Tweets,

Gabrielson & Lincoln's _Birds of Alaska_ (1959) list over 20 native names
for Clangula hyemalis. Most are attributed to various Eskimo groups (but
there are I believe at least four distinct Eskimo/Inuit languages spoken in
Alaska and adjacent Siberia and Canada. Most are apparently onomatopoetic
and resemble "Ah-a-luk" which form is from Wainwright on the North Slope.
Some communities report distinct terms for males and females. It is not
reliable to try to reconstruct onomatopoetic names for ancestral
proto-languages, since they may be repeatedly reinvented in various
languages and dialects. Their resemblance then due to the objective stimulus
rather than to a common linguistic ancestor.
Also, it is unlikely that Native American peoples not familiar with the
Oldsquaw as a breeding bird would have named it in this way, though that is
not entirely out of the question.

Gene Hunn.


>> PS I think "ahaaliq" is great. Does anyone know what language it is?
>
>O.K., I can accept that the squaw reference might be offensive and should
>be replaced. Almost anything would be better than the terminally
>boring "Long-tailed Duck" and I hesitate to endorse the binomial because
>of pronunciation difficulties.
>
>Kelly McAllister
>
>
>