Domestic stuff

[Nadja Adolf]

One of my colleagues asked me if I could say "shake your groove thing."

I came up with "Hullel maika kahkwa mamook." Which is more obscene than the
English.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Cleven [mailto:ironmtn at bigfoot.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 10, 2000 7:27 PM
To: CHINOOK at listserv.linguistlist.org
Subject: Re: Domestic stuff


Nadja Adolf wrote:
>
> Spose wawa halo chaku memaloose yaka munk klap wa kopa chee iktas.
> If the trade language is not to die, it must find words for new things.
>
> Halo naika kumtux hyas kopa wawa, keschi naika tikki yaka halo chaku
> memaloose.
>
> I don't know a lot about the trade language, but I don't want it to die.
>
> Hyiu wawa kopa ahnkuttie iktas; wake hyiu kopa alta pe alki iktas.
>
> There are many words for old things, but few for modern and future things.
>
> Naika tEmtEm peshak wawa yaka chaku kahkwa alta kopa ikt kopet klipswalla
wa
> kopa Boston WaWa pe Dutchman wawas.
>
> I think it is bad if the trade language becomes modern only by stealing
> words from American English and other European languages.

Kloshe maika klap tumtum kopa ahnkuttie time klaska lalang potlatch hiyu
wawa kopa Chinook.
Please doln't forget that in the old days those languages gave lots of
words to Chinook.

Iktas mitlite iktas, ikt mahkook wawa mitlite ikt mahkook wawa keschi
yaka mamook kloshe.  Pe skookum mamook kloshe kopa konaway, wake ikt ikt
siwash.  Kopa alta time, klonas nsaika tikegh iskum wawa kopa huloima
lalang - Chinaman, Dutchman, Spanishman (?), Sun Tillikum (Japanese?)
etc. - poos klaska mamook, pe mamook kloshe.   Poos nsaika tikegh mamook
ikt wawa, nsaika skookum mamook.

Things being what they are (?), a trade language is a trade language
because it works well.  And it should work for everyone, not only
natives. In the modern time, maybe we need to bring words from other
languages - Chinese, Germanic, Latin, Japanese, etc. - if they work, and
work well.  If we need to use a word, we should [just] use it.

It's certain European languages that have pointed the way to coining new
terms for the modern era.  Several modern languages didn't have older
forms (Finnish, Hebrew) much less words for things outside their
respective cultures, and those that do quite often have painstakingly
made efforts to keep English and French lexicons from overwhelming
them.  My favourite example of this inventiveness is Icelandic, which is
about as beleaguered computerwise a language as an official national
language can get (because of it being bypassed by WinOS' multilanguage
support systems; so they use Mac).  IIRC the Icelandic word for
"computer" is "sor", with an accent on the 'o', with the meaning
[electronic] sorceress.

Hmmm.  Maybe tamanass box might be the best term for a computer.  Useful
when you're made at it, too...... (as could also mean "damned
box")......

I think the trickier part is going to be for other modern terms than
devices and such; ideas and modes of life (groovy, man, spastic) are
going to be much harder to translate.  I think the thing to bear in mind
is that direct translations of English in general are not desirable;
rather express yourself in the Jargon as best you can, not paying any
attention to what words or constructions English would use.  Then when
you need a non-Jargon word it'll probably just present itself, sort of
the way that Norwegian found needed words in the Norsk Jargon example I
referred to before.  I know that direct-rendering of one language to
another does not work; when I'm speaking Spanish or Norwegian I don't
let myself think in English; the words compose themselves differently,
and I actually find I feel and think differently when speaking in the
other tongue.  A better practice might be to come up with things you'd
like to say in the Jargon -as- Jargon, and then give some thought to
what the English translation would or could be.....

I'm all for more Siwash tillikum words coming into the Jargon; if I knew
more of any of the traditional languages I'd probably have proposed some
by now......I just bought a St'at'imcets linguistics book (not a
grammar, unfortunately, but SALISHAN-L watch out once I'm primed!! ;-)
so maybe I'll come across this or that in there that might be
adaptable.  But I'm ready to look at any of the source languages,
especially if the proposed borrowing is historically or culturally
suitable - a "fit"......

Mike
http://members.home.net/skookum/