Talapus 'Coyote'

[phil cash cash]

Sapir writes for Wishram:

[gayu'ya isk!u'lya] lit. 'he went Coyote'

"i- = masc. noun prefix with which -y- in gayu'ya is in agreement.  
-sk!u'lya = noun stem COYOTE, apparently not capable of analysis; 
perhaps loan-word from Klikitat spi'lya.  Chinook has another stem, 
-t!a'lapas."  Sapir 1911.

qo'c (later),

phil cash cash
cayuse/nez perce



On Monday, February 4, 2002, at 05:00 PM, Tony Johnson wrote:

> 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
>>
>