Chinook Jargon originated as a pidgin trade language of the Pacific Northwest, and spread quickly up the West Coast from modern Oregon to the regions now Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common in situations such as Trade The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent It is related to, but not the same as, the aboriginal language of the Chinook people, upon which much of its vocabulary is based. Chinookan refers to several groups of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.

The Jargon was originally constructed from a great variety of Amerind words of the Pacific Northwest, arising as an intra-indigenous contact language in a region marked by divisive geography and intense linguistic diversity. Indigenous languages of the Americas (or Amerindian Languages are spoken by indigenous peoples from the southern tip of South America to Alaska and A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common in situations such as Trade The participating peoples came from a number of very distinct language families, speaking dozens of individual languages. List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family A language is a dynamic set of visual auditory or tactile Symbols of Communication and the elements used to manipulate them ^[1]

After European contact, the Jargon also acquired English and French loans, as well as words brought by other European, Asian, and Polynesian groups. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people There is a wide variety of Languages spoken throughout Asia, comprising a number of families and some unrelated isolates The Polynesian languages are a Language family spoken in the region known as Polynesia. Some individuals from all these groups soon adopted The Jargon as a highly efficient and accessible form of communication. This use continued in some business sectors well into the 20th century^[2][3] and some of its words continue to feature in company and organization names as well as in the regional toponymy. The following is a listing of placenames from the Chinook Jargon, generally from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon Territory

Many of the words from Chinook Jargon remain in common use in the Western United States and British Columbia and the Yukon, in indigenous languages as well as regional English usage, to the point where most people are unaware the word was originally from the Jargon. The Western United States &mdashcommonly referred to as the American West or simply the West &mdashtraditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. The total number of Jargon words in published lexicons only numbered in the hundreds, and so it was easy to learn. It has its own grammatical system, but a very simple one that, like its word list, was easy to learn.

In the Diocese of Kamloops, British Columbia, hundreds of speakers also learned to read and write the Jargon using the Duployan Shorthand via the publication Kamloops Wawa. In many rites of the Roman Catholic Church and in Anglican churches, a diocese is an administrative territorial unit administered by a Bishop. Kamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Kamloops Wawa was a publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamloops in British Columbia, Canada, in the 1890s and 1900s As a result, the Jargon also had the beginnings of its own literature, mostly translated scripture and classical works, and some local and episcopal news, community gossip and events, and diaries. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin "Classical literature" redirects here For literature in Classical languages outside the Graeco-Roman sphere see Ancient literature. In the Catholic Church, a Bishop is an ordained minister who holds the fullness of the priesthood. For other uses of the term 'diary' see Diary (disambiguation. ^[4]

According to Nard Jones, Chinook Jargon was still in use in Seattle until roughly the eve of World War II, especially among the members of the Arctic Club, making Seattle the last city where the language was widely used. Nard Jones (1904 - 1972 was an American novelist who lived in the city of Weston Oregon with his parents between 1919 and 1927 World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Writing in 1972, he remarked that at that later date "Only a few can speak it fully, men of ninety or a hundred years old, like Henry Broderick, the realtor, and Joshua Green, the banker. "^[5]

Jones estimates that in pioneer times there were about 100,000 speakers of Chinook Jargon. ^[6]

Contents 1 Name 1.1 ISO language code 2 Origins and Evolution 3 Use 3.1 English-language speakers 4 Vocabulary 5 References 6 See also 7 External links

Name

Most books written in English still use the term Chinook Jargon, but some linguists working with the preservation of a creolized form of the language used in Grand Ronde, Oregon prefer the term Chinuk Wawa (with the spelling 'Chinuk' instead of 'Chinook'). A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable Language that originates seemingly as a nativized Pidgin. Grand Ronde is a Census-designated place (CDP in Polk County, Oregon, United States. Historical speakers did not use the name Chinook Wawa, however, but rather "the Wawa" or "Lelang" (from Fr. la langue, the language, or tongue). NB Wawa also means speech or words - "have a wawa" means "hold a parley" even in idiomatic English today, and lelang also means the physical bodypart, the tongue.

The name for the Jargon varied throughout the territory in which it was used. For example: skokum hiyu in the Boston Bar-Lytton area of the Fraser Canyon, or in many areas simply just "the old trade language". Boston Bar is an unincorporated town in the Fraser Canyon of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Lytton in British Columbia sits at the confluence of the Thompson River and Fraser River on the east side of the Fraser at coordinates fountaincanyon10jpg|thumb|400px|right|View of Fraser Canyon looking upstream from Fountain British Columbia

ISO language code

According to the ISO 639-2 standard, the alpha-3 code chn denominates the Chinook Jargon. ^[7]

Origins and Evolution

There is some controversy about the origin of the Jargon, but all agree that its glory days were during the 19th Century. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar During this era many dictionaries were published in order to help settlers interact with the First Nations people already living there. First Nations is a term of Ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis people The old settler families' heirs in the Pacific Northwest sent communiques to each other, stylishly composed entirely in "the Chinook". Many residents of the British Columbia city of Vancouver spoke Chinook Jargon as their first language, even using it at home in preference to English. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth Among the first Europeans to use Chinook Jargon were traders, trappers, voyageurs and Catholic missionaries. Trapper may refer to A person who engages in Animal trapping Coal trapper Trapper Keeper, a brand of loose-leaf binder A missionary is a member of a Religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith someone who proselytizes. Hawaiians and Chinese in the region made much use of it as well; in some places Kanakas married into the First Nations and non-native families and their particular mode of the Jargon is believed to have contained Hawaiian words, or Hawaiian styles of pronunciation; similarly the Jargon as spoken by a Chinese person or a Norwegian or a Scot will have been influenced by those individuals' native-speaker terms and accents; and in some areas the adoption of further non-aboriginal words has been observed. Kanakas were workers from various Pacific Islands employed under varying conditions in various British colonies such as British Columbia ( Canada The Chinook Jargon naturally became the first language in mixed-blood households, and also in multi-ethnic work environments such as canneries and lumberyards and ranches where it remained the language of the workplace well into the middle of the 20th Century. During the Gold Rush, Chinook Jargon was used in British Columbia by gold prospectors and Royal Engineers. A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers into the area of a dramatic discovery of commercial quantities of Gold. Columbia detachment of the Royal Engineers was a British military contingent that played a major role in the settlement development and security of the new colony of British Columbia As industry developed, Chinook Jargon was often used by cannery workers and hop pickers of diverse ethnic background. Loggers, fishermen and ranchers incorporated it in their jargon. For Wikipedia jargon see WikipediaGlossary. For hacker slang see Jargon File.

A heavily creolized form of Chinook Jargon (Chinuk Wawa or Tsinuk wawa) is still spoken as a first language by some residents of Oregon State, much as the Métis language Michif is still spoken in Canada. Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Métis are descendants of marriages of Cree, Ojibway Algonquin, Saulteaux, and Menominee aboriginals to Europeans, Michif (also Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, French Cree) is the Language of the Métis Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Hence, the Wawa as it is known in Oregon is now a creole language, distinct from the widespread and widely-varied pronunciation of the Chinook Jargon as it spread beyond the Chinookan homeland. A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable Language that originates seemingly as a nativized Pidgin. There is evidence that in some communities (e. g. around Fort Vancouver) the Jargon had become creolized by the early 1800s, but that would have been among the mixed French/Metis, Algonkian, Scots and Hawaiian population there as well as among the natives around the Fort. Fort Vancouver was a 19th century fur trading outpost along the Columbia River that served as the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company in the company's At Grand Ronde, the resettlement of tribes from all over Oregon in a multi-tribal agency required the development of an intertribal language, and so the Wawa was augmented by the addition of Klickitat and Wasco words and sounds and "more Indian" modifications of the pronunciation and vocabulary.

No studies of British Columbia versions of the Jargon have demonstrated creolization and the range of varying usages and vocabulary in different regions suggests that localization did occur, although not on the pattern of Grand Ronde where Wasco, Klickitat and other peoples adopted and added to the version of the Jargon that developed in Grand Ronde. First-language speakers of the Chinook Jargon were common in BC, both native and non-native, until mid-20th Century, and it is a truism that while after 1850 the Wawa was mostly a native language in the United States portion of the Chinook-speaking world, it remained in wide use among non-natives north of the border for another century, especially in wilderness areas and working environments. . Local creolizations probably did occur in British Columbia, but recorded materials have not been studied since they were made due to the focus on the traditional aboriginal languages. Most Chinookology ignores non-native use of the Jargon, and there is a current in Jargon studies to purge or otherwise creolize the English and French words out of it, to "Indianize" it. Duane Pasco, an important figure in Chinookology but of an older generation and also of "skookum tillikums" origin, cites a dialogue "between a Chinaman and a Swede" that, he says, was some of the best-spoken Jargon, i. Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U e. the most idiomatic and most articulate, he'd ever heard. ). ^[8]

Some believe that something similar to the Jargon existed prior to European contact, but without European words in its vocabulary. There is some evidence for a Chinookan-Nuu-chah-nulth interlingua in the writings of John Jewitt and also in what is known as the Barclay Sound word-list, from the area of Ucluelet and Alberni. Interlingua is an International auxiliary language (IAL developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA Port Alberni is a city located in the province of British Columbia in Canada. Others believe that the Jargon was formed within the great cultural cauldron of the time of Contact, and cannot be discussed separately from that context, with an appreciation for the full range of the Jargon-speaking community and its history. ^[9]

Current scholarly opinion holds that a trade language of some kind probably existed prior to European contact, which began "morphing" into the more familiar Chinook Jargon in the late 1790s, notably at a dinner party at Nootka Sound where Capts Vancouver and Bodega y Quadra were entertained by Chief Maquinna and his brother Callicum performing a theatrical using mock-English and mock-Spanish words and mimickry of European dress and mannerisms. There evidently was a Jargon of some kind in use in the Queen Charlotte, but this "Haida Jargon" is not known to have shared anything in common with Chinook Jargon, or with the Nooktan-Chinookan "proto-jargon" which is its main foundation. The Haida (19th C-early 20th C Indigenous nation of the west coast of North America. For Wikipedia jargon see WikipediaGlossary. For hacker slang see Jargon File.

Many words in Chinook Jargon clearly had different meanings and pronunciations at various points in history, and continued to evolve into interesting regional variants. A few scholars have tried to improve the spelling, but since it was mostly a spoken language this is difficult (and many users tend to prefer the sort of spelling they use in English).

Use

Pacific Northwest historians are well acquainted with the Chinook Jargon, in name if not in the ability to understand it. The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean Mention of Chinook Jargon, and sometimes phrases of it, were found in nearly every piece of historical source material before 1900. For everyone else, the fact that Chinook Jargon ever existed is relatively unknown, perhaps due to the great influx of newcomers into the influential urban areas. However, the memory of this language is not likely to fade entirely. Many words are still used and enjoyed throughout Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Old-timers still dimly remember it, although in their youth, speaking this language was discouraged as slang. Slang is the use of highly informal Words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's Dialect or Language. Nonetheless, it was the working language in many towns and workplaces, notably in ranching country and in canneries on the British Columbia Coast where it was necessary in the strongly multiethnic workforce. The British Columbia Coast is Canada 's western continental coastlines Place names throughout this region bear Jargon names (see List of Chinook Jargon placenames) and words are preserved in various rural industries such as logging and fishing. The following is a listing of placenames from the Chinook Jargon, generally from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon Territory

The Chinook Jargon was multicultural and functional. The term multiculturalism generally refers to a state of racial, cultural and ethnic diversity within the Demographics of a specified There was no Official Chinook Jargon, although the past (and present) publishers of dictionaries would have had you believe otherwise. To those familiar with it, Chinook Jargon is often considered a wonderful cultural inheritance. For this reason, and because Jargon has not quite died, enthusiasts actively promote the revival of the language in everyday western speech.

An art installation featuring Chinook Jargon ("Welcome to the Land of Light" by Henry Tsang, translated into Chinook by Duane Pasco) can be viewed on the Seawall along False Creek in Yaletown, in Vancouver, British Columbia (at the foot of Drake Street). A seawall is a form of hard and strong Coastal defence constructed on the inland part of a Coast to reduce the effects of strong Waves. False Creek is a short inlet in the heart of Vancouver. It separates downtown from the rest of the city Yaletown is an area of downtown Vancouver approximately bordered by False Creek, Robson and Homer Streets Vancouver (vænˈkuːvɚ is a coastal British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C

English-language speakers

Main article: Chinook Jargon use by English-language speakers

Pacific Northwest English and British Columbian English have several words still in current use which are loanwords from the Chinook Jargon. British Columbian English and Pacific Northwest English have several words still in current use which are loanwords from the Chinook Jargon, which was widely spoken Pacific Northwest English is a Dialect of the English language spoken in the Pacific Northwest. The West / Central Canadian English dialect is one of the largest and most homogeneous dialect areas in North America, ranging from Skookum, potlatch, muckamuck, saltchuck, and other Chinook Jargon words are widely used by people who do not speak Chinook Jargon. Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U A potlatch is a festival ceremony practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in North America along Pacific Northwest coast of the United

Vocabulary

Jargon placenames are found throughout the Pacific Northwest and Mountain States, although the source language for a given place name is difficult, since Chinook Jargon borrowed many of its words from the Salishan languages. The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean The Mountain States (also known as the Mountain West) form one of the nine geographic divisions of the United States that are officially recognized by the This article is about the Salish/Salishan language For the Tacoma Washington neighborhood see Salishan Tacoma Washington.

A small collection of Jargon words:

• nika or naika — I, mine or anything first-person (spellings are optional, pronunciation is the same. In Grand Ronde Chinuk-Wawa the 'k' is unaspirated, unlike in British Columbia versions of the Jargon. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C
• hyak — fast, swift. This word, in its variant spelling hyack, is the nickname for the New Westminster regiment of the Canadian Forces, who annually set off a 21-anvil salute during the Victoria Day weekend every year. It was also the name of one of the Vancouver Aquarium's orcas.
• hyas — big, important.
  • hyas tyee — king, high chief (see tyee below).
• cultus — bad, worthless, inconsequential, unimportant. Or just "ordinary" or "nothing special", and also "idle". Cultus Lake is the name of a large and popular resort lake near Chilliwack, British Columbia; the meaning comes from the bad spirits native tradition says live in the lake. Chilliwack is a Canadian city in the Province of British Columbia.
  • cultus klatawa — going for a walk, ambling about, wandering.
  • cultus mitlite — not doing much, hanging out (e. g. in response to watcha doin?).
  • cultus ikta —
  • cultus iktas — junk, "common stuff", garbage, offal/feces, something broken or useless.
  • cultus potlatch — just a trifle, a gift (i. e. with no debt of prestige or obligation attached, as with some potlatch give-outs).
• kloshe or kloosh — good, correct, right.
  • kloshe nanitch — a byword meaning "watch yourself", "take care", literally "watch well". It was the official motto of the Kamloops-based militia regiment the Rocky Mountain Rangers during World Wars I and II. Kamloops is a city in south central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the two branches of the Thompson The Rocky Mountain Rangers is a Primary Reserve Infantry Regiment of the Canadian Forces. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
  • kloshe mamook — to fix, to mend, to heal, to become healed, to get better, and a host of other potential meanings. If followed by another noun or verb which makes mamook into an auxiliary, kloshe in that case gives the sense of the conditional or obligational - "you should do this. . . . ". Kloshe mamook klatawa - "you'd better go". Kloshe serves the same function with other verbs as well: Kloshe chako — "please come", "it'd be good if you come".
• mahsh — send, throw, put, eject, get on with it, get out (command). Thought to be from the French marcher via an expression used by the voyageurs to move goods on and off their boats and in and out of storehouses, but the meaning of the verb was misconstrued and is used in the Jargon with the altered meanings listed. It can also be used to mean sell, especially when used in combination with mahkook which means to trade.
• hui-hui — a sealed bargain or a done deal (from Fr. oui-oui). NB difference from mahkook, which is to sell (or buy, depending on context).
• memaloose — dead, corpse, or death.
  • memaloose illahee — graveyard, cemetery ("death land").
  • mamook memaloose — kill.
• puss-puss — cat, house cat. In the Puget Sound area puss-puss was rendered "pish-pish". Puget Sound (ˈpjuːʤᵻt is an arm of the Pacific Ocean, connected to the rest of the Pacific by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the Pacific Northwest
  • hyas puss-puss — cougar ("big cat") (was used on the TV show The Beachcombers). The cougar ( Puma concolor) also puma, mountain lion, or panther, depending on region is a Mammal of the Felidae family This article is about the Canadian TV series For the similarly titled British-produced series of the early 1960s see The Beachcomber. The word used for cougar in BC was swaawa (from St'at'imcets and Nlaka'pamux). The cougar ( Puma concolor) also puma, mountain lion, or panther, depending on region is a Mammal of the Felidae family British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C St'at'imcets (also Lillooet, Lilloet, St’át’imcets) is an Interior Salishan language spoken in southern British Columbia, The Nlaka'pamux (nɬeʔképmx commonly called "the Thompson", and also Thompson River Salish, Thompson Salish, Thompson River Indians
  • tenas puss-puss — kitten, "young cat".
• kamuks or comox — dog. This would have originally referred to a now-extinct breed of domestic dog once common in the region, which was raised for its wool and meat. This breed is often depicted in drawings and paintings from the earliest eras.
• talapus — coyote. In Grand Ronde Chinuk-Wawa the initial t is plosive. A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a Consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the Vocal tract.
  • hyas talapus — wolf, "big coyote"
• leloo or lelu — wolf. Presumably from Fr. le loup.
  • hyas leloo — timberwolf, "big wolf", (also hyas talapus).
• lemolo — wild, dangerous, from the backcountry. From Fr. le marron, a runaway slave or renegade (as in French, accent on last syllable). Lemolo infers savagery as well as rebellion, but an animal may also be lemolo, with the sense leaning towards loco as well as dangerous.
• cayuse — a horse or pony, in some areas also a coyote; the variant cayoosh is found in British Columbia and has special meaning there as a bloodline of Indian mountain pony. The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. A pony is a small Horse with a specific conformation and temperament The coyote (kaɪˈoʊti ˈkaɪoʊt ( Canis latrans) also known as the prairie wolf, is a Mammal of the order Carnivora British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Originally from the Spanish caballo. The more usual word for horse was kiuatan:
• kiuatan — horse. This was the more usual word for horse than cayuse, and is also an adaptation (via Sahaptian) of the Spanish caballo. Sahaptian (also Sahaptianic, Sahaptin, Shahaptian) is a sub-grouping of two languages of the Plateau Penutian family spoken by Native American
  • stone kiuatan — stallion ("horse with testicles")
  • klootchman kiuatan — mare ("female horse")
  • burdash kiuatan — gelding ("neutered horse")
  • tenas kiuatan — colt, pony ("young horse")
  • lemolo stone kiuatan — stallion gone loco (i. e. not just a mustang, which was lemolo kiuatan or, in west-central BC, lemolo cayoosh).
• moos-moos — cattle. This word may be a corruption of the Cree Mistah' moostoos for buffalo (it is not believed to be onomatopoeic).
  • tenas moos-moos — calf ("young cattle")
  • klootchman moos-moos or tatoosh moos-moos — cow ("female cattle" or "milk cow")
  • tenas klootchman moos-moos — heiffer ("young female cattle")
  • man moos-moos or man stone moos-moos — bull ("male cattle" or "male testicle cattle")
  • burdash moos-moos — steer ("neutered cattle")

Many equestrian terms are from French:

• lasell — saddle; from Fr. A calf (kɑːf plural calves, /kɑːvz/ is the young of various species of Mammal. Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family Cattle, colloquially referred to as cows, are domesticated Ungulates a member of the Subfamily Bovinae of the family la selle
• lagley — a grey horse. from Fr. le gris (the grey [horse])
• lekay or lekay — a piebald or appaloosa horse, from Fr. la caille (the quail).
• leblow or leblau — from fR. le bleu a chestnut-coloured or sorrel horse. Such a horse may also be a pil cayoosh or pil kiuatan - a red horse.
• sandelie or sandalee — a roan-coloured horse, either from Fr. cendre - ash - or from Engl. sandy.
• lableed — bridle, from French "la bride"
• Leseeblo — spurs, from French
• Sitlay or sitliay — stirrups, from French "l'étrier"
• Sitlay, sitliay - stirrups
• lamel — mule (but note burdash kiuatan). In its common modern meaning a mule is the offspring of a male Donkey and a female Horse, which is classified as a kind of F1 hybrid.
• burdash — neuter. From Fr. berdache, this word specifically refers to accidental or incidental hermaphroditism or lack of gender, such as by castration or unusual birth. Two-Spirit (also two spirit or twospirit) people are Native Americans who fulfill one of many mixed Gender roles found traditionally among many In Chinook, it is not known to have referred to effeminacy, transsexuality or homosexual tendencies as other adaptations of berdache did in other aboriginal languages in North America, or the original French.
  • burdash kiuatan — mule, "neuter horse". In its common modern meaning a mule is the offspring of a male Donkey and a female Horse, which is classified as a kind of F1 hybrid.
  • burdash cayoosh — gelding, "neuter horse". A gelding is a castrated animal &mdash in English the term specifically refers to a castrated male Horse or other Equine such as a Donkey
  • burdash moos-moos — steer, "neuter cow".

Many religious terms are from French:

• leplet — priest, also used for non-Catholic preacher or parson
• lekleese — church
• malakwa — mosquito, from Fr. maringouin (accent on first syllable)
• hooch — homemade liquor. Not found in the Columbia and Grand Ronde versions of the jargon, this is a northern word ascribed to the Tlingit village group the Xootsnoowu which was current throughout northern and upper coastal usages of the Jargon, and of course has become part of standard English vocabularies, at least throughout Canada and the US. The Columbia River (known as Not to be confused with the Turkic Telengit people The Tlingit (ˈklɪŋkɪt in English also /-gɪt/ or Tlinkit /ˈtlɪŋkɪt/ which
• lapishemo — saddle-blanket and trappings of a horse. Not from French, but believed to be from Ojibway, apparently brought to the Northwest via the voyageurs or other fur company employees. The Ojibwa or Chippewa (also Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippeway) is the largest group of Native Americans - First Nations
• eena or ina — beaver
• suwellel — the mountain beaver or "boomer". The Mountain Beaver ( Aplodontia rufa) is a primitive Rodent unrelated to Beavers and not always found in Mountainous areas The Mountain Beaver ( Aplodontia rufa) is a primitive Rodent unrelated to Beavers and not always found in Mountainous areas This word for this animal is current in English (for those who know of its existence).
• nenamooks — otter (but not the sea otter), also a term of endearment or exasperation for rambunctious children.
• hum opoots — skunk (lit. Skunks (sometimes referred to as polecats) are Mammals best known for their ability to excrete a strong foul-smelling odor. "stinky butt"), also an insult, the same as "you skunk" in English.
• piu-piu — very stinky (from Fr. piu).
• mowitch — deer, game. Mowitch is extremely common throughout the Plateau and the Coast in use by natives as well as non-natives, and is found as far southeast as Shoshone territory and up into Alaska.
  • hyas mowitch — "big game", can be a moose or an elk, although elk is usually moolack or moolock. The moose (North America or elk (Europe Alces alces, is the largest extant Species in the Deer family. The elk, or wapiti ( Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest Species of Deer in the world and one of the largest Mammals in
• moolack or moolock — elk or wapiti. Like mowitch, the word moolack is fairly well-known, but not to the same degree.
• lemooto or lemoto — sheep, mutton.
  • tenas lemooto — lamb ("young sheep").
  • man lemooto — ram ("male sheep").
  • klootchman lemooto — ewe ("female sheep").
• cosho or lecosho — pig or swine, also pork. From Fr. le cochon (accent on second syllable).
  • tenas cosho — piglet.
  • klootchman cosho — sow.
  • siwash cosho — seal (lit. The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of Mammals within the seal Suborder, Pinnipedia. "Indian pig", i. e. as much a staple of Indian life as pork was to Europeans and Britons. Note also olehiyu.
• olehiyu or olhyiu — seal. The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of Mammals within the seal Suborder, Pinnipedia.
• olallie — berry. Olalla, Washington and the Okanagan town of Olalla, British Columbia get their name from this word. Olalla is a small unincorporated community in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The Okanagan (oʊkəˈnɑːɡən also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as Okanagan Country is a region located in the Canadian province The prevalent common name in British Columbia for the berry-bearing bush Shepherdia canadensis is soopolallie, Chinook for 'soap berry' (see Wikipedia entry under prairie provinces common name for the same plant, Canada Buffaloberry). The Canada Buffaloberry ( Shepherdia canadensis) also known as Russet Buffaloberry, Soopolallie, Soapberry or Foamberry
• laboos or labush — mouth (from Fr. la bouche). This is origin of the name of La Push, Washington
• illahee, illahie, illahe (GR Chinuk Wawa ili'i) — land, earth, ground. La Push is a small unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington, United States.
  • kloshe illahee — good land, bottom land pasture. Can be used to mean a plot of land, a farm or a ranch.
• tatoosh — milk, butter. Also means breasts, or the chest.
• tupso — grass, greenery.
  • tupso illahee — pasture (grass land).
  • tsee tupso — sweet grass (good grazing grass for horses)
• yakso — hair.
• lapel — a fur, from Fr. la pelle
• labooti — bottle, from Fr. la bouteille (pron labooTAI, not laBOOtee)
• lapool — chicken, fowl, poultry
• lacock, lekok — rooster, cock
• lezep, lesap — eggs
• lasac or lazack — sac, bag
• itliwillie — flesh, meat, muscle
• lakalat— carrot;
• lamonti — mountain, from Fr. The carrot ( Daucus carota subsp sativus, Etymology: Middle French carotte, from Late Latin carōta, from Greek karōton la montaigne (pron lamonTAI).
  • hyas lamonti — the high mountains
  • hyas hyas lamonti — the deep mountains, remote faraway mountain country.

Note hyas hyas stone illahee, meaning the "greatest and biggest land of stones", or "the great barren high country" in Paul St. Pierre's novella Breaking Smith Quarter Horse. Paul Saint Pierre (born October 14 1923) is a well-known journalist and author in British Columbia, Canada. The context of the title is the vast and diverse inland alpine areas of the Coast Mountains, flanking the Chilcotin district where the action of the novella takes place. The Coast Mountains are a Mountain range of the Pacific Cordillera, running along the north western shore of the North American continent extending south The possible subreference stone, "testicles", may be to the power and ruggedness of the lands described by the phrase.

• stone — in orthodox Chinook Jargon is usually "testicles"

Speakers from Grand Ronde consider stone a rude word, unless in combination forms like stone kiuatan - "stallion" (horse still with its testicles, i. e. not a burdash kiuatan, which is a gelding). In British Columbia usages, stone can also simply mean rock, or stony country.

• pepah — paper, book, something written
• law — the law, authority, judges. Law man is not a policeman, but a lawyer or judge.
• sojer — one of several adaptations of the English word soldier;

The term sojer was mostly used on the American side of the border, as troops in BC were known (in English) as Marines and Voltigeurs, and military deployments to quell native populations were virtually unknown (the Lamalcha War of 1863 being one of the exceptions, and it involved marines and sailors, not soldiers).

• skookum — big/strong, powerful, awe-inspiring; monster or monstrous (obsolete). Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U Opposite of cultus. Used as a verb auxiliary for "can" (to be able) or "powerful at". In names for individuals skookum is sometimes shortened to skook, as in Mount Skook Jim in the Lillooet Ranges, or Mount Skook Davidson west of Lake Williston. The Lillooet Ranges are the southeasternmost subdivision of the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia. Williston Lake is a Reservoir located in central British Columbia, Canada.
  • skookum house — prison, jail ("the strong house"). Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U
  • skookum lakasett — strongbox. Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U
  • skookum tumtum — brave, strong-hearted, loyal. Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U
  • skookumchuck — rapids, whitewater, rough water. Skookumchuck is a word in the Chinook Jargon that is in common use in British Columbia English and occurs in Pacific Northwest English.
  • skokomish — compounded from skookum ish, "brave people" (known in their original language as the Twana). Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U Skokomish, also known as the Twana, are a Native American tribe in western Washington state in the United States.

The word skookum remains a common component of English for long-time residents, for whom it means something strongly-built, or someone genuine, honest, reliable. Skookum is a Chinook jargon word that has come into general use in British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada, and in the U It can also simply mean "impressive", as in "That's a pretty skookum bicycle you've got there!" (British Columbia). British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Also "I think that this rope isn't quite skookum" (southwest Washington).

• hyas muckamuck(s) — the chief, the big boss, management (modern usage). In modern blue-collar usage, this word is one of many mildly sarcastic slang terms used to refer to bosses and upper management (British Columbia). British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Var. "High Mucketymuck".
• chuck — water or river. This word is still well remembered, though less frequently used (except by weathermen giving sailing reports and marine forecasts).
  • saltchuck — "salt water", ocean, fijord, inlet.
  • skookumchuck — rapids, whitewater, rough water. Skookumchuck is a word in the Chinook Jargon that is in common use in British Columbia English and occurs in Pacific Northwest English.
• mitwhit — to stand erect.
• stick — stick, wood, firewood, tree.
  • hyas stick — big tree or log, big/great woods/forest.
  • mitwhit stick — ship's mast, spar ("standing tree/timber")

Some have suggested the North American phrase "out in the sticks" may have originated in Chinook Jargon usages, adopted by Klondike-era travellers and transmitted to other parts of the continent, as were hooch and hyas muckamuck (or high muckamuck; usually high mucketymuck if heard outside the Northwest, however). The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean

• mitlite — to be, to exist, to rest. Cultus mitlite — jes' hanging out.
• tillikum — friend; also means people, kin (emphasis on first syllable), sometimes pluralized but not required.
  • Skookum tillikums — hard to translate efficiently, but a certain "grand old man" of the high frontier and great old days, someone capable of hiking from northeastern BC to Wyoming if they wanted to, and able to defend himself in the bar, or in the bush. Used in Paul Saint Pierre's novella Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse. Paul Saint Pierre (born October 14 1923) is a well-known journalist and author in British Columbia, Canada.
• tyee — leader, chief, a really big chinook salmon (Campbell River area) (emphasis on second syllable). Campbell River is a city in British Columbia on the east coast of Vancouver Island at the south end of
  • hyas tyee — king, big boss, important ruler. e. g. "He was the undisputed hyas tyee of all the country between the Johnstone Strait and Comox" This was also the common title used for the famous chiefs of the early era, such as Maquinna. Johnstone Strait is a 110 km (68 mi channel along the north east coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. Maquinna (also transliterated Muquinna Macuina Maquilla was the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound, during the heyday of the Maritime
  • Hyas Klootchman Tyee — "Great Woman Ruler", roughly "Her Majesty".

The word tyee was commonly used and still occurs in some local English usages meaning "boss" or someone in charge. Business and local political and community figures of a certain stature from some areas are sometimes referred to in the British Columbia papers and histories by the old chiefly name worn by Maquinna and Concomly and Nicola. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Chief Comcomly or Concomly (1754? - 1830 was a Native American chief of the Chinookan people Nicola (1780/ 1785 — ~ 1865) ( Spokan Hwistesmetxe'qen, Walking Grizzly Bear) A man called hyas tyee would have been a senator, a longtime MP or MLA, or a business magnate with a strong local powerbase, long-time connections, and wealth from and because of the area.

The title Hyas Klootchman Tyee was used to refer to Queen Victoria in public proclamations during her reign. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland In theory, this title also applies to Queen Elizabeth II but it is no longer used by the BC government. For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Conceivably, Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo may be styled that way, since she speaks Chinook Jargon, but the proper form of address in English for a Lieutenant-Governor is "Your Honour". The Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia is the vice-regal representative of the Queen of Canada in the province of British Columbia. Iona Campagnolo PC, CM, OBC (born October 18, 1932) is a Canadian politician and was the Lieutenant-Governor A possible Chinook equivalent might be Hyas Chutch (great judge/authority), or in Campagnolo's case, Hyas klootchman chutch.

• tenas or tenass — child, small, little, young. In Grand Ronde Chinuk-Wawa, the distinction between ten'-ass and dun'-uss (not GR spellings, just approximations of pronunciations) is between small/little and child/young. Klootchman tenas — little girl, young woman. Tenaschuck — lake, pond.
• cheechako — newcomer (emphasis on second syllable). This word is relatively common, especially in frontier regions and historically throughout (Alaska, Yukon and northwestern B.C. in particular. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. British Columbia (ˌbrɪtɨʃ kəˈlʌmbiə ( BC) ( (la Colombie-Britannique C Chee means "new" and chako means "come". Ko means "arrive" (although when doubled it means "knock"). An example comes from Fairbanks hostess Eva McGown: "I never had any children of my own, but as someone once said, I am the mother of all the cheechakoos. Fairbanks (ˈfɛrbæŋks is a Home Rule City in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. Eva McGown née Montgomery (1883 – 1972 the "hostess of Fairbanks" was best known for her three decades helping newcomers military wives construction "[1]
• saghalie — up, high place, above.
  • saghalie tyee — God. This term was coined by evangelists and as a result of its use saghalie also came to mean "sacred" and "holy".
  • saghalie illahee — sacred ground, but not a graveyard, which is memaloose illahee.
• potlatch — in ordinary Jargon usage this means "to give", or anything given, a present. A potlatch is a festival ceremony practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in North America along Pacific Northwest coast of the United It became the standard word used to describe the great gift-feasts which underlay the Pacific Northwest Coast people's economic and political systems. Potlatches were ceremonials of giving away or destroying one's possessions to gain social status, often accompanied by lavish theatricals and conspicuous consumption (and destruction, to show more wealth could always be acquired). The goal was to earn prestige, as well as humiliate one's rivals into poverty by forcing them to spend more on a feast to outshow your own. In Chinook Jargon, the word potlatch simply meant "give" or "a gift", although a gift with no reciprocal obligation expected at all is a cultus potlatch - just an ordinary gift.

• alki — (rhymes with "pie) "someday", "whenever", "In the by and by", i. Alki Point (ˈælkaɪ is the westernmost point in the West Seattle district of Seattle, Washington; Alki is the Peninsular neighborhood e. the future or near future. Alki is the state motto of Washington and a neighborhood in West Seattle. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Alki Point (ˈælkaɪ is the westernmost point in the West Seattle district of Seattle, Washington; Alki is the Peninsular neighborhood In ordinary use somewhat equivalent to the Mexican mañana, meaning sometime in the near future, or an indeterminate time away, perhaps never. It can be used as a verb auxiliary indicating the indefinite future tense.

The present, the here-and-now, is alta, the past ahnkuttie or ankate (emphasis on first syllable in all these words). Another, perhaps in a more immediate sense, word for "soon" is winapie. Ahknuttie and alki can all be changed in meaning by the lengthening of the initial vowel, and by the addition of the auxiliary laly (LAH-ly) and the lengthening of its initial vowel, e. g. laly ahnkuttie, meaning "long ago" becomes laaaaa-ly ahnkuttie, the ancient past, mythical times. Aaaahnkuttie would mean more something like "a considerable while ago", either by hours, days, weeks, or months, i. e. as in a recent or relatively recent event, or perhaps in response to Klatawa latleh elip? (has the train gone already?) Aaaahnkuttie - "yep, it's long gone". Laly by itself can also mean "soon", and tenas laly means "in just a little while", if not quite "right away", which would be alta (said with emphasis to add the exclamation point).

• klahanie — Outside, outdoors. This became the name of a longtime popular program on the CBC's TV service.
• konaway — everything, all, the whole shebang
• kunamoxt or konamoxt — both, together. Contracted from konaway moxt (all two).
  • hiyu konamoxt — a big gathering, as does big hiyu or hyas hiyu, though those tend to infer a party as opposed to a conference or other parley or rendezvous, which may be the case with chako kunamoxt and hiyu kunamoxt. Tenas hiyu means "several, a few", and in BC may also mean a small party or gathering. Both "big hiyu" and "tenas hiyu" were common in frontier English, as were many other Chinook borrowings.
• kumtux — "think" in the sense of to understand, know, comprehend. Apposite to tumtum.
• tumtum — heartbeat, or heart. Tumtum also means to think, but more in the sense of finding out how you feel about it, or what you believe.
• cooley — "run" spelled that way to distinguish it from "coolie", but pronounced the same way. Used in the construction kiuatan yaka kumtux cooley, most easily translated "fast horse", but literally "that horse he really knows how to run well", "that horse he understands running"
• klahowya — the common and universal greeting, identical in sound to "I'm hungry", which for differentitation in print is klahowyum. Klahowya sikhs - "hello, friend"; Klahowya tillikums (Hello, people; greetings, my friends/family).
• kopa — nearly all-purpose preposition meaning in, at, of, to, from, by way of. Generally used only when not implied.
• ikt — "one"; while ikta is "it, that thing, this", and iktas is "stuff" or belongings, as in "my stuff", naika iktas.

• tumwater — a waterfall, "heartbeat-water" (tum is shortened from tumtum, q. Tumwater is a city in Thurston County, Washington, United States. v. above). Note that this would be expected to be tumchuck instead, and indeed that form is found in Grand Ronde Wawa.
• house — a room or any building (from Eng. house).
• smoke — could mean fog or cloud, as well as smoke (from Eng. ).

The English plural form was sometimes applied in Jargon formations, hiyu tillikums but also cultus Boston mans or cultus Bostons (rough translation: "Damned Yankees"), or hiyu whitemans. The use of the plural form is, however, not mandatory or regular.

• man — can mean a man, of any origin, but also indicates the male of anything — tenas man lemooto, baby ram.
• klootchman — woman or female, long common throughout the Northwest to mean a native woman, but without the derisive sense of "squaw".
  • tenas klootchman — girl, "young woman".
  • klootchman mowitch — female deer, doe.
  • klootchman itswoot — female (sow) bear.

• chittam stick — laxative tree, cascara, "shit tree"
• chitticum — laxative, cascara, ("shit come")

Cascara, Bearberry, or chitticum is a type of tree whose aged bark is used as a laxative and modern laxative ingredient.

References

See also

• List of Chinook Jargon placenames
• Chinook Jargon use by English-language speakers
• Kamloops Wawa
• Tlingit noun
• Pacific Northwest
• History of British Columbia
• Endangered language
• Pidgin
• Lingua franca
• Wobbly lingo

External links

Note: The Incubator link at right will take
you to the Chinuk Wawa test-Wikipedia, which is written in the modern creolized Grand Ronde OR-derived of the Jargon, not the normal historical forms encountered outside of Lower Oregon as is not relevant to or reflective of the Jargon as used at Warm Springs, Colville, or in British Columbia:

• Selected references for students and scholars -- including study guides and four dictionaries
• Chinook Jargon history, dictionary and phrasebook -- includes annotated version of Shaw's dictionary, augmented by content from other word lists. The following is a listing of placenames from the Chinook Jargon, generally from the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, the Yukon Territory British Columbian English and Pacific Northwest English have several words still in current use which are loanwords from the Chinook Jargon, which was widely spoken Kamloops Wawa was a publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamloops in British Columbia, Canada, in the 1890s and 1900s Like Nouns in many Native American languages the Tlingit noun is easily conceptualized but difficult to formally define The Pacific Northwest is a region in the northwest of North America (the term refers to the land not the ocean British Columbia is the westernmost province in Canada. Indigenous peoples have inhabited the territory that is now called "British Columbia" as described An endangered language is a Language that it is at risk of falling out of use generally because it has few surviving speakers A pidgin is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common in situations such as Trade A lingua franca (from Italian, literally meaning Frankish language, see etymology under Sabir and Italian below is any Language widely
• British Columbia Time Temple Archive Excellent resource compiling public domain texts written about and in the Chinook Wawa
• Can We Still Speak Chinook? from B. C. 's The Tyee, January 2006
• Tenas Wawa -- Archive of early 1990s newsletter about Chinook Jargon, also includes audio of a song in the Jargon. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999
• Kamloops Wawa page, Chinook Jargon Information Superhighway site
• Chinook Rudiments, J.M.R Le Jeune
• Chinook as spoken by the Indians of Washington Territory, British Columbia and Alaska for the use of traders, tourists and others who have business intercourse with the Indians : Chinook-English, English-Chinook by Charles Montgomery Tate, publ. M.W. Waitt, Victoria, B.C. [1889?
• Chinook Texts by Franz Boas

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