1
Stage 1 of 3
c'əm
Lower Chinook · pre-1800s
"spotted, marked"
meant 'spotted' or 'marked', describing the salmon's blotchy spawning coloration
2
Stage 2 of 3
tsəm
Chinook Jargon · 1800s
"spotted, marked"
carried into the Pacific Northwest trade language with the same meaning
3
Stage 3 of 3
chum
English · 1900s-1910s
"a species of Pacific salmon with blotchy spawning coloration"
adopted by English-speaking fishers to name the salmon species
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