Lesson 1: Where is my Knife? - Alétse tel Lháts'tel
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Lesson 2: We need it - Stl'ítset
We need it
Lesson 3: Put it On the Table - Lháq'etchexw la te Letám
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Lesson 4: I Need It. Where Is It? - El Stl'í. Alétse?
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Lesson 5: Put it On the Table. - Lháq'etchexw la te letám.
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Lesson 6: In the Kitchen - Li te Kéchel
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Lesson 7: In the Car - Li te Kó
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Lesson 8: At the table - Li te Letám
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Lesson 9: At Home - Li te Lá:lém
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Lesson 10: In the Kitchen - Lí te Kéchel
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Lesson 11: At Home - Li te Lá:lém
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Lesson 12: At Home - Li te Lá:lém
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Lesson 13: At the Office - Li te Syó:ysáwtxw
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Lesson 14: At the Office - Li te Syó:ysáwtxw
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Lesson 15: In the Kitchen - Li te Kéchel
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Lesson 16: Don't Want To! - Éwe el Stl'ís!
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Lesson 17: Did Mary Freeze the Fish Yet? - Lí ulh Píwetes tl' Máli ye Sth'óqwi?
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Lesson 18: Where's My Pencil - Áletse tel X̲éltel?
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Lesson 19: Where's the Salt? - Áletse te Tl'álhem?
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Lesson 20: Did you Open It? - Lichexw Xwemá:qet?
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Lesson 21: You're Wet! - Lhéqwchexw!
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Lesson 22: A Dream - Te S'élíyá
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Lesson 23: I lost it! - Tsel Ékw'elexw!
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Lesson 24: What Happened to Him? - Le Xwe'ít Tútl'ó?
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Lesson 25: I heard... - Tsel Ts'lhám...
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Lesson 26: Did You Wash Your Hands? - Lichexw Th'ex̲wá:tsesem?
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Lesson 27: Did You Take a Bath? - Lichexw Xóxekw'em?
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Lesson 28: Mary has a New Boyfriend - Kwelátes tl' Máli te X̲á:ws Swíweles
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Lesson 29: Is Mary Home? - Le ew Stá the Máli
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Lesson 30: I'm Looking after the Baby - Xóxelhmettsel te Sqáqele
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Lesson 31: How was your Day? - Selchím ta' Swáyel?
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Lesson 32: Did Somebody Help Him? - Lí Máytemkw'eTewátes?
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Lesson 33: Did He Ask You? - Lí Petámethó:me?
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Lesson 34: Are You Hungry? - Líchexw Kw'ókw'iy?
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Lesson 35: Please Pass It To Me - Th'íyxwem Sátelhsthóxchexw
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Lesson 36: Who did you Talk To? - Tewát kw'e qwélstexw
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Lesson 37: What are you going to eat? - Stámcha kw'e Lép'exexw?
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Lesson 38: What did John catch? - Stám kw'e Chxélches tl' Chól?
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Lesson 39: What are you Going to Make? - Stám kw'e Thíytexw?
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Lesson 40: Mary went Fishing - La qw'óqw'emó:thel the Máli.
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Lesson 41: Somebody Called You - Ílh me tá:methó:m kw'e wátes
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Lesson 42: Did you get your hair cut? - Líchexw lhíts'eqwem?
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Lesson 43: Who ate it? - Tewát kw'e lép'ex tel s'álhtel?
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Lesson 44: It was a Good Gathering - Éy te sq'ép
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Lesson 45: This Smoked Fish is Really Good - Ts'áts'el ew éy te'íle sq'éylo
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Lesson 46: Where is the Fish that I caught? - Elétse te Sth'óqwi el Schxélcha?
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Lesson 47: The place I used to live - Shxwlíselh kw'els stá
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Lesson 48: We Need some Milk - Stl'ítset kw'e Sqemó:s te Músmes.
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Lesson 49: If you go to the Store... - Líp Lám te Shxwímálá...
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Lesson 50: Your foot is Bleeding! - Chó:lxwem ta' sxéle!
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Lesson 2: We need it - Stl'ítset

Qwú:lqwelqweltel 2A

A
Stl'ítset te shxwtóle'ólesteltset. Alétse?
We need our eyeglasses. Where are they?
B
Lí te kéchel ta' shxwtóle'ólestelelép. Sts'ets'á te letám.
You guys' eyeglasses are in the kitchen. They're on the table.
A
Éy! Qe alétse ye kopútset?
Great! And where are our coats?
B
Lí te sle'ólwelhs te t'ó:mél ta' kopú'elép. Sp'lhíq' tel swa.
You guys' coats are on the other side of the wall. They're beside mine.

Qwú:lqwelqweltel 2B

A
Líchexw lhq'él:exw lís alétse ta' shxwtóle'ólesteltset?
Do you know where you guys' eyeglasses are?
B
Á:'a. Lí te shxwelís kw'es ítettset, sts'ets'á te letám.
Yes. They're in the bedroom, on the table.
A
Qe alétse ye kopútset?
And where are our coats?
B
Lí te kwukwáwt ta' kopú'elép.
You guys' coats are in the kitchen.

Listen to the elder

Full Lesson Audio- Vocabulary and Dialogues

Audio Halq'eméylem English
shxwetoleólestel eye glasses
t'ó:mél wall
kéchel kitchen
skw'echóstel window
shxwlí where it's at, where it's from, a place
sp'lhíq' beside
kapú coat
stetís near, close to
shxwtóle'ólestel eye-glasses
swa one's own
sle'ólwelh on the other side of, other side
stl'í a want, need
lá:lem house
ítetáwtwx bedroom
kwelukwawtxw kitchen
kwelúkwatwxw kitchen
t'elt'ó:mel wall
kelétchel kitchens
kalepú coats
shxwteltóle'ólestel eye-glasses
lalálém houses, many houses
etítetáwtxw bedrooms
skw'elchóstel mirrors, windows
shxwelís kw'es ítettset place that we sleep
stl'ítset we need/want it
st'ole'ólestel eye-glasses
skw'echó:steló:les eye-glasses

Audio Halq'eméylem English
Sp'lhíq' te skw'echóstel tel shxwtóle'ólestel. My eyeglasses are beside the window.
Sp'lhíq' te ló:theltset te lepóttset. Our cups are beside our plates.
Sp'lhíq' tel ló:thel tel lepót. My cup is beside my plate.
Sts'ets'á lí te letám te lepótset. Our cups are on the table.
Lí te kwukwáwt ta' kopú. Your coat is in the kitchen.
Lí te kéchel ta' kopú'elép. You guys' coats are in the kitchen.
Stl'ítset te shxwtóle'ólesteltset. Alétse? We need our eyeglasses. Where are they?
Líchexw lhq'él:exw lís alétse ta' shxwtóle'ólesteltset? Do you know where you guys' eyeglasses are?
Á:'a. Lí te shxwelís kw'es ítettset, sts'ets'á te letám. Yes. They're in the bedroom, on the table.
Lí te kéchel ta' shxwtóle'ólestelelép. Sts'ets'á te letám. You guys' eyeglasses are in the kitchen. They're on the table.
Éy! Qe alétse ye kopútset? Great! And where are our coats?
Qe alétse ye kopútset? And where are our coats?
Lí te sle'ólwelhs te t'ó:mél ta' kopú'elép. Sp'lhíq' tel swa. You guys' coats are on the other side of the wall. They're beside mine.
Lí te kwukwáwt ta' kopú'elép. You guys' coats are in the kitchen.

Plurals

A common and easy way talk about plural (multiple) objects in Halq'eméylem is to just use the basic noun (ignoring the plural form) and use the word ye before the noun. Ye means the, but it is used only with plural objects. Thus, for example, ye kopú will be understood to mean the coats, because of the ye, even though kopú itself simply means coat. If you wanted to be explicit, you could also say ye kalepú, using the explicit plural form (coats) for the noun, but this is not necessary in Halq'eméylem.

The plural form for each noun, where available, is listed beside the noun in your vocabulary lists, in case you do want to use it. Plurals are formed in various different ways, and it is not usually possible to predict what the plural form for a given noun will be: sometimes the plural is made by doubling part of the noun, sometimes it is made by inserting an -l into the word, and sometimes in other ways. Some nouns do not have any plural form at all

Your Guys' in Halq'eméylem

When talking about an object that belongs to two or more people (i.e. you folk's... or you guys'...) Halq'eméylem uses the word for your which you studied earlier (i.e. ta'), but also adds an ending -elép onto the noun, as in the examples below.

ta' lepót your cup ta' lepótelép you guys' cup

ta' letám your table ta' letámelép you guys' table

ta' lháts'tel your knife ta' lháts'telelép you guys' knife

My and Your in Halq'eméylem

My in Halq'eméylem is tel. Your is ta'. For example:

tel lepót my cup ta' lepót your cup

tel letám my table ta' letám your table

tel lháts'tel my knife ta' lháts'tel your knife


Our in Halq'eméylem

Our in Halq'eméylem is marked by an ending, -tset, which is attached to the noun as in the second column in the examples below.

Examples:

te lepót - the cup

te lepóttset - our cup


te letám - the table

te letámtset - our table


te lháts'tel - the knife

te lháts'teltset - our knife

Within the Upriver speech area, there is still marked variation in speech from different areas. A couple of examples of such variation within Upriver Halq'eméylem are as follows.

Some speakers have the sound ts in certain words where others have the sound ch (the ch sound is apparently more common in the Chilliwack variety of the language).

The word for your also differs slightly, depending on where the speaker is from: speakers from the Chilliwack area tend to shorten the Halq'eméylem word down to just ta, rather than ta' (with the catch in the throat at the end of the word).

There are also a few differences in vocabulary items, depending on the precise area the speaker comes from.

White linguists have adopted the term 'Halkomelem' to describe all the varieties of the language, though this term is being used less and less.

Name Description File
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Lesson 2 PDF Lesson PDF Preview Download
Printable Vocabulary Flash Cards Printable flash cards for the vocabulary in this unit Preview Download
Printable Phrases Flash Cards Printable flash cards for the phrases in this unit Preview Download
Audio Vocabulary and Phrases Download
Anki deck 2 way Download
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