Author Archive

A, I, O and sometimes Y: Even more about writing PNW indigenous words weird

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I’ve found even more examples supporting my observation that old-time spellings of Chinook Jargon words often wrote < i > (or < y >) when they meant [á].

Some broad ideas about “Tenino”

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The Umatilla Sahaptin dictionary is a treasure.

Is CJ “wahpoos” actually ‘Snake TRIBE’?

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The earliest, and effectively the only, occurrence of “wahpoos” as a word for a snake in Chinuk Wawa is found in George Coombs Shaw’s 1909 dictionary, published in Seattle.

[laláng] and/or [laláŋ]: French AND English influence

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Today’s piece is dedicated to friend of Chinuk Wawa and Francophone extraordinaire, George “La” Lang 😁

Chinook Writing tie-in: 1st Mass celebrated in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh language, 2021

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I credit Leo Barker for this find.

1898, WA: Shooting the Rapids of the Quinault

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“Trade language”, as Chinuk Wawa has often been called, also means exchange of services, as well as goods…

Permanent contact: pidgin/creole Chinook Jargon has always been a fast-evolving language

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Chinook Jargon has always been a rapidly changing language.

Some broad ideas about “wapsina”

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In a Chinook Jargon invitation, we once saw a mysterious word “wapsina“…

1871, BC: Kwong Lee and Co. vs. Yong Lee

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Another intercultural language that was common in British Columbia before Chinook Jargon was Chinese Pidgin English (CPE).

Language Log and a dumb “coyote”

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A highly reputable linguistics blog made a boo-boo by quoting someone else…