Chinook Jargon

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Chinook Jargon (Chinuk Wawa or Chinook Wawa, also known simply as Chinook or Jargon) is a language originating as a pidgin trade language in the Pacific Northwest. It spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then to British Columbia and parts of Alaska, Northern California, Idaho and Montana. It sometimes took on the characteristics of a creole language. The contact language Chinook Jargon should not be confused with Chinookan languages. Reflecting its origins in early trade transactions, approximately 15 percent of its lexicon derived from French. The Jargon also acquired English derived words, and it has a written form in Duployan shorthand. The written form is commonly called "Chinuk Pipa" in the language itself. Many words from Chinook Jargon remain in common use in the Western United States and British Columbia. It has been described as part of a multicultural heritage shared by the modern inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest. The total number of Jargon words in published lexicons is in the hundreds. It has a simple grammatical system. In Chinook Jargon, the consonant /r/ is rare. Such English and French words as rice and merci, for instance, have changed after being adopted to the Jargon, to lays and mahsi, respectively.