DELATE

[de-LATEY’] or [de-LEYT’] — adjective, adverb.

Meaning: accurate; authentic; certain; correct; correctly; direct; exact; definite; definitley; genuine; just; straight; plain; precise; real; really; sincere; sincerely; sure; thorough; true; truely; upright; undoubted; verily; very; without equivocation; without hesitation.

Origin: Either a corruption of English, straight; or Norman French drette > standard French droite ‘right’, both the directional and legal senses.

In Chinook Wawa, ‘delate’ is used as a superlative, which when added makes a statement positive and removes any element of doubt. Phrases like “delate nika wawa” (I am speaking the truth), “delate siah” (a very great distance), or “delate kwinnum cole ahnkuttie” (exactly five years ago) illustrate that anything ‘delate’ is the genuine article.

‘Delate’ can emphasize the quality of something, as in “delate kloshe” (very good; exquisite; pure; perfect) and “delate kahkwa” (exactly the same; identical), “delate chee” (entirely new), or “delate kimtah” (the last).

It serves as an affirmative, such as in “delate klosheh” (very good; right on), “okoke delate” (that is right; it is correct), “nawitka, delate kloshe” (yes, perfect), and “delate hyas kloshe” (majestic; magnificent; awe-inspiring).

Alternatively, it can emphasize a negative, such as “delate cultus” (absolute worthlessness; useless; mean), “wake delate” (not right; imperfect; deformed), “delate halo ticky” (to detest; dislike), “delate hyas mesachie” (terrible; terror), or if something is “delate kimtah kloshe” (very worse; worst), or declare that something or someone is being at “wake delate mamook” (fault) of something.

It can be used in the directional sense, such as “klatawa delate” (to go straight ahead; continue on), when describing size, as seen in “delate hyas” (enormous; immense; stupendous), emphasizes an exact time, such as “delate tenas sun” (dawn; daybreak), and of course all-important baking instructions, ranging from “delate tenas” (just a little) to “delate pahtl” (full to the brim; chockfull).

It can be used to express genuine feelings, such as “delate sick tumtum” (grief; very sad; very sorry) and the expression “delate nika sick tumtum” (I am very sorry), or tell someone that something is “delate ticky” (really necessary) or state if one has “halo delate kumtuks” (doubt, uncertain; obscure).

If you “mitlite delate kloshe tumtum kopa” (adore) something, you might describe it as being “delate hyas kloshe” (magnificent; majestic; awe-inspiring; very good) and that “nika tumtum delate kloshe” (my heart is very glad).

If a process results in “halo delate mamook” (not right work), one needs to “mamook delate” (to make right; correct) and “mamook delate kloshe (refine) the process in order for it to “delate kumtuks” (prove) useful.

If one is “delate yaka kumtuks” (an expert) and can “delate kumtuks” (know for a certainty; to be sure; to prove), then it is easy to “wawa delate” (speak the truth; speak correctly; affirm), especially if one is a “man yaka delate nanitch” (eyewitness) to something.

A skilled “man yaka delate kumtux potlatch wawa” (orator) will not likely “halo delate wawa” (mispronounce) words when speaking, though it will be up to the listener to determine if what they say is “delate wawa” (fact; promise; direct talk; straight truth) or “wake delate wawa” (legend; fiction; fable).

Just like the French word it is based on, ‘delate’ applies to both the legal sense, as in “delate yaka illahee” (a native of a country; one’s native land), and in the physical sense, with a Delate Creek existing in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho each.