Chinuk paia! It was a thing!

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The first time I came across this wonderful phrase, Chinuk paia (‘Chinook fire’), I wondered if it was a mistake for *Chaina paia* (‘Chinese fire’)…

Central-dialect Chinook Jargon as a “pidgincreole”

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I’m really just putting up a Post-It™ note about a thought right here, not deeply defending it:

Reasons for events (there are no reasons for things)

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I teach people that Northern Chinook Jargon expresses purposes that things are oriented towards as VERB+pus… and NOUN+kopa…

1925, BC: Hiuskookum Fish Meal!

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Another case of Chinook Jargon spotted in the wild.

Planning: The monolingual Chinook Jargon dictionary

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…or “dictionaries”, of each dialect….

Are pants ‘male’?

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[Editing to say something I’d meant to include, that I don’t find (the) words for ‘leggings / trousers / pants / pantaloons / breeches / britches’ in any Chinookan language besides Kathlamet. “Wishram… Continue reading

Iskum = “to use” something for a purpose…and…

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This post is a followup to one from 2021.

Now free: the book “And he knew our language…”

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A rare exception to the academic paywall benefits us!

Re-confirming “Chinuk man”

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Once upon a time, I discovered that “Chinuk man = interpreter“.

Necessity made a tongue. A.I. made a song.

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AI works okay for some Chinook Jargon material…I don’t fully endorse it 😒