-------------------- aal -- firewood ----------------------

aal -- firewood

Pronunciation:

  Like "ALL" (Listen)

Etymology:

  Aal appears to be borrowed from the Yukian word for firewood, al. It is the only Cahto word I have found that seems to be a loanword from another "Indian" language. There are a few other loanwords, all from Spanish (baagaa "cow," mooliinaa "mill," iihool, "beans," maayiis "corn," paapeel "paper"), but basically Cahto is, like most other Athabaskan languages, extremely resistant to borrowing words from other languages. Generally words for new items, and new words for existing items, are coined from elements already existing in language.
  It is quite interesting that the common Athabaskan word for firewood, which would be tciitc in Cahto, seems to have been dropped (at least in Bill Ray's dialect) in favor of a word from a neighboring group. It would be interesting to know whether the word came to the Cahto from the Coast Yuki, traditionally friends, or the Yuki proper, traditionally enemies.

Meaning:

  Aal refers specifically to firewood, other wood is called ching "tree/stick/wood."

Other firewood words:

  aal-tcwoltc -- firewood (probably smaller/shorter pieces) (literally "small round firewood")
  deenaadilish -- firewood (literally "those that are put down in the fire") {used by Rose Ray}

Related Languages:

  Sinkyone: tcish
  Wailaki: tcitc
  Mattole: tcwiish
  Hupa: chwich

-------------------------
Sally Anderson
sally@turtlenodes.com
Cahto Language Home Page: http://www.turtlenodes.com/calath/caindex.html