Klahowya kopa Chinook Wawa
Piahtzum Skookumklahwayhut

(Welcome to the Chinook Jargon Electronic Information Superhighway)

Kahta Mamook Kopa Chinook Wawa - How To Speak Chinook
(A Chinook Phrasebook)

My own Chinook site is less purist than Jeff's, as I am interested in the adaption of the jargon for modern use, and am ready to try and coin terms and usages, rather than regarding it as fixed in the past.  Also, while it is true that the jargon was mainly a language of the native peoples of the Northwest Coast and Columbia-Fraser Plateau, it had many regional variations and was also widely spoken by non-natives in the region.  The Gibbs lexicon is held to be the most authentic, which is why it is central to Jeff's site, but the other more commercial lexicons - Shaw et al. - reflect the jargon as it was learned and used by non-native speakers, and also contain the regional variations and later mutations that are not found in Gibbs.  The jargon was in the process of becoming a language, but it was not rigid and must inherently be considered difficult to codify.  In its later years, and among non-natives, it took the form of a patois mixed in with English ideom, although this mixture contained the syntax of jargon usage as well as vocabulary.  In terms of its modern revival - one of the nominal goals of this site - I see no reason to adhere strictly to how the historical jargon proper was spoken in its core areas.

This page is permanently under reconstruction; this page's original content follows below but a new directory and various subpages are in the process of being established and are accessible via the following links (if underlined):

I've reconsidered the original form of this site, and have decided it would be more useful as a tutorial an reference rather than as a straight abecdiary to make easier to learn the jargon for anyone interested in doing so. I've tried to organize the straight dictionary definitions in the manner of a phrasebook,with words and phrases arranged in handy categories for easy reference and memorization (there is necessarily some repitition between categories, as you will discover). There will also be several examples of texts in Chinook for further study, including the beginnings of the Chinook literature that was emerging in the late 19th Century and whatever historical documents in Chinook I can find (items not yet hyperlinked indicates what's to come). I have also provided lists of French and English loanwords so you'll know when you don't have to learn new words (although you should learn to pronounce them a little differently).

Chinook is easy to learn, there being only about 800 words in the entire lexicon - actually as many as most people use in English - and almost no grammar except for a few conventions concerning word order. It was said that by imaginative combinations and compounding it was possible to express nearly anything in Chinook - potentially very eloquently. Chinook has a very pungent straightforwardness (being spoken by people who generally said what they meant) that can also be very emotional.s equally very matter-of-fact and business-like (it was born as a trade language, after all). Its major drawback as a modern lingua franca is the absence of words for modern objects and concepts, some of which it may be possible to create terms for by compounding or by fresh borrowings from the jargon's parent languages - Chinook, Wakashan, Salish, Yakima, English, French, and other native languages of the North Coast and the Plateau - and potentially Hawaiian,Cantonese, Russian, Mechouf (Metis), Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish/Norwegian, and other historic languages of the frontier. Chinook was by nature highly accretionary and dynamic in its vocabulary, so the adaption of words from the same sources (or in the same spirit) for modern usage seems legitimate as well as necessary. Chinook was used flexibly with English (and any other speaker's own language), so it's also OK to use a word you know if you don't know the Chinook for something, or to speak English peppered wth Chinook words. I've created a small list of invented term and phrases for the modern era and will welcome auggestions and improvements towards its development and application (the "New Chinook" section). It must be remembered that Chinook was for a long time a non-native language as much as a native one, and that its essential context was intercultural. Everyone should feel welcome learning it and using it and helping come up with new words and usages suitable for modern times - especially if you live in BC or the Pacific Northwest. I welcome e-mail in Chinook, and will endeavour to respond in kind.

Bibliography

Other Language Sites

I am hoping to locate other linguistic resources for learning languages on the Web.  If you know of any, please let me know at michael.cleven1955@gmail.com.