Chinook Jargon: Encyclopedia - Chinook Jargon

Chinook Jargon

Chinook Jargon was a trade language (or pidgin) of the Pacific Northwest, which spread quickly up the West Coast from Oregon, through Washington, British Columbia, and as far as Alaska. It is related to, but not the same as the indigenous language of the Chinook people, upon which much of its vocabulary is based. Most books written in English still use the term Chinook Jargon, but today the term Chinook Wawa is preferred by linguists working with the preservation of a creolized form of the language used in Grand Ronde, Oregon.

Jargon was originally derived from a great variety of indigenous words as a contact language for the relatively isolated native tribes of the Pacific Northwest, many of whom had very distinct local languages. After European contact, it also gained English language and French language elements, as well as some from other languages brought to the area by immigrants from other parts of the world. Many of its words are still in common use in the Western United States and Canada. The total number of Jargon words in published lexicons only numbered in the hundreds, and so it was easy to learn. It has its own grammatical system, but a very simple one that, like its word list, was easy to learn. In the Diocese of Kamloops, British Columbia hundreds of speakers also learned to read and write the Jargon (Wawa) using the Duployan Shorthand - as a result, Jargon also had its own literature (mostly translated scripture and classical works, and some local news and diaries).

Chinook Jargon - Origins

There is some controversy about the origin of the Jargon, but all agree that its glory days were during the 19th Century. During this era many dictionaries were published in order to help settlers interact with the First Nations people already living there. The old settler families' heirs in the Pacific Northwest sent communiques to each other, stylishly composed entirely in The Chinuk. Many residents of the British Columbia city of Vancouver chose to speak Chinook Jargon as their first language, even using it at home in preference to English. Among the first Europeans to use Chinook Jargon were traders, trappers, voyageurs and Catholic missionaries. Polynesian and Chinese immigrants made much use of it as well; in some places Hawai'ian immigrants married into the First Nations families, and the Chinook Jargon naturally became the first language in their households (as was the case in any mixed-blood household). During the Gold Rush, Chinook Jargon was used in British Columbia by gold prospectors and Royal Engineers. As industry developed, Chinook Jargon was often used by cannery workers and hop pickers of diverse ethnic background. Loggers, fishermen and ranchers incorporated it in their jargon.

A heavily creolized form of Chinook Jargon (Chinuk Wawa) is still spoken as a first language by some residents of Oregon State, much as the Métis language Michif is still spoken in Canada. Hence, the Wawa is now a creole language. There is evidence that in some communities (e.g. around Fort Vancouver) the Jargon had become creolized by the early 1800s.

Some believe that the Jargon (without European words) existed prior to European contact. Others believe that the Jargon was formed within the great cultural cauldron of this contact. Current opinion holds that a trade language of some kind probably existed prior to European contact, which morphed into the more familiar Chinook Jargon in the late 1700s. Many words in Chinook Jargon clearly had different meanings and pronunciations at various points in history, and continued to evolve into interesting regional variants. A few scholars have tried to improve the spelling, but since it was mostly a spoken language this is difficult (and many users tend to prefer the sort of spelling they use in English).

Chinook Jargon - Usage

Pacific Northwest Coast historians are well acquainted with the Chinook Jargon, in name if not in the ability to understand it. For everyone else, the fact that Chinook Jargon ever existed is relatively unknown, perhaps due to the great influx of newcomers into the influential urban areas. However, the memory of this language is not likely to fade entirely. Many words are still used and enjoyed throughout Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. Oldtimers still dimly remember it, although in their youth, speaking this language was discouraged as slang. Nonetheless, it was the working language in many towns and workplaces, notably in ranching country and in canneries on the British Columbia Coast where it was necessary in the strongly multiethnic workforce. Place names throughout this region bear Jargon names and words are preserved in various rural industries such as logging and fishing.

The Chinook Jargon was multicultural and functional. There was no Official Chinook Jargon, although the past (and present) publishers of dictionaries would have had you believe otherwise. To those familiar with it, Chinook Jargon is often considered a wonderful cultural inheritance. For this reason, and because Jargon has not quite died, enthusiasts actively promote the revival of the language in everyday western speech.

An art installation featuring Chinook Jargon can be viewed on the Seawall inr Yaletown, in Vancouver, British Columbia (at the foot of Davie Street).

Chinook Jargon - Vocabulary

Jargon placenames are found throughout the Pacific Northwest and Mountain States.

A few Jargon words:

• Nika: I, mine or anything first-person
• hyak: fast, swift
• hyas: big, important; hyas tyee - king, high chief
• kultus: bad, worthless, inconsequential, unimportant
• memaloose: dead, dead body or death
• cayuse: a horse or pony, in some areas also a coyote; the variant cayoosh is found in British Columbia and has special meaning there as a bloodline of Indian mountain pony. Originally from the Spanish caballo
• hyas pusspuss: cougar (was used on the T.V. show "Beachcombers"). The word swaawa (from St'at'imcets and Nlaka'pamux was used in BC)
• hum opoots: skunk (lit. "stinky butt")
• olallie: berry
• lakalat: carrot
• pepa: paper, book, something written
• skookum: big/strong, powerful, awe-inspiring; monster or monstrous (obsolete). Used as a verb auxiliary for "can" (to be able) or "powerful at". This word remains a common component of English for long-time residents, for whom it means something strongly-built, or someone genuine, honest, reliable. It can also simply mean "impressive", as in "That's a pretty skookum bicycle you've got there!" (British Columbia, Interior region).
• high muckamuck(s): the chief, the boss, management (modern usage). In modern blue-collar usage, this word is one of many mildly sarcastic slang terms used to refer to bosses and upper management (British Columbia, Interior region). Var. "High Mucketymuck".
• chuck: water. This word is still well remembered, though less frequently used (except by weathermen giving sailing reports and marine forecasts). Saltchuck: the ocean or any saltwater inlet. Skookumchuck: rapids, whitewater, rough water.
• tillikum: friend; also means people, kin
• tyee: leader, chief, a really big chinook salmon (Campbell River)
• tenas: child, small
• chee chako: newcomer (Alaska, Yukon and norhthwestern B.C. in particular
• saghalie: up, high place, above
• saghalie tyee: God. This term was coined by evangelists and as a result of its use saghalie also came to mean "sacred" and "holy".
• potlatch: a ceremony of giving away or destroying one's possessions to gain social status. In Chinook Jargon, the word potlatch could mean simply to "give" or "a gift".
• Al-ki: by and by, i.e. the future or near future (the state motto of Washington and a neighborhood in West Seattle)
• Klahanie: Outside, outdoors. This becamse the name of a longtime popular program on the CBC's TV service.

See also

• Endangered language

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Chinook Jargon", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki