Tilicum

[Liland Brajant Ros']

>From: Andy Horton <BMLSS at compuserve.com>
>...
>Sometimes, the etymon can only be intelligently guessed at and this applies
>to the toponymy of Saxon place names in England, and even more to the
>earlier Celtic names, as there were no written records.
>
>I assume that this also applies to the Wakashan Languages and where the
>words have been used in Chinook, it might not be possible to prove which
>language/tribe they came from, but some experts or enthusisasts might have
>a good idea from circumstantial evidence, hence the trawl.

Sounds right to me except that Chinook is not Wakashan. At least, I've never
seen it so classified.

Nootkan is Wakashan, and there are a fair number of important words of
Nootkan origin in the Chinook Jargon (holdovers, I gather the prevailing
scholarly opinion is, from a Nootkan-based Jargon of the pre-1800 period),
but "tIlEqEm" or however it's spelt nowadays is not one of them, it's
Chinook(an). Which is usually classified as a branch of Penutian.

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=1728 (Penutian family tree,
per Ethnologue; much disputed.)

Yesterday I said I thought the Chinookan languages (as distinct from the
Jargon) were extinct, but now I see that the Ethnologue shows 12 speakers in
1996 for Lower Chinook (the variety that provided the main basis for the
Jargon) and 69 (including 7 monolinguals!) in 1990 for Wasco-Wishram or
Upper Chinook (related). Here are the relevant entries and links from the
Ethnologue:

CHINOOK [CHH] 12 speakers of Kiksht dialect (1996), out of a possible
population of 300 (1977 SIL).  Lower Columbia River, Oregon and Washington.
Alternate names: LOWER CHINOOK.  Dialects: KLATSOP (TLATSOP), CLACKAMA,
KIKSHT.  Classification: Penutian, Chinookan.  Nearly extinct.
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=CHH

Chinook Jargon:
     Under USA:
CHINOOK WAWA [CRW] 17 speakers in USA (1990 census).  Formerly used along
the Pacific coast from Oregon to Alaska. All speakers are probably now
scattered. Alternate names: CHINOOK JARGON, CHINOOK PIDGIN, TSINUK WAWA.
Classification: Pidgin, Amerindian.  Nearly extinct.
     Under Canada:
CHINOOK WAWA [CRW]  Population total both countries 100 speakers, all over
50 years old (1962 Chafe).  Alternate names: CHINOOK JARGON, CHINOOK PIDGIN.
  Classification: Pidgin, Amerindian.  Nearly extinct.
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=CRW

WASCO-WISHRAM [WAC] 69 speakers including 7 monolinguals (1990 census), out
of a possible population of 750 (1977 SIL).  North central Oregon, south
central Washington. Alternate names: UPPER CHINOOK.  Classification:
Penutian, Chinookan.  Nearly extinct.
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=WAC

http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=1831 (Wakashan family tree,
per Ethnologue; generally accepted, I think)

NOOTKA [NOO] 590 mother tongue speakers (1998 Statistics Canada), out of
3,500 population (1977 SIL). Nitinat has about 30 speakers (1991 M. Dale
Kinkade).  Southwestern British Columbia, Nitinat along Pacific side of
Vancouver Island and on Nitinat Lake. Alternate names: NUTKA, NUUCHAHNULTH.
Dialects: NITINAT (NITINAHT), NOOTKA.  Classification: Wakashan, Southern.
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=NOO

Cheers yourself!

lilEnd

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