On the arrival of Lewis and Clarke at the mouth of the Columbia, in 1806, the new language, from the sentences given by them, had evidently attained some form. It was with the arrival of Astor's party, however, that the Jargon received its principal impulse. Many more words of English were then brought in, and for the first time the French, or rather the Canadian and Missouri patois of the French, was introduced. The principal seat of the company being at Astoria, not only a large addition of Chinook words was made, but a considerable number was taken from the Chihalis, who immediately bordered that tribe on the north,—each owning a portion of Shoalwater Bay. The words adopted from the several languages were, naturally enough, those most easily uttered by all, except, of course, that objects new to the natives found their names in French or English, and such modifications were made in pronunciation as suited tongues accustomed to different sounds. Thus the gutturals of the Indians were softened or dropped; and the f and r of the English and French, to them unpronounceable, were modified into p and l. Grammatical forms were reduced to their simplest expression, and variations in mood and tense conveyed only by adverbs or by the context. The language continued to receive additions, and assumed a more distinct and settled meaning, under the Northwest and Hudson's Bay companies, who succeeded Astor's party, as well as through the American settlers in Oregon. Its advantage was soon perceived by the Indians, and the Jargon became to some extent a means of communication between natives of different speech, as well as between them and the whites. It was even used as such between Americans and Canadians. It was at first most in vogue upon the lower Columbia and the Willamette, whence it spread to Puget Sound, and with the extension of trade, found its way far up the coast, as well as the Columbia and Fraser rivers; and there are now few tribes between the 42d and 57th parallels of latitude in which there are not to be found interpreters through its medium. Its prevalence and easy acquisition, while of vast convenience to traders and settlers, has tended greatly to hinder the acquirement of the original Indian languages; so much so, that except by a few missionaries and pioneers, hardly one of them is spoken or understood by white men in all Oregon and Washington Territory. Notwithstanding its apparent poverty in number of words, and the absence of grammatical forms, it possesses much more flexibility and power of expression than might be imagined, and really serves almost every purpose of ordinary intercourse.
The number of words constituting the Jargon proper has been variously stated. Many formerly employed have become in great measure obsolete, while others have been locally introduced. Thus, at the Dalles of the Columbia, various terms are common which would not be intelligible at Astoria or on Puget Sound. In making the following selection, I have included all those which, on reference to a number of vocabularies, I have found current at any of these places, rejecting, on the other hand, such as individuals, partially acquainted with the native languages, have employed for their own convenience. The total number falls a little short of five hundred words.
An analysis of their derivations gives the following result:
Chinook, including Clatsop 200
Chinook, having analogies with other languages 21
Interjections common to several 8
Nootka, including dialects 24
Chihalis, 32; Nisqually, 7 39
Klikatat and Yakama 2
Cree 2
Chippeway (Ojibwa) 1
Wasco (probably) 4
Kalapuya (probably) 4
By direct onomatopoeia 6
Derivation unknown, or undetermined 18
French, 90; Canadian, 4 94
English 67
I had no opportunity of original investigation into the Nootka proper, but from the few words in different published vocabularies, and from some imperfect manuscript ones in my possession of the Tokwaht, Nittinat, and Makah dialects, have ascertained the number above given. Some of the unascertained words probably also belong to that language. Neither was I able to collate the Wasco or Kalapuya, but have assigned them on the opinion of others. The former, also called Cathlasco, the dialect of the Dalles Indians, is a corrupted form of the Watlala or Upper Chinook. With the Chihalis, Yakama, and Klikatat, and the Nisqually, I had abundant means of comparison.
The introduction of the Cree and Chippeway words is of course due to the Canadians. None have been derived from the Spanish, as their intercourse with the Nootka and Makah Indians was too short to leave an impression. Spanish words, especially those relating to horses or mules and their equipments, have of late come into general use in Oregon, owing to intercourse with California, but they form no part of the Jargon. It might have been expected from the number of Sandwich Islanders introduced by the Hudson's Bay company, and long resident in the country, that the Kanaka element would have found its way into the language, but their utterance is so foreign to the Indian ear, that not a word has been adopted.
In the nouns derived from the French, the definite article le, la, has almost in every instance been incorporated into the word, and the same has in one or two instances been prefixed to nouns not of French origin. Besides the words created by direct onomatopoeia, there are quite a number which are really Indian, but have their origin in 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.