Kw’étslexw means ‘to see (it)’. You use this verb to talking about seeing something specific.
Pronunciation
Kw’étslexw sounds like KWOOTS-uh-look, except that:
- The initial kw sound is ‘popped’, by combining it with a catch in the throat (glottal stop).
- The last sound is the Halq’eméylem soft-x. You make this sound by touching the body of your tongue gently to the roof of the mouth. In this case, the x also has rounded lips (xw).
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
-ing form
Kw’étslexw has a special –ing form, which you an use to describe an ongoing action, like this: kw’ókw’etslexw – seeing (audio here).
Elders make this type of –ing form by partly doubling (‘reduplicating’) the first part of the word, in this case also with a vowel change.
Related words and phrases
Kw’étslexw is based on the root kw’áts, which occurs in a number of words including:
- kw’átset – to look at
- skw’áts – vision
- Kwokw’echíwel – Wahleach Point – This is the name of a lookout point. Elders also use the same name (Kw’okw’echíwel) for another lookout point on Agassiz mountain. The ending –íwel marks ‘on the inside(s)’. Literally the name means ‘looking on the inside‘ (this may relate to the use of binoculars on the lookout points).
Kw’étslexw is also the base for the common phrase kw’etslóme – ‘see you’ (the ending -óme means ‘you‘, talking to one person, and the –exw ending in kw’etsléxw is lost before –óme).
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