qwà:l

to speak, to talk

Qwà:l is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘to speak’, or ‘to talk’. You can use it to refer to everyday talking, or talking at a formal speech.

Pronunciation

• Qwà:l sounds like KWALL, except that instead of a k you say the Halq’eméylem q.
• The accent on the vowel marks that the word has a mid-level pitch or tone.
• If you raise the pitch higher (to a high pitch, or high-falling pitch, marked with an up-accent) you get a different word: qwá:l – mosquito.

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

-ing form

Qwà:l has a special –ing (‘continuative’ or ongoing action) form, like this: qwóqwel – talking, speaking (audio here).

Elders make this –ing form by partly doubling (‘reduplicating’) the first part of the word.

Related words

Qwà:l appears as a word by itself, and also in many other related words, including:

• sqwà:l – word
• qwélqwel – to tell news, information
• sqwélqwel – news, a message, information, a true story