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HelpRe: Savannah
in reply to a message by Theodora'sMommy
Ok, I looked it up...according to an article in the International Journal of American Linguistics, it doesn't. Traditionally, it was said (initially by "an old trader") to be interchangable with "Shawnee" or "Shawano" but it wasn't - that doesn't make sense in context of modern linguistics (the sound changes aren't consistent with the languages involved) and since the topographical word "savannah" was in use there already...
The city name comes from the nearby river name which comes from the topographical term. Several tribes of Native Americans including the Shawnee were likely called "Savannah Indians" by traders (and then by other English colonists in the 1700s) just because they lived in savannahs or by the river. It's really a nature word derived from Spanish via Taino (ultimately about something impersonal and mundane as sheet/flat) and not a specific Algonquin tribe name.
The city name comes from the nearby river name which comes from the topographical term. Several tribes of Native Americans including the Shawnee were likely called "Savannah Indians" by traders (and then by other English colonists in the 1700s) just because they lived in savannahs or by the river. It's really a nature word derived from Spanish via Taino (ultimately about something impersonal and mundane as sheet/flat) and not a specific Algonquin tribe name.
This message was edited 4/11/2022, 5:20 AM
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