Siyólh means ‘wood’ or ‘firewood’.
You can use it for a piece of wood, a plank of wood, or a few pieces of wood together.
Pronunciation
Siyólh sounds like see-OSH, except that instead of a SH at the end you say the Halq’eméylem ‘hissy-l‘ (lh).
To make the hissy-l (lh), you say a regular l, but with more friction and no vibration in the throat.
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
Plural form
Siyólh has a special plural form, like this: selyólh – lots of wood, large piles of wood (audio here).
selyólh
Elders make this type of plural by inserting an –el into the word, which in this case also changes the first vowel.
You don’t have to use the plural form, even when talking about multiple pieces of wood. However, if you are referring to a large amount of wood, you can use selyólh.
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