The word picaninnee 'child' is found in one Greenlandic Pidgin source (O'Reilly 1818). It is also encountered in the Herschel Island Eskimo Pidgin, as mikaninni 'small'. There it seems to have a dual origin, since the Eskimo root miki- means 'to be small'. Furthermore, the Eskimo root angi- has formed the basis for the Eskimo pidgin word anganinni 'big', which was obviously created in analogy with mikaninni, and which was attested in two independent sources. See the discussion in van der Voort (1997: 382–383, 1996: 223–224; 244).
Source: Stefánsson 1909: 227
Source: Stefánsson 1909: 223