álhtel

Álhtel is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘to eat’. You use this word to talk about the general act of eating (without referring to a specific food), as in ‘Time to eat!’, ‘Do you want to eat?’, or ‘I already ate’.

Pronunciation

• Álhtel sounds like ELL-till, except that the first  l is the Halq’eméylem hissy-l sound (lh).
• To make the hissy-l (lh), make a regular l but make it with more friction, and without vibration in your throat.
• Note that the á vowel at the start of álhtel sounds like the e  in English words like let, led, or melt.

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

Examples

Here are some examples of how you can use álhtel:

• Tes kw’es álhtel tset! – It’s time we ate!
• Li a’ stl’í kw’as álhtel? – Do you want to eat?
• Yálh kw’els álhtel. – I finished eating.

-ing form

To talk about eating as an ongoing action (as in I am eating now), you use a special form of álhtel, like this: í:lhtel – eating (audio here).

For example, you could say Í:lhtel tsel teloqá:ys. – I am eating now.

Notes

• As noted above, álhtel refers to the general act of eating. You do not use it to talk about eating a specific item, but the general act of having a meal.
• If you want to say something like I ate the fish, you use a different verb: lép’ex, e.g. Tsel lép’ex te sth’óqwi – I ate the fish.  This is confusing from an English perspective, because in English we use the same verb eat whether you ‘eat’ a specific object or not.