Nice proof that Northern CJ “fol-dawn” doesn’t mean ‘fall down’!
Of course Northern-Dialect Chinook Jargon’s fol-dawn is from English ‘fall down’, but…
Fol-dawn doesn’t mean ‘fall down’!
Am I the only one who thinks of “What Goes On” when I hear “falling down”?
(Image credit: Bear Family Records)
What I mean is that this expression has as its basic meaning ‘to fall’.
Generically.
So it can also mean ‘fall out of’, ‘fall into’, and so forth.
Here’s a beautiful quote that shows us in a few words how fol-dawn needs an additional word kikuli (which itself means ‘down’) to clearly have a sense of ‘falling down’:
iaka nanich Ilaias iaka kot fol-dawn
he see Elias his coat fall
‘he saw Elias’s coat falling’kikuli
down
‘down’
— from “Kamloops Wawa” #132 (September 1895), page 137
All of this is strongly reminiscent of how Northern-Dialect sit-dawn can also mean ‘to sit up’!
Bonus fact:
There’s at least one other word that we normally translate as ‘to fall’ in Jargon. When we’re talking about things precipitating, such as rain or snow, we use the verb chako (cháku). That’s literally ‘to come (there)’.
This is why we find chako in the story of “good old Tobias” —
Ukuk kalakala iaka shit chako kopa iaka siahus.
those birds “their” poop come to his face.
‘The birds’ poop fell on his face.’
