Howgh

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frederic Remington : The Conversation (1903)

Howgh is an exclamation in the sense of "I have spoken". It occurs in some Indian languages and has different meanings there. The exclamation is a classic component of many popular Indian representations such as B. in the novels James Fenimore Coopers , Karl Mays and others as well as in films and radio plays.

Pronunciation and etymology

Jean de Brébeuf, 1627 (?)

The Oxford English Dictionary OED gives "haau" [ haːʊ̯ ] as the pronunciation . According to the OED, the word (in English "how") was initially described by Jean de Brébeuf as an interjection of consent among the Wyandot (French and German known as Hurons ), the use as a greeting only came about later.

"They present their considerations clearly and speak without hesitation… Everyone ends speeches with Condayauendi Ierhayde cha nonhwicwahachen , what this is my thought in this debate means, to which the entire assembly answers with a long haaau "

- Jean de Brébeuf : Report in Jesuit Relation 10 , 1636

It was also used later to imitate Indians. In Longman Webster, Howgh is described as a greeting from the Sioux . For the Lakota Sioux, "Háu kola" ( hello friend ) was described as a widespread greeting. Since it is the only Lakota word with a diphthong , it may have origins outside the Sioux. The pronunciation "háo" is assigned to the Dakota - and "hau" to the Omaha Sioux, possibly even this use as a greeting is an attribution from Parkman's The Oregontrail of 1847.

From the 19th century onwards, Jean de Brébeuf's account had hardly anything to do with the actual rhetoric of the Hurons. The later mentioned use as a greeting by the Sioux was again tended to be replaced by English greetings such as “Good Morning” around 1900.

Use by Karl May and in the present

The use of the Sioux as a greeting does not occur in May. May's use of Howgh (also ugh or hugh ) is phraseologically similar to the use of the Swiss-German closing phrase "Ha gschlosse", which classically occurs after a vote by a meeting participant. In both cases, this suggests a very strictly regulated course of meetings and a strong consensus-building. Howgh in May's sense as well as hagschlosse serve to reinforce what has been said, they can also express an uncertainty of the speaker. The original use of Haaau by the Hurons, however, confirmed the formulaic end of the speaker's contribution by the assembly, but was not the formulaic end of the contribution itself. The often remarkably good speakers with the Hurons and Iroquois were subject to an imperative mandate from the community, they were Doers of a common will.

Other Indian phrases and language components

Indian images and stereotypes using the example of images of the Lakotasioux
Mary Kim Titla, Apachin and 2008 Congressional Candidate

With Karl May, rhetoric plays a very important role, which Winnetou , the usually taciturn man of action , has, if necessary, at his disposal. Winnetou's very reduced use of language belies his language skills, which even include knowledge of German imparted by Klekih-petra . Howgh is next to the interjection "Uff!" And the term " Manitu " for God one of Winnetou's most famous phrases. Just as the Lakota war cry “Hoka Hey” and the feather headdress of the Teton Sioux were transferred to all Indians due to their use by film and book Indians, they have helped shape the general image of Indians in the (West) German-speaking area .

Starting with the USA, Howgh and the expression pale-face became a pseudo-Indian stereotype, particularly through James Fenimore Cooper's leather stocking novels and Francis Parkman's The Oregon Trail of 1847. In the American-speaking area, the addition of -um is also documented as a standard phrase in the imitation of Indian language in the 17th century. American stereotypical representations were found, among other things, in the characterization of Native American soldiers in the First World War. The Cherokee Jo Fixum was quoted in a contemporary propagandistic text with the words “ (Kaiser Wilhelm II) killum papoose and killum squaw, so Jo Fixum will find this Kaiser and stickum bayonet clear through. Ugh! ”( Quoted in Britten, p. 100. , German:“ (Kaiser Wilhelm II) kill children and kill women, so I, Jo Fixum, will find these emperors and stab bayonets right through them. Ugh! ")

The ending -ee , used similarly from 1870 onwards , does not go back to Indians but to Chinese railway workers.

The Apaches described by May did not use any of the expressions mentioned; only a few proper names such as "Iltschi" and "Hatatitla" are original and are still used today , as is the case with Mary Kim Titla . Many of the phrases in May come from various Indian tribes and differ in their original meaning from that in German-speaking countries.

Modern use

Howgh is also used in German-speaking countries in song lyrics on Indian topics. Examples include Indians of Nena (written by Carlo Karges ) and Gus Backus ' Then the old chief of the Indians and children musicals like Wakatanka .

Howgh and other pseudo-Indian formulations and corruptions were also used in Swiss answers to the Indian comparison used by Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück in the tax dispute with Switzerland in 2009. The 1953 Walt Disney film Peter Pan also quotes Howgh, along with a number of other Indian clichés .

In contrast to the Indians in West German films, Indians speak impeccable Standard German in the extensive Indian film production of the GDR.

According to Raymond Steadman, by the time of the American Civil War at the latest, a sufficient number of source works on the Native Americans were available from which novelists and journalists could have informed themselves about the actual state of knowledge. Steadman ironically comments on the still downright epidemic use of pseudo-Indian phrases with the words “ Reader gettum sick? Have-um enough? ”(German:“ Readers got tired? Have enough? ”).

literature

  • Wolfgang Hochbruck: "I have spoken." The representation and ideological function of Indian orality in North American literature. (= ScriptOralia. 32). Gunter Narr Verlag, Tübingen 1991, ISBN 3-8233-4553-2 . (At the same time: Freiburg i. Br., Univ., Diss., 1990).
  • Raymond William Stedman: Shadows of the Indian. Stereotypes in American culture. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK et al. 1982, ISBN 0-8061-1822-9 .
  • April Renae S. Watchman: Howgh !! I have spoken, uff, uff! Karl May and 19th century representations of American Indians. Thesis (MA) -Arizona State University, 2001, OCLC 49709527 .

Single receipts

  1. ↑ Quoted from Wolfgang Hochbruck: I have spoken. 1991, p. 36, quoted there from J. Axtell: The Indian People of Eastern America. Oxford 1981.
  2. ^ Longman Webster: English college dictionary. Longman, Harlow 1984.
  3. ^ David S. Rood, Allan R. Taylor: Sketch of Lakhota, a Siouan Language. Part I ( Memento from July 12, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Handbook of North American Indians. Volume 17: Languages. 1996, pp. 440-482.
  4. ^ Wolfgang Hochbruck: I have spoken. 1991, footnote on p. 153.
  5. ↑ Laurence Laughlin: The Indians at Omaha. ( Memento from July 10, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) In: The Conservative. August 18, 1898, p. 3, archived online at the US Library of Congress, accessed July 26, 2009, in the source the pronunciation is described as “how” [ ha ̯ʊ ] , the author describes, among other things, the reception by a brass band of the Indian police
  6. ↑ Joachim Dietze: The vocabulary of Karl May. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim 1999, ISBN 3-487-10535-7 .
  7. ↑ a b Harald Burger, Annelies Häcki Buhofer , Ambros Sialm, Brigit Eriksson: Handbuch der Phraseologie. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, 1982, ISBN 3-11-008002-8 , p. 116.
  8. ^ Wolfgang Hochbruck: I have spoken. 1991, p. 153.
  9. ↑ Gert Ueding: Howgh, I have spoken - eloquence abroad: May's rhetoric. Lecture given on October 14, 1995 at the 13th meeting of the Karl May Society in Bad Segeberg. karl-may-gesellschaft.de
  10. ↑ a b Karsten Fitz: Screen Indians in the EFL Classroom. Transnational Perspectives. ( Memento from January 6, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) In: American Studies Journal. No. 51, spring 2008.
  11. ^ A b Raymond William Stedman: Shadows of the Indian: stereotypes in American culture. University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 0-8061-1822-9 .
  12. ^ Thomas A. Britten: American Indians in World War I: at home and at war. UNM Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8263-2090-2 .
  13. ↑ Jörg Riefenstahl: The man who speaks 14 languages. In: Hamburger Abendblatt. July 28, 2006.
  14. ^ Gerd Zitzelsberger: Steinbrück: Dispute with Switzerland: Nervous Indians in the tax reserve. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung online. March 18, 2009, p. 41: In the fight against banking secrecy, Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück annoys the Swiss with “wild west rhetoric”.
  15. ↑ See also blog entries such as Moritz Leuenberger : Inflation der Unflätigkeit. ( Memento from April 26, 2009 in the archive.today web archive ) March 23, 2009.
  16. ↑ Marc Peschke: The red peoples of this continent. In: the taz. April 8, 2003: Chief “Ulzanas” irrigation system: In the Frankfurt Film Museum, the exhibition “Winnetou and his red brother” is dedicated to Indian films in East and West. East German films paid more attention to everyday Indian life than western films.
  17. ^ Raymond William Stedman: Shadows of the Indian. Stereotypes in American culture . University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK et al. 1982, ISBN 0-8061-1822-9 , p. 71. Quoted from Wolfgang Hochbruck: I have spoken. 1991, p. 153, see also note 26 there.