DCHP-3

tenas

< Chinook Jargon t'an'as 'child'
DCHP-2 (Jul 2010)

Spelling variants:
tenass,

1adj. — British Columbia & US Pacific Northwest, rare

small, little.

Type: 1. Origin — Tenas is a lexical transfer from Chinook Jargon, a pidgin language that arose in the 19th and early 20th centuries in British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest to facilitate easy communication between trade communities. It is based on Lower Chinook, Nootka, French and English, with some influence from other Aboriginal languages (see Canadian Encyclopedia reference, s.v. "Chinook Wawa"). Originally from the Nootka word "t'an'as" meaning 'child', tenas in English is most often used as an adjective meaning 'small' (see also OED-3, s.v. "tenas"). In addition to its simple adjectival function (see the 1901 quotation), the term may also be combined with a noun to denote a new but related concept, which is characteristic for pidgin and creole languages. For instance, the compound "tenas musket", refers to a pistol (see the 2004 quotation), while "tenas sun" does not mean 'little sun' but 'early morning' (Lang 2008: 82).

Quotations

1870
In the crowd behind are a few dusky natives in Boston clothing, while there trip about a few Tenass-men, some with the remains of an old coat and beaver hat, and some [in] almost naked savagedom.
1901
Following the klootchman's race there were a number of tenas races run for the little pioneers, after which the klootchmen were put back in the running for cash prizes.
1910
"Oh, ho, my good Tillicum Mowitch, I am glad you have brought this boy. I have a son of the same size. They will play together, and perhaps this Tenas Tyee (Little Chief) will dance for me some night."
1912
A most interesting and picturesque sight was to be seen last Sunday and Monday when large numbers of Indians passed through the district on their way to take part in the hop-picking at the Coldstream Ranch near Vernon. All conditions and kinds these were, from the [venerable] old "tyees" to the "tenas papoose."
1998
Chinook jargon was familiar to Annie's parents, grandparents, and their contemporaries, and at Spuzzum, as in other parts of British Columbia, some Chinook words - tyee ('chief'), tenas ('little'), skookumchuck ('rapids'), and siwash ('Indian') - had worked their way into English as vocabulary or place names, but Chinook jargon itself was passing away as a language of everyday use.
2000
"If you pass here," said Jimmy. "And don't potlatch a stick to each cairn, we believe you will soon die. Tenas men are buried nearby." "Tenas men?" George had not heard of them. "Who are they?" "Tenas men are a race of short men, dwarves. They used to steal our klootchmen, our women. Some of these men are buried near the Salmon House."
2004
Combinations are almost infinite in number, and meanings are often arrived at by implication rather than a direct word. A pistol, for instance, is a "tenas (little) musket" and flattery or cajolery is sweet talk or "sugar wawa" or maybe even "honey wawa."
2n. — Forestry, British Columbia & US Pacific Northwest, historical

the lightest size of steel cable commonly used in early BC lumbering.

Type: 1. Origin — Originating in Chinook Jargon, the adjective tenas was borrowed into BC English (see meaning 1) and underwent conversion into a noun. Tenas, 'the little one', thus came to be used in reference to the smallest possible steel cable. Scarce evidence from written sources suggest the term was mostly used in spoken language or becoming obsolete.
This meaning is taken over from DCHP-1, despite being attested, in our sources, only once.

Quotations

1942
[The straw line is also] called "tenas" from the chinook word meaning "little."

References