Appendix talk:English terms of Native North American origin

still current

notes on which words have fallen out of use

Of these terms, the following are still current, with attestations from after the year 2000: appaloosa ("horse"), appaloosa ("fish"), maninose, quinnat and tabasco; apishamore, bogan, carcajou, chunky, dockmackie, hickory, kinkajou, pipsissewa, macock (though it is now rare), maracock (though it is now rare), matchcoat, moose, muskrat, musquash (though it is now rare), pecan, pocosin, podunk, Quonset hut, sagamité, scuppernong, squeteague. Suckauhock and suckanhock are both mentioned post-2000, but hardly used. Also used post-2000 are: supawn (though it is not common), terrapin, toboggan, togue, tomahawk, tullibee, wapato (though it is not common), wapiti, wejack, woodchuck, hackmatack, tamarack; cohosh, monadnock, ... skunk, ... wigwam, ... husky, muskeg, pemmican, quickhatch (though the term is more often mentioned than used), saskatoon, shaganappi, wavey (though its alternative spelling "wavy" seems disused, probably because it is easily confused with its wave-like homonym), whiskey jack (its synonym "whiskey john" is less common). Namaycush was last in common use in the 1910s and 1920s, but sporadic use has continued, and it appeared in print as a common noun in 1949, 1962, and the 1980s; it also lives on in the scientific name of the fish. Sagamore, sannup, tumpline, wannigan were also still in use in the 2000s.

In contrast, the following terms have fallen out of use: assapan (its most recent use was in 1909; "flying squirrel" is the term used now), pasheco (used by Lewis and Clark), wankapin (in print post-2000 it is only mentioned, not used; most uses are from the 1920s or earlier, though one citation from 1946 is available; "chinkapin" is the term used now), wishtonwish (most uses are from the early 1800s; "prairie dog" is used now) and yoncopin (after 1910, the word continues only as the title of the yearbook of Centenary College of Louisiana; "chinkapin" is the only surviving member of the "wankapin"-"yoncopin"-"chinkapin" triplet); asimina (last used in the 1910s; "pawpaw" is used instead), chogset (last common in the 1900s and 1910s, though still mentioned as an alt name in modern reference works), muskimoot (last used in the 1880s and 1890s), pokickery (evolved into "hickory" well before 1850), skokeberry (last used sometime before 1900), woodshock (last used sometime before 1920 if not earlier), zuisin (last used before 1900) ... methy (used in the 1800s; since then, the fish have been designated only as "burbot"). Oquassa was last in use as a common noun in the 1920s; now, it remains only in the species name.

I haven't yet checked pauhagen, pekan, poghaden, pogy or any other words. I can't tell if "logan", "pokelogan", "pung", "wickup" and wicopy" are still in use or not. Anyone else checking these should be careful not to count reprints of old works as modern uses. - -sche (discuss) 19:01, 26 September 2012 (UTC)

The most common words (still in use) from Algonquian languages are squash (though it has other etymologies), moose, husky, totem, caribou, hickory, tomahawk, wampum, and to a lesser extent skunk, pecan and muskrat. — The most common from Mayan languages are cigarette, cigar, shark. — The most common from Nahuan languages are chocolate, tomato, cocoa, chili, and to a lesser extent peyote and mesquite. — The most common out of these, are cigarette (Mayan), chocolate (Nahuan), tomato (Nahuan), cigar (Mayan) and moose (Algonquian). - -sche (discuss) 07:45, 18 June 2013 (UTC)