M. Barbeau & a "Tlingit" song

[Ros' Haruo]

Very interesting. The text is obviously CJ.

BTW, while I was in Sidney last week I bought a copy of the Canadian
Esperanto songbook "Kantu Kanade!" (pub. 1984), and the very first song is
entitled "Seattle Ilahi (siat'l ilahi)". Here's the lyric:

"1. Jen la MAÙIC^ kaj KLUC^MAN nun por ni
Tie c^i en SIAT'L ILAHI.

Ref.: Uloj, ek! Boat' l'
velas al la urb' SIAT'L,
SIAT'L ILAHI.

2. Klamoj HAJU kaj la KLUC^MAN nun por ni
HAJU TENAS MUSEM pro inoj kaj viski'. (Ref.)

3. KVANSUM KVANSUM KULI KOPA NAJKA ILAHI
KANAMOKST KAPSVALA MUSEM kaj ni drinkos g^is ebri'. (Ref.)"

The capitalization scheme is as given in the songbook, and the CJ is
respelled according to Esperanto orthography (including KV- for kw-).
There's a brief historical note and glossary appended, just covering the
terms used in the song. The note says (my translation) "During the middle of
the 19th century many wifeless men went from "Fort Vancouver" and Vancouver
Island to Seattle to vacation and debauch. "Ilahi" and the other
non-Esperanto words are from the 'Chinook'(shinuk) Jargon, which was a
mixing together of words from some Pacific Indian languages plus some from
English and French." The glossary gives:

"Seattle Ilahi = the place Seattle
maùic^ = meat of deer
kluc^man = woman
haju = many, much
tenas musem = not much sleep, i.e. lovemaking
kvansum kvansum kuli = is always running
kopa najka ilahi = at my dwelling-place
konamokst kapsvala = to flee together
"Ilahi" was also the name of the first house of ill repute in Seattle."

lilEnd


        ROS' Haruo / 204 N 39th / Seattle WA 98103 / Usono
    lilandbr at scn.org / lilandbr at hotmail.com / tel 206-633-2434
TTT-Himnaro Cigneta : http://www.geocities.com/cigneto/pretaj.html
Nove en La Lilandejo : http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/novaj.html
      ("la Esperantisto antauxe nomata Liland Brajant Ros'")





>From: "David D. Robertson" <ddr11 at COLUMBIA.EDU>
>Reply-To: "David D. Robertson" <ddr11 at COLUMBIA.EDU>
>To: CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
>Subject: M. Barbeau & a "Tlingit" song
>Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2003 21:57:26 -0400
>
>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

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