CW’s free use of conjunctions is an Indo-European trait?
This is a somewhat impressionistic point: Chinook Jargon’s rather free use of conjunction(s) may come from its Indo-European “parent” languages.
The Jargon, far from being simply some kind of pidginized Chinookan, has 4 “parents”, by the way: Shoalwater-Clatsop Lower Chinookan, Lower Chehalis Salish, English, and Canadian/Métis French.
From pages 12 and 13 of “Chinook Texts”
The latter 2 are Indo-European languages.
One of those 2, French, contributed its word puis, which became Jargon’s pi ‘and’ (which can also get used for other conjunction functions: ‘but’, ‘or’, etc.).
And it strikes me that Chinuk Wawa uses pi quite a lot.
When we hear or read — or speak — “texts” in CW, by which I mean sustained speech, we find this little word really often. It’s freely used.
I’m drawing a comparison and contrast with the Indigenous Chinookan and Salish languages here.
When I get a look at Charles Cultee’s “Chinook Texts” and at the (few) preserved texts in Southwest Washington Salish languages, it’s striking how few Native words per text are glossed as ‘and’.
The Indigenous languages organize their discourse differently.
Lots of ‘and’ shows up in the English translations of those stories, naturally — because that’s how we talk in this Indo-European language.
And, it’s how we talk Chinuk Wawa.
But, I think CW’s word pi is probably somewhat less freely used than in Indo-European (English and French), for example —
- “ADJective pi ADJ” (like saying “blue and brown”) is rare in the Jargon (as also “ADJ, ADJ pi ADJ”, like saying “red, white, and blue”).
- Likewise “ADVerb pi ADV” (like saying “quickly and thoroughly”).
- [This partly has to do with the scarcity of lexemes in both of these classes in the Jargon.]
- “Verb pi V” may be uncommon, too, especially for a Subject-less second V (like saying “she shot and killed the deer”).
- We can also take note of the heavy use of alta in Chinook Jargon at the start of clauses, meaning ‘and then…’ You see my point? — when you say this alta, you’re not saying pi.
It would be worth an entire research paper to methodically illustrate these points with data.
This is another project that I can recommend for a gifted undergraduate, or a grad student, to undertake.
(I’ve mentioned other such ideas on this website.)
