| Chinook | |
|---|---|
| Tsinúk | |
| Geographic distribution: |
Columbia River Valley |
| Linguistic classification: | Penutian ?
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| Subdivisions: | |
Pre-contact distribution of Chinookan languages
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Chinookan is a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples.
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Chinookan languages consists of three languages with multiple varieties. There is some dispute over classification, and there are two ISO 639-3 codes assigned: chh (Chinook, Lower Chinook) and wac (Wasco-Wishram, Upper Chinook). For example, Ethnologue 15e classifies Kiksht as Lower Chinook, while others consider it instead Upper Chinook (discussion), and others a separate language.
Chinook Jargon – a pidgin based on Chinookan and with many words loaned from other languages, which was used in trade along the Pacific Northwest coast and adjoining areas inland.