My great-grandmother, Anelia, was born in the Ukraine but learned to speak Polish, Russian, Italian, and English in addition to Ukrainian. My great-grandfather, Adam, (who changed his name from Adolf to Adam following his immigration to Canada for what would seem obvious reasons…but I digress) spoke Polish. When I was younger one of the most interesting stories that my grandmother would tell me was the story about how my grandfather had insisted my great-grandparents (my grandmother’s mother and father) stop speaking Ukrainian and Polish around my mother, who was two or three years old at the time. My mother had started to respond in Ukrainian, Polish, and English (as well as some of the other languages my great-grandmother would routinely flip between) and my grandfather was deeply concerned that learning so many languages at such a young age would confuse my mother. In Viv Edwards’ book, Learning to be Literate: Multilingual Perspectives, she explains that, “Until the 1960s, researchers claimed that children who spoke two languages found themselves at an intellectual disadvantage, performing at a lower level than monolinguals on a range of tasks . . . [Current researcher shows that] there is evidence of greater sensitivity to the social nature and communicative functions of language” (Edwards, 2009, 18-19). Therefore, it is not surprising that it was not until many years later, after learning that my mother’s young age was the prime time for acquiring new languages, that my grandfather regretted his decision.
So what does this have to do with an endangered language? Last time I checked…English, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and Italian were doing quite fine thank you very much…
Well, there is no news of any of the above languages becoming extinct in the near future. However, my grandmother’s story of how languages can become inextricably linked with each other and how they can certainly evolve over time into a sort of “hybrid language” helped me to understand the complexity of the Chinook Wawa language which, unfortunately, is nearly extinct.
Chinook Wawa was originally spoken along the Pacific coast from Oregon to Alaska. It was “formerly used during the 19th century as a trade language between Native Americans and Europeans, and between speakers of different languages” (Ethnologue: Languages of the World). It had alternate names throughout its history: Chinook Jargon, Chinook Pidgin, and Tsinuk Wawa due to its vast array of dialects which took admixture of words from the Nootka, Canadian French, and English languages. The present day concern with the language is that it is slowly shifting to English and there appears to be little stopping this transition. In 1962, it was documented that only 83 people in Canada spoke the language. In 1990, the United States documented only 17 people speaking the language and that the number was indeed decreasing.
What are the implications for my students?
Although geographically it would be odd for me to have a student, or a student’s immediate family, speaking Chinook Wawa, the Ethnologue: Languages of the World website suggests that the language has “probably scattered” across the United States and Canada. Therefore, it is not a total impossibility that a student, or student’s immediate family, who speak Chinook Wawa be a part of my local community and/or my classroom in Southwestern Ontario. Due to the fact that the language is so unique in its origin, I would need to ensure that the student have educational materials (e.g., magazines, newspapers, videos, etc.) in the language, which means I would probably have to seek out those few remaining persons who speak the language and may have access to such materials. I would encourage the Chinook Wawa student to explore the language and evaluate why certain words were spoken in a certain dialect. Due to the fact that Chinook Wawa was used as a trade language, it would be interesting to see why certain words had elements of Canadian French, while others were Nootka. I would encourage my Chinook Wawa student to delve into the history behind the language and, particularly, the origin of the words. I believe that understanding the historical context of Chinook Wawa would allow the student to explore the complexity of oral communication and how languages can melt together over time to become a completely different language altogether. In order to save this dying language I would have the noble responsibility of sparking a desire to continue to learn Chinook Wawa in my student, and I believe the only way to do this would be through closely examining the history behind the language and the value it had and could still have for communicating with others.
References:
Edwards, Viv. (2009). Learning to be Literate: Multilingual Perspectives. Great Britain: Multilingual Matters.
Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/.
