Russian loanwords in an indigenous Californian language
One of the most fascinating things to me is how certain words can spread very very far - to some very unlikely places - and one very interesting case of this is found in northern California, in a language family called the Pomoan family. In the early 19th century, Russians were setting up settlements up and down the Pacific coast, and one of the southernmost of these was Fort Ross, on Pomo land, in what is now northern California. The Russians were the first Europeans in this part of California, and traces of their colonization efforts remain still in Kashaya, a Pomoan language, in words such as:
kuška “cat”, from кошка
loška “spoon”, from ложка
mišuk “sack”, from мешок
šinitča “wheat”, from пшеница
kulučitča “wild mustard”, from горчица, which actually just means “mustard” - the “wild” meaning comes from reanalysis as being related to the originally Kashaya root kulu- meaning “wild”
molokko “milk”, from молоко
kafey “coffee”, from кофе (of which an archaic variant was кофей)
ča·yu “tea” , from чаю (the partitive case of чай)
čaynik “teakettle”, from чайник
čaška “dishes”, from чашка “cup”
pa·rus “canvas”, from парус “sail”
ya·palka “apple”, from яблоко
ču·ki “socks”, from чулки “stockings”
putilka “broken glass”, from бутылка “bottle” (I guess the Russians left a lot of broken bottles around Fort Ross?)
kaša “gruel”, from каша “buckwheat”
pečka “brick”, from печка “oven”
tali “pulley”, from таль “block and tackle”
In addition, because Fort Ross hosted not just ethnic Russians but other nationalities within the Russian Empire, Kashaya got some loans from other languages too:
čamay “hello”, from Central Yup’ik čama-i
čawik “iron, metal, nail” from Alutiiq čawik
ʔeqše “fishhook” from Dena’ina iqšak
kalikak “book, letter” from Aleut kalikaq
kičak “anchor” from Alutiiq kičak
kuluwet “cattle”, from Alutiiq kuluwat, from Russian корова (the -t is a plural suffix)
nukkuk “jerky”, from Alutiiq neqkaq (prepared food)
šakitaq “ocean bird”, from Eastern Aleut šakitar (murre)
taqma “woman’s dress”, from Alutiiq taqmak
tupulu “axe”, from Alutiiq tupuluq, from Russian топор
ʔukuluta “fence, garden”, from Alutiiq ukulutaq, from Russian ограда
(Sources include Oswalt’s “Russian loanwords in Southwestern Pomo”, Golla’s “California Indian Languages”, and a conversation with Marianne Mithun)
