Author Archive

1872 fictional Montana CW from Grand Ronde (!) : “A Gold-Hunt on the Yellowstone”

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I always incline to get excited when a possible find of Chinuk Wawa in Montana pops up…

Early creole kapshwála(-), later creole ípsət(-), and CW grammar change

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A quite early metaphor in lower Columbia River creolized Chinuk Wawa seems to have been replaced by Grand Ronde creole speakers…

“Auf nach Alaska” part 2: translation

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Thanks to Norbert Franz for transcribing, translating, and commenting on the 1897 German description of Chinuk Wawa that I recently showed here!

Words for ‘White people’ in BC Chinook Wawa

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The adjective < Hwait > came into British Columbia CW relatively late from English…

For GRINs: Making sensible choices

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Sometimes you have to figure out which thing you know about Chinuk Wawa is relevant at the moment…

My CW vacation photos, part 2

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On board the Washington State ferry “Salish” this summer, I snapped this…

Screwball product names…

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Given the early settlement dates of south-central Washington State’s apple region, and the late ones for the north end, maybe there’s an understandable reason for apples to have been strongly associated with Indians.… Continue reading

Pigeon milk and pidgin under stress

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A party of Settler customers in a Northern California Chinese restaurant decide it’s funny to horse around with the difference between their own English and their host’s…

My CW vacation photos, part 1

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I was lucky enough to be invited to Whidbey Island, Washington for a summer vacation trip last month, and I took a few Chinuk Wawa-related tourist photos…

From the “I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Said This Out Loud” Dept.

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I Can’t Believe I’ve Never Said This Out Loud…