Whether or not /Yankee/ comes from an Indian dialect is still disputed. An early authority, John G. E. Heckwelder, argued that it was derived from an Indian mispronunciation of the word /English/.[11] Certain later etymologists hold that it originated more probably in an Indian mishandling of the French word /Anglais/. Yet others derive it from the Scotch /yankie/, meaning a gigantic falsehood. A fourth party derive it from the Dutch, and cite an alleged Dutch model for "Yankee Doodle," beginning "/Yanker/ didee doodle down."[12] Of these theories that of Heckwelder is the most plausible. But here, as in other directions, the investigation of American etymology remains sadly incomplete. An elaborate dictionary of words derived from the Indian languages, compiled by the late W. R. Gerard, is in the possession of the Smithsonian Institution, but on account of a shortage of funds it remains in manuscript. [Pg043] From the very earliest days of English colonization the language of the colonists also received accretions from the languages of the other colonizing nations. The French word /portage/, for example, was already in common use before the end of the seventeenth century, and soon after came /chowder/, /cache/, /caribou/, /voyageur/, and various words that, like the last-named, have since become localisms or disappeared altogether. Before 1750 /bureau/,[13] /gopher/, /batteau/, /bogus/, and /prairie/ were added, and /caboose/, a word of Dutch origin, seems to have come in through the French. /Carry-all/ is also French in origin, despite its English quality. It comes, by the law of Hobson-Jobson, from the French /carriole/. The contributions of the Dutch during the half century of their conflicts with the English included /cruller/, /cold-slaw/, /dominie/ (for /parson/), /cookey/, /stoop/, /span/ (of horses), /pit/ (as in /peach-pit/), /waffle/, /hook/ (a point of land), /scow/, /boss/, /smearcase/ and /Santa Claus/.[14] Schele de Vere credits them with /hay-barrack/, a corruption of /hooiberg/. That they established the use of /bush/ as a designation for back-country is very probable; the word has also got into South African English. In American it has produced a number of familiar derivatives, /e. g./, /bush-whacker/ and /bush-league/. Barrère and Leland also credit the Dutch with /dander/, which is commonly assumed to be an American corruption of /dandruff/. They say that it is from the Dutch word /donder/ (=/thunder/). /Op donderen/, in Dutch, means to burst into a sudden rage. The chief Spanish contributions to American were to come after the War of 1812, with the opening of the West, but /creole/, /calaboose/, /palmetto/, /peewee/, /key/ (a small island), /quadroon/, /octoroon/, /barbecue/, /pickaninny/ and /stampede/ had already entered the language in colonial days. /Jerked beef/ came from the Spanish /charqui/ by the law of Hobson-Jobson. The Germans who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682