The Chinook language
History and development
The Chinook Jargon was a major pidgin trade language based on Chinook, the Penutian language of a prominent Indian tribe of what is now the Washington coast. Though this pidgin almost certainly existed in some form in pre-Columbian times it truly took off after the arrival of Europeans put increased communication pressures on the linguistically diverse tribes of the west. In the 1800's the Chinook Jargon was spoken by some 100,000 people, and there are native elders in British Columbia and Washington state who still remember some of the jargon, even though the Chinook language itself had died out by 1930 (Lewis, Redish – Native Languages.org).
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there were dozens of Chinook Jargon dictionaries on the market. However, authors often struggled to represent the language as best they could by using the French and English orthographies of the times. Many of these dictionary’s and vocabulary lesson books still exist today but are not always accurate or are a full representation of the language since there are so few speakers left.
By the end of the nineteenth century Chinook Jargon was in extensive use throughout the Pacific Northwest. In British Columbia it was used extensively on the Coast and in the South, especially along the Fraser River. European settlers learned it and used it to communicate with native people. Missionaries gave sermons in Chinook Jargon and published hymns, prayers, and catechisms in it. In 1890, Roman Catholic missionaries created a writing system for Chinook Jargon by adapting the French DuPloyer shorthand system. This writing system, referred to as wawa writing, was also used for English, Latin, and Shuswap. In Kamloops, a newspaper called the Kamloops Wawa was published in Chinook Jargon using the wawa writing (Yinka Déné Language Institute.org).
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries there were dozens of Chinook Jargon dictionaries on the market. However, authors often struggled to represent the language as best they could by using the French and English orthographies of the times. Many of these dictionary’s and vocabulary lesson books still exist today but are not always accurate or are a full representation of the language since there are so few speakers left.
By the end of the nineteenth century Chinook Jargon was in extensive use throughout the Pacific Northwest. In British Columbia it was used extensively on the Coast and in the South, especially along the Fraser River. European settlers learned it and used it to communicate with native people. Missionaries gave sermons in Chinook Jargon and published hymns, prayers, and catechisms in it. In 1890, Roman Catholic missionaries created a writing system for Chinook Jargon by adapting the French DuPloyer shorthand system. This writing system, referred to as wawa writing, was also used for English, Latin, and Shuswap. In Kamloops, a newspaper called the Kamloops Wawa was published in Chinook Jargon using the wawa writing (Yinka Déné Language Institute.org).
Chinook language chart of some known words
English Chinook Jargon Origin of Word
One Ikt From Chinook Ixt
Two Mokst From Chinook Môkst
Three Klone From Chinook Łun
Four Lakit From Chinook Lakt
Five Kwinnum From Chinook Kwanm
Man Man From English
Woman Klootchman Combining Nootka Łóóc, 'female,' with English man
Sun Sun From English
Moon Moon From English
Water Chuck From Nootka Ča'úk
One Ikt From Chinook Ixt
Two Mokst From Chinook Môkst
Three Klone From Chinook Łun
Four Lakit From Chinook Lakt
Five Kwinnum From Chinook Kwanm
Man Man From English
Woman Klootchman Combining Nootka Łóóc, 'female,' with English man
Sun Sun From English
Moon Moon From English
Water Chuck From Nootka Ča'úk
Click below to listen to a recording of a chinook speaker from 1952
pronunciations and parts of speech
Native American languages found in the Pacific Northwest contain sounds that are not found in English leading to two main varieties of Chinook Jargon: native and European. The native languages that contributed words to Chinook Jargon had a number of sounds that were unfamiliar to and difficult for Europeans. These included the ejectives (glottalized consonants), the voiceless lateral fricative (often written lh or hl), and the lateral affricates (often written tl and dl). When native people learned Chinook Jargon from other native people, they generally preserved these sounds. However, Europeans usually had great difficulty pronouncing these sounds and changed them into more familiar sounds. In this way, there arose a phonetically simplified version of Chinook Jargon that did not contain sounds that were unfamiliar or difficult for speakers of European languages (Yinka Déné Language Institute.org).
One of the more interesting sounds not found in English is that of the kl sound. This is a consonant in the Chinook language and is pronounced using the barred- L.
The barred-L sound represented as an “ł” in the international phonetic alphabet, is not found in English, but is found in many other languages, including Welsh. For some Chinook Jargon speakers, the barred-L became a “kl” at the beginning of words and an “l” in the middle of words. There are many alternate pronunciations for the barred-L including a ‘tl’ sound where the “t” and “l” are pronounced together. Other speakers produce the exact sound as they would in English for a “kl” or “cl” as in “clean” or “climb” (Holton 23, Yinka Déné Language Institute.org).
Recommended reading for further guides to Chinook pronunciation and language: “Chinook Jargon – The Hidden Language of the Northwest Coast” by Jim Holton. ( Click here for link to online version and were to buy).
One of the more interesting sounds not found in English is that of the kl sound. This is a consonant in the Chinook language and is pronounced using the barred- L.
The barred-L sound represented as an “ł” in the international phonetic alphabet, is not found in English, but is found in many other languages, including Welsh. For some Chinook Jargon speakers, the barred-L became a “kl” at the beginning of words and an “l” in the middle of words. There are many alternate pronunciations for the barred-L including a ‘tl’ sound where the “t” and “l” are pronounced together. Other speakers produce the exact sound as they would in English for a “kl” or “cl” as in “clean” or “climb” (Holton 23, Yinka Déné Language Institute.org).
Recommended reading for further guides to Chinook pronunciation and language: “Chinook Jargon – The Hidden Language of the Northwest Coast” by Jim Holton. ( Click here for link to online version and were to buy).
Page Sources:
Lewis, Orrin, and Laura Redish. Native American Language Net: Preserving and Promoting Indigenous American Indian Languages. Native Languages of the Americas, 1998-2015. Web.
Holton, Jim. "Chinook Jargon - The Hidden Language of the Pacific Northwest." Wawa Press - Chinook Jargon. Wawa Press, July 2004. Web.
Yinka Déné Language Institute. "Chinook Jargon." Chinook Jargon. WDLI, 2012- 2015. Web
Photos:
On the beach: https://www.loc.gov/item/90707591/
Chinook woman: http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/loc/id/425/rec/1
Lewis, Orrin, and Laura Redish. Native American Language Net: Preserving and Promoting Indigenous American Indian Languages. Native Languages of the Americas, 1998-2015. Web.
Holton, Jim. "Chinook Jargon - The Hidden Language of the Pacific Northwest." Wawa Press - Chinook Jargon. Wawa Press, July 2004. Web.
Yinka Déné Language Institute. "Chinook Jargon." Chinook Jargon. WDLI, 2012- 2015. Web
Photos:
On the beach: https://www.loc.gov/item/90707591/
Chinook woman: http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/loc/id/425/rec/1