éy

good

Éy sounds like the English word “eh”, and it means “good”…

Pronunciation

Éy has the same vowel as in English words ‘hey’, ‘way’, and ‘may’.

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

Examples

Here are some examples of how you can use this word:

• Ey te swáyel. – It’s a good day (lit. The day is good).
• Ey slhóp te’i! This is good soup!
• Ey kw’as emi. – It’s good that you came (lit. Good that.you came).
• Tsel kw’ixet te ey pekw. – I read a good book.

Elders did not usually use this word to describe a person, however.

Notes and Related Forms

A large number of related words contain the same root as éy, for example:

• éyameth’ – smooth (the ending -ameth’ is used for poles and similar upright objects).
• eyelhómex – good-looking (the ending -ómex is used for talking about how things look).

Many words that contain an /i/ are also based on this root, including for example siyá:m (lit. something like good in strength).