The Cayuses were eloquent speakers; their language abounded in elegant expressions, and they well knew how to make the most of it. When first known to Europeans, it was fast fading away, and subsequently merged into the Sahaptin; so fleeting are these native idioms.[III'-43]

DIFFICULTIES OF THE CHINOOK.

The Chinook language is spoken by the different tribes inhabiting the banks of the Lower Columbia and adjacent country. This family is divided into many dialects, which diverge from the mother tongue as we ascend the river; in fact, the upper tribes have mostly to employ an interpreter, when they communicate with those on the lower part of the river. The chief diversities of this language are the Chinook proper, the Wakiakum, Cathlamet, and Clatsop, and the various dialects mentioned by Lewis and Clarke as belonging to those inhabiting this region at the time of their expedition, but which cannot now be positively identified with any of the languages known to us. Two of the last-mentioned dialects, the Multnomah and the Skilloot, the explorers describe as belonging to the Chinook.[III'-44] Among all the languages of north-western America, except perhaps that of the Thlinkeets, the Chinook is considered in its construction the most intricate; and in its pronunciation the most difficult. No words are to be found in the English vocabulary which can accurately describe it. To say that it is guttural, clucking, spluttering, and the like conveys but a faint conception of the sound produced by a Chinook in his frantic effort to unburden his mind of an idea. He does not appear to have yet discovered the use of the lips and tongue in speaking, but struggles with the lower part of the throat to produce sounds for the expression of his thoughts. Some declare that the speech of the Thlinkeets, whose language like that of the Chinook contains no labials, is melody in comparison to the croakings of the Chinooks. Ross says, that "to speak the Chinook dialect, you must be a Chinook."[III'-45] Indeed, they appear to have become tired of their own language and to have voluntarily abandoned it, for, to-day, the youthful Chinook speaks almost wholly Chehalis and the jargon. The employés of the fur companies, voyageurs, trappers and traders, who were accustomed to master with little difficulty the aboriginal tongues which they encountered, were completely nonplussed by the Chinook. A Canadian of Astor's company is the only person known to have acquired it so as to speak it fluently. During a long illness he was nursed by the Chinooks, and during his convalescence devoted his entire time to perfecting himself in their tongue.[III'-46]

Here the sounds of the letters f, r, v, and z do not exist, the pronunciation is generally very indistinct, and ç and s, k and g, d and t, are almost always confounded.

In the first person of the dual and plural of pronouns, the person present and addressed is either included or excluded according to the form used.

Personal pronouns in the Watlala dialect are:

SINGULAR.DUAL.PLURAL.
InaikaWe (two) (exc.)ndaikaWe (ex.)nçtaika
We (two) (incl.)tkhaikaWe (incl.)olkhaika
ThoumaikaYou (two)mdaikaYoumiçaika
HeiakhkaThey (two)içtakhkaTheytkhlaitçka

Of the possessive pronouns the following will serve as examples. They are joined to the noun itukutkhle, or itukwutkhle, house.

SINGULAR.
My house kukwutkhl
Thy house meokwitkhl
His house iakwitkhl
DUAL.PLURAL.
Our house (exc.)ndakwitkhlntçakwitkhl (exc.)
Our house (incl.)tkhakwitkhlolkhakwitkhl (incl.)
Your housemdakwitkhlmçakwitkhl
Their houseiçtakwitkhltkhlakwitkhl