draft translation of my intro page into Chinook

Wed Feb 13 18:27:07 UTC 2002

Instead of doing something, um, really useful with my site revisions,
like playing with style sheets and a better site-map to increase the
site's usefulness and navigation, I wound up spending the last hour or
two playing with a fairly direct translation of what I'd written for my
intro page (http://www.hiyu.net/chinook2.html).  It doesn't live up to
my own perceived standards for Jargon usage - few words, direct speech,
not saying anything unnecessary ;-) - and is mostly an effort to
directly render as much of my original English composition as I could
into the Wawa.  Trying to be as thorough as I could, I wound up with
sections that were longer than I think something similar could be said
if "thunk up" directly in the Jargon; I may try this on another night.

But I wanted to throw this out to the webcommunity/List for any
suggestions or corrections; I know Tony and Henry may have idioms
available that may take care of some of the cumbersome and sometimes
confusing constructions that follow; in some places I've just passed
over bits of the English words and gotten to the point; at others I've
laboured through the dreck and tried to express what the English says;
again I think I'll write another night and try and make the introduction
up from scratch in Chinook.  You'll all note that I've chosen the
Shavian spellings rather than trying to emulate Grand Ronde-style, and
I've perforce found it necessary to coin some chee-wawas e.g. Yoolup for
Europe (! sounds good, huh?), webpepah for webpage, Ikt-Wawa for _the_
Wawa (as opposed to ok-wawa for "this wawa") etc. and I've chosen to
render "BC and the Pacific Northwest" as the "Skookum Illahee" - as
explained in the Chinook passage, the lands where "skookum" is
understood.  I'm stuck with a dearth of more subtle terms for certain
things in Chinook, and had a stab at "pithy" and other words that don't
have direct senses if translated too directly into the Wawa (there are
words for thin, thick, broad etc. but I'd never assume these to have the
same connotations as they do in English vis a vis language).

My intent here in the long run is to make sure there's a "Chinook
version" of most of my site, including its indexes and a Chinook-English
counterdictionary to the expansion on and sometimes explanation of Shaw
I've begun.  I've found a few more Jargon wordlists in BC in the last
couple of years which I'll get to adding to the webillahee at some
point, also.

[Any useful ideas on how to make a side-bar or other menu object for
better site navigation?  Anyone good with explaining style sheets to
someone used to HTML 2.0?]

OK, people, fire away; I'll take it on the chin.  Or in the opoots, as
necessary:
____________________________________________________________________________

This site is also an introduction to the history and culture of the
societies and times associated with the Jargon, and
with the peoples and lands of the Pacific Northwest and British
Columbia, being the territories in which the Jargon
was known and used, and in which its remnants and memory survive, even
though its popularity and widespread
knowledge have long passed.  Still, there's lots of people out there who
know some.

Okook webpepah elip mitlite tenas yiem kopa tillikums klaska kumtux
Ikt-Wawa kopa ahnkuttie, pe kopa alta,
pe kopa konaway siah-siah illahees kopa "Skoookum Illahee" (uk-illahee
kah tillikums kumtux "skookum"),
kah okook Wawa mitlite kumtux pe mitlite wawa.  Pe kah yakas iktas pe
klap tumtum elip mitlite, poos hiyu
tillikums wake kumtux okook, pe hyas sun kopa Ikt-Wawa laly klatawa kopa
klip-sun.  Nah, mitlite hiyu
tillikum alta yakwa klaksta kumtux tenas.
__________________________________________________________

Never really a full-developed language but rather formally defined as a
pidgin, the Jargon had very few words - 800
at most - drawn from half a dozen tongues, including English and French
as well as major native languages of the
Northwest.  But it was said that someone skilled in the Jargon could say
anything, or rather, anything that was
actually necessary.  "If you can't say it in the Jargon, it's not worth
saying."

Wake kwanesum Ikt-wawa mitlite ikt delate lelang, pe elip mahsh wawa
kopa "pidgin", Ikt-Wawa iskum hiyu
tenas wawa - stotekin tukamonuk kopa saghalie - iskum kopa taghum pe
sinamoxt lelang, nawitka
Kingchauch/Boston wawa pe Pasiooks wawa, pe hyas ahnkuttie sawash
lalangs elip.  Pe mitlite mahsh wawa kah
mans kloshe kumtux Ikt-Wawa skookum mamook wawa konaway - konaway kah
nawitka man tikegh.  "Poos
man wake skookum mamook wawa kopa Ikt-Wawa, ikta mitlite cultus wawa".
__________________________________________________________

Even relative newcomers to the Northwest find themselves picking up
peculiarities of the local argot still in use in
local English, but remain unaware of the origin of the terms, despite
their innate connection to the place and its
history.  The three most prominent Jargon words that survive in regional
English are skookum, saltchuck (or simply
'the chuck') and (high) muckamuck.  If you're from the Northwest, you
probably know what these words mean, or at
least have an idea (if you're not and/or you don't, then please explore
this site to find out..... )

Nawitka, cheechakos kopa Skookum Illahee klap tumtum mamook iskum
huloima wawa kopt Ikt-Wawa
klaksta elip mitlite mamook wawa kopa Boston wawa, pe wake kumtux kah
mitlite chako ok-wawa, klaska
mitlite kow kopa illahee pe kopa yiem kopa ok-illahee.  Klone wawa
mitlite elip kopa Boston wawa yakwa
mitlite "skookum", "saltchuck" (pe "the chuck") pe hyas (high)
muckamuck.  Spose maika mitlite yakwa,
klonas maika kumtux ok-wawa, pe wake iskum tenas tumum topa klaskas
(spose maika wake mitlite kopa
yakwa, poos maika wake kumtux klakstas, mamook cultus klatawa kopa
uk-webpepah pe klap klahanie
kumtux....)
__________________________________________________________

In fact, some people said that it was impossible to tell a lie in the
Jargon - but "English, now that was a language
made for lying in!".  Ideally, Jargon was typically spoken sparingly,
with a few carefully chosen words that could pack
a powerful punch, sometimes laden with puns and wit, despite its sparse
vocabulary and often-vague syntax.  Meaning
was often clarified by gesture or tone, and it was known for a raucous,
even rowdy, flair for conversability and
phraseology, despite a preference for economy of words.

Nawitka, hiyu mans mamook wawa kopa mitlite wake skookum kopa mamook
klimin kopa Ikt-Wawa - pe
"Boston, nawitka mitlite kloshe kopa mitlite kliminawhit!"  Kopa elip,
Ikt-Wawa mitlite mamook wawa kopa
tenas wawa, kopa tenas wawa mitlite iskum klaksta skookum lolo ikt hyas
skookum puk-puk, klonas iskum
heehee wawa pe hyas kumtux.   Kah tumtum pe kumtux mitlite mamook klah
kopa lemah mamook tanse pe
wawa-shantie, pe mitlite konaway kumtux kopa skookum youtl pe tenas
lemolo mamook, pe kloshe kopa
mamook wawa kopa hiyu huloima tillikums, pe elip iskum tenas-tenas wawa
mamook.
_________________________________________________________

Other words that turn up locally, or become familiar to residents over
time, include hyak (swift), hyas (big),
hiyu(many), tenas (small), mowitch (deer), moolack (elk) tillicum
(people, or friend) and klootchman(woman) - but it's
not always obvious even to those familiar with "the Wawa" when a word or
phrase has Jargon origins.

Huloima wawa kopa Ikt-Wawa klaksta mitlite klap kopa Skookum Illahee, pe
chako kumtux kopa tillikums
yakwa kopa hiyu cole, iskum hyak, hyas, hiyu, tenas, mowitch, tillikum,
pe klootchman - pe mitlite wake klah
kopa klakstas tillikums kah ok-wawa chako, elip kah ok-wawa chako kopa
Ikt-Wawa.
_________________________________________________________

Because of its simplicity and limited vocabulary, it could and would not
convey meanings that could be said in other
languages; but equally so it became invoked as an instrument of
colonization, with the Jargon being used for
everything from court proceedings to evangelization.

Spose yakas ikt-ikt mamook, pe tenas hiyu wawa, yaka skookum pe kloshe
wake mahsh tumtums pe kumtux
klaksta skookum mahsh kopa huloima lelangs; pe kopa ikt, yaka chako
mamook kopa lemato kopa elip
skookum law kopa sawash tillikums, kopa Ikt-Wawa chako mamook kopa
konaway mamook kopa law-house
pe mamook skookum leklis.
_________________________________________________________

"The sticks", "hooch" and "Big Smoke" (a nickname for Vancouver) all
have Jargon roots, or at least roots in the
frontier culture of which the Jargon was the common speech.  Jargon
words also survive in large numbers also in the
vocabularies of many native languages, notably Jargon words adapted from
the French spoken by the voyageurs of the
fur trade.  With increased immigration to the region from other parts of
North America and the rest of the world, the
Jargon traces in local English are fast-disappearing.  Or are they?
Yaka skookum wawa - "them's strong words"....

"The sticks", "hooch" pe "Big Smoke" (ikt sikhs-nem nem Vancouver)
konaway chako kopa Ikt-Wawa, pe elip
kopa stick-mitlite-wayhut kah Ikt-Wawa chako wawa kopa konaway tilikums
yakwa.  Wawas kopa Ikt-wawa
elip mitlite kopa hiyu kwinnum kopa hiyu sawash-lelangs, nawitka wawas
chako kopa Pasiooks-wawa, klakstas
chako kopa Skookum Illahee kopa Pasiooks tillikums klaksta chako kopa
mahkook lapel kopa ahnkuttie.  Kah
hiyu elip tillikums chako kopa Skookum Illahee kopa huloima illahees,
tenas kopa Boston wawa chako ikpooie
pe wake klap tumtum.  Pe mitlite klakstas?  Klaskas skookum wawa.....
_________________________________________________________

For most that used it, however, it was a fluid and useful part of daily
life, and an augment to their own native speech,
whether that might have been a local native tongue, English, Chinese, or
any of the  gaggle of European tongues that
arrived with colonization.  Although primarily perceived as a language
of native culture, and indeed having its
origins long before colonization began, the Jargon was as much widely
used among non-natives for many years, even
being spoken by many in preference to English, apparently because of its
pithiness, directness, and potential for
gamey-ness.

Kopa elip hiyu tillikums klaksta mamook Ikt-Wawa, nah, yaka mitlite kopa
klatawa chuck pe iskum hiyu
mamook kopa ikt-ikt sun, pe mamook hiyu kopa klakstas lelangs - sawash
lelangs, Boston (pe Kingchauch)
Waa, China Tillikums Wawa ("Chinaman Wawa" kopa ahnkuttie), pe huloima
lelangs klakstas chako kopa
Yoolup klakstas chako kopa chee law.  Elip hiyu tillikum mamook nanitch
pe mamook kumtux kopa lelang
yaka mitlite elip kopa sawash tillikums, pe nawitka iskum hyas yiem kopa
hiyu cole, Ikt-Wawa kopa ahnkuttie
mitlite mamook kopa huloimas tillikums kopa hiyu hyas cole, klonas elip
kopa Boston-wawa, klonas spose
yakas skookum pe kull mahsh, delate kumtux, pe skookum kopa mamook
hee-hee.
_________________________________________________________
>From the turn of the century to the Great War, somewhere between 100,000
and 250,000 people in the Northwest
spoke, or at least knew, the Jargon.  Today, the total number of Jargon
speakers is unknown, but it is far from extinct,
with a small concentration of speakers in Grand Ronde, Oregon and a
scattering of mostly isolated individuals of all
ages throughout BC and the Pacific Northwest.  Thanks to the Internet,
it is enjoying something of a revival.
Klahowya kopa nsaika e-illahee (Welcome to our e-world)........

Kopa elip-ikt sun kopa moxt-tukamonuk-cole kopa Hyas Puk-Puk kopa
Yoolup, klonas
tukamonuk-hyastukamonuk kopa moxt-tukamonuk-hyastukamonuk pe
kwinnum-tahtlum-thousand ("moxt
tahtlum kwinnum tukamonuk-tukamonuk- hiyu, hiyu tillikums - mamook
ok-wawa, pe elip kumtux.  Alta,
konaway tillikums klakstas kumtux ok-wawa mitlite wake kumtux kopa hyas
lecoal (school), pe yaka mitlite
siah-siah kopa memaloose.  Mitlite tenas kunamoxt tillikums klakstas
kumtux wawa klakstas mitlite kopa
Grand Ronde, Oregon, pe ikt petchug-kwinnum tillikums klakstas iskum
wake town kopa chako mitlite
kunamoxt, konaway kopa Skookum Illahee.  Hyas mahsie kopa
skookumklahwayhut, ok-wawa chako kloshe
ikt tenas chee-sun.  Klahowya kopa nsaika e-illahee.....
__________________________________________________________
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kah kumtux msaikas?

--
Mike Cleven
http://www.cayoosh.net (Bridge River Lillooet history)
http://www.hiyu.net (Chinook Jargon phrasebook/history)