Talapus 'Coyote'

[Tony Johnson]

Khanawi-Laksta,

"it'alapas" (the /t/ being glottalized) literally means "he the coyote" in most old Chinook dialects.  The /i-/ is a masculine noun marker.  Given some of coyote's work it is not too hard to see where his name may have gotten glossed as "god or supreme being."  Anyway, "it'alapas" becomes either "t'alap'as" (glottalized /p/) or "t'alapas" in our Chinuk Wawa here in Grand Ronde.

LaXayEm pus alta--Tony A. Johnson
Sawash-ili7i
Grand Ronde

>>> "Ross Clark (FOA LING)" <r.clark at AUCKLAND.AC.NZ> 02/02/02 09:01PM >>>
It's taken me a while to get back to my notes, but I knew I had seen
something else like this. Gabriel Franchere's Chinook vocabulary has
'Etalapass' glossed as 'God, or the Supreme Being'. I wondered about the
connection with 'coyote' at the time (transformer >> creator?). Is this as
far as it goes in CJ? Is there a word like this in Chinook proper?

Ross Clark

> -----Original Message-----
> From: phil cash cash [mailto:pasxapu at DAKOTACOM.NET] 
> Sent: Friday, 1 February 2002 5:22 a.m.
> To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG 
> Subject: Talapus 'Coyote'
> Importance: High
> 
> 
> [talapóosa] n. Nez Perce.  prayer, religion, worship
> 
> the verb form would have an added suffix inflection.  i do not recall
> seeing this word in the Thomas dictionary.  maybe someone can point it
> out to me, thanks.  
> 
> the etymological-mythographical connection between this form and CJ
> [talapus] 'coyote' may not be here.  rather, i think it may be related
> to the Nez Perce entry for 'fox' [tilípe].   
> 
> i would be curious what other forms might be present for [talapus].
> 
> phil cash cash
> cayuse/nez perce
> 
> > > Incidentally, there's at least one peripheral Nez Perce loan in CJ
> that
> > > hasn't been mentioned much.  Thomas' dictionary has 
> 'talapusha' for
> 'to
> > > pray', in the English section only.  As I recall, the Nez 
> Perce stem
> for
> > > this meaning is /tarapoca/.
> > 
> > Might there be any etymological-mythographical connection here to
> > talapus/t'alapus?  i.e. Coyote the Trickster?
> > 
> > MC
> 
> see RE: [fwd from A. Grant:] Cayuse, Molala, Nez Perce, CJ
>