Date: Thu, 20 Oct 1994 23:14:22 -0400

From: Claudio Salvucci CSALVUCCI[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]DELPHI.COM

Subject: Re: Yankee



Regarding the etymology of "yankee", someone mentioned

that it was a term for the Dutch, which is confirmed in some dictionaries.

However, there are quite a few 19th century scholars who derive it from

an Algonquian (Lenape) attempt to pronounce "English" (The actual

Algonquian form given is "Yengwe", later anglicized to "Yankee".

I don't know if modern etymological studies have disproved this,

but so goes the theory in the 1800's (i think by Rev. John Heckewelder)



Claudio R. Salvucci

csalvucci[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]delphi.com