The Halq’eméylem sound ’ is a kind of “catch in the throat”. You make it by stopping the air in your throat, for a moment, as it moves through your vocal folds.
The diagram below illustrates how the sound is made (this diagram courtesy of the UBC Linguistics Department, used here with permission):
You say this sound in English at the beginning of words that start with vowels, like “uh oh” (there is a catch in the throat before each of those, even for English speakers). But in Halq’eméylem, this same sound can occur inside of words, where it is written with the apostrophe.
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For Members Only:
Here are some examples of elders saying the word s’alhtel:
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
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