1893: Real-world Northern Chinook Jargon (Part 2, the planets)
Here’s a tidy little slice of “how to discuss the world around us in Jargon”.
(Here’s a link to all installments in this mini-series.)
Ceres (image credit: Wikipedia)
Check out the number of new loan words from English here. (I’ll highlight some in orange.) That’s actually 100% normal for 1890s Northern-Dialect Chinook Jargon!
Know this — nobody ever randomly put English words into their Chinuk Wawa. Not if they wanted to be understood.
Instead, you’ll see that new words from English are routinely:
- the things that would take the most time & effort to express in Jargon,
- and replacements for words that had previously existed, but been lost, in Jargon in the North.
Read & check me on that!
This is from “Kamloops Wawa” #84 (June 25, 1893), pages 103.
…iaka < 3 000> mails waid, kakwa < 9 000> mails rawn.
‘[Mercury,] …which is 3,000 miles wide, so it’s 9,000 miles around.’
Mirkyuri kakwa < 1> pi ukuk ilihi kakwa < 20>.
‘Mercury is like 1 and this earth is like 20.’< 3o Venus.> Vinyus iaka < 66> milian mails saia kopa
‘Venus is 66 million miles away from’
son; iaka < 7 500> mails waid, < 22 500> mails rawn, wik
‘the sun; it’s 7,500 miles wide, 22,500 miles around,’
saia kakwa ukuk ilihi iaka aias.
‘nearly the size of this earth.’< 4o The Earth.> Ukuk ilihi iaka < 92> milian mails
‘This earth is 92 million miles’
saia kopa son. Iaka < 8 000> mails waid < 25 000>
‘away from the sun. It’s 8,000 miles wide, 25,000’
mails rawn. Kopa iht son iaka tyurn kakwa hwil kopa iaka
‘miles around. In a day it turns like a wheel on its’
pols. = Kopa iht sno, iaka klatwa rawn kopa son.
‘ “poles”. In a year, it goes around the sun.’< The Moon.> Mun iaka kwanisim kanamokst ukuk ilihi.
‘The moon is always with this earth.’
Iaka iskom lait kopa son pi patlash [Ø] kopa ukuk ilihi. Iaka
‘It receives light from the sun and gives it to this earth. It’s’
< 238 000> mails saia kopa ukuk ilihi. Iaka < 2 160>
‘238,000 miles away from this earth. It’s 2,160’
mails waid.
‘miles wide.’< 5o Mars.> Mars iaka < 140> milian mails saia kopa
‘Mars is 140 million miles away from’
son. Iaka wik saia < 5 000> mails waid. Pus
‘the sun. It’s nearly 5,000 miles wide. If’
Mars kakwa < 1> ilihi iaka kakwa < 4>.
‘is like 1, the earth is like 4.’< 6o Ceres, etc.> Ilip saia kopa Mars mitlait
‘Farther than Mars are’
ayu tanas planits, kakwa ukuk ilihi, pi tanas, klunas
‘many little planets, like this earth, but little; maybe’
klaska kwanisim ankati kakwa, klunas iht aias planit
‘they always were like that; maybe one big planet’
iaka kakshit pi shako ayu tanas.
‘broke up and became many small ones.’< 7o Jupiter. 475> milian mails kopa son mitlait
‘475 million miles from the sun is’
Shupitir. = Iaka < 88 000> mails waid. = Iaka < 1400>
‘Jupiter. It’s 88,000 miles wide. It’s 1,400’
taims aias kakwa ukuk ilihi. Iaka mitlait < 4> tanas muns.
‘times bigger than this earth. It has 4 little moons.’
Kanawi ukuk muns klaska ilip aias kopa nsaika mun.
‘All of those moons are bigger than our moon.’< 8o> Satirn < Saturn. 872> milian mails
‘Saturn: 872 million miles’
kopa son mitlait Satirn iaka < 72 000> mails aias
‘from the sun is Saturn, which is 72,000 miles in size;’
iaka < 750> taims kakwa ukuk ilihi. Iaka mitlait < 8> muns
‘it’s 750 times as much as this earth. It has 8 moons’
pi iht aias ring pus iskom lait kopa son.
‘and one big ring to take light from the sun.’
