View source for Chinookan languages

{{Short description|Extinct language family}}
{{Morefootnotes|article|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Chinook
| altname       = {{lang|chh|Tsinúk}}
| region        = [[Columbia River]] Valley
| ethnicity     = [[Chinookan peoples|Chinook]]
| extinct       = 2012, with the death of Gladys Thompson
| ref           = <ref name=kiksht>{{Cite news
| last = Kristian Foden-Vencil
| title = Last Fluent Speaker Of Oregon Tribal Language 'Kiksht' Dies
| work = Oregon Public Broadcasting
| access-date = 2013-02-26
| date = 2012-07-17
| url = http://www.opb.org/news/article/last-fluent-speaker-oregon-tribal-language-kiksht-dies/
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191010153203/http://www.opb.org/news/article/last-fluent-speaker-oregon-tribal-language-kiksht-dies/
| archive-date = 2019-10-10
}}</ref>
| familycolor   = penutian
| fam1          = [[Penutian]] ?
| glotto        = chin1490
| glottorefname = Chinookan
| child1        = {{extinct}}[[Kiksht]] (Upper Chinook)
| child2        = {{extinct}}[[Kathlamet language|Kathlamet]]
| child3        = {{extinct}}[[Lower Chinook]]
| map           = Chinookan langs.png
| mapcaption    = Pre-contact distribution of Chinookan languages
}}
The '''Chinookan languages''' are a small family of extinct languages spoken in [[Oregon]] and [[Washington (state)|Washington]] along the [[Columbia River]] by [[Chinook people]]s. Although the last known native speaker of any Chinookan language died in 2012, the 2009-2013 American Community Survey found 270 self-identified speakers of [[Upper Chinook language|Upper Chinook]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2013/demo/2009-2013-lang-tables.html|title=Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English|website=www.census.gov|publisher=US Census Bureau|language=en-US|access-date=2017-11-17}}</ref>

==Family division==
Chinookan consisted of three languages with multiple [[Variety (linguistics)|varieties]]. There is some dispute over classification, and there are two [[ISO 639-3]] codes assigned: [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=chh chh] (Chinook, Lower Chinook) and [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=wac wac] (Wasco-Wishram, Upper Chinook). For example, Ethnologue 15e classifies Kiksht as Lower Chinook, while others consider it instead Upper Chinook ([https://archive.today/20121221034507/http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0201e&L=chinook&F=P&P=1590 discussion]), and others a separate language.

{{tree list}}
* '''Chinookan'''
** {{extinct}}'''[[Lower Chinook]]''' (also known as Chinook-proper or Coastal Chinook)
** {{extinct}}'''[[Kathlamet language|Kathlamet]]''' (also known as Katlamat, Cathlamet)
** {{extinct}}'''[[Upper Chinook language|Upper Chinook]]''' (also known as Kiksht, Columbia Chinook)
{{tree list/end}}

==Phonology==
{| class="wikitable"
|+Consonants in the Chinookan languages
! rowspan=2 colspan=2| 
! rowspan=2|[[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan=2|[[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br />alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan="2" |[[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan=2|[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- align="center"
! <small>central</small>
! <small>[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]</small>
!<small>plain</small>
!<small>[[Labialization|lab.]]</small>
!<small>plain</small>
![[Labialization|<small>lab.</small>]]
|- align="center"
! rowspan="3" style="text-align: center;" | [[Plosive]]
! <small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|p}}
| {{IPAlink|t}}
|
| 
|
| {{IPAlink|k}}
| {{IPAlink|kʷ}}
| {{IPAlink|q}}
| {{IPAlink|qʷ}}
| {{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|- align="center"
! <small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|pʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|tʼ}}
|
| 
|
| {{IPAlink|kʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|kʷʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|qʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|qʷʼ}}
| 
|- align="center"
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|b}}
| {{IPAlink|d}}
|
|
|
| {{IPAlink|ɡ}}
| {{IPAlink|ɡʷ}}
|
|
|
|- align="center"
! rowspan="2" | [[Affricate]]
! <small>[[voiceless]]</small>
| 
| {{IPAlink|ts}}
| {{IPAlink|tɬ}}
| {{IPAlink|tʃ}}
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|- align="center"
! <small>[[Ejective consonant|ejective]]</small>
| 
| {{IPAlink|tsʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|tɬʼ}}
| {{IPAlink|tʃʼ}}
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|- align="center"
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
!<small>[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]</small>
| 
| {{IPAlink|s}}
| {{IPAlink|ɬ}}
| {{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|
| {{IPAlink|x}}
| {{IPAlink|xʷ}}
| {{IPAlink|χ}}
| {{IPAlink|χʷ}}
| {{IPAlink|h}}
|- align="center"
!<small>[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]</small>
|
|
|
|
|
| {{IPAlink|ɣ}}
| {{IPAlink|ɣʷ}}
|
|
|
|- align="center"
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}}
| {{IPAlink|n}}
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|
| 
|- align="center"
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
| {{IPAlink|w}}
|
| {{IPAlink|l}}
|
| {{IPAlink|j}}
|
|
|
|
|
|}

The vowels in the Chinookan languages are {{IPA|/a i ɛ ə u/}}. Stress is marked as {{IPA|/á/}}.

==Morphology==
As in many North American languages, [[verb]]s constitute complete [[clause]]s in themselves. [[Noun phrase|Nominals]] may accompany the verbs, but they have [[adjunct (grammar)|adjunct]] status, functioning as appositives to the pronominal affixes. Word order functions purely pragmatically; constituents appear in decreasing order of newsworthiness. Clauses are combined by juxtaposition or particles, rather than subordinating [[inflection]].

=== Verbs ===
Verbs may contain an initial [[Tense–aspect–mood|tense or aspect]] prefix, [[Ergative case|ergative]] pronominal prefix, obligatory [[Absolutive case|absolutive]] prefix, [[Dative case|dative]] prefix, [[Reflexive pronoun|reflexive]]/[[Reciprocal pronoun|reciprocal]]/middle prefix, [[adverbial]] prefix, directional prefix, and verb stem. The number of tense/aspect prefix distinctions varies among the languages. Kiksht shows six way tense distinctions: mythic [[Past tense|past]], remote past, recent past, immediate past, [[Present tense|present]], and [[Future tense|future]].

The pronominal prefixes are obligatory, whether free nominals occur in the clause or not. Three can be seen in the Kathlamet verb. The ergative refers to the [[agent (grammar)|agent]] of a [[transitive verb]], the absolutive to the [[patient (grammar)|patient]] of a transitive or the single argument of an [[Intransitive verb|intransitive]], and the dative to the indirect [[object (grammar)|object]]. Reflexive prefixes can serve as reciprocals and as [[Mediopassive voice|medio-passives]]. When the reflexive follows can ergative–absolutive pronoun sequence, it indicates that one indirectly affected is the same as the ergative. When it follows an absolutive–dative pronoun sequence, it indicates that one indirectly affected is associated with the absolutive, perhaps as the whole in a part-whole relationship, or the owner.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Absolutive pronominal prefixes
! colspan="2" |
!Sing.
!Dual
!Plural
|-
! rowspan="2" |1st
!excl.
| rowspan="2" |n-
|nt'-
|nc-
|-
!incl.
| colspan="2" |lx-
|-
! colspan="2" |2nd
|m-
|mt-
|mc-
|-
! rowspan="3" |3rd
!masc.
|i-
| rowspan="3" |c-
| rowspan="3" |l-
|-
!fem.
|a-
|-
!neut.
|l-
|}

Aside from certain secondary irregularities in the third person dual and third person plural, the pronominal subject of the transitive verb differs from the pronominal subject of the intransitive verb only in the case of the third person singular masculine and feminine. The difference between the two sets of forms is for the most part indicated by position and, in part, by the use of a "post-pronominal" particle -g- which indicates that the preceding pronominal element is used as the subject of a transitive verb.

The phonetic parallelism would then be perfect among the absolutive, ergative, and possessive (see below). If we compare the theoretical forms *ag- "she" and *itc- "he" with the remaining subjective forms of the transitive verb, we obtain at once a perfectly regular and intelligible set of forms. Including the "post-pronominal" -g-, the system is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
|+Ergative pronominal prefixes
! colspan="2" |
!Sing.
!Dual
!Plural
|-
! rowspan="2" |1st
!excl.
| rowspan="2" |n-
|nt-g-
|nc-g-
|-
!incl.
|lx-g-
|lx-g-
|-
! colspan="2" |2nd
|m-
|mt-g-
|mc-g-
|-
! rowspan="3" |3rd
!masc.
|*i-tc-
| rowspan="3" |c-g-
| rowspan="3" |l-g-
|-
!fem.
|*a-g-
|-
!neut.
|l-g-
|}

Verbs stems may be simplex or compound, the second member indicating direction, including motion out of, from water to shore or inland, toward water, into, down or up.

Suffixes include repetitive, [[causative]], involuntary [[Passive voice|passive]], completive, [[Stative verb|stative]], purposive, future, [[Habitual aspect|usitative]], successful completive and so on.

=== Nouns ===
Nouns contain an initial prefix, pronominal prefix, possessive prefix, inner [[Nominalization|nominalizer]], root, a qualifying suffix, [[plural]], and final suffix. Initial prefixes serve primarily as nominalizers. Masculine prefixes appear with nouns designating male persons, feminine with those denoting female persons. The neuter may indicate [[Definiteness|indefiniteness]]. All are used for nouns referring to objects as well. Masculine prefixes appear with the large animals; feminine for small ones. Masculine prefixes also appear with nouns expressing qualities.

The [[Grammatical gender|gender]]-number prefixes are followed by possessive pronominal prefixes. These distinguish possessors by [[Grammatical person|person]], [[clusivity]], and number.

The possessive prefix for the third person singular is -ga- when the noun itself is feminine, neuter, dual, or plural. It is -tca- when the noun itself is masculine. It is preceded by the gender-number prefixes:

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |
! Lower Chinook
! Wishram
|-
! rowspan="2" | Singular
! fem.
| ʋ̄
| (w)ɑ-
|-
! neut.
| L-
| ii-
|-
! colspan="2" | Dual
| c-, s-
| (ic-, is-)
|}

The possessive prefix for the first person singular ("my") is –gE (Wishram -g-, -k-; -x̩- before k-stops) when the noun is feminine, neuter, dual or plural, but -tcE-, -tci- (Wishram -tc-) when the noun is masculine.

The possessive prefixes are followed by noun stem, perhaps including another nominalizer. Nominal suffixes indicate emphasis or contrast, specificity, succession in time, definiteness, plurality, and time, location, or similarity.

==Sociolinguistics==

There were Lower and Upper Chinookan groups, but only a single variety of the latter now survives: Wasco-Wishram (Wasco and Wishram were originally two separate, similar varieties). In 1990,  there were 69&nbsp;speakers (7&nbsp;monolinguals) of Wasco-Wishram; in 2001, 5&nbsp;speakers of Wasco remained; the last fully fluent speaker, Gladys Thompson, died in 2012.

Chinook-speaking groups were once powerful in trade, before and during early European contact ([[Lewis and Clark Expedition|Lewis & Clark]]), hence developed the Chinook Jargon &ndash; a pre-European contact language, with lexicon from at least Chinook, Chehalis, and Nootka or Nuu-chah-nulth.

Chinook people were quickly diminished by European diseases: Numbered around 800&nbsp;persons in 1800; they mixed with Chehalis (in fact, the very word ''Chinook'' is a Chehalis word for those who lived on the south of the river). Most of the language family became extinct as separate groups by 1900, except a few hundreds who mixed with other groups. Around 120&nbsp;people in 1945, though some 609 were reported in the 1970s, having by then mixed extensively with other groups. Language is now extinct.

[[Chinook Jargon]] also flourished from the 1790s to the 1830s, then experienced a flood of English and French new vocabulary. It was used by up to 100,000&nbsp;speakers of 100&nbsp;mother tongues in the 19th&nbsp;century. Then declined, was recorded by linguists in the 1930s, and died out by the early 1900s. The Chinook people were finally recognized by the US Government in January 2001, but in the 90-day grace period the [[Quinault people|Quinault Tribe]] filed an appeal stating that the Chinook Nation made mistakes when applying for federal recognition.

==See also==
*[[Chinook jargon]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* [[Marianne Mithun|Mithun, Marianne]]. (1999). ''The languages of Native North America''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-23228-7}} (hbk); {{ISBN|0-521-29875-X}}.

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |title=As Our Elders Teach Us to Speak it |date=2012 |publisher=Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon |isbn=978-0-295-99186-3 }}
* {{cite web |last1=Bartley |first1=Nancy |title=Once-dying Chinook Language Finds Future in Voices of Children |url=http://www.cankuota.org/IssueHistory/Issues04/Co06192004/CO_06192004_Chinook_Language.htm |work=Canku Ota |date=19 June 2004 }}
* Suttles, Wayne (1990). ''Handbook of North American Indians: Northwest Coast''. Smithsonian Institution Washington. p.&nbsp;533
* George Gibbs, [https://archive.org/details/6300GibbsChinooklanguage ''Alphabetical Vocabulary of the Chinook Language,''] New York : Cramoisy Press, 1863.
* {{cite journal |last1=Sapir |first1=E. |title=A Chinookan Phonetic Law |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |date=1926 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=105–110 |doi=10.1086/463761 |jstor=1263359 |s2cid=144740621 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Mithun |first1=Marianne |title=The Languages of Native North America |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-29875-9 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hymes |first1=Dell |title=A pattern of verbal irony in Chinookan |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |date=1 January 1987 |volume=1987 |issue=65 |pages=97–110 |doi=10.1515/ijsl-1987-6509 |s2cid=151596199 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Bergmann |first1=Mathias D. |title='We Should Lose Much by Their Absence': The Centrality of Chinookans and Kalapuyans to Life in Frontier Oregon |journal=Oregon Historical Quarterly |date=2008 |volume=109 |issue=1 |pages=34–59 |doi=10.1353/ohq.2008.0080 |jstor=20615823 |s2cid=159916157 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Gibbs|first=George|title=Alphabetical Vocabulary of the Chinook Language|publisher=Cramoisy Press|year=1863|location=New York|pages=11–26}}

==External links==
{{Incubator|code= chn/Main Page}}
{{sister project |project=wiktionary |text=[[Wiktionary]] has a word list at '''''[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Chinook word list|Appendix:Chinook word list]]'''''}}
*[https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2008/0523/p02s01-usgn.html Aaron Clark, "Tribes strive to save native tongues (Wasco tribe's Kiksht language)"], ''Christian Science Monitor'', 23 May 2008

{{Penutian languages}}
{{Language families}}
{{North American languages}}

{{Indigenous peoples in Washington}}

[[Category:Chinookan languages| ]]
[[Category:Language families]]
[[Category:Chinookan tribes| Languages]]
[[Category:Penutian languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the Pacific Northwest Coast]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of the North American Plateau]]
[[Category:Languages of the United States]]
[[Category:Endangered Indigenous languages of the Americas]]