Complexity and simplicity in minimal lexica: 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.

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Thomas Paul's Sametl

Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages ◽

10.1075/jpcl.5.1.05hym ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 71-106 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Dell H. Hymes

Keyword(s):

General Analysis ◽

Functional Explanation ◽

Indian Languages ◽

Chinook Jargon

A pidgin may share with other languages patterning of narrative in lines and groups of lines (verses). Chinook Jargon texts show patterns of the same kind as found in the speakers' respective Indian languages. A Saanich Salish jargon text is examined in detail, and its cultural and aesthetic interest pointed out, as well as its contribution to a general analysis of travel and outcome in Indian narratives. The recurrence in languages, including pidgins and creoles, of just a few alternative types of ethnopoetic patterning suggests an innate basis, but a functional explanation cannot be ruled out.

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