Is the -muləqan variant for ‘elk’ just Lower Chinookan?
Yup, for ‘elk’ in Lower Chinookan, Franz Boas documented both the -mulak root shape that gave us Chinook Jargon’s mulak, and also this:
A young elk blanket, for example (image credit: Lambs & Ivy)
i-múləqan
MASC-elk
‘a young elk blanket’ (Boas 1894:145)
In the rest of the Chinookan language family, I’ve only managed to find the -múlak shape. (Plus, in Kiksht, also -káimak which might be elk skin only.)
Whenever a Chinookan form is limited to Lower Chinookan, and has telltale signs of Salish influence, I get interested.
In this case, it’s easy to see the similarity with Lower Chehalis Salish -ən at the end of -múləqan; that’s a suffix indicating a tool, implement, instrument, etc.
While this specific form doesn’t directly have to do with Chinuk Wawa, it’s noteworthy to me that we keep finding indications of a long association between Lower Chehalis and Lower Chinookan going back in time before contact with Euro-Americans.
Language contact before language contact.
𛰅𛱁𛰃𛱂 𛰙𛱁𛱆𛰅𛱁 𛰃𛱄𛰙𛰃𛱄𛰙? qʰáta mayka tə́mtəm?
kata maika tumtum? Qu’en penses-tu?
What do you think?
And can you say it in Chinuk Wawa?
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