Bidarkee

/bɪˈdɑrki/ noun

Definition

An alternative spelling of bidarka, a traditional two-person Aleut skin boat.

Etymology

A variant English spelling of the Aleut 'bidarka,' with the '-ee' ending perhaps influenced by anglicization of Russian or other foreign words adopted into English during the 18th-19th centuries.

Kelly Says

The multiple spellings of Arctic boat names (bidarka, bidarkee, baidarka) show how English struggled to capture sounds from indigenous Aleut language using our own alphabet—a linguistic snapshot of colonial-era contact.

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