qwélstexw

to talk to

Qwélstexw is Halq’eméylem for ‘to talk to’.

Vocabulary and Pronunciation

Qwélstexw sounds like KWULL-stook, except that:

• The first sound is not a k, but rather the Halq’eméylem q. To make the q, touch the back of your tongue back to your uvula.
• The last sound is the Halq’eméylem soft-x, with lip-rounding. See here for information about how to make the soft-x sound.

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

-ing Form

Qwélstexw has a special ‘-ing‘ form (what linguists call the ‘progressive’ form), like this: qwóqwelstexw – to be talking to (audio here).

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

Related words

Other words based on the same root as qwélstexw include:

• qwà:l – to speak
• sqwà:l – word
• sqwélqwel – news, (true) story

Note: the -stexw ending often means ’cause to’. For example, compare:

• ímex = to walk
• ímexstexw = make walk, to cause to walk

However, with qwélstexw, –stexw does not seem to mean ’cause to’ in the same way.