphs, glossary[2], an appendix, notes, bibliography and an index. 286 pp.


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ISBN: 9780806126555

O Brave New Words! by Charles L. Cutler is the first book published on the more than one thousand North American Indian, Eskimo, and Aleut words in the English vocabulary. Though little acknowledged, these loanwords are indispensable today. They name animals and fish that sustained Indians and early settlers: moose, muskrat, opossum, raccoon, sockeye, and terrapin. They designate plants common in North Ameri-ca: catalpa, hickory, pecan, tamarack, and tupelo. And they identify foods originating with the Native Americans: corn pone, hominy, and succotash.

Organized along historical lines, the book intersperses background chapters between narrative chapters that trace the European settlers' acquisition of an Indian-derived vocabulary. Cutler examines which Native American words were selected and the rate of loanword borrowing; fluctuations in borrowing, he demonstrates, reflect crucial events in European settlement and changes in the relationship between whites and In-dians. The borrowing of Native American words continues today, though at a slower pace.

The author also surveys the thousands of Native American place-names that dot North America, the more than fifteen hundred Latin American Indian loanwords, and the more than one hundred "Indianisms," such as "forked tongue," "Happy Hunting Ground," and "Indian summer." Two glossaries provide pronunciations, dates of first recorded use, etymologies, and brief definitions of all North American Indi-an, Eskimo, and Aleut words current in English. An appendix lists all the Latin American Indian loanwords.

Wherever the English language is studied or prized, this thorough work will be appreciated. Readers will gain an awareness of the pervasiveness of Indian influence throughout North American culture-notably in the English language.

Price: $42.95