dret hayu masi kʰapa chup henli / nawitka ayu naika wawa mirsi kopa olman hinri! Among the many reasons why the following document is perhaps the most valuable item ever written in Chinuk… Continue reading
If you like puzzles, read on.
The Washington Territorial seal (not coat of arms) (image credit: State Symbols USA) A helpful editorial suggestion for a new, improved (because humorous) use of Chinuk Wawa in official symbols of the new state… Continue reading
One page after declaring the fur trade extinct on the coast, Geo. Gibbs (1877) tries to explain why nayka tilixam is such a common expression among Native people, and by extension among all Chinuk… Continue reading
There are tremendous numbers of of loanwords into Nɬeʔkepmxcín (“Thompson River Salish”)… (Image credit: Wikipedia) Many came from the neighbouring tribal languages Halq’eméylem to the west, Nsilxcn to the east, and Nicola Athabaskan… Continue reading
Way back in the “frontier” era, when Oregon was a young state, you could publish an entire newspaper article in Chinook Jargon blended with the West Coast variety of Chinese Pidgin English.
A book that collects early pioneer memories tells us something noteworthy about the development of Chinuk Wawa.
I betcha the Cree one is more or less pidginized…
As we’re finding to be frequent among the modern Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest interior, Nsilxcən Salish carries many, many indications of a substantial contact history with Métis people’s speech. Today I’m… Continue reading
Among the most famed “pioneers” was Captain Oliver Cromwell Applegate Sr. (1845-1938).
