Wōqw’ means ‘to drift’ or ‘to drift downriver’.
Pronunciation
- Wōqw’ sounds like ‘WOKE’‘, except that the last sound is not a k but the Halq’emeylem q.
- To make the q, you touch the back of your tongue to your uvula.
- In this case, the q is also popped, by combining it with a catch in the throat (glottal stop), to make q’.
- This popped q’ also has lip rounding (qw’)
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
ing form
Wōqw’ has a special ‘-ing‘ (‘progressive’) form to describe an ongoing action. The ing form looks like this: hōqw’ – ‘drifting’. (Audio here)
Elders make this type of –ing form by adding an h– at the beginning of the word.
Related words
Wōqw’ comes from the same root as a number of other words, including:
- sōqw’ówelh– (be) downstream from something
- wōqw’et – drop (it) in the water
- wōqw’ílem– go downriver
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