Contact With Other Languages
Carrier is neighbored on the west by Babine-Witsuwit'en and Haisla, to the north by Sekani, to the southeast by Shuswap, to the south by Chilcotin, and to the southwest by Nuxalk. Furthermore, in the past few centuries, with the westward movement of the Plains Cree, there has been contact with the Cree from the East. Carrier has borrowed from some of these languages, but apparently not in large numbers. Loans from Cree include ('cow') from Cree (which originally meant "buffalo" but extended to "cow" already in Cree) and ('money, precious metal'). There are also loans from languages that do not directly neighbor Carrier territory. A particularly interesting example is ('berry, fruit'), a loan from Gitksan, which has been borrowed into all Carrier dialects and has displaced the original Athabascan word.
European contact has brought loans from a number of sources. The majority of demonstrable loans into Carrier are from French, though it is not generally clear whether they come directly from French or via Chinook Jargon. Loans from French include ('chicken') (from French le coq 'rooster'), (from le sel 'salt'), and ('angel'). As these examples show, the French article is normally incorporated into the Carrier borrowing. A single loan from Spanish is known: ('canvas, tarpaulin'), apparently acquired from Spanish-speaking packers.
The trade language Chinook Jargon came into use among Carrier people as a result of European contact. Most Carrier people never knew Chinook Jargon. It appears to have been known in most areas primarily by men who had spent time freighting on the Fraser River. Knowledge of Chinook Jargon may have been more common in the southwestern part of Carrier country due to its use at Bella Coola. The southwestern dialects have more loans from Chinook Jargon than other dialects. For example, while most dialects use the Cree loan described above for "money", the southwestern dialects use, which is from Chinook Jargon. The word ('chief') is a loan from Chinook Jargon.
European contact brought many new objects and ideas. The names for some were borrowed, but in most cases terms have been created using the morphological resources of the language, or by extending or shifting the meaning of existing terms. Thus, now means not only "rope" but also "wire", while has shifted from its original meaning of "arrow" to mean "cartridge" and has shifted from "bow" to "rifle"., originally "leeches" now also means "pasta". A microwave oven is referred to as ('that by means of which things are warmed quickly'). "Mustard" is ('children's feces'), presumably after the texture and color rather than the flavor.
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