Talk:Alki Point, Seattle

Untitled
Moved to "Alki Point" so it wouldn't appear as "Alki, Seattle, Washington" in the Seattle geography category; appearing as "Alki Point" in Seattle neighborhoods is OK on the model of "Haller Lake," etc. Lukobe 05:07, 8 Jul 2004 (UTC)


 * The problem with that is that the neighborhood is actually called "Alki" or occasionally "Alki Beach" but never "Alki Point". The neighborhood association, all local businesses, schools, churches, the city, and the county transportation system all use "Alki" to mean the whole neighborhood. I don't get what the problem is with it appearing as "Alki" in the Seattle geography category. 98.203.160.210 (talk) 07:47, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Hi! I don't understand the phrasing in "Alki Point also marks the salle extent of Elliott Bay." Could someone explain what "salle extent" means? Googling "salle" and "salle extent" have not helped. (In fact, the only page linked in google search for "salle extent" is this one.) Thanks! timbo (talk) 21:00, 30 March 2008 (UTC)


 * The article is riddled with malapropisms and other, ah, unique usages. Some seem intended to make the article sound more erudite, but just end up sounding florid. Others might be simple mistakes. This article is a source of stress for me, as it is about my home and I know how inaccurate, biased, and poorly structured it is. Someone needs to fix it someday, so I guess I'd better get around to learning how. Illexsquid (talk) 06:41, 31 January 2015 (UTC)
 * The phrase salle extent was . What other phrases in the article do you find distracting or inaccurate? Also, there are a couple of WikiProject Seattle editors who track changes to this article and will be happy to review your improvements. It looks like you're (although technically that edit should not have been marked "minor" since it included the addition, removal or alteration of text. Ibadibam (talk) 18:24, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Too much like a tour brochure
I plan to extensively edit out the florid prose, but if anyone beats me to it I won't be sad. Much of the article is fluff about how Alki makes people feel and so forth.98.203.160.210 (talk) 07:47, 8 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Sorry; didn't realize my login had timed out. Here's my real sig: Illexsquid (talk) 07:49, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

New aerial photos
I've uploaded some new aerial photos of Alki point, below. Feel free to use if useful. Dcoetzee 10:00, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

History
This photo was removed from the history section where settlement and the Denny party as well as the monument are discussed, in favor of a contemporary photo of the marina. FloridaArmy (talk) 10:07, 4 October 2018 (UTC)

Dubious material removed
Removed section Former landmarks:

Due to the popularity of Alki Beach in 1902, the electric street railway line was extended from downtown Seattle to this destination. In 1907, at Duwamish Head, Charles I.D. Looff built an amusement park atop pilings called Luna Park, Seattle. This park, named after one of the amusement parks at Coney Island in New York, included a German carousel, Ferris wheel, rollercoaster, and a boat chute ride. It also included Powers Natatorium and Bathhouse, which included heated saltwater pools. In 1931 the park burned. The pilings can still be seen today at low tide off of the point.

END removed section

All of this was cited to the dead link http://www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?ID=445. Since the link is dead, I have no way to check exactly what it said, but I'm pretty certain it was misinterpreted.


 * 1) Duwamish Head is over a mile from Alki Point. It is arguably (barely) within the neighborhood known as "Alki", but it is nowhere near the Point. The pilings cannot be seen "off of the point": they are over a mile away, with land blocking any direct view.
 * 2) Similarly, I am quite certain that the street railway did not reach (or even approach) Alki Point in 1902. It did cross Elliott Bay to West Seattle around then, and probably got pretty close to Duwamish Head, but it would have been a solid 30-minute walk along the beach to Alki Point. (Also: Luna Park itself was demolished in the 1910s; only the natatorium lasted until 1931, and then burned.) - Jmabel &#124; Talk 16:12, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

Historic pronunciation
The correct historic pronunciation of Alki is “Al-key”. Numerous pioneers noted the change to the incorrect modern pronunciation. Should the pronunciation be changed, dropped, moved, or discussed?Slgaiser (talk) 16:43, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
 * (Moved here as it isn't clear when that comment was made or what it pertains to) PersusjCP (talk) 20:06, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
 * @Slgaiser Do you mean that the modern English pronunciation is different from the original Chinook Jargon? Or that the pronunciation has changed in English over time? I personally hear only al-KAI, but if there is a source for any of this, it should definitely be included! PersusjCP (talk) 20:10, 19 July 2024 (UTC)
 * I believe that the pronunciation has probably changed in English over time.
 * Here’s one source:
 * in Four Wagons West: The Story of Seattle,  (1931, Binfords & Mort) Roberta Frye Watt says, on page 52,
 * It is pronounced with the “i” given the “i” sound in “ill” not as in “ice.”
 * I’m pretty sure, though, that I’ve seen another account describing the sound as “ee”. Slgaiser (talk) 21:34, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

I found another source. In his book “Westward to Alki: The Story of David and Louisa Denny” (Seattle Historical Society, 1977), author Gordon Newell says, in the footnote on page 41:

Alki, a word of the Chinook jargon meaning “bye-and-bye,” was pronounced Al-kee by Indians and pioneers, but has over the intervening years been corrupted by common usage to Al-ki.

I think that’s pretty clear. Yes, sources abound, and I have some of them for reference. ;-) Slgaiser (talk) 21:53, 19 July 2024 (UTC)

And here’s a bit more. I found a web page regarding Chinook Jargon https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Chinook_Jargon which has an entry for “Alkie”:

alkie (al-kie), adv. Chinook, ALKEKH. Presently; in a little while; hold on; not so fast.

Sounds a lot like “bye and-bye.”

The same source has a pronunciation guide for Chinook Jargon. It contains the long “e” (meet) sound, and the short “i” (sit) sound, but no long “i” (bite) sound.

I’m convinced that Alki was originally pronounced quite differently from how it is said today, and the similarity between the short “i” and long “e” sounds suggests to me that the sound may have been somewhere in between, with English transcriptions left to the listener’s ear. Slgaiser (talk) 22:41, 19 July 2024 (UTC)