Re: Judean-Sanskrit/Bantu/Austronesian?

On Fri, 22 Jan 1999, Hawksinger wrote:

> Well there were about 100 Chinese who settled in among the Nootka on
> Vancouver Island, don't recall the exact time period but definitely
> post-T'ang!  I think I recall reading of Chinese loans in Nootka Jargon,
> another trade language like its more well known neighbor, Chinook
> Jargon. There is a fascinating account of a Nootka who signed
> on a whaling ship in the early 19th century, lived in Canton a while,
> lived in Hawaii and finally returned home.  Too bad he did not leave
> an account of his travels, would been fantastic to here his impressions.
The most interesting 'real life' case of language contact that I know
about involves the (now extinct) Algonquian language Micmac, which was
spoken (IIRC) in what is now New Brunswick and/or Nova Scotia on
the East Coast of Canada.  Linguists have documented the existence of
several Basque loanwords in Micmac, relics of the 16th century, when
Basque fisherman, who had sailed from Spain to Newfoundland in search
of cod, would winter among the Micmac.

With the exception of the Vikings, the Basques were among the first
Europeans to make contact with the inhabitants of North America.  What if
the Basques had taken over, instead of the English and the French?  :-)

Matt.