A linguistic renaissance?

The character of Seattle has changed notably over the last ten to twenty years, from a relatively provincial enclave to a mix of immigrants from all over the United States, and further. Local disdain for the Californian influx is pretty well-known here, as is the Seattle “politeness” that is viewed as an oddly distant reserve by people that have come from other parts of the country. But many of the things that defined Northwest culture for people have become little more than annoying quirks to the “outsiders”; nowadays most people you meet in Seattle are from somewhere else.

However, a strange phenomenon seems to be rustling through the area here- a conscious effort to reclaim the local jargon. I’m hearing old trade language like “skookum” and “saltchuck” again, words that seemed to have all but fled the public forum in recent years. People grinning at the geoduck vendor at the neighborhood market, using “clam gun” as a verb, trying to see their tillicums a bit more often.

It reminds me for some reason of the split in Serbo-Croatian that intensified during the civil war in the mid-1990s, where each area emphasized its local quirks to the point of distinct dialect. I’m sure people speaking “American English” will continue to get by just fine here, but I do hear a returning localization more and more, especially in the public markets and used bookstores that seem to be becoming social hubs in the neighborhoods here.

So when you hear someone speaking Cascadian out there, thank the powerdown.

Further reading:

Seattle P-I

Chinook Rudiments

Dictionary of the Chinook Jargon

Do You Speak Cascadian?

Cascadian English