Coming soon (Chinook Jargon in the wild): Kla Ha Ya Days in Snohomish, WA
Thanks to the wonderful community radio station KSER 90.7 in Everett, I heard this bit of Chinuk Wawa in the community.
Image credit: Snohomish Block Party
I thought the announcer might have been reading the word “klahowya” oddly as [klaháya], but this event is indeed Kla Ha Ya Days. presented by Snohomish Block Party.
Image credit: KlahayaDays.com
Apparently the event’s name was chosen in a contest in 1937, so it must represent how a local person actually said the Chinook Jargon word ɬax̣áwya ‘hello’.
(I don’t believe the spelling “Kla ha ya” is in any of the old dictionaries of Jargon, is it? I do find it in an 1894 magazine.)
In Snohomish, there’s also Klahaya Animal Hospital, Kla-Ha-Ya Village apartment complex, and Kla Ha Ya Park.
𛰅𛱁𛰃𛱂 𛰙𛱁𛱆𛰅𛱁 𛰃𛱄𛰙𛰃𛱄𛰙? qʰáta mayka tə́mtəm?
kata maika tumtum?
Que penses-tu? What do you think?
And can you say it in Chinuk Wawa?
