Chinook Jargon

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Chinook Jargon
David Hunt LING 455 May 5, 2006
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Development Adaptation

• Native Multilingualism
• Trade (transportation routes)
• Slavery

• European Introduction
• Trade
• Fur
• Gold rush
• Decline
• Economic shifts
• Reservations
• Negative stigma

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Geographic Spread
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Present State

• Attempts at revival
• Preschool at Twah Sun Chako in Grand Ronde
• Wikipedia in Chinook Jargon
• Courses

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Lexical Contributors

• English
• mahlie (marry)
• dolla (dollar)
• doctin (doctor)
• kwatah (quarter)
• shuckwah (sugar)
• Nootka
• saia (far sky)
• moolock (elk)

• French
• latate (head, top la tête)
• lalang (tongue, language la langue)
• seapo (hat le chapeau)
• lawen (oats l'avoine)
• Others
• kanaka (Hawaiian)

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Lexical Contributors
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Creolization

• Fort Vancouver
• Willamette Valley

• Reservations
• Never the only L1

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Variation

• delet (puget sound)
• deleyt (2L learners)
• dret (Grand Ronde)
• drois (French)

• Delate (straight, correct)

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Phonological Approximations

• F,v,r -gt p,b,l
• lacalat (carrot "la carrotte")
• dly (dry)
• lope (rope)
• pish (fish)
• piah (fire)
• bahn-coo-bah (Vancouver)
• pit (bit)

• Diphthong simplification
• sill (sail)
• nem (name)
• shem (shame)
• Word-final consonants
• win (wind)
• pehpah (paper)
• livah (river)
• cole (cold)

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Phonological Approximations

• k, kw, q, qw, k, kw, q, qw to k
• l to tl or kl

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Structure

• Negation wik/hilu
• nayka nanich
• wik nayka nanich
• I (don't) watch"
• Bareness of forms
• Tense particles
• Yes/no particle
• Prepositions
• Head initial
• kopa chek to kopachuck at the water

• Compounding verbs
• mamuk isik - "to paddle"
• chako oleman to wear out
• mamook haul - "to be carried
• Unneeded to be
• Til nayka or Nayka til - "I am tired"
• Talapus yaka or Yaka talapus - "He's a coyote"
• Nouns have no s/p distinction

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Pronoun Usage

• No conjugations indicate person
• nayka nesayka
• mayka mesayka
• yaka klaska
• Nayka mash libal
• - "I throw a ball"
• na
• singular proclitics ma
• ya

• Possession
• '-s' acceptable
• whiteman yaka chikchik - "whiteman his wagon"
• klootchman yaka man -"woman her man"

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Bibliography

• Cash, Phil. Sources for Chinook Jargon, a
  Pacific Northwest Pidgin. University of Arizona,
  2005
• Shaw, George, The Chinook Jargon and How to Use
  It A Complete and Exhaustive Lexicon of the
  Oldest Trade Language of the American Continent.
  Seattle Rainier Printing Co., 1909
• Holton, Jim, Chinook Jargon The Hidden Language
  of the Pacific Northwest. San Leandro,
  California Wawa Press, 2000
• Cleven, Mike, Klahowya kopa Chinook Wawa
  Piahtzumwawa Skookumklahwayhut.