Chinook Jargon

American  

[shi-nook jahr-guhn, -gon, -nook, chi-] / ʃɪˈnʊk ˌdʒɑr gən, -gɒn, -ˈnuk, tʃɪ- /

noun

1. a pidgin based largely on Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), Lower Chinook, French, and English, once widely used as a lingua franca from Alaska to Oregon.

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Chinook Jargon British  

noun

1. a pidgin language containing elements of Native American languages, English, and French: formerly used among fur traders and Indians on the NW coast of North America

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Etymology

Origin of Chinook Jargon

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

With the rest of his 18-member class of ’97, displaying the school colors of purple and gold, he enthusiastically chanted the school cheer based on Chinook jargon that conveyed bravery and strength:

From Seattle Times • Jun. 9, 2022

On a document twice translated, first from English to Chinook jargon, a limited trade language, and then to Native dialects, the treaty’s terms were laid out.

From Seattle Times • May 29, 2022

During the negotiations “English words were translated into Chinook jargon … although that was not the primary language” of the Tribe.

From Slate • May 20, 2019

As every Seattle schoolchild learns, they audaciously named their would-be village New York Alki — Alki meaning “someday” in Chinook jargon.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 7, 2018

In the mean time Serge was talking to the natives in Chinook jargon.

From Harper's Round Table, July 9, 1895 by Various