Are there any words like "poonk" that could be derived from the French language?

I'm Metis from a small reservation that speaks Mitchif/Metis French which is a trade language incorporating French and Native American languages such as Cree and Ojibwe used in Canada and North Dakota.

The word "poonk" means "buttocks" in Mitchif but we are discussing where the word actually comes from. I'm guess it's of Algonquin decent. However, I'm the only one to think so.

Everyone else seems to think it's a French word despite my protests that my French teacher said she wasn't familiar with the word (she's from France) and I can find no reference to such a word. Also, the French rarely use the letter "k" and never at the end of a word. However, it's frequent in Algonquin languages.

Does anyone know of any word like "poonk" that could be derived from the French language? Or of the word "poonk" being a slang brought to the Americas?

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Permalink Reply by Eric James Hamley on November 24, 2011 at 1:12am

This story might help, the Mitchif call a snow hat a "chook", which is a translation of "tuque" which is a translation of the Arabic word "toque."

Perhaps this word is similar in translations? Perhaps the spelling is "poonque" or something to that effect.

Also, someone stated they heard a French person in Haiti use the word. Perhaps it's the dialect that's different?

I'm so confused!

Thanks to anyone who can help shed some light on this. It's a strange question I'm sure.

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on November 24, 2011 at 1:33am

No obvious French word springs to mind.

However, it occurs to me that the word could simply be a kind of onomatopoeia that mimics e.g. the sounds of the buttocks hitting the floor (cf "kerplunk" in English, or French words like "badaboum"). In other words, the word doesn't necessarily have had to have "come from somewhere" and I don't see a need to suppose a French root particularly.

Incidentally, I would be wary of using spelling as an argumant either way. Spellings are often altered to suit the writing system of the target language: e.g. "riding coat" exists in French as "ridingote", "pickup" exists as "piqueupe"; meanwhile, "pique-nique" is usually written "picnic" in English...

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Permalink Reply by Eric James Hamley on November 24, 2011 at 1:42am

Thanks so much for the reply! You are absolutely right.

I've found many Chinese and Spanish words sounding like "poonk." I guess the origin doesn't really matter.

Thanks again! You are a great help!

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Permalink Reply by Neil Coffey on November 24, 2011 at 10:26am

P.S. Yes, there is a Spanish word "ponque" (used in various parts of Latin America, I believe), but I think it is a culinary term. And the final "e" is pronounced.