swíweles

boy, young man

Swíweles is one of the Halq’eméylem words for ‘boy’. You can also use it for ‘young man’.

You use swíweles for older boys, from roughly the age of ten into teenager years.

Pronunciation

Swíweles sounds like SWEE-wuh-luss.

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

Plural form

Swíweles has a special plural form, like this: swóweles – boys (audio here). You can use swóweles for a group of adolescent boys.

Elders make the plural form swóweles by changing the vowel (i becomes o).  This type of plural formation only occurs with a few other words in the language.

Other words for ‘boy’

There are several other ways you can say boy in Halq’emeylem, including:

• swiyeqe’ó:llh – boy (you use this for younger boys, under 10)
• swiweyeqe’ó:llh – little boy (you use this for very young boys.)

Both swiyeqe’ó:llh and swiweyeqe’ó:llh are based on  swíyeqe – man.