Words for Owls in North American Indian Languages

Eugene Hunn

International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 41, No. 3. (Jul., 1975), pp. 237-239.

Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7071%28197507%2941%3A3%3C237%3AWFOINA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4

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http://www.jstor.org Tue Feb 5 12:58:25 2008 NOTES AND REVIEWS

WORDSFOR OWLSIN NORTH thirty species of owls (Strigiformes) in AMERICANINDIAN LANGUAGES Mexico and North America. Most have quite distinctive vocalizations. They vary In his careful comparative note, Karl- in size from the five-inch Elf Owl (Micra- Heinz Gursky cites striking similarities in thene whitneyi) to the twenty-two-inch Great words for "owl" reported for languages Gray Owl (Strix nebulosa). Most local from groups as diverse as Uto-Aztecan, areas of North America are home to a half- Miwok, Hokan, and Mayaq2 for example, dozen or more species. The fact that Proto-Uto-Aztecan *tukur(i), Proto- English- or Spanish-speaking field workers Miwok *tuk.u(. ,)l,i, Proto-Yokuts *hutu- typically think of "owl" as a homogeneous lu, San Louis Obispo Chumash tukuna, class5 is not a testimonial to our abstractive and Quiche (Maya) tukur. Gursky draws abilities, but rather indicates a divorce from no definite conclusion as to which of the our natural surroundings. Native peoples "two possible solutions" is correct: "Either were not so isolated. these forms are loans of considerable In Tzeltal, there is no single term for antiquity or they are, despite their great owls in general. Rather, six coordinate resemblance, independent onomatopoetic terms of folk generic rank6 are widely coinage^."^ He would like to defend a recognized by Tenejapa Tzeltal speakers. diffusionist interpretation but has difficulty (1) kurunku$ (- kurumku#, kurunku#ku$, accounting for gaps in the geographical turuku$, turunku#): screech owls, in par- pattern, for example, the Uto-Aztecan ticular the Whiskered Screech Owl (Otus languages closest to the California lan- trichopsis). This term and its phonological guages with cognate terms appear to lack variants all accurately imitate in abbrevi- such terms, and the Classical Nahuatl term ated form the characteristic rhythm of this tecolotl is not cognate, though Nahuatl species' most commonly heard call.? (2) intervenes between Quiche and the Uto- toytoy: pygmy owls, genus Glaucidium. Aztecan languages with terms reconstruct- Two subtypes are recognized which corres- able in Proto-Uto-Aztecan. pond to the two common resident species My recent study of Tzeltal (Mayan) folk (G. gnoma and G. brasilianum). The name zoological terminology4 suggests some Spanish terms frequently encountered include clarifications. First, it is essential to dis- buho, mochuelo, lechuza, and tecolote. The last is tinguish which owls are denotata of the a loan from Nahuatl. It is the most widely used terms being compared. There are some term in Mexican Spanish but appears to be essentially synonymous with buho and mochuelo. My fieldwork during 1971 with the Tenejapa Lechuza is typically applied to the Barn Owl Tzeltak, Chiapas, Mexico, was supported by a (Tyto alba) but is not reserved for that species grant from the National Institute of Mental alone (see E. P. Edwards, A Field Guide to the Health. Birds ofMexico [Sweet Briar, Va., 19721). Karl-Heinz Gursky, "A Widespread Word See B. Berlin, D. Breedlove, and P. Raven, 'Owl'," ZJAL 33 (1967): 328-29. "General Principles of Classification and Nomen- Ibid., p. 328. clature in Folk Biology," American Anthropol- Eugene Hunn, "Tzeltal Folk Zoology: The ogist 75 (1973):214-42. Classification of Discontinuities in Nature" L. I. Davis, A Field Guide to the Birds of (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, Mexico and Central America (Richmond, Va.: 1973). William Byrd Press, 1972). 2 238 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS VOL. 41 is again skillfully onomatopoeic. This term that phonemic imitations will be severely may also refer to the rare Unspotted Saw- restricted by the pattern of animal vocaliza- whet Owl (Aegolius ridgwayi) at high eleva- tion which serves as a model.ll Owls are tions. (3) SoC': the Barn Owl (Tyto alba). perhaps universally objects of dread, and The call is given by informants as "SSSt'." being nocturnal, they are best known by The reader can appreciate that this name their calls. Thus the plausibility of apparent is also onomatop~eic.~(4) Skuh (= mutil cognates arising by "independent onoma- balam bird of the jaguar): most likely the topoetic coinages" increases. Mottled Owl (Ciccaba cirgata). This wide- A consideration of the variety and distri- spread tropical owl's call is "a series of five bution of owls might also be cited in short hoots that are somewhat clipped off, defense of the diffusionist argument. The so that one might be represented by hut." exceptions to a contiguous geographical The similarity of name and call is percep- distribution noted by Gursky might be tible. (5) k'ahk'al waS fierce fox: perhaps explained as follows: (a) The Chukchee the Fulvous Owl (Strix fulcescens), a close term is not cognate since it must refer to a relative of the North American Barred Owl different species. As suggested above, the (S. curia) and Spotted Owl (S. occidentalis). widespread form most likely refers in The latter often "barks" like a fox, which particular to the Great Horned Owl. But is the justification given by Tzeltal in- this owl does not occur in Asia. (6) The formants for the name. (6) tuh kulum Classical Nahuatl term tecolotl probably pukuh (- tuh kulum mut, tuh kulum referred to a species other than the Great muk): the Great Horned Owl (Bubo cirgini- Horned Owl. Sahagun refers to several anus). This owl is found throughout the "species" of owls, distinguishing among a Americas but is relatively rare south of buho-like species (Nahuatl term not cited), central Mexico. Though the Tzeltal name two lechuza-like owls (also not named in is partially analyzable-tuh stinking, pukuh Nahuatl), and a mochuelo-like species, the decil-it is onomatopoeic like English zacatecolotl. For contemporary Spaniards, "bobwhite." I have tested this term on the mochuelo was probably a hornless owl ornithologist friends; with no prior knowl- of moderate size-perhaps the Mottled edge of the language, several guessed that the term referred to the Great Horned l1 On this assumption one might question the This last is the term cognate to the attribution of Esselen tukunupSa to the Barn Owl forms cited by Gursky as most widespread. (Gursky, p. 328) and the assertion that Algon- The fact that it is the term for the Great quian ko:hko:hkaho:wa refers to the Great Horned Owl (William Cowan, "Reduplicated Horned Owl is most appropriate given Bird Names in Algonquian," ZJAL 38 [1972]: that owl's large size and wide distribution. 229-30). The Barn Owl is not known to produce It is clear that names for owls are very a sound similar to the Esselen name, and the likely to be onomatopoeic. The fidelity of Algonquian term is a perfect rendition of the call imitation is often striking. This suggests of the Barred Owl, a common and conspicuous species in the Algonquian territory. The Barred Owl's call is typically rendered as follows: Note Proto-Mayan "lechuza" *xooch' given "hoohoo-hoohoo-hoohoo-hoohooaw" (R. T. by T. Kaufman in Desarrollo Cultural de 10s Peterson, A Field Guide to Western Birds [Boston: Mayas, ed. E. A. Vogt and A. Ruz (1964), pp. Houghton Mifflin Co., 19691, p. 162). For record- 81-136. ings of North American Owl calls consult R. T. Davis, p. 62. Peterson, A Field Guide to Western Bird Songs loNote Proto-Mayan "buho," etymology a, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1969), side 2, *tuhkuru, etymology 6, *?ikin(Kaufman, p. 197). band 6. NO. 3 NOTES AND REVIEWS 239

Owl or one of the Stris species.12 (c) The suggest, following Tr~mbull,~that Nar- apparent absence of cognate terms in Uto- ragansett keesuckquand is a noun rather Aztecan languages on the California than a participle, with Narragansett -and a border might be due to the lack of suitable normal reflex of PA *-anet- (from PA woodland habitats for the Great Horned *maneto: wa spirit). Owl in those desert regions. In support of this view, consider the In sum, it is still not clear whether the following forms, which show one develop- similarity in names for owls is due to ment of PA *-anet- in word-final position historical contacts or to a common human in Narragansett: (1) Nr. wunnanameanit response to similar stimuli. The ultimate the northerne god (124); (2) Nr. wetuomanit solution to this and many similar issues at the liouse god (1 24); (3) Nr. squauanit the least requires that our linguistic sophisti- ,t,omans god (124); (4) Nr. yotaanit thefire cation not outstrip our knowledge of the god (125). In order to account satisfactorily world to which language refers. for Narragansett -and, in the context of the Williams materials, two things must be explained: the absence of the expected Narragansett reflex of PA *e and the Unicersity of Washington voicing of the Narragansett reflex of PA *t. l2 Bernardino de Sahagun in vol. 11 of Historia Gerleral de la5 Cosas de Nuera Espaiia, ed. Angel As for the first difficulty, it is not at all Maria K. Garibay (Mexico, D.F.: Editorial unusual for Williams to give no indication Porrua, 1956), lines 91-92, 111-1 3. ~Mochuelois of the expected Narragansett reflex of PA distinguished as "red owl" in E. A. Peers et al., *e, as shown by the following forms: (5) eds., Cassell's Spanish Dit rionary (New York: PA "meskwi - Nr. msqui blood (198); (6) Funk and Wagnalls, 1960). PA *nekikwa - Nr. nkeke, knequock otter, otters (103); (7)PA *nekwetwi - Nr. nquit one (22); (8) PA *nesiCi - Nr. nchksamam nskte mjfoot is sore (195); (9) PA *-anet- - Nr. kautantowwit the great sozrth-west god (1 24) and Nr. cautantouwit (1 30). The In his discussion of the Narragansett forms cited in (9) are by far the most in- form keesuckquand the sun god (125),' structive in this regard, showing the John Hewson states that it is ". . .an ap- absence of the expected Narragansett reflex parent participle which I am unable to of PA *e in the very morpheme in question, analyze further except to observe that the although the Narragansett reflex of PA *t vowel of the second syllable indicates is recorded as t in both cases. *ki:S-ekw-, the stem for day."2 Although On the problem of voicing, there is ample Hewson's observation that the form in evidence that Williams often records ex- question contains a reflex of PA *ki :S-ekw- pected Narragansett voiceless reflexes as is most probably correct, I would like to voiced, as in the following examples: (10) PA *Si :kaweOkwe :wa - Nr. segousquaw a The numbers in parentheses are the page ~.iddolc(146) ;(1 1) PA *te :p- - Nr. wafimet numbers of the cited forms in Roger Williams, A tacbi it is ellough (14). is particularly Key into the Languane.-. of America, 5th ed. (providence, 1936). John Hewson, "The Algonquian Word for James Trumbull, Natick Dictionary (Wash- 'Sun'," IJAL 40 (1974):256. ington, D.C., 1903). http://www.jstor.org

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You have printed the following article: Words for Owls in North American Indian Languages Eugene Hunn International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 41, No. 3. (Jul., 1975), pp. 237-239. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7071%28197507%2941%3A3%3C237%3AWFOINA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4

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[Footnotes]

2 A Widespread Word for "Owl" Karl-Heinz Gursky International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 33, No. 4. (Oct., 1967), pp. 328-329. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7071%28196710%2933%3A4%3C328%3AAWWF%22%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T

3 A Widespread Word for "Owl" Karl-Heinz Gursky International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 33, No. 4. (Oct., 1967), pp. 328-329. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7071%28196710%2933%3A4%3C328%3AAWWF%22%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T

6 General Principles of Classification and Nomenclature in Folk Biology Brent Berlin; Dennis E. Breedlove; Peter H. Raven American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 75, No. 1. (Feb., 1973), pp. 214-242. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0002-7294%28197302%292%3A75%3A1%3C214%3AGPOCAN%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I

11 A Widespread Word for "Owl" Karl-Heinz Gursky International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 33, No. 4. (Oct., 1967), pp. 328-329. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7071%28196710%2933%3A4%3C328%3AAWWF%22%3E2.0.CO%3B2-T

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11 Reduplicated Bird Names in Algonquian William Cowan International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 38, No. 4. (Oct., 1972), pp. 229-230. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-7071%28197210%2938%3A4%3C229%3ARBNIA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-E

NOTE: The reference numbering from the original has been maintained in this citation list.