Si′-pah ‘straight’ is from Clackamas Upper Chinookan

On the authority of his buddy and fellow “Stevens Treaties” translator Benjamin Franklin Shaw, George Gibbs tells us a word si′-pah ‘straight (like a ramrod)’.

Learning from the Lane learners (Part 3)

Here’s another taste of what we can learn from the Lane Community College learners of Chinuk Wawa…

1932: Rhodes Scholar gives speech in Jargon

From the “Small World” Dept.!

1868: A Chinuk Wawa dictionary we hadn’t known of

Here’s a marvelous discovery…

Culture lessons: Things Chinuk Wawa doesn’t do (Part 3)

Here’s another kind of thing we don’t do in Chinook Jargon, so pay attention and learn to talk fluently…

“Músmus-latèt” people at Skeetchestn, BC!

Hayu masi to Alex Code for reminding me of this striking episode in the Kamloops Wawa newspaper!

1917, Bella Coola BC: Hiyu chicimen stone

Chinuk Wawa has played an important role the “exploration” of the Pacific Northwest by Settlers.

Boas 1892: Many discoveries in a short article (Part 11: an obscene meaning)

Reports of the death of mamuk were greatly exaggerated!

1905, BC: Bridge River paper salmon

Naika wawa mirsi kopa Alex Code, for a splendid little discovery.

“Faire briller”: The case for a Métis source of the mamuk-/munk- Causative

Have I never before pointed out the possibility that Chinuk Wawa’s mamuk- verb inflection (which is munk- in the southern dialect — I’ve usually called it the “Causative”– might be due to to Métis/Canadian French… Continue reading