AF Chamberlain’s field notes of Chinuk Wawa from SE British Columbia (Part 9: making camp,pounding berries, coïtus, little boy)

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There are a number of discoveries in this 9th installment of our look at Alexander Francis Chamberlain’s field documentation of the Northern Dialect of Chinook Jargon.

What language does mÉctōn ‘coïre; coïtus’ (having sex) come from? Cree? Ktunaxa?

Chamberlain’s “c” is the “sh” sound, and his “tc” is the “ch” sound. His “ä” is the “a” in “cat”, a frequent sound in the Northern Dialect.

Stuff in orange here seems like new discoveries to me — different from what we’ve found in other places’ use of Chinuk Wawa. 

(A link to all installments in this mini-series!)

AF Chamberlain CW Kootenays 11

  • mä́mūk hīhī ‘to make fun of, to jest at’
  • mä́mūk ílahī ‘to dig, to prepare ground for planting’
  • mä́mūk kélapái ‘to send back’
  • mä́mūk kÉmtEks ‘to teach; to show how’ 
  • mä́mūk ōlä́lī ‘to pound berries’
    This would be ‘harvest berries’ in other areas, but it’d be understood in the context of processing berries (to be dried).
  • mä́mūk pḗpE ‘to write, to draw, to make a picture, etc.’
    In the Kamloops area, this is pretty exclusively ‘write’.
  • mä́mūk tcā́kō ‘to bring, to fetch’
  • mä́mūk tíntin ‘to ring a bell’
  • mä́mūk tī́pī ‘to set up a tent; to make camp’
    We’ve previously seen tipi (‘teepee’) in Chamberlain’s notes.
  • män (E[nglish].) ‘man, male, husband’
    • ténäs män ‘boy, youth’
    • ténäs ténäs män ‘male child, little boy’
      A new phrase to me!
  • máuwitc ‘deer’
  • mémālūs ‘to die; to kill; dead; killed’
  • mémālūs ílahī ‘grave-yard; cemetery’
  • mémālūs mūn ‘eclipse of moon’
    Apparently a new find for us.
  • mémālūs sEn ‘eclipse of sun’
    This one is ‘evening’ in Kamloops-area Chinook Jargon.
  • mesáikā ‘you (pl.), ye, your’ 
  • mÉctōn ‘coïre; coïtus’
  • mÉkamEk ‘to eat, to drink; food’
    • tík’ī mÉkamEk ‘to be hungry, to be ready for dinner, to want to eat’
      What’s interesting about this is to see folks not saying the common word olo ‘hungry; thirsty’.
    • mÉkamEk taim ‘meal-time’
      The occurrences of taim in Chamberlain’s notes corroborate its frequent usage in the Kamloops area.
  • mÉkamEk tcEk ‘to drink’
    • tík’ī mÉkamEk tcEk ‘to be thirsty, to want a drink’
      What’s interesting about this is to see folks not saying the common word olo ‘hungry; thirsty’.
  • mÉkamEk taim ‘meal-time’ 
    A repeated entry.
  • mÉkamEk wâtE ‘to drink’
    We do find traces of wata from English in other areas’ Chinook Jargon, but it’s rare there.
  • mElä́s ‘molasses’
  • mitä́s ‘leggings’
  • mítlait ‘to stay, to stop, to dwell, to be’
    • kÉltEs mítlait ‘to sit or be idle, doing nothing, lazy; to be empty, nothing there’
  • mokst ‘two, twice, the second time, etc.’ 
  • mūn ‘moon’
    • mémālūs mūn ‘eclipse’
      Another repeated entry.

ikta mayka chaku-kəmtəks?
What have you learned?

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