Parrot who spoke Chinuk

[David D Robertson]

I couldn't resist adding a new story to this old thread.  (Sorry, I don't
have the promised quote about Le Jeune handy!)

In the book "Idaho Chinese Lore" by Sister M. Alfreda Eisensohn, published
in 1970 by the excellent Caxton Printers of Caldwell, Idaho, page 86 bears
these anecdotes about Polly Bemis, a Chinese-American woman (1853-1933) of
the Warren, Idaho area:

"[T]he parrot began to chatter, 'What does Polly want for breakfast?'...The
Chinese woman was puzzled and wanted to know how the bird knew her
name...Polly called it a 'talkee bird'.  She said, 'This is the first talkee
bird me see um since I leave um Shanghai.  Most birds in Shanghai talkee
hi-yu bad; this talkee bird talkee nice.'...Polly left Grangeville in
1923...'Maybe I come back next year,' Polly declared, 'it take hiyu money,
but maybe I come back.'"

This is great stuff, almost the only quoted use of CJ material (hi-yu) by a
Chinese immigrant that I've ever found.  And some of the only CJ-related
speech I've found from Idaho.  You scholars of pidgin languages will notice
Polly spoke in a recognizably Chinese Pidgin English-influenced way.  But
that "-um" on the transitive verbs sounds more like South Seas Pidgin
English influence, or conceivably even inspired by (stereotypical?) American
Indian Pidgin English.  

Thanks to my friend Josh for bringing this book my way.  I can recommend his
shop, Time Bomb, for visitors to Spokane.

--Dave R.



On Fri, 13 May 2005 14:09:38 -0700, Leanne Riding <riding at TIMETEMPLE.COM> wrote:

>Polly tikke lebiskwie!
>
>:)
>
>-- Leanne (http://timetemple.com)
>
>
>On Wednesday, September 29, 2004, at 04:11 , David Robertson wrote:
>
>> Did you know...the editor of the Kamloops Wawa, Father Le Jeune,
>> once tried
>> to teach a parrot Chinuk Wawa?
>>
>> I read this in the Petites Annales of the Oblate missionaries, and
>> I'll dig
>> up a quotation for your enjoyment.
>>
>> --Dave R
>>
>> To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond
>> privately to the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!
>>
>>
>
>To respond to the CHINOOK list, click 'REPLY ALL'.  To respond privately to
the sender of a message, click 'REPLY'.  Hayu masi!
>=========================================================================

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