Linguistics and Languages common to the New World and China

(a) Language – Chinese Spoken

– California: Chinese speaking colony on Russian River (Powers)

– Mexico – Othomis people

– Canada, British Columbia: “Colonia dei Chinesi” (Zatta)

– Peru: Eten and Monsefu villages (Lambaeque province) 3 miles apart understood Chinese (19th century) but did not understand each other’s patois

– South Pacific (Niue): Linguistics links to villages in China.

-Joseph Campbell in his book “The Masks of God” refers to Indians of the High Andes speaking ancient Chinese dialects

(b) Linguistics – N & C America

(i) Gallinomero language of Southern Russian River, California (Stephen Powers)

Gallinomero Chinese Great bta ta Fire oho ho Outside way to wai-teu Day majih jih There male na-le Say kwa hwa

Locatives (‘here’ etc) in both languages end in ‘le.

Reflex pronouns ending in ‘self’, Chinese add ‘ke’. Gallinomero ‘key’.

e.g. ‘I made the arrow myself’ = ‘tseena owkey’ ‘tso-tih-wo-key’.

(ii) Concow language of Chico, California:

S. Powers’ research: in 1871 many words unintelligible when spoken single became understandable in Concow and Chinese when spoken in couples.

e.g. Concow = kwang chow = people from the wide country.

(iii) Michael Pincus has played recordings of Chinese language and traditional music to old Native American peoples of the Klamath River region and had them identify words and intonations.

(iv) Nicaraguan Miskito Indians tell of Sumo (sometimes spelled Suma) people, who have strong linguistic and physical similarities to Orientals. Miskitos believe Sumo came to the Americas to escape Chinese cannibals. (E. Turner)

(v) The extraordinary similarity in the sounds, cadences and tones of the Mandarin Chinese spoken in Shanghai and the Tiwa language spoken by the Taos tribe in Northern New Mexico. Many Taos own Chows, their features Mongolian, their descriptions redolent of Chinese characters, all simile and poetic phrases – Gillie Green

(vi) The council of Panama City has evidence that ties the Language of the Kuna Natives of Panama to Asia, (Japan and China.) We are currently awaiting a response from their offices – Gilberto Gonzalez

(vii) Our attention was drawn by one reader to the following extract:



http://southwest.library.arizona.edu/hav7/body.1_div.1.html “… The Tartar Chinese speak the dialect of the Apaches. The Apaches bear a striking resemblance to the Tartar. In about the year 1885, W. B. Horton, who had served as County Superintendent of Schools, at Tucson, was appointed Post Trader at Camp Apache, and went to San Francisco to purchase his stock, where he hired a Chinese cook. His kitchen adjoined his sleeping apartment, and one evening while in his room he heard in the kitchen some Indians talking. Wondering what they were doing there at that hour of the night, he opened the door and found his cook conversing with an Apache. He asked his cook where he had acquired the Indian language. The cook said: “He speak all same me. I Tartar Chinese; he speak same me, little different, not much.” At Williams, in Navajo County, is another Tartar Chinaman, Gee Jim, who converses freely with the Apaches in his native language. From these facts it would seem that the Apache is of Tartar origin. From the fact that the Apache language was practically the same as that of the Tartar Chinese, colour is given to the theory advanced by Bancroft in his “Native Races,” Volume 5, p. 33, et seq., that Western America was “originally peopled by the Chinese, or, at least, that the greater part of the new world civilization may be attributed to these people…” Reference Source: The University of Arizona Library “Books of the South West” Chapter 1, Indians of Arizona:

Cecil Lyew(c) Linguistics – Peru



Peruvian Village Names

In North Peru, mainly in the Ancash province, there are 95 geographical names which are Chinese words and have no significance in Quechua, Aymara or any of the other dialects of N. Peru. There are also 130 geographical names in Peru which correspond to names in China. The very name “Peru” means “white mist” in Chinese – the white mist which cloaks the coast many days each year. The name given to Chile (Ch-Li) was pre-Spanish (= “dependent territory” in Chinese).

Examples: Peruvian Village Names

Peruvian Name Chinese Translation (i) Cha-Wan (La Pampa) Land prepared for sowing (ii) Chancan (Tarma) To harden metals (iii) Chamtan (San Gregorio) Covered in sand (iv) Chaolan (Margos) Ready for combustion [viz. coal mine] (v) Chulin (Caras) Forest (vi) (Har) (Bongara) Red [i.e. red earth] (vii) Hu-Pa (Huasta) Leguminous plant (viii) Colan Difficult passage (ix) Chanchan –

(area between Moche & Viru Rivers) Canton (x) Laychi (Oochros) Small fruit (xi) Lahan (Huancay) Clamour [viz. waterfall] (xii) Linche (Chincha) Snake (xiii) Mongtan (Cochabamba) Big stream (xiv) Payhan (Trujillo) Damaging drought (xv) Hon Kon (Moche River) Red hole

(iv) Linguistics – Caribbean

Chino slang (M. Moure evidence)

‘ Chinelas’ – sandals

‘ Chinas’ – oranges

‘ Jugo de China’ – orange juice

‘ Chingar’ – to have sex (Puerto Rico)

‘ Singar’ – to have sex (Cuba)

‘ Singao’ – Bastard

Reader worked on the Guadeloupean islands of Basse-Terre, Terre-de-Bas, and Terre-de-Haut (Les Saintes) from 1999-2004. He sent in the following observations:

Although the evidence is anecdotal, there is a strong possibility of a Chinese cultural legacy on the Saintes. “Salako” is also a language spoken in Borneo (as well as Kalimantan / Sarawak / Malaysia / etc.), an area which-to my knowledge-was never under French colonial administration.

Linguistics – the remainder of the world

East Africa

Bajun (local name for boat people)

Xai-Xai, the capital of Gaza in Mozambique could be translated to mean zhai zhi – villages/ stronghold with fence or perhaps a person’s name – to be verified (Shao Jia Hui)

Alternatively Xai-Xai also sounds like ‘tsai, the beginning of the sound of the word ‘China’ in English (Luis de Magalhaes)

Chang Ane River facing Madagascar can be translated into Chinese to mean perpetual peace – to be verified (Shao Jia Hui)

The people of Pate Island off Kenya claim to be Chinese origin and call themselves “WoShangGa” people. (Wo (or Wa) = I / me (first person pronoun in putonghua, Minnan dialect and many other dialects) Shang = upper (Cantonese, Hakka, putonghua) Ga = home (Cantonese, Hakka, southern dialects)) They call themselves ShangGa people meaning they are from the north –

Siu-Leung Lee, PhD

Links between China and the Shona people of Zimbabwe? A Reader heard a learned Shona man speak on his travels to China, and he asserted that the Shona people’s ancestors were in fact the Chinese. He based his theory on linguistic and cultural similarities between the two: from memory he cited the word for ‘elephant’ – ‘nzou’ in Shona – as being an exact match phonetically. Great Zimbabwe, an enormous maze of stone ruins, is believed to be the medieval trading centre of Southern Africa. Chinese artefacts have been discovered here, and it has been claimed that gold mined in the area was traded for rice and other agricultural product. Suddenly and inexplicably, in about 1450, the empire collapsed and split into several tribes that moved north towards better agricultural land – a result of China closing its borders to trade several years earlier and abandoning its mining ‘colony’? (Michael Bailey)

Australia bajun; (S W Australia)

– China (Hokkien) joon (boat which persists southwards to Amoy in Taiwan, and the ports of Bangkok, Penang and Singapore) (Dr Tan Koolin evidence + Japanese (Lynda Nutter) simulants.)

– Peru (Loayza) – at least 37 words other than the village names given above.

– New Zealand – kumara (sweet potato), Peru – kumar.

– Meso America – kik (chicken)

– India – kikh (chicken)

– S America – sampan (boat)

– China – sampan (boat)

– S America – balsa (raft)

– China – balsa (raft)

– British Columbia, Squamish Indians – ,– tsil (wet); chi (wood);

tsu (grandmother)

– China – tsil (wet); chin (wood); etsu (grandmother) and another 37 words.

– Chile = a province of China (Chi-Le)

– Argentina – Mt Aconcagua (W. Argentina, nr the Chile boarder). In the southern Chinese Teochew dialect, it means “ My grandfather had taught me well!” Acong means grandfather – prounounced as Ah Kong; ca=ka means to teach/ taught; gua=me (Ng Kear Soon)

– N. America, Virginia – Ming Ho people (J Warsing); Wyo Ming county;

Lyco Ming people; Ho down; ho cakes.

– Tiguex – ‘Huri Shan’.

– California – Navajo – Milk = chi chi, as in China

– Lake Tahoe. “Ta Ho” = “Big Lake.” (Jeff Spira and KK Tan)

– Yosemite – Yo Se Mi Te taken together means magnificent mountain, beautiful place. It’s now a national park in Northern California; Suisan Bay – Sui is water & San is hill; taken together Suisan is ‘Water & Hill Bay’ Located in Northern California near Sacramento – Ben Young

-On the arrival of the Europeans to the east coast of American they heard the local Indians speak of ‘moccocine’ being the skin stiched foot wear. The Mongolian word for their foot wear is ‘managocine’ which translated into English means “ Our foot wear” (Dorsha Unkow)

– A part of South Miami is called “Dadeland”, and the area around Miami is called “Miami-Dade Country”. This pronouciation “Dade” is almost the same as the Japanese word “Deido” meaning mud or wet dirt (Hideyuki Uechi)

– India – “CoChin” = Tamil Nadu words.

– Amazonia (Guarani) – tea (caa) China – tea (cha).

The River Amazon means ‘Approaching’ in Chinese. This prominent arterial river stem, the ships can be lead to many tributaries.

OR via this approach through this main arterial river stem, a ship is lead to many of its tributaries.

a pronounced as eye in Chinese; meaning approach or as one draws near the shore via a ship. ma pronounced as my in Chinese; meaning an artery, descriptive term for the prominent main river stem with its many tributaries. zon pronounced chuan in Chinese; meaning river with uninterrupted water flow. Please note this is a non-expert interpretation – G. L. TAN

– Trans Pacific– Peru – Quipu (knotted string) – Hawaii (kiipúu); Marquesas Kaula Kipu’u, China Qipu. (Duncan Craig),

– Potato: Peru, kumar; New Zealand kumara; Tahiti, unmara; Hawaii, uala

– Isle of Niue – Niuean dialect contains particular Chinese words traced to a village in China – Nelson David Mitchell

– Belize – Aboriginals in Belize have the same names as Chinese ie Chen and Zhou. They also physically look like new immigrants from China and Taiwan. Local explanation says they came from China more than 2000 years ago yet maybe some are descendants of Zheng He’s fleet to keep their names as Chinese (Jeff Cho)

Words from the local Kenyan dialect (Kalenjin) also used in Fiji. People from Fiji speak of having come from Tanganyika. Also, Chinese pottery was often found in the ruins at Jeddah on the Kenyan coast. Could high-country slaves have been ship-wrecked in a Chinese vessel in the Fijian islands? (Keith Livingstone)

– Mexico – (Henriette Mertz – Pale Ink). Mexican towns with Chinese names are

strung out from central Arizona to Yucatan – viz. Huetamo, Huichol, Huizontla, Huepac, Huitzo, Huila, Huitepec, etc, to Zacapa. The cultures these towns represent have no linguistic affinity for each other. In none of the cultures is there a meaning for any one of the three base words.

– Also the Huichol people of Mexico: linguistic roots of American native people’s speech patterns and phonemes who are indigenous to the US North West Coastal regions have clear connections with ancient Chinese language (Michael Pincus)

– Chiapas – Tse-Tsai; tso tsil (R. Banzo).

– Guatemala – Lord of Guatama? (H Mertz and J D van Horn).

– Pacific America – Zuni language and Japanese (Nancy Yaw Davis).

– Australia – Nyungah Aboriginal language and Japanese (Lynda Nutter).

– Europe – The word for tea ‘Chà’ in Portuguese is very close to the Chinese pronunciation and was known and used there before the Portuguese reached China. (Carlos Neto) Could this be the result of Chinese voyages to Europe?

Peru A Peruvian reader was talking to a Brazilian friend who informed him that the villagers along the Amazon use the word “NEKO” for cat; NEKO is also apparently the world for cat in Japanese. He also read a book by Jaques Cousteau “Voyage in the Amazon river” which mentions some inscriptions in a rock in ancient Japanese. There is also an ancient Peruvian legend about Japanese people arriving on their coast many years ago. Further corroborative evidence would be greatly appreciated. (José Luis Coz Matusaki)

A reader directed us to an interesting website in which they describe a curious incident. The first European to experience the joys of a Cuban cigar seems to be Lt. Rodrigo de Jerez, whom Columbus sent inland to explore, accompanied by a Catholic priest to translate into Chinese. Why would Christopher Columbus choose to have the events of his arrival in Cuba, including Cuban cigars and the Tainos in 1492, documented in Chinese? – Cecil Lyew http://www.cigarnexus.com/nationalcigarmuseum/exhibit1

American Indian names which are Chinese (Martin Tai)

Columbus’ arrival: met Indians = Yin dian (people from Yin [China])

Pizarro: Inca = Yin ka (people who live in Yin)

Vancouver: Inuit = Yin uit (people originating in Yin)

Linguistic groups – A French reader states : “…The Basque language is similar to no other in Europe. Both Basque people and people from the Bigouden Country (South West of Brittany) have Asian features in their faces. They have slant eyes, dark eyes and hair. Some of them might even be mistaken for Asian people or strikingly look Asian as children. It is said that the Bigoudens have Asian blood in their veins from the time when Genghis Khan’s hordes stormed across Europe. Why would we then see Asian features only in people living by the sea? It would make sense that the Asian invaders or explorers were coming from the sea and visited the Basque Country and Brittany coming from Spain, on their way north (Pascal Defaisse). Let us know if you agree or disagree with this opinion.

The work of Nancy Yaw Davis

Zuni people understand Japanese (Jim Tanner; Nancy Yaw Davis; Barbara Vibbert) E.g. the Zuni word for deer is ‘shohita’ which is similar to the Japanese word shika The linguistic parallels between the Zuni and Japanese are quite startling and many more examples can be found. Here are just a few: English = to be inside, Zuni = uchi, Japanese = uchi. English = leaf, Zuni = ha, Japanese = ha. English = yes, Zuni = hai, Japanese = hai. English = to wake up, Zuni = okwi, Japanese = oki (ru)

The Zuni for Flute mountain is Shohko yalana whereas the Japanese shakuhachi yama means “flute” and “mountain”.

Matsaki is the name of a Zuni village and it is also a common place name in Japanese which refers to pine trees.

The Japanese kangi (written symbol) for rice field is found in petroglyphs near Zuni.

Zuni = bitsu (meaning an important deity) is similar to the Japanese butsu meaning Buddha.

Peaches – Prunus persica. The origin of the peach is China, where it has been cultivated since the early days of this ancient culture. The peach is generally believed to have been brought to America via the Spanish conquest. Nancy Yaw Davis, in her book “The Zuni Enigma”, however contends that the Spanish invaders, on coming into contact with the Zuni tribe of the Southwest found that peaches had been long cultivated there. This hypothesis is supported by archaeological excavations discovering peach pits that were believed to predate the arrival of the Europeans to America. The Zuni word for peach is mo:chiqa (“mo” = round object, “chiqa” = sweet). This cannot be seen to correspond with the Spanish word for peach “duranzo” or “melocoton” but it does with the Japanese word for peach “momo”.

South Africa – On the “wild coast”, the pure bushman language has at least 20 syllables that sound and mean the same in one of the Chinese languages – Roger Webster

The work of entomologist Julio Lopez-Maldonado, University of California Davis

he is proposing a new way to read the hieroglyphic Mayan writing system, proving that this is totally phonetic and astonishingly rich in literary terms. The relevance of the preliminary results points out that is totally contrary to what we have been previously told that the Mayan writing system was not but a child language or a telegraphic language as it is has been proposed by the Mayanist epigraphers in the last 160 years. Preliminary results actually suggest a strong connection culturally and linguistically with the Chinese writing system and culture. This ties in with the work of Mr. Lam Yee Din – Relationship between Korean characters and petroglyphs found on an island off Mexico. The characters look similar in shape, and a similarity in the phonemic system may also be found in Korean character and Maya characters. Korean characters, or the Korean alphabet (which is called Hangul,) was invented in 1446, just within 30 years after Zheng He’s discovery of America in 1421, but more than 40 years before Columbus’ exploration of America. So it is quite possible that Koreans visited Mexico and introduced the phonemic idea to Korea.