Translation of Some Indian Place Names in Southern New England
⊗
⊗
⊗
⊗
List of Root Words
A Note on Translations
▲
◄
○
►
▼
The Glossary of Roots
The vast majority of regional Indian place names denote land or country, river and lake and bay and pond and stream &c, fishing-place, hill and mountain, stone and rock, natural or man-made enclosure, and island. To these elemental features are added modifiers of size, number, quality and locatives, and of course, intertribal dialectical (phonetic & semantic) variations.
The following abridged topical list of common roots and combining elements from the Massachusett, Narragansett and similar languages can be used as a quick reference in deciphering some of the Indian place names in the book. The first column gives roots &c in the original Indian language, the second shows alternative corrupted spellings seen in the actual names, and lastly, the essential meaning of the Algonquian as seen in place names. Keep in mind that sometimes the root or combining element in an Indian place name is not much corrupted. Several variant source spellings are given to assist in identification of degenerated roots which, through the corruption process, have become difficult to discriminate in modern Indian names. This observation applies to listings of the same corrupted spellings associated with different roots (especially for those roots relating to descriptions of division, separation, opening, clearing, widening, narrowing &c). Be sure to remember the common connective vowel-consonant and syllabic glides, and reduced vowels, which often separate roots and combining elements—
a, e, i, l, m, n, o, p, q, qua, quo, r, t, u, w, y.
Note on the placement of the hyphen in roots. Under Land Names is listed -adene. The prefixed hyphen indicates that -adene is seen at word-end. No hyphen means root-word might possibly appear anywhere (beginning, middle or end of a place name) excepting the addition of the terminal locatives, diminutives, and pluralization stems, if included. For more detailed explanations of typical place-name vocabulary terms, see Trumbull’s classic,
Comp. Ind. Place Names
. His
Natick Dictionary
is also important. Toponymic translations—on the linguistic level—begin by searching for the corrupted fragments. Examples are shown at end of the lists in App. II as well in the
Introduction
, Figures 1- 5.
CAUTION
—It is important to reiterate that one is not likely to be able to translate many Indian place names in southern New England simply by linguistic analysis of the poorly spelled roots and combining elements. Begin with the oldest spelling(s) in a deed or other official document. Gather as much available data on the possible meaning of the Indian place name. Corroborating evidence is important. No single item of information is in and of itself determinative.
List of Common Roots and Combining Elements
Sources: Trumbull (1870, 1881 & 1903), Huden (1962) & Author
I. LAND NAMES Algonquian
Modern (corrupted) Spelling
Meaning
-adene (
inseperable generic
1
) -ahdin, -ahd, -attiny--
etc.
mountain (sometimes hill) aquidne, ahquedne, ocquidne acquidn-, aqu-, aqueduen-, -idn-, -edn-, quid(n)-, uhquetn-,
etc.
island
2
(one word for) see munnoh auke (see ohke, auke) hassun, ohsun, assin asa-, ass-, assa-, ashin-, ashun-, asn-, cassa-, casso-, osi-, hassa-, horse(n), hooshus-, sen(n)-, sun(a)-,
etc.
stone, rock (sometimes cave, ledge, den) mukkoskqut, micuckkaskeete mascak-, mascack, mukqua-, masque-, mux, muy-,
etc.
meadow, a plain, flags or rushes, green grass place -komuk -comuc, -commuck, -gomuck--
etc.
natural or artificial enclosed or limited or appropriated place like a village, building, garden, or longhouse or sweatlodge (not a wigwam, usu.) munnoh, munnohan munna, manha, minna, menhan, munhan
,
--
etc.
island (second & more common word for) see aquidne munnoh-es munnisses, manises, minis--
etc.
little island naïag niack, nyack, nayaug, nawayack, naïänk, nahig, nanhig, narrag--
etc.
a point of land, corner, angle ohke, auke ac, ack, aug, auc, ag, ic, ick, ik, ahki, ocke, ock, oc, ogue, oock, uc--
etc.
land, ground, place, country (not enclosed or limited)
1
Inseparable generic (insep. gen.) means term not used as an independent word, but as a generic noun-affix in place names.
2
There were two words for island. According to Trumbull (1870), this word was used for islands (perhaps large) near a main land or islands discussed with reference to the main land.