Saying qʰáta ‘how’ to express ‘why’ in CW looks to be modeled on Chinookan languages’ patterns.

In the middle of BC frontier times, Matthew Macfie wrote “Vancouver Island and British Columbia: Their History, Resources, and Prospects” (London: published by the delightful and Oxford-becommaed Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green,… Continue reading →

We’ve discussed blankets plenty in this space…

On Memorial Day, the US holiday devoted to remembrance, let’s get into your thoughts.

PART 5 of this mini-series on CW place names from McArthur’s important book picks up with a name that might sound as if it were from Florida or Ohio…

An idiomatic phrase that I think should be taught more…

It occurred to me to wonder this.

My previous comments about the uncertain gender of Victoria Howard’s monstrous antagonist in her tale “Just One His Leg, Just One His Arm” lead me to talk about sexual behavior.

There’s much more to be said about verbal “aspect” in Chinuk Wawa … here’s a bit …

The single important fact to stress is, we’ve known almost nothing about the late-1700s “Nootka Jargon”!