Chinook language

“ At the Dalles is the upper village of the Chinooks. At the Shutes, five miles above, is the lower village of the Wallawallas. One of the missionaries, Mr. Lee, learns the Chinook language, and the other, Mr. Perkins, the Wallawalla; and their custom is to repair on Sabbath days each to his own people, and teach them the Christian religion. The Chinooks flatten their heads more, and are more stupid than any other tribe on the Columbia. ”

“ In Chinook, as we have seen, “the big table” is “the-table its-bigness”; in Tibetan the same idea may be expressed by “the table of bigness,” very much as we may say “a man of wealth” instead of “a rich man.”
But are there not certain ideas that it is impossible to render except by way of such and such parts of speech? What can be done with the “to” of “he came to the house”? Well, we can say “he reached the house” and dodge the preposition altogether, giving the verb a nuance that absorbs the idea of local relation carried by the “to.” ”

“ 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? ”

“ When we read the dying expression of Stonewall Jackson—"Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees"—we realize what a beautiful language English is, when kept beautiful in its simplicity. So when Chief Qualchien in a quarter of an hour's time faced dark extinction, he cried out in Chinook jargon a plea that reverberated in the recollection of an American soldier all his life as having the profoundest pathos of any sounds he ever heard. ”

“ They are keen traders and sharp at bargaining, and no white man outwits these natives. Conversation was carried on with them in the Chinook jargon, the language compounded by Hudson Bay Company traders from French, English, Russian, and the dialect of the Chinook tribe once living at the mouth of the Columbia River. The Indians from California to the Arctic Ocean understand more or less of this jargon, and in Oregon and Washington Territory Chinook is a most necessary accomplishment. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Chinooks 'in language ... resemble the Clatsops, Cathlamahs, and indeed all the people near the mouth of the Columbia.' Id., p. 426. 'The Chinooks, Clatsops, Wahkiacums and Cathlamahs ... resembled each other in person, dress, language.' Irving's Astoria, pp. 85, 336. Chinooks, Clatsops, Cathlamux, Wakicums, Wacalamus, Cattleputles, Clatscanias, Killimux, Moltnomas, Chickelis, ... resemble one another in language. Ross' Adven., pp. 87-88. 'The Chinook language is spoken by all the nations from the mouth of the Columbia to the falls.' Franchère's Nar., p. ”

“ 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. ”

“ From what has been said, it will be seen that while Chinook does not rise to the dignity of a language, it is an important factor in every-day life as it exists on the northern Pacific coast. The Indians of that region are peculiar. They get their food easily by fishing, hunting, and gathering the wild roots and berries of the woods. Nomadic bodies hang about the towns and settlements, earning money from the whites in various ways. In a word, they procure their living too readily to develop habits of industry and thrift. ”

“ 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. ”

“ While often you'll find a great many villages that speak the same language, and while you'll find in most of the villages a number of people that can talk Chinook, it's nevertheless the fact that stowed away in bays and inlets all along this coast are little tribes that speak a language that is not understood by any other tribe. ”

“ 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 ”

“ LANGUAGES. ONE great difficulty in the missionary work is the number of languages used by the people. The Clallams have one, the Twanas another; about one sixth of the people on the reservation had originally come from Squaxin, and spoke the Nisqually; the Chinook jargon is an inter-tribal language, which is spoken by nearly all the Indians, except the very old and very young, as far south as Northern California, north into Alaska, west to the Pacific Ocean, and east to Western Idaho. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Chinook, a language or jargon, the existence of which few people living east of the Rocky Mountains know of, is the sole medium of communication between the whites and Indians upon the northwest coast of America, from the Columbia River to Alaska, including the tribes scattered over Washington Territory and Oregon. ”

“ Pidgin-English cannot be described, as is often done, as English with Chinese pronunciation and Chinese grammar, because in that case we should expect Beach-la-mar to be quite different from it, as the substratum there would be Melanesian, which in many ways differs from Chinese, and further we should expect the Mauritius Creole to be French with Malagasy pronunciation and Malagasy grammar, and on the other hand the Oregon trade language to be Chinook with English pronunciation and English grammar—but in none of these cases would this description tally with the obvious facts. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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] ? ”

“ Angels and men before it fall
And devils fear and fly.”
The number and varied dialects of the Indian languages of the Coast were such that very few white men ever tried to learn them. Of the An-ko-me-num language alone there are at present at least five or six different dialects.
The Chinook jargon, or Oregon trade language, as it is sometimes called, is really not a language, but is a composite of several languages.
The first trading posts on the Coast were at Nootka, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and among the Chinook Indians on the Columbia River. ”

“ 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 ”

“ One finds it in perfective tenses, in intensive or frequentative verbs, in the plural, and in collectives. In most cases it is a reduplication of syllables, but a lengthening of vowels is not rare and the reinforcement of consonants is also found. In Chinook, for instance, the emotional words, both diminutive and augmentative, are expressed by increasing the stress of consonants. It is, of course, also well known that in Semitic the intensive radical of verbs is regularly formed by a reduplication of consonants. To a stem qatal, e.g., answers an intensive: Eth. ”

“ Kane's Wand., p. 279. 'Their original language, now almost extinct ... having affinity to that of the Carriers, of North Caledonia, and the Umpqua Indians of Southern Oregon.' Lord's Nat., vol. ii., pp. 249-50.
[III'-44] 'The language of the bands farther up the river departed more and more widely from the Chinook proper, so that the lower ones could not have understood the others without an interpreter.' Gibbs' Chinook Vocab., p. 4. 'The vocabulary given by Dr. Scouler as "Chenook" is almost altogether Chihalis. His "Cathlascon" ... is Chinook.' Id., p. 5. ”

“ 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, 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. ”

“ 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." ”