HIRE A LINGUIST! What this atrocious housing development name tells us about the need for good Chinook Jargon dictionaries

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Can you say HIRE A LINGUIST! in Chinook Jargon?

1877, WA: A klootchman’s grave

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I’m making note of this frontier-era news article not only for its casual use of Chinook Jargon (which every reader understood), but also to show that “fish Indians” was very common terminology.

Is the -muləqan variant for ‘elk’ just Lower Chinookan?

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Yup, for ‘elk’ in Lower Chinookan, Franz Boas documented both the -mulak root shape that gave us Chinook Jargon’s mulak, and also this: 

The 1st & 2nd CJ compound nouns ever documented?

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There were compounds in “Nootka Jargon”; we find them at least as far back as <Tais frijoles> from José Mariano Mociño / Moziño in 1792, literally ‘chief beans’.

Spotted in the wild: 4 kinds of Skookum at Okanogan Museum

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Say what you will about the imagery, but the word Skookum is a core memory for lots of us from northeastern Washington state. These are displayed at the truly well-done Okanogan County Museum in… Continue reading

Spotted in the wild: Chumstick Highway, WA

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Something you’ll see… As you drive through Leavenworth, Washington on your way to further Chinook Jargon adventures… is “Chumstick“! 𛰅𛱁‌𛰃𛱂 𛰙𛱁𛱆‌𛰅𛱁 𛰃𛱄𛰙‌𛰃𛱄𛰙? qʰáta mayka tə́mtəm? kata maika tumtum? Qu’en penses-tu? What do you… Continue reading

Spotted in the wild: Tumwater Campground, WA

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Dang, the Tumwater Campground near Stehekin, Washington (north end of the gigantic, amazing Lake Chelan) was closed, I think for safety reasons, when I popped by for a photo… That’s Chinook Jargon. təmwata = ‘waterfall’ 𛰅𛱁‌𛰃𛱂… Continue reading

Tloosh chako! You’re invited! Chinook Jargon Gathering, Oct. 16-17, Port Coquitlam, BC

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Let me know if you can join us for this FREE EVENT! Leave a comment! By my count, this is the 7th or 8th Chinook Jargon Gathering since we started out in 1998.… Continue reading

Ahoy from the M/V Tokitae!

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Imagine my pleasure when my parking spot on the ferry was next to one of these signs: M/V Tokitae (image credit: Instagram) Washington State Ferries is keeping their Chinook Jargon tradition alive. This is… Continue reading

The streets of Bayview?

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I actually don’t know what the name of the community is. It’s near Maxwelton on Whidbey Island, Washington.