Upper Chehalis Salish in relation to ChInuk Wawa

Sun Apr 11 03:17:29 UTC 1999

LhaXayEm,

>From M. Dale Kinkade's "Upper Chehalis Dictionary", University of Montana
Press, 1991.

Because a majority of you have not seen this book, I would like to provide
a list of ChInuk Wawa words that became used in Upper Chehalis, spoken a
bit inland from the Columbia and from the bays.  "Chehalis" is often cited
as the source for some of the words in CJ itself, so maybe I can also
attach a list of those I've found which look like they originated in this
Salish language.

Please note that Kinkade includes an exhaustive range of sources for U Ch
including many older ones not written in current phonetics (or any at all
:-) in some cases), I'm typing these in ASCII approximations.

Starting on page 339, Kinkade provides an extensive list of loanwords, and
the following appear to have come from ChInuk Wawa, according to him; his
reference source(s) for ChInuk aren't entirely discernible to me, by the
way:

		TABLE I.  WORDS "FROM CHINUK WAWA"

* 7apls			"apples"
* 7aqa			"now, then"
* c'ikc'ik		"wagon"
* ham'-ma (maybe)	"hammer"
* hikchm		"handkerchief"
* kaps (probably)	"caps (for a gun)"
* kapu			"coat, jacket"
* kikwulikwut		"skirt, 'under-dress'"
* kincho:ch		"Englishman"
* kwatE			"quarter"
* kwishu		"pig"
* kwopi	(probably)	"coffee"
* shkwu:tn (probably)	"dress" [U.Cheh. prefix sh-; suffix -(t)n]
* slahal		"bone-game; slahal; play the bone-game"
* lakamin		"soup, gravy"
* laklash		"garage, barn"
* lakwin'		"saw"
* lalam			"oar"
* lam			"any alcoholic drink, whiskey"
* lamiye		"old woman"
* lamutu		"sheep"
* lapip			"pipe"
* lapishmu		"saddle blanket"
* lap.uEs		"pickaxe"
* latam			"table"
* lawen			"oats"
* lawulichn		"jar, bottle" [Kinkade says < CJ <lawoolitchlh>,
							"source unknown"]
* lEplet		"priest"
* la-lu-pa		"ribbon"
* limil			"mule"
* lipua			"peas"
* le-cal		"shawl"
* lakamas 'IlI'I	"prairie close to Cowlitz", lit. "camas place"
* klo-klo		"oyster"
* ma-tcEs (possibly)	"matches"
* masi			"thank you!"
* mElas			"molasses"
* mitas			"leggings"
* mula			"mill, machine"
* musmuski; musmus	"cow, cattle, herd, buffalo"
* ninamu		"rutabaga"
* pastn			"white man"
* paia sapalil		"bread"
* payEshEp		"steamship, steamboat"
* pipa			"book, paper, letter, newspaper"
* pishpsh		"cat"
* plhEX (possibly)	"aphrodisiac, Spanish fly, love medicine, love
			charm, love potion" ["[CJ] eptlach"]
* put 			"boat"
* puts (probably)	"boots"
* qicutxwa7		"Astoria, Oregon [sic]; army post at Ft.
			Vancouver; Vancouver [WA]"
* salt			"salt"
* santi (probably)	"Sunday, week"
* santuspli		"Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit"
* saplil		"bread, flour" ["< Fr. la farine, via Algonquian
			and CJ"]
* sil			"cloth"
* silhaws		"tent, balloon, airplane" (!)
* smalyi		"marriage" ["< Fr. (se) marier, via CJ"] (???)
* stikshu:s		"shoes"
* sta-kun (possibly)  	"stockings, socks"
* stu:p			"stove"
* sulchs		"soldiers, (army)"
* shEp (probably)	"ship"
* ship (probably)	"sheep" (?!)
* shukwa		"sugar"
* shushukwli		"Jesus"
* ta:la			"money"
* tawEn (probably)	"town"
* tintin		"bell"
* watc			"clock, watch"
* washntn		"president of the United States" ["shortened from
			CJ tyee kopa Washington"]
* xwiyuyEqs		"automobile" ["loan translation from CJ?"]
* XatXt			"duck [mallard (focal), and duck in general]"

The following look to me as though they conceivably came into Upper
Chehalis from ChInuk Wawa, with particular influence from English:

	TABLE II.  POSSIBLE ADDITIONAL WORDS FROM CHINUK WAWA

* buk			"book"
* chayni		"Chinese"
* chElis		"cherries"
* hi:			"hay"
* ka:s			"train" [< English "cars"]
* kol			"gold"
* skwul			"school"
* skulhaus		"schoolhouse"
* lvkwvc		"fern sp. (unidentified)" ["<English 'licorice'"]
* lustE			"rooster"
* ni-gu			"Negro"
* samn			"salmon"
* skwash		"squash, melon"
* slip-pers		"slippers"
* spElyunElic'a		"poncho" (cf. CJ /spayol/ "Mexican; Spanish")
* sti-ma		"steamboat"
* tEki			"turkey"
* stichamn		"Germans" (cf. CJ /dEchmEn/ "German(s)"
* wain			"wine"
* yilikwu		"Iroquois" ["<English 'Iroquois'"] --or directly
			from metis and other servants of the HBC?

There are other words which seem likely to have come from the same direct
source as the last above; cf.

* wapu			"Boistfort [, WA]"

And there are other which are conceivably loan translations from CJ, like:

* chanawlhqwXw		"Wednesday", lit. "third day" [cf. CJ lhun san]
* pEnskwitm'lh		"Saturday", lit. "distribution of rations" [cf.
							CJ mEkmEk san]

Or ones which may have entered U. Ch. from other indigenous languages
which received them from a variety of CJ, for example:

* mil'alam		"confess"

Finally, the following seem candidates for sources of words *in ChInuk
Wawa*:

TABLE III:  POSSIBLE U. CH. SOURCES FOR WORDS THAT ENTERED CJ

* chup'a / cha7pa	"grandfather" [*NB]
* t'anm / t'an'im	"line, sign" [root = "measure"]
* st'ache7		"island"
* c'iatkw		"Stick Indian, Sasquatch"
* XaXa:7		"holy"
* Xwo7Xwu7i-		"cough" [*NB:  Some of these may have simply
			happened to be similar to esp. Old Chinook forms,
			and reinforced their meanings]
* skwayoh		"[Western gray] squirrel"
* puxwi-		"blow"

And probably many more, including synonyms for "genitalia", the original
etymon of "skookum" though I'm not finding it right now, and so on, as
well as a seeming cognate for "whale" which is however not the precise
source for the CJ word "kwadis"; etc. etc.

Note that many Salish-derived terms may have more likely entered CJ in the
Puget Sound region proper, for example "kwadis" and I assume "stobElo".
In some cases they may have been aided in becoming parts of the CJ lexicon
by the fact of U. Ch. (many speakers of which probably spoke plenty of
CJ) having cognate forms for many of them -- But I personally suspect that
the Salish etyma in question tended to remain in CJ use around Puget Sound
only, without migrating into other areas' ChInuk Wawa.

This message is intended as a suggestive sketch, but as a highly
suggestive one.  :-)  Some day I strongly desire to map out the impact(s)
of Salishan languages on ChInuk.

Alta na lhatEwa.
Dave

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