Lalang - tongue, language, from la langue
Lapel - skin, a hide, a fur, from le
piel
The English loan-word skin was also used, probably
more in reference to human skin than animal skins.
Lacope - coat, from le capot or
le
capeau
Possibly from "la coat" (i.e. French-English hybrid)
or from le corps (the body, i.e. a garment for the whole body);
either of these derivations may be of Metis origin. A cope in English
is an ecclesiastical mantle, sort of a short cloak approximately waist-length.
Capo - coat, from le capeau
Seapo - hat, from le chapeau
Latuk - a woolen cap, from la tuque
Without the French article, tuque or took
(as in kook) is a common word in English throughout Canada.
Siwash, sawash - Indian,
usually a male Indian, from Fr. le sauvage. NB
In native usage, sawash is preferred and siwash is perceived
as derisive, which it also commonly is in NW English, when still used.
Sawash
preserves the vowels and rhythm of the original French. Siwash was
also mistakenly used as the name of the tribe(s) in the region, which it
is not, as in "Siwash Indians", which is actually redundant Sel - salt, from le sel
The English loan-word salt was also used.
Suk, lesuk - sugar, from le sucre
The English loan-word shugah or shukwah
was also used.
Latab - a table, from la table
Lashase - a chair, from la chaise
Lapooshet - fork, from la fourchette
Lassiet, lasset - plate, from l'assiette
Lapote - door, from la porte
Lakley, lakleh - key, from le clef
NB different from lekliss, church, from l'eglise
Lacaset, lacasset - box, from la cassette
Lesac, lesak - sack, bag, from le sac
Laswah, lasway - silk, silken, from
la soie
Lawest - vest, from la veste
Leloba - ribbon, from le ruban
Leseezo - scissors, from le ciseau
Lapoel - pan, frying pan, from la poele
Lapellah - to roast (over a fire), if from
French, then le foyer or le four
Lahash - axe or hachet, from la hache
Lapelle - shovel or spade, from la pelle
Lapeosh - mattock or hoe, from la pioche
Lashaloo, lashalee - a plough, from
la charrue
Lalim, laleem - a file, from la lime
Lasee - a saw, from la scie
Laplash - board, plank, from la planche.
If as in French, would also mean "floor", or specifically
"floorboards".
Lekloo, lakloo - nail, from le clou
Lamahto - hammer, from le marteau
Lagwin, lakween - a saw,
specifically a handsaw with a narrow blade tapering towards a point, used
in carpentry, from Fr. l'égoïne. Prof. Barbara
Harris of the University of Victoria devoted a whole paper to the discussion
of this word's various misadventures in NW usage.
Labooti - bottle, from la bouteille
Lapeep, lepeep - pipe, as in a smoking
pipe, from la pipe
Lagom - pitch, gum, from la gomme
Used in the making and repair of water craft such as
canoes, York boats, and ships
Laselle - saddle, from la selle. NB
Opoots
laselle - breechclout, breech-cloth.
Lablide - bridle, from la bridle
Lapishemo - the saddle-blanket and trappings
of a horse.
Since writing the following sentences, a discussion
in the CHINOOK
mailing list has determined that this word is actually of Algonkian
origin.. I am unsure of the French source-word here, although
chameau (camel) seems to be a part of it. On further thought, the
standard Canadian French contraction of petit is p'ti, sometimes further
contracted to ti or pi. Therefore, the source term here would have
been le petit chameau - "little cloak" (i.e. a saddle blanket et al.) -
and an alternate form may have been letishamo - the p-t transposition
being not uncommon in Chinook.
Leseeblo - spurs, from les eperons
Sitlay, sitliay - stirrups, from les
etriers
Lapiege (pron. lapee-ezh)
-
trap. Eena lapiege - beaver-trap. From le piège.
Lasanjel - belt, sash, girdle, from la
cingle
I am uncertain as to whether this refers to the sash
that is the hallmark of the voyageur, or to the priestly girdle
of a cleric; it may refer to both.
Lashandel - candle, lamp, from la chandaille,
la chandelle
Lashen - chain, from la chaine
NB also known to be used for "dog", from le chien
Lapan - bread, from le pain
Gibbs says this refers to raised or light bread, as opposed
to hardtack or other types. I am uncertain, however, as to whether
the bread referred to by this word may be bannock, which was the
staple of the French-speaking voyageurs of the fur trade era and
has since become a staple of native peoples throughout British Columbia.
Bannock (the word is Scots in origin) is a virtually deep-fried bread made
in a frying pan with flour, water, and salt (and, of course, lots of oil).
Lawen - oats, from l'avoine
Lashey, larch - barley, from la siegle;
not
sure what larch comes from, unless it's just a corruption of
la siegle.
Labiskwee - biscuit, from le biscuit
Lapom - apple, from la pomme
Apples were introduced into the Northwest early on into
the 19th Century, both coastal and plateau regions being ideal climates
for temperate fruits. I have not seen other Chinook words for fruits, but
if any were used they probably would have been French loanwords, as cherries,
apricots, peaches and other fruits were planted widely in the Oregon Territory,
and then later in BC. I suspect that fruit and fruit trees may have been
trade goods during the fur trade era, accounting for a French origin for
the word for "apple", rather than an English one.
Lacalat - carrot, from la carrotte
Lepwah - peas, from les pois
Lapool - chicken, fowl, poultry, from
la poule
Lecock, lakok - rooster, cock, from
le coq
Lezep, lesap - eggs, from les oeufs
Lakutchee, lakwitchee - clams, from la
coquille.
Lakamass - the camas lily and its root,
a major food source
This is a French-Chinook hybrid from the addition of
the French article to the native noun, indicating a familiarity with the
plant among the voyageurs.
Latay, lateh - tea, from la the
The English loan-word tee was also used.
Melas - molasses, from la melasse
An unusual French loan-word in that, like sel
and suk it does not include the definite article as part of the
word as other Chinook borrowings from French do.
Suk - sugar, from le sucre.
The English loan-word shugah was also used.
Tabak - tobacco, from le tabac
The English loan-word tobacco and Chinook loan-word
kinootl
or kinoos were also used. Tabac is originally a Taino or Sarawak
word, I believe.
Lahb - used for another smokeable substance,
the leaves of the arbutus species uva ursi (bear berry), from l'herbe
or l'arbre.
Pish - fish, from la peche
Obviously this is just as much potentially an English
loan-word from the f-p change common in native adaptions of English words,
but I think it is of combined English-French origin; the English and French
words would have sounded similar to native ears anyway. NB Pish
is also "fire".
Moola, moolah - mill, from le moulin
The latter syllable may or may not be accented. This
word may be the origin of the English slang meaning of "moolah" as "money",
as mills are even today equated with income in the Northwest, i.e. "the
smell of money", as the saying goes.
Kalapeen, calapeen - rifle, from carabine
Also considered an English loan-word, although occurs
in Russian and French as well.
Huy-huy, hui-hui - apparently from oui,
oui. To bargain, to deal, to barter
The origin of this word's Jargon context is inventively
novel - the use of the phrase oui, oui to conclude a deal being
adopted into the Jargon as the generic word for bargaining or doing trade.
The words mahkook, mahsh, etc. acquired specific meanings
of buy, sell, etc., but huy-huy always carried an open meaning
referring to dealings in general.
Lamah, lemah, lehmah - the hand, from le
main
Also kloshe lamah - right, the right hand ("the
good hand"). Potlatch lamah - shake hands
Lajam - the leg, from la jambe
Lepee, lapieh - the foot, from le pied
Lam, lahm - the arm, from l'arme.
Note that the actual French word here is le bras,
but that the jargon has combined a French article with an English word;
the French term l'arme actually means "the weapon". NB difference
from laham or lahahm - oar.
Laboos, lapush - the mouth, from la
bouche.
There is a town in Washington State named Lapush.
Lalang - the tongue, language, from la
langue
Latate, latet - the head, the top, from
la
tete
Le cou, lecoo - the neck, from le cou
Ledoo, ladoo, ladwah - finger, from le
doigt. This, as Ledoo, is a family name
in the Lillooet area, although this may also come from the family name
LeDoux.
Ledoo
or ladoo would seem to come from French Canadian usage, rather than
the proper French le doigt.
Letah - teeth, from le dent and
les
dents
Moose - moose
Actually a Cree word, the plural of which is moosoutch,
this is generally considered to be an English loan-word introduced by the
voyageurs. If it were introduced by French-speakers also familiar
with Algonkian tongues, however, it should thus perhaps be considered a
French loan-word. The actual French word is elan, or more
properly l'elan.
Lelou - wolf, from le loup
Lamel - mule, from le mulet.
I am uncertain of the French source-word here. le
mulet is given in one of the sources (Shaw, I think) but specifically
means a male, la mule being a female and the more obvious source
of the term (female mules were a bit easier to get along with if I recall
correctly). The word burdash, from arch. Fr. berdache,
was also used for mules and other hermaphroditic creatures, e.g. burdash
moos-moos, steer.
Lemooto - sheep, mutton, from le mouton
Lashen - dog, from le chien
Cosho, gosho, goosie, logosho, locosho
- pig, pork, from le cochon
Lablow, leblau - a sorrel horse, chestnut-coloured,
from le blond.
Also as an adjective for blond or chestnut-colour.
Laclem, leklem - a cream-coloured or light
dun horse, from la creme.
Also as an adjective for the cream-colour.
Lagley, laglee - a gray horse, from le
gris.
Also as an adjective for the colour grey.
Lekye, lakai, lekay - a piebald or spotted
horse, i.e. a palomino or an appaloosa, from la caille.
Also used in the jargon to refer to the speckled salmon,
or dog salmon.
Sandelie, sandelee - a roan-coloured horse,
from cendre, or from English sandy.
Also used as an adjective for roan or ash-colour.
Burdash - hermaphrodite, gelding, from
berdache,
arch. Fr. from Arabic bardaj. for slave, entering
European languages via Moorish Spain, originally from Old Iranian varta
("seized, prisoner"). There is an interesting explanation of the
history of this term and the phenomenon associated with it at http://www.geocities.com/westhollywood/stonewall/3044/berdache.html.
Lekliss - the church, from l'église.
Probably
also used to mean the church, i.e. the institution of the Catholic
Church. NB different from lakley,
lakleh for key, from
le
clef.
Lacloa- the cross, from le croix
Lejaub, also jaub and yaub
- the devil, from le diable. Also hyas lejaub - great
devil, big devil, i.e. The Devil. Could
be used as a derisive, e.g. Boston lejaub, devil American.
Laplet - priest, from le pretre. I
haven't seen seen lepap, from Fr. le pape, for pope,
but it seems likely, and perhaps occurs in the Kamloops
Wawa.
Lamess, lamesse - the mass, from la
messe
Lamedsin, lametsin, lamestin, lamotchin
- doctor, medicine, from le medicin. Can also
mean priest. Note that common the
British prononciation of medicine is "medsin".
Lammieh, lummieh, lummi - old woman, from
la
vieille
Papa - father, from papa.
Also an English loan-word.
Mama - mother, from maman.
Also an English loan-word.
Bebe - baby, also kiss, from le bebe
and perhaps baiser. NB also note difference
from by-by, which means soon, in the near future, from the 19th
C. English expression in the by and by, i.e. rather than meaning
good-bye
or baby. The word tenas or tenass, meaning small
or little, was also used to mean children or infants; pron. tunus
or dunus in the Lower Columbia and Grand Ronde OR when used to mean
children.
Laboat - a boat
NB distinct from canim (canoe) or ship
(ship). The type of boat referred to here would be the York boat,
the giant canoe-type freight vessel used by the Hudson's Bay and Northwest
companies throughout the continent, but this probably would have become
a generic term for items such as rowboats, dorys, etc. that came into use
on BC's many lakes. I think the reason the term is not labato
(from le bateau) is that the voyageurs had adopted the English word
in reference to their company work-boats, but would have used it with the
French definite article.
Laham, lahahm - oar, from la rame
NB distinct from isick (paddle). Mamook
laham - to row. NB distinct from lahm - the arm, from l'arme.
Lapehsh - a pole, the sitting-pole of a
boat or canoe, from
la perche ("the perch")
Delate - straight, straight on, truly,
without equivocation, from droit - but probably from
Norman French "drette", standard French "droite" (fem. of "droit", straight);
Canadian French is heavily Norman in origin. This would properly be tout
droit or toute droite (or toute drette) in French, droit
meaning "right" in both the directional and legal senses. NB Klatawa
delate - go straight. Delate wawa - tell the truth ("speak
straight").
Laplash - wide, broad, from la plage
(beach) or la planche (board or floor). Also used for a
wooden plank, or a floor.
Lawet, lawhet - whip, from le fouet
Or a Metis French-English hybrid, "le whip".
Lamonti, lamoti - mountain, mountains,
from la montagne
Tanse - dance, from danser and la
danse
Also an English loan-word, from dance., but it's
likely that it was the voyageurs who first introduced this word.
Chantie, shantie, shauntie - sing, song,
from chanter
Also an English loand-word from shanty, the origin
of which is also French. I think the French-style prononciation shauntie
would probably have been older, the English-style prononciation shantie
becoming more common later in the 19th Century when French-speaking influence
in the region would be "wearing off".
Cooley - to run, to hurry, from coulir
or courir. Coulir means to pour,
courir
means to run. This word may also be a borrowing from the English
coolie,
for labourer, which is originally Hindi.
Coulee - from coulir. A dry
wash or riverbed, or the canyon or cliffs left behind by erosion over a
river or stream
Not strictly speaking a jargon word, as it was coined
on the Prairies by the voyageurs, but one familiar in the region,
especially in the name of Grand Coulee, a gorge-like formation on
the Columbia just south of its convergence with the Okanagan.
Mahsh - from marcher (to do, to
walk, to operate, etc.). To leave, turn out, throw away, to depart,
to remove, to dispose of
This word had a wide variety of uses in the Jargon, not all of which
are easy to recount; in general it lost its French contexts of to do, to
walk, to work/operate, and carried the sense of to dispose of, to throw
away, etc. See Other compounds in
the Verbs & Concepts page.
Mahliay - to marry, from marier.
The English loan-word mahlie (marry) was also
used.
Laball, labool - ball, a ball-game, also
a bullet or shot-ball, from la boule
Also an English-French hybrid, "la ball", as also occurs
in Canadian French
Tintin - bell, church bell, alarm clock,
from le tintin
Lemolo - crazy, stupid, wild, untamed, from
le
moron
Claimed by Gibbs to be a corruption of le marron,
for a runaway black slave (maroon in archaic English). He
also says it was used to apply to men and animals alike, and would be used
for tribes which had had little contact with colonial settlements.
Piupiu, pew-pew - to stink, to smell, poss.
from puer (to stink)
Same idea as the English loan-word/onomatopaeoia humm,
but of French-type origin rather than English or onomatopoeia The
same word is present in English as "pew!" or "phew", and could just as
easily have come to the jargon from French via English as directly from
French.
Poolie - rotten, from pourri
Polallie - flour, powder, possibly from
poudre
Gibbs notes that there is no native language in the region
with a similar word, other than sapolill (flour) or sapolallie - soapberry).
Pe, Pee, Pi - a conjunction - and, than,
but, or, etc., from
puis, which in French Canadian and Metis dialects
is "pi".
And last but not least:
Mahsie - thank you, mercy, from merci
See also English & Other Loanwords
|
l'arbre - Lahb -
used for another smokeable substance, the leaves of the arbutus species
uva
ursi (bear berry). Also perhaps from l'herbe.
Not known to be used for tree, the word for which was the English
loan-word stick.
l'arme - Lam, lahm- the arm.
Note
that the actual French word here is le bras, or les bras,
but that the jargon has combined a French article with an English word;
the French term l'arme actually means "the weapon" (?); perhaps
in archaic or Canadian French it may mean "arm"; I'm not sure. NB difference
from
laham or lahahm - oar.
l'assiette - Lassiet, lasset - plate.
l'avoine - Lawen - oats. baiser - Bebe - baby.
Papoose,
an Algonkian loanword, was also in use and probably entered the Jargon
via American pidgins used to speak to Indians, rather than directly from
Algonkian speakers or Metis voyageurs. NB it is perhaps only
speculative that Bebe comes from Fr. baiser,
to kiss.
NB also note different from by-by, which means soon, in the near
future, from the 19th C. English expression in the by and by,
i.e. rather than meaning
good-bye or baby. The word
tenas or tenass, meaning small or little, was
also used to mean children or infants; pron. tunus or dunus
in the Lower Columbia and Grand Ronde OR when used to mean
children.
la ball - Laball - ball,
a ball-game, also a bullet or shot-ball; possibly from an
English-French hybrid, "la ball", as also occurs in Canadian French.
Also occurs as labool, from la boule. Mamook laball,
mamook laboule - play ball.
le bébé - Bebe
- baby. Papoose, an Algonkian loanword, was
also in use and probably entered the Jargon via American pidgins used to
speak to Indians, rather than directly from Algonkian speakers, rather
than directly from Algonkian speakers or Metis voyageurs.
NB Bebe can also mean kiss, from Fr. baiser. NB
also note different from by-by, which means soon, in the near future,
from the 19th C. English expression in the by and by, i.e. rather
than meaning
good-bye or baby. The word tenas
or tenass, meaning small or little, was also used
to mean children or infants; pron. tunus or dunus in the
Lower Columbia and Grand Ronde OR when used to mean children.
la berdache - Burdash - hermaphrodite,
gelding, mule from la berdache (arch. Fr). Burdash
moos-moos - steer; burdash kiuatan - gelding, etc. from
Arabic bardaj. for slave, entering European languages via Moorish
Spain, originally from Old Iranian varta ("seized, prisoner").
There is an interesting explanation of the history of this term and the
phenomenon associated with it at http://www.geocities.com/westhollywood/stonewall/3044/berdache.html.
le blond - Lablow, leblau - a sorrel
horse, a chestnut-coloured horse. Also as an
adjective for blond or chestnut-colour.
la bouche - Laboos, lapush- the
mouth. There is a town in Washington State named
Lapush.
la boule - Labool- ball, a ball-game,
also a bullet or shot-ball, from la boule. Also as
laball
from an apparent English-French hybrid, "la ball", as also occurs in Canadian
French. Mamook laball, mamook laboule -
play ball.
la bouteille - Labooti - bottle.
le biscuit - Labiskwee- biscuit.
la bride - Lablide - bridle.
la caille - Lekye,
lakai, lekay - a piebald or spotted horse, i.e.
a palomino or an appaloosa. Also used in the
Jargon to refer to the speckled salmon, or dog salmon. The other
adjective in use for spotted was tzum, as in tzum paseese,
calico.,
which also became chum, a name for dog salmon in BC English .
le capeau - Lacope - coat, or cape,
also perhaps from le capot. Possibly from "la
coat" (i.e. French-English hybrid) or from le corps (the body, i.e.
a garment for the whole body); either of these derivations may be of Metis
origin. Capot is Canadian French, meaning winter coat.
In French, it's capote, related to Italian capotto - overcoat.
le capot - Lacope - coat,
also perhaps from le capeau. Capot is
Canadian French, meaning winter coat. In French, it's capote, related
to Italian capotto - overcoat.
le carabine - Kalapeen, calapeen
- rifle. Also considered an English loan-word, although
occurs in Russian and French as well. Please correct me if this noun
should be feminine in French; I'm not sure. Rifles were present in
the Northwest from the earliest days of the fur trade, even in the Interior
before the advent of white men there; Simon Fraser noticed Russian rifles
among the Lillooet (St'at'imc) people; hence this may be a Russian loan-word,
or even perhaps a Spanish one, though ultimately French in origin.
la carrotte - Lacalat - carrot.
la cassette - Lacaset, lacasset
- box.
le cendre - Sandelie,
sandelee - a roan-coloured horse, from , or from English sandy.
Also
used as an adjective for roan or ash-colour. Again I may not have
the gender of this noun correct; please
email
me with any corrections. As with melas, this is another
French loan-word where the definite article did not become part of the
Jargon form.
la chandaille - Lashandel - candle,
lamp.
la chandelle - Lashandel - candle,
lamp.
le chapeau - Seapo - hat, from le
chapeau
la chaîne - Lashen - chain.
NB also known to be used for "dog", from le chien.
la chaise - Lashase - a chair.
chanter - Chantie, shantie, shauntie
-
sing, or song, from chanter. Also an English
loand-word from shanty, the origin of which is also French.
I think the French-style prononciation shauntie would probably have
been older, the English-style prononciation shantie becoming more
common later in the 19th Century when French-speaking influence in the
region would be "wearing off". Also mamook shantie.
la charrue - Lashaloo, lashalee
- a plough.
le chien - Lashen
-
dog. NB also known to be used for "chain", from
le chaine. Dog and kamooks were also used for dog.
la cingle - Lasanjel - belt, sash,
girdle. According to a contributor, this attribution
is incorrect; proper French is le sangle; la cingle is given
in one of the sources. I am uncertain as to whether this refers to the
sash that is the hallmark of the voyageur, or to the priestly girdle
of a cleric; it may refer to both.
le ciseau, les ciseaux - Leseezo
- scissors.
le clef - Lakley, lakleh - key.
NB
different from lekliss, church, from l'eglise.
le clou - Lekloo, lakloo - nail,
tack. Not a fingernail, but a nail as in construction.
le cochon - Cosho, gosho, goosie, logosho,
locosho - pig, pork. NB also siwash cosho - Indian
pig - for seal (Fr. la/le focque).
le coq - Lecock, lakok - rooster,
cock.
la coquille - Lakutchee,
lakwitchee - clams. Lakutchee may
also be of native origin. If from French, must be dialectal - in
some dialects k becomes palatalized before a front vowel. Standard French
would have given lakukee (or lakookee)
le cou - Le cou, lecoo - the neck.
coulir - Cooley - to run, to hurry.Coulir
means to pour or to flow,
courir means
to run.;
either one seems possible as the origin of the loan here, although there
have been other theories as to the origin of this word, which may be native
in origin also. This word may also be a strange borrowing from the
English coolie, for labourer, which is originally Hindi despite
being mostly known in English in reference to the Chinese. NB kiuatan
yaka kumtux cooley - racehorse ("horse who knows how to run")
and man yaka kumtux cooley (runner, messenger, "man who knows
how to run"). Coulir is also the source of
coulee,
a dry wash or riverbed, or the canyon or cliffs left behind by erosion
over a river or stream. Coulee is not strictly speaking a
jargon word, as it was coined on the Prairies by the voyageurs,
but one familiar in the region, especially in the name of Grand Coulee,
a gorge-like formation on the Columbia just south of its convergence with
the Okanagan.
courir - Cooley - to run, to hurry.
Courir
means to run, coulir means to pour or to flow; either
one seems possible as the origin of the loan here, although there have
been other theories as to the origin of this word, which may be native
in origin also. This word may also be a strange borrowing from the English
coolie,
for labourer, which is originally Hindi despite being mostly known in English
in reference to the Chinese.
la crème - Laclem, leklem
- a cream-coloured or light dun horse. Also
as an adjective for the cream-colour.
le croix - Lacloa- the cross.
la danse - Tanse -
dance. Also mamook tanse, perhaps mamook latanse.
Also an English loan-word, from dance., but it's likely that it
was the voyageurs who first introduced this word. Perhaps
can mean either dance, as in a social occasion, or to dance.
danser - Tanse - dance. Also
mamook
tanse, perhaps mamook latanse. Also an English loan-word,
from dance., but it's likely that it was the voyageurs who
first introduced this word.
les dents, le dent - Letah - teeth,
tooth.
le diable - Lejaub, jaub, yaub
- the devil. Also hyas lejaub - great devil, big devil,
i.e. The Devil. Could be used as a derisive,
e.g. Boston lejaub, devil American, damned Yankee.
le doigt - Ledoo, ladoo, ladwah
- finger. This, as Ledoo, is a family name in
the Lillooet area, although this may also come from the family name LeDoux.
Ledoo
or ladoo would seem to come from French Canadian usage, rather than
the proper French le doigt.
droit - Delate - straight, straight
on, truly, without equivocation, extremely etc. - probably
from Norman French "drette", standard French "droite" (fem. of "droit",
straight); Canadian French is heavily Norman in origin. This would
properly be tout droit or toute droite in French, droit
or droite (or drette) meaning "right" in both the directional
and legal senses. NB Klatawa delate - go straight. Delate
wawa - tell the truth ("speak straight"). I have tried to consider
other possible French sources for this term, from the formula "de - ...."
but can't think of any. Please notify
me if something else occurs to you. It's occurred to me that
le
droit (the law, the right of rule) would have been an awkward
loan-word, given the use of ledwa for finger (from le
doigt). Nawitka, a Chinookan expression, was also used
to mean truly, without equivocation, extremely, etc.
l'église - Lekliss
- the church. Probably also used to mean the church,
i.e. the institution of the Catholic Church. NB different from lakley,
lakleh
for key, from
le clef.
l'égoïne - Lagwin,
lakween - a saw, specifically a handsaw with a narrow
blade tapering towards a point, used in carpentry. Prof. Barbara
Harris of the University of Victoria devoted a whole paper to the discussion
of this word's various misadventures in NW usage.
les épérons - Leseeblo
- spurs.
les étriers - Sitlay, sitliay
- stirrups.
le fouet - Lawet, lawhet-
whip. Or a Metis French-English hybrid, "le whip".
Normally f => p in the Pacific Northwest, such that a pure French
loan-word would have been lapwet, but this was unrecorded.
la fourchette - Lapooshet - fork.
Also
used, in theory, was opitsaht yaka sikhs - "the knife's friend"
le four - Lapellah - to roast (over
a fire), if from French.
le foyer - Lapellah - to roast (over
a fire), if from French.
la gomme - Lagom -
pitch, gum. Used in the making and repair of water
craft such as canoes, York boats, and ships
le gris - Lagley, laglee- a gray
horse. Also as an adjective for the colour grey.
la hache - Lahash, la'ash,
lash - axe or hachet.
l'herbe - Lahb - used for another
smokeable substance, the leaves of the arbutus species uva ursi
(bear berry). Also perhaps from l'arbre .
la jambe - Lajam
- the leg. The native-origin word teawhit was
also used, probably incorporating a hand gesture to distinguish the other
possible meaning of foot..
Là-là - Lolo
- to carry, to pick up, to load, to portage. NB This
is my own speculation on the origin of the Chinook word lolo, for
carry, haul, load. I worked on French-language construction and kitchen
jobs in Whistler BC, where Quebecois were a common part of the local community
in the '80s (as they probably are now). When I came across the Jargon
word lolo, it struck me that there was a relation to a usage I'd
heard of the form "passe-moi la mat la, la, la-la-la", i.e. "pass me that
hammer there, that one, that one there". It's easy to imagine voyageurs
instructing native helpers "unload that stuff from the canoe, that stuff,
that stuff there, there, there, there, that one..." etc. Given that
the franco-canadien vowels in this expression are very much more like
an 'o' than an 'a' (it'll help once I get the HTML characters for accented
e's right!). NB distinct from lo'lo, also sp. lolo
and lowullo, meaning round, circular, a circle (of people, objects
etc.); the apostrophe and the 'w' in those spellings denotes a glottal
stop and/or a different rhythm to the word.
la langue - Lalang - the tongue,
also language. Sometimes used to mean Chinook Jargon
in particular.
la lîme - Lalim, laleem- a
file.
le loup - Lelou, leloo - wolf. Perhaps
also hyas leloo, for timberwolf. There is a terrifying
tale from a Northwest Company outpost in the Shuswap Lake area from 1815
concerning a pack of giant white wolves leading a troop of coyotes, wild
dogs and other varmints (raccoons, weasels, etc.) in a rampage across the
Interior, killing horses "in the hundreds". When the pack reached
the NWC outpost, the head trapper helped exterminate the half-dozen timberwolves,
whereupon the "army" of other animals dispersed; in what might be a self-aggrandizement,
the chief trader's journal claims he shot one of the wolves with a muzzle-loader
musket at a range of 400 yards.
le main - Lamah, lemah,
lehmah- the hand. The English loanword hand was also used.
Also
kloshe lamah - right, the right hand ("the good hand"). Potlatch
lamah - shake hands, i.e. "give hand".
la maman - Mama
- mother. Also an English loan-word. Also theoretically
an English loan-word.
marcher - Mahsh - from marcher.
To leave, turn out, throw away, to depart, to remove, to dispose of, to
send, many other uses. This word had a wide variety
of uses in the Jargon, not all of which are easy to recount; in general
it lost its French contexts of to do, to walk, to work/operate, and carried
the sense of to dispose of, to throw away, etc. This word's origin
is supposed to be from the phrase (let's see if I've got this right) marche
t'en vas - "put that down", or "unload that". Please correct
me if I've got the French wrong! See Other
compounds in the Verbs & Concepts page.
Also see Lolo and (in this section la, la-la, which is found
under "L").
marier - Mahliay - to marry. The
English loan-word mahlie (marry) was also used.
le marron - Lemolo - crazy, stupid,
wild, untamed. Claimed by Gibbs to be a corruption
of le marron, for a runaway black slave (maroon in archaic
English). He also says it was used to apply to men and animals alike,
and would be used for tribes which had had little contact with colonial
settlements, i.e. that were still "wild".
le marteau - Lamahto - hammer. Canadian
French also uses le mat'., which one would expect to have come with
the voyageurs, but lamat doesn't show up in the lexicons.
la médecine, or
le médecin - Lamedsin, lametsin, lamestin, lamotchin
- doctor, medicine. Can also mean priest.
One correspondent notes that le médecin is more likely to
have become lametse. NB
Tamanass man
-
Indian doctor, medicine man. Note that common the British prononciation
of medicine is "medsin". The English loan-word
doctin was
also used, a corruption of doctor.
la melasse - Melas - molasses. An
unusual French loan-word in that, like sel and
suk it does
not include the definite article as part of the word as other Chinook borrowings
from French do; although lasel and lesuk were also found,
lamelas
was not.
merci - Mahsie
- thank you, mercy, from merci. NB Hyas
mahsie or hayash mahsie- thank you very much.
la messe - Lamess, lamesse - the
mass. Probably also used for Protestant services, ironically
enough.
la montagne - Lamonti, lamoti -
mountain, mountains. NB It is unclear from the lexicons
if the final vowel in the Jargon adaption is "ee" or "ie" (English conventions),
the latter being suggested by the original French word. ref. labooti
from la bouteille, where the 'i' also seems to be 'ie'.
le moron (?) - Lemolo - crazy,
stupid, wild, untamed. Claimed by Gibbs to be
a corruption of le marron, for a runaway black slave (maroon
in archaic English). He also says it was used to apply to men and
animals alike, and would be used for tribes which had had little contact
with colonial settlements, i.e. that were still "wild".
le moulin - Moola, moolah - mill.
The
latter syllable may or may not be accented, depending on the survival of
residual French pronunciation within local Jargon usage. This word may
be the origin of the English slang meaning of "moolah" as "money", as mills
are even today equated with income in the Northwest, i.e. "the smell of
money", as the saying goes.
le mouton - Lemooto - sheep, mutton.
la mule, le mulet - Lamel - mule.
Le mulet is given in one of the sources (Shaw, I think)
but specifically means a male, la mule being a female and the more
obvious source of the term (female mules were a bit easier to get along
with if I recall correctly). The word burdash, from arch.
Fr. berdache, was also used for mules and other hermaphroditic creatures,
e.g. burdash moos-moos, steer.
les oeufs - Lezep, lesap
- eggs. Note that the singular form l'oeuf was
not adapted, which would have been loup or something similar.
oui, oui - Huy-huy, hui-hui (apparently).
To bargain, to deal, to barter. The origin of this
word's Jargon context is inventively novel - the use of the phrase oui,
oui to conclude a deal being adopted into the Jargon as the generic
word for bargaining or doing trade. The words mahkook, mahsh,
etc. acquired specific meanings of buy, sell, etc., but huy-huy
always carried an open meaning referring to dealings in general.
l'orge - larch
- barley. NB la seigle - lashay
- rye.
le pain - Lapan -
bread. Gibbs says this refers to raised or light bread,
as opposed to hardtack or other types. I am uncertain, however, as
to whether the bread referred to by this word may be bannock, which
was the staple of the French-speaking voyageurs of the fur trade
era and has since become a staple of native peoples throughout British
Columbia. Bannock (the word is Scots in origin) is a virtually deep-fried
bread made in a frying pan with flour, water, and salt (and, of course,
lots of oil).
le papa - Papa
- father. Also theoretically an English loan-word.
la pêche - Pish - fish (if
from French; may also be a corruption of the English fish). Obviously
this is just as much potentially an English loan-word from the f-p change
common in native adaptions of English words, but I think it is of combined
English-French origin; the English and French words would have sounded
similar to native ears anyway. NB Pish is also "fire".
With the rapid development of orchards in the Interior of the Northwest
in the 19th Century, it seems possible that lapesh may have come
into use for peach, from the French la peche.
la pelle - Lapelle - shovel or spade.
Hmm
Lapellah
is used for roasting on a fire; conceivably a shovel could be used for
this purpose...???
la perche - Lapehsh - a pole, or
the sitting-pole of a boat or canoe. NB possibly alsoof
special meaning in the Fraser Canyon (and at the Dalles?), where pole-fishing
was done from wooden platforms built scaffolding-style out over the raging
torrent of the river. NB also distinct from the word for a ship's
mast - mitwhit stick - lit. standing tree/wood.
le piège - Lapiege (pron.
lapee-ezh) - trap. NB Eena lapiege -
beaver-trap.
le pied - Lepee, lapieh - the foot.
The
native-origin word teawhit was also used.
le piel - Lapel - skin, a hide,
a fur. The English loan-word skin was also used,
probably more in reference to human skin than animal skins.
la pioche - Lapeosh - mattock or
hoe.
la pipe - Lapeep, lepeep - pipe,
as in a smoking pipe.
la place - Laplash - wide, broad,
open. I've added this because a correspondent suggested
that laplash, usually cited as from la plage or la planche, may also possibly
also be from la place = room/space as in il y a de la
place - there is room/space. Another word for wide or
broad is klah or klak.
la plage - Laplash - wide, broad,
also a wooden plank, or a floor. Laplash may
also come from la panche, for floor or wooden plank.
There may be a vowel distinction between the wide, broad
meaning
and the board, floor meaning, as there is in French due to the nazalization
of the vowel. This would, I think, make the
floor or wooden
plank meaning more like laplosh, but this is only my speculation
as it is unrecorded in the main sources. The use of this term for
beach
does not appear to have come into the Jargon. Laplash, usually
cited as from la plage or la planche, may also possibly also
be from la place = room/space as in il y a de la place
- there is room/space. Another word for wide or broad
is klah or klak.
la planche - Laplash - wide, broad,
also a floor or wooden plank. Laplash may also
come from la plage, for beach. There
may be a vowel distinction between the wide, broad meaning and the
board,
floor meaning, as there is in French. This would make the floor
or wooden plank meaning more like laplosh, but this is only
speculation as it is unrecorded in the main sources. Laplash,
usually cited as from la plage or la planche, may also possibly
also be from la place = room/space as in il y a de la
place - there is room/space. Another word for wide or
broad is klah or klak.
la poele - Lapoel - pan, frying
pan.
les pois - Lepwah - peas.
la pomme - Lapom - apple. Apples
were introduced into the Northwest early on into the 19th Century, both
coastal and plateau regions being ideal climates for temperate fruits.
I have not seen other Chinook words for fruits, but if any were used they
probably would have been French loanwords, as cherries, apricots, peaches
and other fruits were planted widely in the Oregon Territory, and then
later in BC. I suspect that fruit and fruit trees may have been trade goods
during the fur trade era, accounting for a French origin for the word for
"apple", rather than an English one.
la porte - Lapote - door.
la poule - Lapool - chicken, fowl,
poultry.
la poudre - Polallie - flour, powder,
sand, possibly from
poudre. There are disputes
as to the origin of this word. Gibbs notes that there is no native
language in the region with a similar word, other than sapolill
(flour) or sapolallie - soapberry - which perhaps comes from sabon
olallie, sabon coming from French, olallie from local
native language).
pourri - Poolie - rotten.
le prêtre - Laplet - priest.
I
haven't seen seen lepap, from Fr. le pape, for pope,
or lebek from l'évèsque, for bishop,
but both seems likely, and perhaps occur in the Kamloops
Wawa. I am uncertain what word was used for a pastor or
reverend;
perhaps laplet as well.
puer - Piupiu, pew-pew - to stink,
to smell, poss. from puer (to stink). Same idea
as the English loan-word/onomatopaeoia humm, but of French-type
origin rather than English or onomatopoeia The same word is present
in English as "pew!" or "phew", and could just as easily have come to the
jargon from French via English as directly from French.
puis - Pe, Pee, Pi - a conjunction
- and, than, but, or, etc., from
puis, which in French Canadian
and Metis dialects is "pi". I've also heard
pe
as a conjunction for "and" in St'at'imcets (Lillooet), however, so this
may be of Salishan origin.
la râme - Laham,
lahahm - oar. NB distinct from isick (paddle).
Mamook laham - to row. NB distinct from lahm - the arm, from
l'arme.
le ruban - Leloba - ribbon.
le sac - Lesac, lesak
- sack, bag.
le sangle - Lasanjel - belt, sash,
girdle. Proper French is le sangle; la cingle
is given in one of the sources. I am uncertain as to whether this refers
to the sash that is the hallmark of the voyageur, or to the priestly
girdle of a cleric; it may refer to both.
le sauvage - Siwash, sawash - Indian,
usually a male Indian. NB In native usage, sawash
is preferred and siwash is perceived as derisive, which it also
can be in NW English, when still used. Sawash preserves the
vowels and rhythm of the original French. Siwash was also
mistakenly used as the name of the tribe(s) in the region, which it is
not, as in "Siwash Indians", which is actually redundant.
la scie - Lasee - a saw.
la seigle - Lashey, larch- barley
(from Shaw). NB correct meaning is rye;
larch
comes from l'orge -barley.
le sel - Sel - salt. The
English loan-word salt was also used.
la selle - Laselle - saddle.NB
Opoots
laselle - breechclout, breech-cloth, i.e. "rear end saddle", "butt
saddle".
la soie - Laswah, lasway- silk,
silken.
le sucre - Suk, lesuk- sugar. The
English loan-word shugah or shukwah was also used, as was
the more French form lesuk.
le tabac - Tabak-
tobacco. The English loan-word tobacco and Chinook
loan-word
kinootl or kinoos were also used. Tabac is
originally a Taino or Sarawak word, I believe.
la table - Latab - a table.
la tête - Latate, latet -
the head, the top.
la thé - Latay, lateh - tea.
The English loan-word tee was also used.
le tintin - Tintin - bell, church
bell, alarm clock, can also mean simply "noise". Mamook
tintin - to make noise, to wake someone up, i.e. reveille.
le train - Latleh - the train, noise,
i.e. to make noise like a train, or a train's whistle. Mamook
latleh - to make a lot of noise, to be noisy.
la tuque - Latuk - a woolen cap.
Without
the French article, tuque or took (as in kook) is a common
word in English throughout Canada.
la veste - Lawest -
vest.
la vieille - Lammieh, lummieh, lummi-
old woman.
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