Page Type: languageChinook Wawa | Ethnologue

CHN ISO 639-3

Chinook Wawa

Chinuk Wawa Autonym

A language of United States

ISO 639
chn
Alternate Names
Chinook Jargon, Chinook Pidgin, Jargon, Tsinuk Wawa
Autonym
Chinuk Wawa
Population
No known L1 speakers in United States (Wurm et al 1996). A total of 1,000 L2 speakers in both Canada and the United States (Grant 2013). The last L1 speaker died in the mid-1970s. Total users in all countries: none known.
Location:
Oregon: Polk and Yamhill counties, Grand Ronde reservation.
Language Status
9 (Dormant). Language of registered tribe: Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon.
Classification
Pidgin, Amerindian
Dialects
None known. Many words from Chinook, large admixture of words from Nuu-chah-nulth [nuk], Canadian French [fra], and English [eng].
Language Use
Shifted to English [eng].
Language Development
Dictionary. Texts. Bible portions: 1912. Language revitalization began in the 2000s, especially after the release of ‘Chinuk Wawa—As our elders teach us to speak it’. It is reported that some members of the tribe are now fluent speakers.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Chinook Wawa
Writing
Latin script [Latn].
Other Comments
Formerly used widely in 19th century as a trade language between Native Americans and Europeans, and between speakers of different languages.

Also Spoken in

Language Name
Chinook Wawa
User Population
No known L1 speakers in Canada (Wurm et al 1996). A total of 1,000 L2 speakers in both Canada and the United States (Grant 2013). The last speaker died in the mid-1970s.
Location
British Columbia.
Language Status
9 (Dormant)
View other languages of Canada

Map

Location: Oregon: Polk and Yamhill counties, Grand Ronde reservation.