Chinook Jargon Phrasebook

Kamloops Wawa Word List:

The original version of this list as it appeared in Kamloops Wawa included renderings of the words given in the Duployan shorthand script developed for the Jargon by Fr. Lejeune; there were apparently at one time over 2000 people fluent in reading the Jargon in this shorthand, and many copies of the Kamloops Wawa are nearly entirely in the shorthand alone.  The texts in yellow are my own additions, consisting of the usual (or alternate) spellings of the Jargon words noted, plus comments about their usual meanings and possible contexts; when necessary I have added links to appropriate pages elsewhere in this site that are pertinent to the word cited.  At the bottom of the word list there is some editorializing concerning the Jargon and the Duployan shorthand that was included in the same issue of the Kamloops Wawa as the word list, and for your convenience in studying the Duployan script glyphs of each word, the table of forms and associated phonemes may be viewed by clicking here (144kb).  A later revision of this page will attempt to align the glyphs according to the baseline used in the original, which is too large of a GIF to be viewed here in any legible format; many of the angle-lines shown here are below this baseline.

NB:  concerning prononciation, the final "-e" and "-ale" on most words should be understood to be a pronounced syllable, rather than a modifier of the preceding vowel as it is in English.  e.g. the word poolale here is usually given in other Jargon lexicons as pollalie.

Current alphabetization is based on the spellings as transliterated by LeJeune.  Later improvements to these pages will cross-reference the Kamloops Wawa spellings with the more common Gibbs/Shaw system, and perhaps the new phonologically-strict orthography of the Grand Ronde Creole.  Note that some words are placed alphabetically; e.g. "ice" is under 'A" because of the opening vowel, unlike other i-words which have "ih" at the start.  Similarly, whip and wheat are in 'h" because LeJeune transcribed them with the whispered-h pronuncation once proper in English..

L

Lolo - Carry    can also mean a burden, a load, to portage
Laket - Four    lakit
Lele - A long time     laly   this seems to more have been an auxiliary for measures of time; in combination with ahnkuttie, the word for the past, it means "a really long time ago" or antiquity, while in combination with words for the future (winapie, alki, etc.) it actually meant "soon", "not long now", rather than "a long time from now"
Light
Life
Law
Leaves
Lake
Lazy
Rope Examination of the glyph here will show the usual Jargon prononciation of this loanword - lope. Similar R-Ll transitions can be found throughout this word list.

M

Maika - Thou   mika    i.e. the second person singular; as with all pronouns, can also be the accusative or genitive/possessive (i.e. thee, thine)
Makmak - Eat     muckamuck   generally means to ingest, including to drink; can also be used for food, dinner or a meal
Mamook - Work     also means to do, to make, etc.; used to form verbs by combination with nouns and adjectives, and to form the passive or imperative in combination with other verbs and adverbs
Makook - Buy   mahkook   can also mean to trade, to shop, to do business, etc., and can also mean to sell, though not as commonly
Mowich - Deer   mowitch   can refer to animals in general
Mash - Throw     mahsh   has a wide variety of meanings and possible contexts
Masachi - Bad     mesachie   has the specific context/connotation of malice or evil, whereas kaltash (cultus) and tamanwaz (tamanass, tamahnous) have other less explicitly malign meanings
Moxt - Two   mokst
Moosum - Sleep
Moosmoos - Beef   also means cattle, cow, etc.  Not to be confused with moose, which was either used as a loanword itself or was given as hyas mowitch (which could also mean elk)
Mitlait - Remain   mitlite  has a wide variety of meanings and possible contexts
Mitooit - Stand    mitwhit   also means upright, standing up, etc.
Memloos - Dead    memaloose, mimaloose   also means death, to kill, to die
Msaika - You   mesika, mesaika   the plural second person; as with all pronouns, can also be the genitive/possessive (i.e. yours)
Man

N

Naika - I, me    nika   as with all pronouns, can also be the genitive/possessive (i.e. mine)
Nawitka - Yes   nowitka   was commonly used for "indeed!", i.e. an emphatic imperative
Nanich - See    nanitch   also used to mean to look, to watch, sight, vision, etc.  The phrase kloshe nanitch - watch well, i.e. to guard, to look out - was the motto of the Kamloops-based militia regiment the Rocky Mountain Rangers.
Nsaika - We   nesika, nesaika   the plural first person; can also be the accusative and genitive/possessive (i.e. us, ours)

Re:  Words borrowed from English