Handsaw or Harlot? Some problem etymologies in the lexicon of Chinook Jargon
Like all pidgins, the lexicon of Chinook Jargon has a number of sources; although the core vocabulary is chiefly of Chinookan and Nootkan origin, English and French have also made large contributions, the percentage of each varying from time to time and from place to place. As Sankoff (1980: 145) points out, “Chinook Jargon remained highly variable throughout its history. Its vocabulary changed radically over time depending on the locus and proportions of its various groups of speakers, and because of the increasing dominance of English over time.” While most of the lexical items in the Jargon have been more or less satisfactorily accounted for, especially those of French and English origin, there remain a score or so of words for which an etymology either is not recorded or is of dubious accuracy. For some time, I have been attempting to track down the origins of as many of these ‘mystery words’ as possible, or to offer more probable sources than those usually cited. In this paper, I deal only with those items whose origin is apparently in or through French.