Músmes means ‘cow’. Elders borrowed this word from the Chinook Jargon trade language (Chinook Jargon may have adapted it in turn from the Cree word for a moose).
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ehíw, ahíw
Ehíw means ‘upriver’ or ‘be upriver’. Some Elders pronounce this word slightly differently, as ahíw.
sth’óqwi
Sth’óqwi is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘fish‘. This is the noun form (not the verb). Sth’óqwi is a general term, which you can use for any kind of fish.
kw’íxw siyólh
Kw’íxw siyólh means ‘pitch wood’.
kw’íxw
Kw’íxw means ‘sap’ or ‘pitch’. You can also use kwíxw for ‘rubber’, or ‘gum’.
smámelet
Smámelet is another word for ‘mountain’ or ‘mountains’. Surprisingly, you can use the same form to mean ‘pebble’, or ‘small stone’.
smált
Smált means ‘rock’ or ‘stone’. You can use it for any size of stone—and even for a whole mountain.
tém:éxw
Tém:éxw is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘earth’, ‘ground’,’land’ or ‘the world’.
alíle, elíle
Alíle (also pronounced elíle) is the Halq’eméylem word for ‘salmonberry’.
sxélcha
Sxélcha means ‘catch’, as in ‘what you caught when hunting’. You can use sxélcha to to talk about the body of an animal, a bird, or a fish.