The Seri Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 1-344*))McGee, W J
History
The Seri Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 1-344*))
McGee, W J
Seri Indians; Seri language; Yuman languages
According to Mashém and the clanmother known as Juana Maria, the
proper name of the tribe known as Seri is _Kunkáak_ (the first vowel
obscure and the succeeding consonant nasalized; perhaps _Kⁿ-káak_ or
_Kᵐ-káak_ would better express the sound). According to Kolusio, as
rendered by M Pinart, the Seri term for people or nation is _kom-kak_,
while the Seri people are designated specifically as _Kmike_, this
designation being practically equivalent phonetically (and doubtless
semantically) to Sr Tenochio’s general term for women, _kamykij_.
Mashém was unable or unwilling to give the precise signification of
the tribal appellation used by him, merely indicating Juana Maria
and one or two other elderwomen squatting near as examples or types;
but comparison of the elements of the term with those used in other
vocables affords a fairly clear inkling as to its meaning. The syllable
_kun_ (or _kⁿ_, _kon_, _kom_, etc.) certainly connotes age and
woman, and apparently connotes also life or living (_kun-kaīe_=old
woman, McGee; _i-kom_=a wife, _ekam_=alive, Bartlett; _hikkam_=a
wife, _kmam-kikamman_=a married woman, _Yak-kom_=Yaqui tribe, Pinart;
_kon-kabre_=an old woman, Tenochio), the forms being distinct from the
word for woman (_kmamm_, McGee; _ék-e-mam_, Bartlett; _kmam_, Pinart
and Tenochio) and widely different from the term for man (_kŭ-tŭmm_,
McGee; _ék-e-tam_, Bartlett; _ktam_, Pinart; _tam_, Tenochio) with its
several combining variants; there are also indications in numerous
vocables that it connotes person or personality. On the whole, the
syllable appears to be an ill-formulated or uncrystallized expression,
denoting at once and associatively (1) the state of living or being,
(2) personality, (3) age or ancientness (or both), and (4) either
femininity or maternity (much more probably the latter), this inchoate
condition of the term being quite in accord with other characters
of the Seri tongue, and frequently paralleled among other primitive
languages. The syllable _kaak_ (or _kak_, and probably _kok_, _koj_,
_kolch_, etc.) would seem to be a still more vague and colloidal
term, despite the fact that it is used separately to designate
the fire-drill. There are fairly decisive indications that it is
composite, the initial portion denoting place and the final portion
perhaps more vaguely connoting class or kind with an implication
of excellence, both elements appearing in various vocables (too
numerous to quote). On the whole, _kaak_ would appear to be a typical
egocentric or ethnocentric term, designating and dignifying Person,
Place, Time, and Mode, after the manner characteristic of primitive
thought;[226] so that it may perhaps be translated “Our-Great-(or
Strong-)Kind-Now-Here”. The combination of the two syllables affords
a characteristically colloidal connotation of concepts, common enough
in primitive use, but not expressible by any single term of modern
language; in a descriptive way the complete term might be interpreted
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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