Dictionary of the Chinook gon | Page 3

the similarity
of sound to sense.
Dr. Scouler's analogy between the Nootkan and "Columbian," or
Chinook, was founded on the following words:
_English._ _Tlaoquatch and Nutka._ _Columbian._ plenty, *aya, *haya.
no, *wik, *wake. water, tchaak, chuck. good, *hooleish, *closh. bad,
*peishakeis, *peshak. man, *tchuckoop, tillicham. woman, *tlootsemin,
*clootchamen. child, *tanassis, *tanass. now, tlahowieh, clahowiah.
come, *tchooqua, *sacko. slave, mischemas, *mischemas. what are you
doing *akoots-ka-*mamook, ekta-*mammok. what are you saying
*au-kaak-*wawa, ekta-*wawa. let me see, *nannanitch, *nannanitch.
sun, *opeth, ootlach. sky, *sieya, *saya. fruit, *chamas, *camas. to sell,
*makok, *makok. understand, *commatax, *commatax.
But of these, none marked with an asterisk belong to the Chinook or
any of its dialects. The greater part of them are undoubtedly Nootkan,
though there are errors in the spelling and, in some instances, in the

meaning. Of the rest, the Nootkan tchaak and the Chinook _tl'tsuk_
alone presents an analogy. Klahowiah does not mean "now," nor do I
believe it is Nootkan, in any sense. It is, as explained in the dictionary,
the Chinook salutation, "How do you," "Good-bye," and is supposed to
be derived from the word for poor, miserable. Mischemas is not
Chinook, and is probably not Nootkan. With the exception of Franchere,
whose short vocabulary was published by Mr. Gallatin, and Mr. Hale,
all the writers mentioned by Ludwig who have given specimens of the
Chinook language, have presented it in its Jargon form, more or less
mixed with the neighboring ones, and with corruptions of French and
English words. Mr. Swan, among others, has been led into this error.
The place of his residence, Shoalwater Bay, is common ground of the
Chinook and Chihalis Indians, and the degraded remnants of the two
tribes are closely intermarried, and use both languages almost
indifferently.
Setting aside interjections, common in a more or less modified form to
several adjoining tribes, twenty-one words of those given in this
vocabulary present noticeable analogies between the Chinook and other
native languages. They are as follows:
_English._ _Chinook._ _Hailtzuk and Belbella._ salmon berries, klalilli,
olalli.
_English._ _Chinook and Clatsop._ _Nootka._ Jewitt and Cook. water,
tl'tsuk : tl'chukw, chauk : chahak.
_English._ _Chinook._ _Cowlitz._ _Kwantlen._ _Selish._ six, tákhum,
tukh'um, tuckhum', táckan.
_English._ _Chinook._ _Chihalis._ _Nisqually._ deep, kellippe, kluputl,
klep glad, kwan, kwal (_tame_) proud, eyútl, júil. demon, ichiatku,
tsiatko, tsiatko. black bear, eitchhut, chetwut. crow, skaka, skaka.
oyster, klokhklokh, chetlókh, klokhklokh. game of "hands," itlokum,
setlokum.
_English._ _Chinook._ _Yakama and Klikatat._ certainly, nawitka,
n'witka. always, kwanisum, kwálisim. younger sister, ats, atse. road,

wehut, wiet (_far_). barrel, tamtúlitsh, tamolitsh. buffalo, emúsmus,
músmus. coyote, itálipus, talipa (_gray fox_). mouse, kholkhol,
khóilkhoil. bread, tsapelil, saplil. needle, okwépowa, kapus (_a pin_).
The Clatsop (Klátsop) is merely a dialect of the Chinook (Tchinúk); the
Cowlitz (Káualitsk), Kwantlen, Chihalis (Tsihélis), and Nisqually
(N'skwáli), are severally languages belonging to the Sélish family. The
Yakama and Klikatat are dialects of one of the Sahaptin languages; and
the Tokwaht (Tokwát), Nittinat, and Makah (Maká), quoted in the
dictionary, are dialects of the Nootka (Nútka), of which the Hailtzuk or
Belbella (variously spelled Haeeltzuk and Hailtsa) is probably the
northern type. It thus appears that, with two or three exceptions, the
analogies of the Chinook, as contained in this vocabulary, are to be
sought in the immediately adjoining tongues, or those of languages
belonging to the same families with them; that these analogies, with
perhaps one or two exceptions, can by no means be considered radical,
and that their correspondence, or rather adoption, is easily accounted
for by neighborhood and habits of intermarriage. A much more
remarkable coincidence is the fact that two words included in this
Jargon,--one from the Nootkan, viz., Mawitch, a deer, venison; and the
other Chinook, Mooluk, an elk,--are also to be found in the Kowilth, the
language of Humboldt Bay, in California. As this bay was first
discovered in the winter of 1849-50, the words could not have been
introduced by the fur trappers.
With regard to the form into which this dictionary has been thrown, an
explanation is necessary. The Jargon must in some degree be regarded
as a written language, the orthography of which is English. In Mr.
Hale's vocabulary alone has one more scientific been attempted, and of
several other printed, and numerous manuscript dictionaries in
circulation, M. Lionnet's alone, that I have met with, is according to the
French. Although no fixed system of spelling exists among them, I
have therefore deemed it best to preserve for the Jargon words that
which most distinctly represents the common English pronunciation;
while for the Indian derivations, I have adopted that recommended by
the Smithsonian Institution in collecting Indian vocabularies, using the
Italian sounds of the vowels, and representing the guttural of the

German ich by kh. This seemed the more proper, as the work would
thereby be rendered of practical use, independent of what