to love
Tl’íls is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘to love’.
Pronunciation
Tl’íls sounds like TLEELSS, except that the first t is ‘popped’, by combining it with a catch in the throat.
This word is also sometimes spelled tl’í:ls. This spelling reflects a pronunciation with a slightly longer vowel. Both spellings and pronunciations are ‘correct’.
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
Useful phrases
Here are some useful phrases that use tl’íls:
- Tsel tl’ílsome. – I love you. (Sounds like tsill-tleels-OHM-uh)
- Tsel tl’ílsome kw’asa iyómex. – I love you because you’re beautiful.
- Tsel tl’ílsome kw’asa í’i. – I love you because you’re cute.
- Tsel tl’ílsome kw’asa thíthaxel. – I love you because you have big feet.
- Mekw’ewwat tlíls. – Everybody loves him/her (‘him’ or ‘her’ is just understood, in this phrase).
Related words
Some other words that come from the same root as tl’íls include:
- stl’ítl’el – to love (this is an alternative way of saying the same thing as tl’íls)
- stl’í – a want, a need
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