Another suggestion of CJ-Nootkan-Eskimo Pidgin linkage

[Dave Robertson]

Lhush pulakli,

The book is "The Structure and Status of Pidgins and Creoles", edited by Arthur K. Spears & Donald Winford, and published by John Benjamins, Amsterdam & Philadelphia, 1997.  (Creole Language Library volume 19.)

The article, by Hein van der Voort, is "New Light on Eskimo Pidgins" (pages 373-394).

On pages 383-384, he mentions, "Not all of the lexicon can be traced back easily.  It is possible that Chinook Jargon _wawa_ 'speech, talk' is related to the following forms from Nootka, of Vancouver Island (suggested by [Peter] Bakker, p.c.)..."

     Chinook
     Jargon     year     Nootka          meaning
     ^^^^^^     ^^^^     ^^^^^^          ^^^^^^^
     wawa       1884     abawa           talk          (Ray)
                1889     ab'abah         talk          (Kelly & Wells)
                1907     a'baba          say, speak,   (Stefansson)
                                         order

The above discussion and table are confusingly presented, I feel.  It would seem that the "Nootka" words are actually terms in Eskimo Pidgin(s), since the works cited each are devoted to the latter languages.  In any case, the notion of Southern Wakashan vocabulary eventually making its way to the Arctic is a thought-provoking one, perhaps on a par with the idea that at least a bit of Haida may have gotten into Chinook Jargon as we know it.  Stranger things have happened, to be sure:  This article repeats what Drechsel and Makuakane have documented, that there are several Hawaiian words in the Eskimo pidgins!

Dave
--
"Asking a linguist how many languages she knows is like asking a doctor how many diseases he has!" -- anonymous



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