salmonberry
Alíle (also pronounced elíle) is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘salmonberry’.
Pronunciation
Alíle sounds like ell-LEE-luh.
Some speakers say elíle, with a slightly different first vowel, like this: ull-LEE-luh.
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips
Plural form
Elders make the plural for this word by inserting an extra –l, to give these forms: alelíle or elelíle (audio here).
However, you do not have to use the plural form, even when talking about more than one. Elders often just use the basic form alíle (or elíle) for the plural too.
Related words
Here are some words related to alíle/elíle:
- elílá:lhp – salmonberry plant, bush (the –elhp ending marks the plant, as opposed to just the fruit etc. The vowel becomes a when two e‘s come together, i.e. elíle+elhp becomes elílá:lhp)
- tem’elíle – May (literally ‘salmonbery time’)
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