LETTERS

Editors

It was fascinating to read the article by Jerry D. Spangler entitled “Nine Mile, Minnie Maud and the Mystery of a Place Name,” published in the recent Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 79, no. 1 (Winter 2011), and I very much appreciated the thorough research that documented his writing. However, because the history of names in general, and place names in particular, has long been one of my primary studies, I would like to offer one observation.

In discussing the “Euwinty River,” Mr. Spangler proposes that the name “Euwinty” might refer to a “White River” and then writes, “It is not a huge leap to suggest that ‘White’ is an Anglo modification of ‘Euwinty,’ but it is speculative….” (p. 48).

From my strong linguistic background, I would respectfully answer that it is much less speculative to suggest that “Euwinty” is actually a phonetic transcription of the term “Uinta.” Without getting too technical, here is the logic:

1. In English, words that begin with the letters “Eu” usually have this first syllable pronounced as “U” (See, for example, “Eucalyptus,” “Eugenics,” etc.).

2. With the “W,” we meet an interesting linguistic phenomenon. This “W” in “Euwinty” is the natural transition sound produced when prouncing the vowel “U” immediately followed by the vowel “I” (“I” pronounced as “I” in English “fit”)—a sound that we hear but rarely transcribe (For example, consider the words: “fruition,” pronounced and heard as “fru[w]ition,” “altruistic,” pronounced and heard as “altru[w]istic,” etc.).

3. As for the final “Y,” this is a common ending for proper nouns that may indicate familiarity and youth (for example, “Jimmy,” “Johnny,” etc.).

With these guidelines in mind, we thusly get “ “Euwinty” = “Uinta.”

Thanks for your patience. I hope this information will prove useful to the author, Mr. Spangler.

Meanwhile, Kudos to Mr. Spangler for this intriguing article and to everyone involved in producing this excellent issue of the Quarterly.

Dr. Marian Robertson Wilson