M. Barbeau & a "Tlingit" song

[David D. Robertson]

In Marius Barbeau's "Tsimshian Songs" (in Marian W. Smith, ed., "The
Tsimshian:  Their arts and music"; New York:  JJ Augustin, 1951), song #22
is described as having words which "seem to be in Tlingit (or Stikeen, as
it was called), and they are supposed to mean:  'Every day I cry, because
my sweetheart is far away.'"

Also, "Benjamin Munroe, the interpreter, first said that it was in Chinook
jargon, but later corrected his error.  It was learnt from Qawhnao, of the
village of Stikeen, by the singer ['Tralahaet of the lower Nass River'] at
the time when he was at the gold mines there, about sixty years ago."

Take a look at these "Tlingit" lyrics, retrofitted for an email keyboard:

kanowi san
'a neka kiLai
alda
nekasesta
mELait
saya'ile

...The given translation and that text are a pretty good match for the
following perfectly grammatical Chinook Jargon, no?:

kanawi san,
ah!  nayka kilay.
alta
nayka sista
milhayt [kupa]
saya ili'i.

(In old-fashioned spellings:  Konaway sun, ah!  Nika cly.  Alta nika
sister mitlite [kopa] siah illahee.)

Note the juicy (i.e. skillful) use of zero preposition in the song; like
many other examples of "good Chinook", these lyrics leave out the
word "kopa" ('in').

And note that the song is lamenting a long-lost sister, or nun ;-), rather
than a sweetheart.

Someone may have been pulling Barbeau's leg twice over.

--Dave