Wednesday
Slhíxws is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘Wednesday’.
Literally Sthíxws means ‘third period, third cycle‘.
Pronunciation
Slhíxws sounds like this: SLEECKss, except that instead of a CK you say the Halq’eméylem soft-x sound, in this case with rounded lips (xw).
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
Structure
Elders made Slhíxws based on lhí:xw – three, in the following way:
The s- prefix marks nouns.
The -es ending here marks ‘period, cycle’. This ending is also sometimes pronounced –ós or –ó:s.
In addition to marking time periods, –es/-ós can also refer to the face, to money, or to round things. The four meanings (time cycles, face, money, and round) fit together perhaps because faces are somewhat round (☺), cycles go around, and money is round and has faces on it.
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