legend, traditional story
Sx̲wōx̲wiyám means ‘legend’, or ‘traditional story’. You can use it especially for the stories from the Transformer period.
Pronunciation
- Sx̲wōx̲wiyám sounds like skwoh-kwee-YAM, except that instead of k‘s you say 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
Origins
Sx̲wōx̲wiyám is based on the verb x̲wiyám – to tell a legend.
Sx̲wōx̲wiyám appears to come from the reduplicated ‘-ing‘ form x̲wix̲wiyám – telling a legend/traditional story (audio here).
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