Chinook jargon

“ Jargon. A stink or smell; to stink. An invented word.
Humm opootsh, a skunk.
~Hunl'-kih~, adj. Chinook, HUNLKEKH. Curled or curly; knotted; crooked.
~Huy-huy~, n., v. Canadian French, HUI-HUI. A bargain or exchange; to barter or trade. Ex. Huyhuy la sille, change the saddle; huyhuy tumtum, to change one's mind. Mr. Andersen says this is a cant word of the Canadians, signifying a hasty exchange. Its origin has been suggested in oui oui, yes yes.
~Hwah~, or ~Hwah-wa~, interj. Denotes surprise or admiration; also earnestness.
~Hy'-ak~, adv., also used as imperative. Chinook, AI-AK. Swift; fast ”

“ With the exception of Franchere, whose short vocabulary was published by Mr. Gallatin, and Mr. Hale, all the writers mentioned by Ludwig who have given specimens of the Chinook language, have presented it in its Jargon form, more or less mixed with the neighboring ones, and with corruptions of French and English words. Mr. Swan, among others, has been led into this error. The place of his residence, Shoalwater Bay, is common ground of the Chinook and Chihalis Indians, and the degraded remnants of the two tribes are closely intermarried, and use both languages almost indifferently. ”

“ The principal contribution of the Chinooks to modern life has been the “Chinook jargon” which has become the trade language of the coast. It is a curious medley of words, and has been recently made the subject of an interesting study by Mr. Horatio Hale. [123]
The Sahaptins or Nez Percés, with their affiliated tribes, occupied the middle and upper valley of the Columbia and its affluents, and also the passes of the mountains. They were in contiguity with the Shoshonees and the Algonkin Blackfeet, thus holding an important position, intermediate between the eastern and the Pacific tribes. ”

“ As they had met with quite a few Indians during their sojourn at Circle and had since run into several Indian villages, the boys had acquired a fair vocabulary of the Chinook jargon; which is a simple universal language formed of a lot of heterogeneous words which every Indian and white man understands and by which they are able to hold intelligible though limited conversation. ”

“ The answers of the missionary, however, interested Colonel Ingersoll. He inquired about the “Chinook jargon,” that mongrel speech, made of English, Canadian French, Chinook and other Indian words, picked up from several tribes, and all softened and modified to suit deficiencies of pronunciation; the r changed into l, after the Chinese manner, and the grammar “made by chopping up words with a tomahawk.”
How could a man preach in a language where one word had to serve as noun, verb and adjective? ”

“ In the nouns derived from the French, the definite article le, la, has almost in every instance been incorporated into the word, and the same has in one or two instances been prefixed to nouns not of French origin. Besides the words created by direct onomatopoeia, there are quite a number which are really Indian, but have their origin in the similarity of sound to sense.
Dr. Scouler's analogy between the Nootkan and "Columbian," or Chinook, was founded on the following words:
English. Tlaoquatch and Nutka. Columbian. plenty, *aya, *haya. no, *wik, *wake. water, tchaak, chuck. ”

“ One of the things most striking in all the early traders was their ability to master language. Many of the officers of the Company were able to speak four languages. On the Pacific Coast, on account of the many Indian tongues differing much from each other, there grew up a language of commerce, known as the Chinook jargon. It was a most remarkable phenomenon; it is still largely in use. The tribe most familiar to the traders at the beginning of the century was the Chinooks. ”

“ Simmons has been justly termed the Daniel Boone of Washington Territory. Shaw was said to be the only man who could make or translate a speech in Chinook jargon offhand, as fast as a man could talk in his own vernacular. The Chinook jargon was a mongrel lingo, made up for trading purposes by the fur-traders from English, French, and Indian words, and had become the common speech between whites and Indians, and between Indians of different tribes and tongues. He greatly distinguished himself afterwards in the Indian war as lieutenant-colonel of volunteers. ”

“ This difference was well shown in the case of The Assiniboine and his wife, of whom excellent portraits are given in the Frontispiece.
19 Chinook is a jargon which was invented by the Hudson’s Bay Company for the purpose of facilitating communication with the different Indian tribes. These were so numerous, and their languages so various, that the traders found it impossible to learn them all, and adopted the device of a judicious mixture of English, French, Russian, and several Indian tongues, which has a very limited vocabulary ”

“ The number of words constituting the Jargon proper has been variously stated. Many formerly employed have become in great measure obsolete, while others have been locally introduced. Thus, at the Dalles of the Columbia, various terms are common which would not be intelligible at Astoria or on Puget Sound. ”

“ The word is neither Chinook nor Chihalis. Dr. Scouler gives nannanitch as Nootka and Columbian. It is possibly tbe former.
~Nau'-its~, adv. Chihalis, NOITSH. Mr. Hale gives this for off shore; on the stream. It means, according to Mr. Anderson, the sea-beach, and is not properly a Jargon word.
~Na-wit'-ka~, adv. Chinook, idem; Klikatat and Yakama, N'WITKA. Yes; certainly; yes indeed; to be sure. Nawitka wake nika kumtuks, indeed I don't know. In answer to a negative question, many Indians use it as affirming the negative. Ex. Wake mika nanitsh? did you not see [it] ? ”

“ There are a number of geographic features i n Oregon bearing the Chinook jargon word for death o r dead . They were s o named because they were Indian burial places . Several islands i n the Columbia River are named Memaloose . The most important i s near the south bank o f the river between The Dalles and Mosier . On i t i s buried Vic Trevitt , a prominent pioneer citizen and for many years a resident o f The Dalles . His monument i s easily seen from the mainland . Memaloose i s given b y Gibbs a s
memaloost , who says it is from the Chinook Indian word memalust , meaning to die . ”

“ With regard to the form into which this dictionary has been thrown, an explanation is necessary. The Jargon must in some degree be regarded as a written language, the orthography of which is English. In Mr. Hale's vocabulary alone has one more scientific been attempted, and of several other printed, and numerous manuscript dictionaries in circulation, M. Lionnet's alone, that I have met with, is according to the French. ”

“ Although no fixed system of spelling exists among them, I have therefore deemed it best to preserve for the Jargon words that which most distinctly represents the common English pronunciation; while for the Indian derivations, I have adopted that recommended by the Smithsonian Institution in collecting Indian vocabularies, using the Italian sounds of the vowels, and representing the guttural of the German ich by kh. This seemed the more proper, as the work would thereby be rendered of practical use, independent of what philological value it may possess. ”

“ Cultus tilikum, common or insignificant persons; huloima tilikum, strangers; nika tilikum, my relations. It is also used to signify a tribe or band.
~Til'-i-kum-má-ma~, n. (Hale.) Chinook, TLKAMÁMA. A father. The word is not in use in Jargon.
~Till~, or ~Tull~, adj., n. English, TIRE. Tired; heavy; weight; a weight. Hyas till nika, I am very tired; kansih till okook, how much does that weigh; mamook till, to weigh.
~Tin'-tin~, n. By onoma. A bell; a musical instrument. Mamook tintin, to ring a bell. Among the Indians round the Hudson Bay Company's posts, the hours were thus known ”

“ Of local use; the Chinook ALKI being more common.
~Wind~, or ~Win~, n. English, idem. Wind. The winds are often known by the country from which they blow; as, for instance, on the Columbia, an easterly is a Walla-walla wind; at the mouth of the river, a southerly is a Tilamooks wind, &c. Breath. Ex. Halo wind, out of breath; dead.
Y. ~Yah'-hul~, n. Chinook, YAKHUL; EUEKHOL. A name. Not in general use.
~Yáh-ka~, or ~Yok'-ka~, pron. Chinook, YÁKA. He; his; him; she; it, &c.
~Yah'-kis-ilt'h~, adj. Chinook, YAKISILT'H. Sharp. Mr. Anderson gives as the original, "cutting." ”

“ But though it must be admitted that astonishingly much can be expressed in the Jargon by its very simple and few means, a European mind, while bewildered in the entangled jumble of the Chinook language, cannot help missing a great many nuances in the Jargon, where thoughts are reduced to their simplest formula and where everything is left out that is not strictly necessary to the least exacting minds. ”

“ Chinook, TOWAKH. Bright; shining; light.
~Tsee~, adj. Chinook, idem. Sweet.
~Tsee'-pie~, v. Kalapuya. To miss a mark; to mistake one's road; to make a blunder in speaking; to err or blunder. Tseepie wayhut, to take the wrong road.
~Tshi'-ke~, adv. (Hale.) Quære u. d. Directly; soon. Not Jargon.
~Tshis~, adj. Chinook, idem. Cold. Not in common use.
~Tsi-át-ko~, n. Chihalis, Nisqually, &c., idem; Clatsop, ÉCHIATKU. A nocturnal demon, much feared by the Indians. The Skagits give this name to the "Couteaux," a tribe of Indians on Frazer River, of whom they stand in like awe. ”

“ Chinook, ITAKAMONAK. A hundred. It is, like ten, combined with the digits; as, icht, moxt, klone takamonak, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, &c. Hyas takamonak, or tahtlelum takamonak, a thousand.
~Tuk'-wil-la~, or ~To'-kwil-la~, n. Kalapuya. The hazel-nut; nuts generally.
~Tum'-tum~, n. By onoma., from the pulsations of the heart. (Anderson.) The heart; the will; opinion. Mahsh tumtum, to give orders, mamook tumtum, to make up one's mind; mamook closhe tumtum, to make friends or peace; sick tumtum, grief; jealousy; moxt tumtum nika, I am undecided, i.e., I have two wills. ”

“ French, PUER, to stink. Or from the sound often uttered expressive of disgust at a bad smell. A skunk.
~Poh~, v. Chinook, idem. By onoma. Mamook poh, to blow out or extinguish, as a candle.
~Po'-lak-lie~, n., adj. Chinook, POLAKLI. Night; darkness; dark. Tenas polaklie, evening; hyas polaklie, late at night; very dark; sit-kum polaklie, midnight (literally, the half night) .
~Po'-lal-lie~, n. Quære French, POUDRE. Gunpowder; dust; sand. Polallie illahie, sandy ground. The word is certainly neither Chinook nor Chihalis.
~Poo~, n. By onoma. (Hale) . The sound of a gun. ”

“ Chinook (by onoma.) , HOKHHOKH. To cough.
~Hó-ku-melh~, v. Chihalis, idem. To gather; to glean, as grain. Of local use.
~Hóol-hool~, n. Chinook, KHOLKHOL; Klikatat. KHOILKHOIL. A mouse. Eyas hoolhool, a rat.
~House~, n. English. A house. Mahkook house, a store; Boston house, an American-built house, as distinguished from a lodge.
~Howh~, interj. HAUKH. Turn to; hurry.
~How'-kwutl~, adv. Chinook, HAUKATLH. An expression of inability. Ex.
Howkwutl nika klatawa? how could I go?
~Hul-lel'~, v., n. Chinook, idem. To shake. Used with the verb mamook, as, mamook hullel, it becomes active. ”

“ These hymns have grown out of Christian work among the Indians. They repeat often, because they are intended chiefly for Indians who cannot read, and hence must memorize them; but as soon as they learn to read, they sing in English. It will be noticed that often two syllables must be sung to one note, as in the first word in No. 9, nika is sung to the first note of "Happy Land," and in No. 2, in the first line, skookum is sung to one note. ”

“ Chinook, MALAGH. Tinware; crockery; earthenware.
~Mal-i-éh, v. French, MARIER. To marry.
~Ma'-ma~, n. English, MAMMA. A mother.
~Mam'-ook~, v. a. Nootka, MAMUK. To make; to do; to work. It is the general active verb, and is used largely in combination with nouns and other verbs; as, mamook chahko, make to come, fetch; mamook kelipai, bring or send back; mamook isick, to paddle; mamook illahee, to dig.
~Man~, n. English, idem. A man; the male of any animal. Ex. Man moolock, a buck elk; tenas man, a young man or boy.
~Mél-a-kwa~, or ~Mál-a-kwa~, n. French, MARANGOUIN. (Anderson.) A mosquito. ”

“ Nootka, MAUITSH (Hale) ; Nittinat, MOITSH, a deer; Nootka, MOOWATSH, a bear (Jewitt) . A deer; venison. Frequently used to signify a wild animal; as, huloima mowitch, a strange or different kind of beast. The meaning given in Jewitt's book is probably a misprint. Like moolock, an elk, the word is found in the Koquilth of Humboldt Bay.
~Múck-a-muck~, n., v. Quære u. d. MAKAMAK (Hale) . To eat; to bite; food. Muckamuck chuck, &c., to drink water, or other liquid. Neither Chinook nor Chihalis. Mr. Anderson considers it an invented word.
~Mus'-ket~, n. English, idem. A gun or musket. ”

“ Nootka. The Scilla esculenta,—a bulbous root used for food by the Indians. Jewitt gives CHAMASS as the Nootka for fruit, also for sweet, or pleasant to the taste.
~Kám-ooks~, n. Chinook, KLKÁBOKES. A dog. Kahkwa kamooks, like a dog; beastly.
~Ka-mo'-suk~, n. Chinook, idem. Beads. Tyee kamosuk (chief beads) , the large blue glass beads.
~Kap-su-ál-la~. Quære u. d. To steal. Kapsualla klatawa, to steal away; kapsualla mamook, to do secretly.
~Kát-suk~, or ~Kót-suk~, n. Chinook, idem. The middle or centre of any thing.
~Kau'-py~, n. English. Coffee.
~Ka-wák~, v. Chihalis, KAUAK. To fly. ”

“ An oyster. Chet-woot. A black bear. Chick-a-min, n., adj. Iron; metal; metallic.
T'kope chikamin, silver; pil chickamin, gold or copper.
Chickamin lope, wire; a chain. Chik-chik. A wagon or cart. Chil-chil. Buttons. Chitsh, n. A grandmother. Chope, n. A grandfather. Cho-tub, n. A flea. Chuck, n. Water; a river or stream.
Salt chuck, the sea.
Skookum chuck, a rapid.
Solleks chuck, a rough sea.
Chuck chahko or kalipi, the tide rises or falls; saghilli and keekwillie chuck, high and low tide. Chuck-kiu. To kick. Close. See Kloshe. Cly, v. To cry. Cole, adj. Cold. ”