Chinookan dialects

[Francisc Czobor]

LaXayEm !

I address this question to this List, even if it's somehow off-topic, but
here I have the possibility to find people knowing the subject.
It's regarding the classification of Chinookan languages and dialects.

As far as I know, there is a Chinookan language family (belonging,
according to some authors, to a Penutian language phylum), comprising 6
main dialects: Lower Chinook or Proper Chinook, Clatsop, Cathlamet,
Clackamas, Wasco, and Wishram.

Regarding the grouping of these dialects into languages, Proper Chinook and
Clatsop are assigned to the Lower Chinook language, Wasco and Wishram to
Upper Chinook language, whereas Cathlamet and Clackamas are assigned
differently by different authors, either to Lower or to Upper Chinook.

According to the last version of Ethnologue, there is also a (Lower)
Chinook dialect called "Kiksht", with 12 speakers, but Mr. Tony Johnson
stated on this List that "Kiksht" is in fact an alternate name for Upper
Chinook. According to the same Ethnologue, Upper Chinook (Wasco-Wishram)
has still 69 speakers left, 7 of them being monolingual.

Very unclear is for me the position of Clackamas and Cathlamet.
According to Jacobs, Clackamas is "Upper Chinook", but in
Ethnologue "Clackama" is a dialect of (Lower) Chinook.
According to the Linguasphere Register (1999/2000 edition), the Chinookan
languages are "Wasco+Wishram = Chinook E. = upper Chinook",
and "Clackama+Clatsop = Chinook W. = lower Chinook".
Regarding Cathlamet, I read in a very old book ("Les langues du monde", by
Meillet & Cohen, from 193?) that it's closely related to Clackamas.
Looking at the Chinookan word list (Wishham, Chinook, Cathlamet) in vol. 8
of E.S. Curtis' "The North American Indian" (p.198-205), Cathlamet looks
closer to "Wishham" (Wishram) than to (Lower) Chinook.

In most sources I have seen that there were 2 Chinookan languages: Upper &
Lower Chinook.
But some sources speak about three Chinookan languages. Meillet & Cohen
suggest (if I remember correctly) that these three languages could be: 1.
Chinook+Clatsop; 2. Clackamas+Cathlamet; 3. Wasco+Wishram.

Thus, how many Chinookan languages are (were) in fact?
And what were their dialects?

Another question: how called the Chinook people themselves?
(I know that "Chinook" comes from the Chehalis (Salishan) word Tsinúk).

Hayash mersi,
Francisc

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