Another word for ‘baby’
I’ve previous noted the many words for ‘baby’ in Chinook Jargon.
Kamloops’ first baby of 2021 (image credit: Kamloops This Week)
I’ve also noted the rarity of W.S. “El Comancho” Phillips’s < bebe > for this concept.
Today I’ve found corroboration for that word, in a BC Catholic hymn no less.
<20. O Ilep tloos tanaz.>
O ilip tlus tanas Shisyu!
‘Oh excellent child Jesus!’Iakwa alta maika chako man.
‘Here now you’ve been born.’O ilip tlus tanas bibi,
‘Oh excellent little baby,’nsaika mamuk maika taii.
‘we respect you.’
— from page 83 of the “Chinook Manual” (Kamloops, BC, 1896)
This word < bibi > is another of the many then-recent borrowings from locally spoken English into Chinuk Wawa.
First time I saw ‘bibi’ was in the shugir kin tintin where he’s talking about nativity scenes. He says:
“kopa lakit ilihi naika nanich iht aias tlus bibi iaka nim ukuk bibi ShK[.] kopa krismas tilikom mamuk aias tlus tanas haws kopa iaka kopa styuil haws, pi klaska mamuk skukum styuil kopa iaka.”
So apparently baby jesus is good Chinook hahaha
https://open.library.ubc.ca/viewer/kwawa/1.0347402#p4z-3r0f:
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