to go to war, to make war
X̲éyléx̲ is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘to go to war’, or to ‘to make war’.
Pronunciation
- X̲éyléx̲ sounds like KAY-luck, except that instead of k‘s the first and last sounds are the Halq’eméylem hard-x (̲x).
- To make the hard-x, you create heavy friction with the back of your tongue against your uvula.
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
-ing form
X̲éyléx̲ has a special –ing (‘continuative’ or ongoing action) form, like this: x̲éyx̲eléx̲ – going to war, making war (audio here).
Elders make this type of –ing form by partly doubling (‘reduplicating’) the first part of the word.
Related words
Here are some other words that come from the same root as x̲éyléx̲:
- x̲éyet – to beat up __, to fight __
- X̲éyteleq – a name, originally that of a strong warrior from Kilgard. Literally this name means ‘one who usually wins in a fight’.
The root for all these words is x̲éy, which does not appear as a word by itself but appears in words associated with the meaning ‘(be) against’. This same root is also the source for x̲éyesóltel – ‘wild ginger’ (literally ‘facing against each other’, because of the shape of the plant).
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