Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Cosho

COSHO

[ko'-SHO] or [KU'-shu] — noun.

Meaning: Hog; pig; swine; pork; ham; bacon.

Origin: French, le cochon, ‘pig’

“Oink, oink indeed,” said the Harbor Seal.

Sometimes rendered as gosho, legosho, or lecosho in older sources, “cosho” (with the accent on the second syllable) was a French loanword used to mean pig or swine, but by context can be said to refer to the meat of the animal, though if one wanted to specify they could say "cosho itlwillie" (hog meat; pork).

Variants included  "klootchman cosho" (sow pig), “tenas cosho” (piglet), and "cosho glease" (lard) as well as “wawa kahkwa cosho” (squeal), covering the famous line of the Hog Industry, “konaway ikta pe wawa kahkwa cosho” (everything but the squeal).

The word is also used in “siwash cosho” (aboriginal pig) used to refer to the meat of a seal, being somewhat similar in appearance, if not in taste, to that of swine,  and was as much a staple of coastal First Nation life as pork was to the British or the Americans. It's worth noting that this expression was purely a jargon creation, and an equally prevalent word used throughout the region was “olehiyu” (seal), which was of Chinookan origin.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Delate

DELATE

[de-LATEY'] or [de-LEYT'] — adjective, adverb.

Meaning: accurate; authentic; certain; correct; correctly; direct; exact; definite; definitley; genuine; just; straight; plain; precise; real; really; sincere; sincerely; sure; thorough; true; truely; upright; undoubted; verily; very; without equivocation; without hesitation.

Origin: Either a corruption of English, straight; or Norman French drette > standard French droite ‘right’, both the directional and legal senses.

In Chinook Wawa, ‘delate’ is used as a superlative, which when added makes a statement positive and removes any element of doubt. Phrases like "delate nika wawa" (I am speaking the truth), "delate siah" (a very great distance), or "delate kwinnum cole ahnkuttie" (exactly five years ago) illustrate that anything ‘delate’ is the genuine article.

‘Delate’ can emphasize the quality of something, as in "delate kloshe" (very good; exquisite; pure; perfect) and "delate kahkwa” (exactly the same; identical), "delate chee" (entirely new), or “delate kimtah” (the last).

It serves as an affirmative, such as in “delate klosheh” (very good; right on), "okoke delate" (that is right; it is correct), “nawitka, delate kloshe” (yes, perfect), and "delate hyas kloshe" (majestic; magnificent; awe-inspiring).

Alternatively, it can emphasize a negative, such as “delate cultus” (absolute worthlessness; useless; mean), “wake delate" (not right; imperfect; deformed), "delate halo ticky" (to detest; dislike), “delate hyas mesachie” (terrible; terror), or if something is "delate kimtah kloshe" (very worse; worst), or declare that something or someone is being at “wake delate mamook” (fault) of something.

It can be used in the directional sense, such as "klatawa delate" (to go straight ahead; continue on), when describing size, as seen in "delate hyas" (enormous; immense; stupendous), emphasizes an exact time, such as "delate tenas sun" (dawn; daybreak), and of course all-important baking instructions, ranging from “delate tenas" (just a little) to "delate pahtl" (full to the brim; chockfull).

It can be used to express genuine feelings, such as "delate sick tumtum" (grief; very sad; very sorry) and the expression "delate nika sick tumtum" (I am very sorry), or tell someone that something is “delate ticky” (really necessary) or state if one has "halo delate kumtuks" (doubt, uncertain; obscure).

If you “mitlite delate kloshe tumtum kopa” (adore) something, you might describe it as being “delate hyas kloshe” (magnificent; majestic; awe-inspiring; very good) and that "nika tumtum delate kloshe" (my heart is very glad).

If a process results in "halo delate mamook" (not right work), one needs to "mamook delate" (to make right; correct) and “mamook delate kloshe (refine) the process in order for it to “delate kumtuks” (prove) useful.

If one is "delate yaka kumtuks" (an expert) and can "delate kumtuks" (know for a certainty; to be sure; to prove), then it is easy to "wawa delate" (speak the truth; speak correctly; affirm), especially if one is a “man yaka delate nanitch” (eyewitness) to something.

A skilled “man yaka delate kumtux potlatch wawa” (orator) will not likely “halo delate wawa” (mispronounce) words when speaking, though it will be up to the listener to determine if what they say is "delate wawa" (fact; promise; direct talk; straight truth) or “wake delate wawa” (legend; fiction; fable).

Just like the French word it is based on, ‘delate’ applies to both the legal sense, as in "delate yaka illahee" (a native of a country; one's native land), and in the physical sense, with a Delate Creek existing in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho each.

This Delate Road is located just outside of Poulsbo, Washington, across from Seattle on the Olympic Peninsula. There are many roads and streets with Chinook Wawa names in Cascadia.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Hyak

HYAK

[HY'-ak] — adverb.

Meaning: Swift; fast; quick; quickly; speed; speedy; hurry; hasten; make haste; instantly; prompt; sudden; suddenly; rapid; rapidity of motion.

Origin: Chinook ai-ak, from a Chinookan particle áyaq 'can; quick, quickly'

Used to denote speed or urgency, as seen in “hyak kilapi” (return quickly; hurry back), "mamook hyak" (to make haste; to be prompt; expedite), and “hyak cooley” (run; race; to run rapidly or go fast), or other forms of rapid movement, like “hyak klatawa” (dodge; gallop). If you ordered a delivery expedited, you might be surprised by the delivery person and how "hyak yaka chako" (quickly they come), perhaps even saying "kloshe mika hyak chako" (good you come quickly) if it was an urgent delivery.

‘Hyak’ could be used to denote frequency, as seen in “hyak hyak” (so often), or even be used as an imperative simply meaning “Hurry!” or “Hurry up!”. Of course, the opposite would be "wake hyak" (moderate; slow; not fast).

Iron Horse Trailstop in Hyak, WA

Hyak lends itself to numerous place names across Cascadia; Hyak County Park is located near Albany, Oregon while Hyak Junior High School is located in Bellevue, Washington. There are two separate Hyak Creeks in Washington, one of which feeds into Hyak Lake, which lies near the unincorporated community of Hyak, Washington, which was established around 1915 at the eastern portal of the Snoqualmie Pass Milwaukee Road Railroad tunnel. Originally a train station, the community began to grow in the 1930s when the railroad built a world-class ski area.

Hyak Mountain is located in the Purcell Mountain range near the communities of Argenta and Lardeau in British Columbia, while Hyak Shelter, a rectangular, 1-story historical building of peeled-pole wall construction, with a wood-shaked, modified gable roof and set on a stone foundation, is located at the edge of an open field, along the North Fork Bogachiel River Trail, within Olympic National Park.

The word is also used for the name of the Hyack Festival held on Victoria Day weekend in New Westminster, BC, distinguished by the Ancient and Honourable Hyack Anvil Battery Salute, a tradition created by The New Westminster Fire Department — known as “The Hyacks" — in 1870 as a surrogate for the royal 21-gun salute usually performed on the Queen's Birthday. With no cannons available in the early colony, the Fire Department improvised by placing gunpowder between two anvils, the top one upturned, and igniting the charge from a safe distance, hurling the upper anvil into the air.

This celebration continues today as an important civic tradition, lending the city the distinction of having the longest-running May Day celebration of its type in the British Commonwealth. Within B.C., at least four other communities still celebrate May Day: Port Coquitlam, Ladner in Delta (whose May Day Festival began in 1896), Bradner in Abbotsford, and The Sunshine Coast's Pender Harbour.

There did exist an interesting regional variant of Chinook Wawa; in the Fraser Canyon "holaporte" was heard to mean "hurry!"
It comes from "all aboard", a cry uttered from many of the steamboats which piloted the Fraser River in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

As an interesting coincidence, the modern Japanese verb and adverb 早く “hayaku” (fast; quickly; hasten) bears a notable similarity to the Chinook Wawa word.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Chuck

CHUCK

[chuhk] or [tsukw] — noun.

Meaning: water; liquid; river; stream

Origin: Nootka Jargon chaak 'water' < Nuu-chah-nulth cha’uk ‘water’. Also from a Chinookan noun tlchuqw ‘water’ > Chinook, tltsuk; Clatsop, tl'chukw, freshwater. Evidently, a case of accidentally converging form/meaning.

The word ‘chuck’ is extremely widespread in Chinook Wawa. While it can often be used as a shorthand of any number of bodies of water, there are often modifiers to lessen the ambiguity; "cooley chuck" (river; stream), “tenas chuck” (creek; brook; pool; moisture), “memaloose chuck” (pond), “hiyu chuck” (flood), and "hyas chuck" (deluge) are just some of them. Perhaps the most widely used variant was "skookum chuck" (whitewater rapids), a compound word literally meaning "strong water" that is found in many place names throughout Cascadia.

In addition to bodies of water, is also included activities and actions in those bodies, such as “mitlite saghalie kopa chuck” (float), “mahsh keekwullie kopa chuck” (submerge), “klatawa keekwullie kopa chuck” (dive) and “chako klahanie kopa chuck” (come out of the water). Of course, it could be risky to “klatawa kopa lepee kopa chuck” (wade) or "chuck ooahut" (to ford) out into "klip chuck" (deep water) for one might "memaloose kopa chuck” (drown) if unprepared.

The word ‘chuck’ is also used to refer to any type of “kahkwa chuck” (fluid; liquid), such as “chuck kopa stick” (sap) and “klale chuck kopa mamook tzum” (ink), "saghalie chuck" (holy water; magical potion; hot spring), and "cultus chuck" (alkali water; poison).

It lends itself to the names of some drinks, like “olallie chuck” (juice; berry juice), "chuck lapome" (cider), "piah chuck" (whisky), and that famous concoction "lumpechuck" (grog), a mixture of rum and water better known in the Queen's Navy as "diluted spirits."

It also applies to some bodily fluids, such as "chuck kopa seeowist" (tears), “chuck kopa skin” (sweat), “chuck mitlite kopa skin” (perspiration), and “mahsh lapush chuck” (spit; saliva").

There was also "salt chuck" (saltwater; the sea) and “hyas salt chuck” (ocean), places where one finds "salt chuck tupso" (seaweed) and maybe the occasional “chuck ooahut” (waterspout) during "solleks chuck" (a rough sea). Waves were normally expressed as “chuck chako solleks”, but could also be called “hiyu sea” in some cases.

The word ‘chuck’ is also used as part of a number of related marine descriptors, such as “illahee wake siah kopa chuck” (coast; coastline) and used to describe the different types of "chuck chako pe klatawa" (tide), including “chuck chako” (incoming tide; rising tide), “chuck kilapi” (outgoing tide; falling tide), "saghalie chuck" (high tide), "keekwullie chuck" (low tide), and “chuck yaka klatawa” (ebb tide).

These are all things one must be aware of when they “klatawa kopa chuck” (navigate), for one doesn’t want to be “cultus mitlite kopa chuck” (adrift) in a storm, and one most definitely dosn’t want to have to "mahsh chuck kopa boat" (bail out the boat).

Word order is important in Chinook Wawa, since “chuck mitlite kopa illahee (muddy ground) is a bit different from “illahee mitlite kopa chuck” (muddy water). Similarly, additional context can alter the meaning of a saying, as seen in the difference between "mitlite kopa chuck" (soak; to be wet) has a different meaning from "yaka mitlite kopa chuck” (they are on the water).

This also extends to phrases involving water; "mamook wagh chuck" (pour some water) is a bit different from “mamook cooley chuck” (irrigate) and “mamook liplip chuck” (boil water), and all three have a substantially different meaning from “mahsh chuck” (urinate).

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Tenas

TENAS

[TEN'-as]  — adjective.   [ten'-AS] or [dun'-US] (Grand Ronde pronunciation) — noun.

Meaning: Small; few; little; lesser; weak; young; a child; a youth

Origin: From Nootka Jargon taná(s) 'child, little' < Nuu-chah-nulth t’an’ais ‘child’

The opposite of ‘skookum’, ‘hyas’, and ‘hiyu’ in differing contexts. In the Lower Columbia and Grand Ronde Chinuk-Wawa, the distinction between ten'-as and dun'-us (not GR spellings, just approximations of pronunciations) is between ‘small/little’ and ‘child/young’.

Photo by Martha Boers.

In some usages, “tenas” means ‘child’, as in “mokst nika tenas” (I have two children) and is used to describe youths as either “klootchman tenas” (girl; young woman)  or “tenas man” (boy; young man), but these terms could be used in some cases to mean ‘daughter’ and ‘son’ respectively. These titles were also extended to describe a "tenas yaka tenas" (grandchild), like a “tenas yaka tenas klootchman" (granddaughter) or a “tenas yaka tenas man” (grandson). It was also extend to mean the young of any living creature, such as “tenas puss-puss” (kitten).

The word can be used to describe the "hyas tenas" (very small) version of something, as evident in "tenas house" (hut), “tenas labal” (bullet) and “tenas lop” (string; cord), or can denote quantity, as in  “tenas hyiu” (a few), "tenas weght" (a little more), or “tenas sitkum” (small half) which is used to describe a quarter or 25% of something. Man, those tickets were amazingly "tenas mahkook" (cheap; inexpensive)! You could say that the discount really caused the price to “chako tenas" (decrease; diminish), though the expresion "mamook tenas" was another way of expressing the same idea.

Geographic features such as a  “tenaschuck” (lake; pond) or a “tenas saghalie illahee” (hill), seasons like “tenas waum (spring) and “tenas cole” (autumn), times of day such as “tenas sun” (early; early morning) or “tenas polaklie” (evening), or recent events, like “tenas ahnkuttie” (recently; a little while ago), and “tenas laly kimta” (a little while after).

While pushing a "chik-chik kopa tenas" (baby stroller) through the park, one might engaging in “tenas wawa” (small talk) by discussing  weather conditions like a pleasant “tenas wind” (breeze; light wind) or mentioning that "tenas snow chako" (a little snow has come). However, if someone you encounter is “tenas sick” (hung over) they are not likely to be very sociable.

Like many words in Chinook Wawa, ‘tenas’ is a very popular place name, with no fewer than 30 locations featuring it as part of their name, chief among these are Tenas Lake (three located in British Columbia, one in Washington, one in Oregon, and one in Alaska) and Tenas Creek (three located in Washington, two in British Columbia, one in Idaho, and one in Alaska).

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Cheechako

CHEECHAKO

[chee-CHAH'-ko] — noun.

Meaning: Newcomer; stranger;  just arrived

Origin: Lower Chinook t'shi ‘straightaway’ + Nuu-chah-nulth chokwaa ‘come!’

A common compound word formed from the Chinook Wawa words  “chee” (new; lately) and “chako” (to come; to arrive), it was an primarily used to refer to a non-native person.

While it can mean ‘stranger’ in some circumstances, cheechako can also mean "tenderfoot", meaning one in need of learning about the land, wildlife, weather, and cultures of the region, although this mild derisive context is later and more regional, being associated with the Klondike gold rush in throughout Alaska, the Yukon and northwestern British Columbia.

One historic example of its use comes from Fairbanks hostess Eva McGown, who is quoted: "I never had any children of my own, but as someone once said, I am the mother of all the cheechakoos."

This word is still in local use in Alaska as slang for a newcomer to the state. As a side note, historically any person who survived at least one winter in Alaska was graduated to the title of “sourdough”, meaning they had become humble as they embraced the lessons that land teaches.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Puss-Puss

PUSS-PUSS

[puss'-puss] general, [pish'-pish] Puget Sound — noun.

Meaning: A cat. Also used for cougar, lynx, bobcat, etc.

Origin: English, An informal term of address for a cat. From a common Germanic word for cat, perhaps ultimately imitative of a sound made to get its attention.

While the term for a house cat in ‘standard’ Chinook Wawa was “puss-puss”, occasionally it was shortened to just “pus”, while in some localities along the Puget Sound region it was pronounced “pish-pish”. A young cat was called a “tenas puss-puss” (kitten; kittycat), while "hyas puss-puss" (a cougar; big cat) was used for the mountain lion (Puma concolor couguar), and was even used on the Canadian comedy-drama television series ‘The Beachcombers’. This term could be conceivably used for other species of wildcat, such as the lynx or bobcat, but probably only in the context of a large one, and is used as the CHinook Wawa word for other big cats like the panther and tiger.

It is worth noting that the St'at'imcets and Nlaka'pamux First Nations of British Columbia used their own word for cougar, “swaawa”.

Your Chinook Wawa Word of the Day: Hiyu

HIYU

[hi-YU'] or [hy-IU'] — adjective, noun.

Meaning:  many; much; lots of; greatly; heap; plenty; plentiful; plural; enough (to go around), abundance

Origin: From Nootka Jargon hayú 'many, much' < Nuu-chah-nulth hayu ‘ten’ or ‘aya ‘to be lots’; Makah Nootkan khayu ‘ten’; Toquaht, aiya

Used with reference to quantity and numbers rather than size or degree, the term hiyu is used to describe "many", "several" or "lots of" something, as in "mika tumtum hiyu snass okoke sun?" (do you think it will rain much today?) or "hiyu tshish okoke sun" (it is very cold today)

This can apply directly to objects that “iskum hiyu” (accumulate), as in “kah hiyu stick mitlite” (forest), “kah hiyu apple stick mitlite” (orchard), “hiyu sogahs” (army), “hiyu sheep” (flock of sheep) or “hiyu moosmoos” (herd). Also, though the word “town” was used in Chinook Wawa, it was not uncommon to hear of anything from a village to a city described as “hiyu house”.

The word ‘hiyu’ can extend to concepts such as “kloshe kopa hiyu tillikums” (popular) or “halo klahowyum; mitlite hiyu iktas pe dolla” (rich), the later of which would be someone with "hiyu iktas" (many things; many goods).

It can also be applied to people, like the “man yaka hiyu cooley” (traveler) and the “ yaka kumtuks hiyu Lalang” (linguist), two people you would expect to be “kumtuks hiyu” (learned).

It can express an intensity of soemthing, like a “hiyu wind” (windstorm) and “hiyu snass” (rainstorm), or describe the outpouring of an emotion, like “hiyu kloshe wawa” (cheer) or “hiyu cly” (wail).

It can be used to turn a noun into an adjective, as seen with “hiyu noise” (noisy), “hiyu snass” (rainy), “hiyu stone mitlite” (rocky), “hiyu smoke” (smoky), and “hiyu wind” (windy).

It can be used to describe things that are “elip hiyu” (more; additional; excess), that “chako elip hiyu” (exceed) beyond the “dip hiyu” (majority), up to the “elip hiyu kopa konaway” (maximum; most).

At a convention or party, one would expect a "hiyu tillikum" (crowd; throng; many people, a big party), and likely experience "hiyu wawa" (much talk; talkative; clamor; argument).

Even if one was “hiyu chee” (entirely new) they would reasonably expect there to be  “hiyu muckamuck” (plenty of food; feast), or at least "kopet hiyu" (enough; plenty) for all of the "hiyu tillikums kopa house" (audience; many people in house). Hopefuly the cook did not “hiyu mamook” (exert) themselves do much while cutting a stake, otherwise they might “hiyu mamook cut” (mangle) the meat.

While ‘hiyu’ emphasized the abundance of something, as in “hiyu times” (frequently; often) or “hiyu chuck” (flood), it can also be modified with other worlds to show lesser degree. This can bee seen in "tenas hyiu" (a little, some, several, a few) and “tenas hiyu times” (sometimes), “hiyu mesachie mitlite” (unclean), and the expression “wake hiyu” has a wide range of meanings, including ‘few’, insufficient’, ‘lack’, ‘not many’, ‘not very much’, ‘rare’, ‘scant’, ‘scanty’, ‘scarce’, ‘seldom’, and ‘very few’.

While less common nowadays, ‘hiyu’ is still heard in some places to refer to a big party or gathering of people, as in Lillooet's one-time annual "The Big Hiyu" (also known as "The July"), a week-long joint celebration of Dominion Day and the Glorious Fourth in the Fraser Canyon town of Lillooet, featuring horse races, gambling, a rodeo and other festivities.

Of a similar nature, the Hi-Yu wass a non-profit organization established in 1934 by West Seattle's service clubs to produce a summer festival to promote the West Seattle Community. For 83 years celebrated the month of July with the HiYu Summer Festival, which featured parades, kids fishing derbies, sidewalk sales, pirates landings and garden tours among other events.

While not a common place name, there is a Hiyu Creek which connects to the Fraser River near the community of Sinclair Mills in British Columbia.

It is worth noting that some historical accounts list the word “hyo” as meaning "ten" in the early Jargon used at Nootka Sound. Some Jargon scholars believe that the words “hyas” and “hiyu” share the same origin and only one or the other may have been known or used in certain areas or periods.