Chinook Jargon Phrasebook
Kahta Mamook Kopa Chinook Wawa - How to speak Chinook
Greetings & Courtesies
Klahowya - Hello, Greetings, How are you?
NB: most published lexicons give klahowyum for
poor, "miserable", but this is only a spelling convention. In most areas,
the two meanings were indistinguishable by listening. Thus, the context
of the greeting seems to have been originally "Mercy" or "Please help/give"
Klahowyum - poor, miserable, "I'm hungry", "please help me".
Native food-gathering societies in the Northwest were
often devastated by the consequences of even early Contact. On the other
hand, traders might have plead hard times before opening negotiations -
"give me a break"...See above.
Nah sikhs - Hello, friend. Nah cheechako - Hello,
stranger.
Masiem, mahsie - thanks, thank you
Spose - if, what if. Also Spose, klosh-spose -
may I? Shall I? (i.e. "would it be good if...?")
Kopasetty, copascetic - doing jes' fine, sitting pretty.
Jeff Kopp contributed this, which I have used for a long
time without ever considering it to be of Chinook origin. But now that
he's pointed it out, the "kopa-" beginning is a hallmark of Chinook
phrases - I just can't think what "setty" would mean.
Greetings &
Salutations | Common
Phrases | Money, Trade,
& Travel | Time
& the Elements
Food & Domestic
Life | Fun & Games
| Critters & Livestock
| People
The Body |
Numbers | Interrogatives, Prepositions,
& Interjections
Verbs & Concepts
| Adjectives & Abverbs
| Grammar & Prononciation
French loan-words
| English & other loan-words
Chinook-English reference
(by category)
Kamloops Wawa Word List
- NEW
Jim Holton's Chinook Jargon Book (draft)
George Lang's Chinook Jargon Website
Dakelh (Carrier) Chinook Jargon Website
Jeff Kopp's Chinook Wawa Website
E-mail
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