Another sighting of “or” in Northern-dialect Chinook Jargon
“Or”, or “ou”?
Decide for yourself.
Image credit: The University of Oklahoma, on Facebook
Here’s a snippet from “Kamloops Wawa” again:
<Chronique Sténographique.>
(‘Shorthand Chronicle.’)Tkop tilikom klaksta
‘The White people who’wik komtaks Chinuk pipa,
‘don’t know Chinook Writing’klaska tsipi tomtom
‘are mistaken’kopa ukuk short han pipa.
‘about this shorthand writing.’Klaska tomtom short han
‘They think shorthand’iaka tlus kopit pus mamuk
‘is good only for’aiak tsim ikta man wawa
‘quickly writing what a man says’kopa kort haws o kopa
‘in a courthouse or in’Sondi haws.
‘church.’
— from Kamloops Wawa issue #69, 12 March 1893, page 41
The writer of the words above was a native speaker of European French, so it’s possible he was slipping into thoughts of French ou, if not English or.
This is at least the second time we’ve found “or” in Northern Chinuk Wawa. It’s also known in Southern CW, and is now used quite often in that dialect.
