CHINOOKAN LANGUAGES

'Chinookan' is a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples. Chinook Jargon is a pidgin based on Chinookan and with many words loaned from other languages, previously used in trade along the northwestern North American coast.

Contents

Family division

Bibliography

Further Reading

Family division

Chinookan consists of three languages with multiple varieties:
# 'Kathlamet' (also known as Katlamat, Cathlamet), now extinct ''(†)''. Kathlamet was spoken in northwestern Oregon along the south bank of the lower Columbia River. Kathlamet has been classified as a dialect of Upper Chinook (or Middle Chinook), but they are not mutually intelligible.
# 'Lower Chinook' (also known as Coastal Chinook), now extinct ''(†)''.
#
★ Clatsop was spoken in northwestern Oregon around the mouth of the Columbia River and the Clatsop Plains ''(†)''.
#
★ Shoalwater (also known as Chinook proper), now extinct ''(†)''. Shoalwater was spoken in southwestern Washington around southern Willapa Bay.
# 'Upper Chinook' (also known as Kiksht, Columbia Chinook)
#
★ Cascades, now extinct ''(†)''.
#
★ Clackamas, now extinct ''(†)''. Clackamas was spoken in northwestern Oregon along the Clackamas and Sandy rivers.
#
★ Hood River, now extinct ''(†)''.
#
★ Multnomah ''(†)'' Multnomah spoken on Sauvie Island and in the Portland area in northwestern Oregon.
#
★ Wasco-Wishram, still spoken but severely endangered.
#:: Wasco has two speakers left.
#:: Wishram has two speakers.
#
★ White Salmon, now extinct ''(†)''.
Watlala was spoken in north-central Oregon along the Columbia River Gorge.

Bibliography

★ 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

★ Alphabetical vocabulary of the Chinook language, Gibbs, George, , , Cramoisy Press, 1863, Available online through the Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History collection