[Fwd: chinook dialect] (fwd)

[Mike Cleven]

>
> Dave,
>
> I'm forwarding this one to you. I don't know if she's taking about real
> Chinookan or the Jargon - I suspect the latter - but someomne out there
> in Jargon-land may have the requisite expertise.

Since that's a BC area code with a West Side Vancouver prefix I'd
_assume_ that she's talking about the Jargon, as there is little
awareness in BC of Chinookan (sic).  There _is_ a native speaker of
Boston Jargon - RK (Robin) Henderson - living in Chilliwack, so I'll
refer her email over to him.  He explained to me via email that his
Jargon is a mix of Puget Sound and Columbia River Jargon, as learned
from his father (see below).  There is a native speaker of the old BC
variety of the Jargon in Kitimat, but that's a bit far from town.  I've
been meaning to get out to Chilliwack and get some sound samples from
Robin but I've not had the time; maybe in the next week or two.  I doubt
I'm coming to the Conference but if I get some soundbytes and Robin's
permission I'll post them somewhere for comparison with Grand Ronde
style Jargon.....of course for myself I speak/pronounce some kind of
Kingchauch Chinook but I'm not a native speaker, so....

In the meantime, here's a quote from one of Robin's emails to me that
explains his connection to the Jargon:
***********
I see by your last e mail that you're still confused about my Jargon
background. [I'd thought he was a BC Jargon speaker] Nothing to be
ashamed of; it's a complex situation. Let me
try to do a better job of explaining:

I learned Jargon from my grandfather, who was from central Oregon. He
moved to the Puget Sound area as a young man, where he continued to
learn
and keep up with Jargon. I'm also from the Puget Sound region, and
learned my grandfather's Jargon as a small boy. By that time, his Jargon
was about half Columbia Basin and half Puget Sound, with some other
elements he picked up from visitors from other regions and reading. I
immigrated to Canada two years ago, but have had no contact with BC
Jargonists until now. So that's how a British Columbian turned out to
have a fairly varied Jargon background, that doesn't however include
much
Canadian Jargon. I do remember my grandfather teaching some expressions
and telling me they came from the Nootka coast. One was "pshak" (bad).
There were a few others, but they're not coming to mind.

*******************