Lillooet-English Dictionary

487 Pages·2013·2.262 MB·English

by  Jan P. van Eijk

Lillooet-English
Dictionary

Jan P. van Eijk
First Nations University of Canada

The University of British Columbia OccasionalPapers in Linguistics
Volume 2

July2013

UBCOPL is published by the graduate students of the University of British
Columbia, and is a division of UBCWPL (The University of British Columbia
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The cover illustration is by Marie Joseph Abraham of
Mount Currie, and shows her mother Rosie (Dan) Joseph
(1928-1996) in her dancing regalia.

In Marie’s words, “Our Mom was an excellent storyteller
in both languages, St’át’imcets and Sám7ats. She loved
to sing and dance, all of her ten children knew this, she
was a fun Mom to us and to lots of people.”

The back cover map is reprinted with permission of the
Publisher from The Lillooet Language by Jan P. van Eijk
© University of British Columbia Press 1997. All rights
reserved by the Publisher.

ii
Dedicated to the Memory of
Aert Kuipers
Dale Kinkade
and
Simon Dik
iii
Compilation of this dictionary was made possible by Research
Grant 410-85-0062 from the Social Sciences and Humanities
Council of Canada

iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction vii
.....................................................................................................................
1 Summary and outline vii
..........................................................................
2 Affiliation, dialects, homeland, culture, name viii
..................
3 Previous and ongoing work on Lillooet xi
...................................
4 Grammatical Structure of Lillooet xii
.............................................
4.1 Phonology and morphophonemics xiii
......................
4.2 Morphology xv
..........................................................................
4.3 Syntax xxi
.....................................................................................
5 Problems in collecting lexical material xxii
................................
6 Acknowledgements xxiii
.........................................................................
Organization of the dictionary xxvii
.......................................................................

Roots and derivations 1
...................................................................................................
p 3
.................................................................................................................................
(cid:2) 28
..............................................................................................................................
m 35
............................................................................................................................
t 49
...............................................................................................................................
(cid:3) 64
...............................................................................................................................
c/(cid:4) 64
.........................................................................................................................
(cid:5) 81
..............................................................................................................................
s/(cid:6) 102
.......................................................................................................................
n 121
...........................................................................................................................
(cid:7) 133
...........................................................................................................................
v
(cid:8) 153
...........................................................................................................................
l/(cid:9) 168
.........................................................................................................................
k 179
............................................................................................................................
(cid:10) 195
............................................................................................................................
kw 209
.........................................................................................................................
(cid:10)w 223
.........................................................................................................................
x 231
...........................................................................................................................
xw 238
........................................................................................................................
(cid:11) 251
...........................................................................................................................
q 253
...........................................................................................................................
(cid:12) 269
...........................................................................................................................
qw 283
........................................................................................................................
(cid:12)w 295
........................................................................................................................
(cid:13) 304
...........................................................................................................................
(cid:13)w 317
........................................................................................................................
(cid:14) 326
............................................................................................................................
(cid:14)w 333
.........................................................................................................................
h 337
...........................................................................................................................
w 342
..........................................................................................................................
y 354
...........................................................................................................................
z 356
............................................................................................................................
(cid:15) 375
............................................................................................................................

Reinforcing enclitic 407
..................................................................................................
Prefixes 409
............................................................................................................................
Interfixes 413
.........................................................................................................................
Suffixes 415
.............................................................................................................................

References 449
......................................................................................................................
vi
Introduction

The work presented here comprises a dictionary of most lexical material
(roots plus derivations, prefixes, interfixes and suffixes) collected on the
Lillooet language during various stays in Lillooet-speaking communities from
1972 until the 1990s. The dictionary proper is accompanied by an introductory
section on various aspects of Lillooet grammatical structure, previous work on
Lillooet, and problems in collecting Lillooet lexical data. The organization of
the dictionary is explained in a separate section.

1 Summaryand Outline

This dictionary contains most of the lexical material collected on the
Lillooet language by the author between 1972 and 1984, with additional
material collected during short field trips in the 1980s and 90s. An earlier
version of this dictionary was completed as a typescript in 1987, and the
present dictionary follows the format and order in that earlier effort, with a
number of corrections and additions to the original material. In particular, I
have added Salish etymologies from Kuipers 2002 (here abbreviated as ‘K,’ so
that, for example, ‘K97’ reads as ‘Kuipers 2002:97’). Another important
improvement consists of the correct identification of plant species and birds, as
detailed in section 5 below.
In what follows, section 2 presents basic information on the linguistic
affiliation and dialects of Lillooet, on the Lillooet homeland and culture, and on
the origin of the name “Lillooet.” Section 3 provides an overview of previous
and ongoing work on Lillooet, section 4 on the grammatical structure of
Lillooet, section 5 on problems inherent in collecting lexical data on Lillooet
(and other hitherto undescribed or underdescribed languages), while section 6
consists of acknowledgements.

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2 Affiliation, dialects, homeland, culture, name

Lillooet belongs to the Northern Interior branch of the Salish (or
Salishan) language family, which is comprised of the following divisions,
branches and individual members (* marking extinct languages): (1) Bella
Coola division: Bella Coola; (2) Coast division: (2a) Central branch: Comox,
*Pentlatch, Sechelt, Squamish, Halkomelem, Nooksack, Northern Straits,
Klallam, Lushootseed, Twana; (2b) Oregon branch: *Tillamook-Siletz; (3)
Tsamosan division: (3a) Inland branch: Upper Chehalis, Cowlitz; (3b)
Maritime branch: Lower Chehalis, Quinault; (4) Interior division: (4a)
Northern branch: Lillooet, Shuswap, Thompson; (4b) Southern branch:
Colville-Okanagan, Columbian, Kalispel-Spokane-Flathead, Coeur d’Alene.
Full tables of the Salish language family, including alternate names, are given
in, among others, Czaykowska-Higgins 1998, and Van Eijk 2008 (with dialects
included in the latter source). Excellent general introductions (with maps) to
the family include Thompson 1979 and Czaykowska-Higgins and Kinkade
1998.
Lillooet falls into two major dialects, one spoken in and around Mount
Currie (approximately 160 kilometers north by northeast from Vancouver), the
other spoken in and around Fountain (approximately 300 kilometers north by
northeast from Vancouver). These dialects (marked M and F respectively in
this dictionary) are almost completely mutually intelligible, the main
differences being lexical (e.g., smú(cid:8)(cid:16)(cid:17) and háni(cid:15) for respectively ‘woman’ and
‘humpback salmon’ in F, but respectively (cid:18)(cid:19)(cid:20)(cid:21)(cid:17)(cid:16)(cid:15) and h(cid:22)(cid:23)(cid:24)(cid:25) in M). There are
also sub-dialects and intermediate dialects, but intermarriage and improved
travel conditions have basically leveled the various dialect differences in that
speakers of one dialect will know lexical terms in the other dialects. In
addition, there are minor phonological and syntactic differences between F and
M, for which I refer to section 4.
As is said above, the Lillooet homeland lies north by northeast from
Vancouver, and it covers an area that is described in detail, also with reference
to its ecology, by Davis as section 4 (pp. 27-29) in Davis and Van Eijk 2012. A
map of the Lillooet homeland is given on the back cover.
Economically and culturally, the Lillooet relied and still rely on their
environment for food, clothing, utensils, building materials, and religious
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objects and ceremonies. The traditional four major sources of food are fish
(mostly salmon, but also other species), game (mostly deer), berries, and bulbs.
Hides from deer provided buckskin for clothing and moccasins. Wood from a
variety of trees was (and often still is) used as material for buildings, baskets,
bows, arrows, snowshoes, canoes, etc. The boughs of the western red cedar
and the Douglas fir are used for religious and ceremonial purposes, while a
number of plants continue to be used as physical and spiritual healing agents.
The traditional religion centers around the maintenance of a good
relationship with Nature, and of healthy relations within the community.
Game-animals and other sources of food or non-alimentary materials were
treated with great respect. (For instance, a special ceremony surrounded the
catching and preparíng of the first salmon of the season.) Guardian spirits could
be obtained through vision quests. Pubescents, especially pubescent women,
had to undergo elaborate rites in order to prepare them for the social and
religious duties of adulthood.
The usual winter-dwelling was the semi-subterranean house (s(cid:15)ístk(cid:24)(cid:26)),
described in Teit (1906:212-213). In summer, temporary shelters, such as lean-
to's, were used.
The Lillooet language did not only serve to facilitate social interaction,
but it was (and is) also the receptacle of a tremendously rich oral history:
countless myths and legends ((cid:18)(cid:27)(cid:28)(cid:16)(cid:29)w(cid:8)), which are populated with a host of
colourful characters such as Coyote, Owl, or Chickadee, were handed down
from one generation to the next. In addtion, there are jokes, speeches, and the
telling of more or less contemporary stories (sqw(cid:22)(cid:21)w(cid:24)(cid:30)). Gentle teasing (always
much funnier in Lillooet than in English) is also an important part of Lillooet
oral culture and testifies to the Lillooet sense of humour that has helped them
through so many difficult times.
The above overview (as abstracted from Van Eijk 1997) gives, of
course, only a very superficial description of the traditional Lillooet culture.
For fuller accounts see Hill-Tout 1905(1978), and Teit 1906(1975). Excellent
descriptions of plants and their various uses by the Lillooet are given in Turner
1987. (Since this source is still unpublished, readers may also wish to consult
Turner 1978 and 1979.)
The arrival of the white man on the scene in the nineteenth century
had a profound impact on the old culture. Forced acculturation, especially
through the notorious residential school system, led to the disappearance of a
large number of ancient customs and it forced the Lillooet language into disuse
ix
among younger generations. (Nowadays, only a few persons under the age of
forty are fluent in the language.) In recent years, the Lillooet have taken a
renewed pride in their rich heritage, and a number of customs are regaining
their former use, while interest in and use of the Lillooet language is also
increasing. It is my hope that this dictionary will contribute to this process of
cultural and linguistic revival.
For a discussion of the white man’s impact on British Columbia’s
Native cultures and languages see Duff 1964. For a discussion of the
suppression of the Native languages in residential schools see Levine and
Cooper 1976.
The name “Lillooet” is derived from lí(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:28), the name of an old
settlement partially coinciding with the present-day settlement of Mount
Currie. In its anglicized version it became the name of the town of Lillooet
(called (cid:18)(cid:16)(cid:7) in the Lillooet language), and the name of the Lillooet people.
Traditionally, the Lillooet people refer to themselves by the name of each
settlement in the Lillooet culture and language area, combined with the suffix
-m(cid:24)!"-(cid:24)#! ‘person’ (as in lí(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:28)-(cid:24)#! ‘person from lí(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:28) (Mount Currie)’).
The name lí(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:28) is unanalyzable: the explanation ‘wild onion’ given by Boas in
Teit 1906:292 is spurious and almost certainly results from a confusion of lí(cid:30)(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:28)
with the word q(cid:31)l(cid:22)$(cid:23)%(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:15) ‘little onion’ (diminutive of q(cid:31)(cid:23)(cid:20)(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:15), originally
‘nodding onion,’ but now also referring to the common garden onion). The
correct background of “Lillooet” is also given in Akrigg and Akrigg 1986.
Although the Lillooet in pre-contact times do not seem to have had a
common name for themselves, the term s(cid:7)(cid:20)(cid:7)&(cid:24)#! (often pronounced
s(cid:7)(cid:20)(cid:7)’#!), which originally seemed to cover only the the bands from Seton up
to the Lillooet-Fountain area, is now also used fairly regularly for the entire
nation. The terms Upper and Lower Lillooet, which are also used in the
literature, basically coincide with the Fountain and Mount Currie dialects
respectively, with the boundary (such as it is) falling around D’Arcy.
Parallelling the increased use of s(cid:7)(cid:20)(cid:7)&(cid:24)#! (s(cid:7)(cid:20)(cid:7)’#!) to refer to the entire
Lillooet nation, the term s(cid:7)(cid:20)(cid:7)&(cid:24)#!-(cid:24)c (s(cid:7)(cid:20)(cid:7)’#!-(cid:24)c), with the suffix -c
‘mouth, to speak,’ is used with increased frequency to refer to the Lillooet
language, while many speakers also use (cid:15)(!(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:23)#*!(cid:31)-c, literally ‘to speak
Indian ((cid:15)+!(cid:31)(cid:16)(cid:23)#’!(cid:31)),’ or ‘to speak the language of the people.’

x