Tukwila

[Lisa M Peppan]

On Sun, 15 Oct 2000 Dave Robertson <TuktiWawa at NETSCAPE.NET> writes:

> Lisa, I haven't looked into the details, but I had the impression
> that Tukwila ([thEkhwIlE] with second-syllable stress in Northwest
> English, and something like [t'EkwEla] with first-syllable stress in
> Chinook Jargon) was a K'alapuyan word.  That is, it showed up
> in a vocabulary of K'alapuya written by Sapir or somebody...but is
> it a loan from CJ?

Well, now . . . it could be.  Could be it came to CJ via the Duwamish.

My opinion comes, in the beginning, from amateur nosing around in the
languages spoken in the mid-Puget Sound for purposes hopefully lending
more depth to a (sci-fic) fantasy novel I'm trying to find a publisher
for.  That was when I discovered, in some forgotten (to me) book that the
town of Tukwila -- south of downtown Seattle and about 8 miles
south-by-southeast of where the Duwamish River oozes into Elliot Bay --
was from a Duwamish word that meant "hazelnut" or just plain "nut".
Everybody I know who's been here for a few generations pronounces it with
quick crisp T and K, and a short quick quick U, with the stress on the
second syllable:  tuk -- like Robin Hood's buddy the good Friar -- and
WILA -- like it should have a second L to be sure that I stays short and
sweet.  There are, incidentally, a *bunch* of hazelnut trees growing wild
in Tukwila.

Anyway.  I mentioned this find to my father, and he gives me this
EVERYbody-knows-that kinda look and said, "You mean you didn't know
that?" and he then went on to explain which place names around the Sound
were from what language.  I didn't really question his knowledge because
his grandfather -- born in British Columbia in 1855 -- moved to Seattle
in 1896, via the San Juan Islands, but you can BET you biggest copper
that I wish I had taken notes.

> I want my musician friend to create another CJ pop song, to be
> called "It's Another Tukwila Sunrise."  :-)

Oozin'out slowly to Elliot Bay,
where mudsharks play . . .  ?

Lisa
Edmonds, WA, USA                                              ICQ
#4894690
Family Genealogy -- http://members.tripod.com/~LisaPeppan/index.html
The Children of Fort Langley --
http://members.tripod.com/~LisaPeppan/FtLangleyChildren.html
The Langley Story Illustrated --
http://members.tripod.com/~LisaPeppan/langley.html
.
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