NW CA Jargon loans, meaning drift, and violence
Chinook Jargon was never a very big deal in northwestern California, but it has made an impact.
Author Archive
2 Comments
Pushing the boundaries of Chinook Writing: How to write (more) Chinese
(Image credit: ChinaDaily.com.cn) Regular readers of my site probably recall a remarkable old Chinuk Wawa article showing how to count in southern Chinese. (See “Shaina Man Mamuk Kansih Kakwa“.)
Mystery: tal’-is
talʹ-is ‘dear (beloved)’ is a word that caught my attention in JK Gill’s 1909 dictionary of Chinook Jargon. Because it’s completely mysterious.
How to say “Halloween” in Chinuk Wawa
You didn’t know how to say “Halloween” in Chinook Jargon? I have a treat for you.
ikta-qʰata?
From the Grand Ronde Tribes dictionary: ikta-qʰata ‘What’s wrong?, what’s the matter?; something gone wrong, fouled up, haywire.
Did Chinook Jargon ‘pish’ = all marine creatures?
File under Chinook Jargon expert witness, ethnoichthyology, ethnozoology, Chinook Jargon translator, etc.:
The life & poems of Theo. Winthrop
One of the most popular Chinook Jargon-related books ever published was Theodore Winthrop’s 1863 “The Canoe and the Saddle“. (Read a fine-looking copy of it for free at that link.) Titled in the… Continue reading
Oregon: There & back in 1877 (& again)
Here’s someone who monetized his travelogues to beat the band! Eventual Oregon State University founder Wallis Nash published not one but two books about his visits from England to Oregon. And he dedicated one… Continue reading
Mock Chinook Jargon
The other day, I shared a couple of genuine Chinuk Wawa letters from the far northwest corner of Washington State, the Bellingham area. Today, from the same region but instead continuing my sporadic… Continue reading
Bill Kaihumua weds a queen of the Quiniaults
The intersection of Chinook Jargon and Hawaiian Pidgin English? What language did the blissfully wedded couple talk at home? The Hawaiian Gazette of November 26, 1907 reports (page 8) on the nuptials of Maggie… Continue reading