Kanada = 'back East'; nothing = 'it'

[David Robertson]

Howdy, I haven't shared samples of Jargon much lately.  Too busy!  Here's 
something from an 1894 letter that comes from Esket (Alkali Lake).  

I thought this would be a nice mini-lesson because it shows how the BC 
people thought of Canada as 'somewhere else'.  A word choice here that's 
typical of the shorthand letters is PATLACH (literally 'give') 
expressing 'to send something by mail'; a synonym for the same idea is MASH.

This passage also shows something people did very very frequently in 
Jargon: When the object of a sentence was 'it' (sometimes 'him' or 'her' 
too), no word at all stood for the object.  Below, I symbolize this by [0].

Any questions?

"Wiht naika patlach ixt kwata kopa ukuk Kanada pipa maika patlach kopa 
naika.
ALSO I SEND ONE QUARTER FOR THAT CANADA NEWSPAPER YOU SEND TO ME
I'm also sending twenty-five cents for that back-East newspaper you sent me.

Pi kanawi naika mash ixt tala kopa maika Ogyust <23 1894>.
AND TOTAL I SEND ONE DOLLAR TO YOU AUGUST 23 1894
All together, then, I'm sending $1 to you, August 23, 1894.

Pi wiht naika tlap ukuk Kanada pipa maika patlach kopa naika.
AND ALSO I GET THAT CANADA NEWSPAPER YOU SEND TO ME
Also: I did receive that Back-East newspaper you sent me.  

Ukuk pipa iaka klatwa kopa Pir Lshak iaka aws.
THAT NEWSPAPER IT GO TO FATHER LE JACQ HIS HOUSE
The paper had gone to Pere Le Jacq's place.

Kakwa naika ilo aiak nanitsh [0]."
SO I NOT QUICKLY SEE IT
So I didn't get to see it right away.

--Dave R

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