Lesson 1: Wisenis X̅aʼislak̕ala!
1.1 Conversational examples..
1.2 Vocabulary
| babáʼu |
|
grandfather |
| begʷánem |
|
person, human |
| duént |
|
name |
| dúqʷela |
|
see |
| ʼéngʷa- |
|
who |
| ʼengʷátla |
|
be called what |
| ʼenna (ʼnna) |
|
yes |
| gáda |
|
this, here |
| gáiqela |
|
come from, originate at |
| gáx̄ʼilh
(-tl) |
|
come in |
| gáx̄ilhc
|
|
come in! (command form: gáx̄ilhc) [c is pronounced "ts"]
|
| ḡeném |
|
woman, wife |
| ḡʷailáas |
|
way of being, doing, process (many meanings) |
| ...ha, ...aa |
|
question marker (for yes/no questions) |
| hím̓as |
|
chief, king |
| ʼíku |
|
can, may, be able to |
| ʼix (ʼik-) |
|
good, fine |
| ʼixs
ḡʷáilas |
|
goodbye |
| kúta |
|
think, guess |
| k̕eci |
|
don't ! (command form) [c is pronounced like "ts"] |
| k̕uu |
|
no, not, do not |
| k̓ʷáʼilh |
|
sit down inside |
| le gáda |
|
here |
| leʼáilh (-tl) |
|
go in |
| m̓aas |
|
what? |
| mamáʼu |
|
grandmother |
| múzilh |
|
matriarch, woman of high rank, lady |
| núgʷa |
|
I, to be me |
| p̓ála |
|
work |
| qálhela |
|
walk |
| q̓ála |
|
know |
| Q̓ʷémksiwak̕ala |
|
talk English, English language, white person's language |
| t̕lelísda |
|
forget |
| wa |
|
OK, well (word of many uses) |
| wísenis |
|
let's |
| w̓ac̓ |
|
dog |
| w̓áila |
|
what is it?, what is the matter with? |
| w̓igáiqela |
|
where ... come from? |
| yálekʷa |
|
be hurt, come to harm, have an accident |
| yawc̓ |
|
Hi! |
| X̅aʼislak̕ala |
|
talk Haisla, the Haisla language |
| X̅enáksiala |
|
Kemano, Kitlope people and places |
| X̅esduáxʷ
(X̅esduakʷ-) |
|
the Kitlope Valley |
Note: We will use the mark ́ to show where the main stress or accent
is in a word of more than one syllable in the vocabularies and in other places
where we want to focus on pronunciation. This mark comes over the prominent
vowel or syllable. Items that need some kind of ending to be full words are
marked with a hyphen (-). Indications like (-kʷ) or (-k) show how the item is
pronounced when it is followed by an ending that begins with a vowel.
Sounds and spellings.
For a summary with many examples of spellings and sounds, click
here. In these lessons,
we will go over these sounds and spellings gradually, concentrating on some
aspects of the system in each lesson.
Some sounds in X̅aʼislak̕ala and Q̓ʷemksiwak̕ala are very similar and they are
spelled the same way:
| Letter |
|
as in
Q̓ʷemksiwak̕ala: |
|
X̅aʼislak̕ala: |
|
| b |
|
Bob |
|
babaʼu `Grandfather' |
| d |
|
Dad |
|
daad `auntie' |
| m |
|
Mom |
|
mamaʼu `Grandmother' |
| n |
|
no |
|
nai `snow' |
and so on for a lot of other sounds. But some are really different and we'll take these a few at a time.
P's, K's, and Q's
Haisla has a whole series of sounds that are made in a different way than any
English sounds: they are sometimes called `hard' or `popped' sounds, linguists
call them `glottalized' sounds because they are made by closing the glottis
(the opening of the vocal cords) and then pushing up with the voice-box before
they are released. They are spelled by putting a mark like a heavy apostrophe
either right after or above the letter for the corresponding non-glottalized
sound. Watch and listen to these pairs of words, the first has a plain sound,
the second the corresponding popped or hard sound:
It's a good idea to pick some word that contains the sound you are
concentrating on and use it as a kind of tag or ``hook'' for your memory.
(One common word you probably know already is
Yawc̓! "Hi!." It's
last sound is a glottalized "ts" sound, spelled c̓ .
The same mark ( ʼ) is used by itself to stand for a break or catch in
your breath, something like what happens in the middle of an English
expression like ``uh-uh.'' Listen to the word for herring-eggs
ʼaʼent. Words that have no other consonant sound at the beginning always
have this sound to start with (it is called the glottal stop).
A little grammar.
To learn a language we have to learn
a lot more than individual sounds or even individual words. We need to learn
how to put words together into sentences and we need to learn how to make words
that have meaningful parts. Here are two important facts about how
X̅aʼislak̕ala works:
- Verbs come first!!
- Endings come on the end!!
Verbs are words that stand for actions, qualities, and so
on. So words for ideas like Walk, Think, Be-hurt, and so on generally come first
in X̅aʼislak̕ala, while they come second, or at least after the subject in
English. The subject is the word(s) for the actor or the one doing
the walking or other activity, or the main one(s) we are telling about. In
both X̅aʼislak̕ala and Q̓ʷemksiwak̕ala the subject is the first participant
mentioned in most simple sentences: in X̅aʼislak̕ala right after the verb, or
as an ending like -su `you' or -nugʷa right on the verb.
- Qalhelal̓ Wigit-a. Weegit was walking.
- Duqʷel Mike-di qi w̓ac̓iax̄i. Mike saw the dog.
In X̅aʼislak̕ala words are almost always built up by adding things on
the end. We call these meaningful pieces of word endings or
suffixes. They are used for building new words:
- X̅aʼislak̕ala = x̄aʼisla -k̕al -a
- X̅aʼislak̕al̓ix̄da =
x̄aʼislak̕al -ix̄d -a `want to talk Haisla'
or for helping to make sentences (single words can make sentences):
- X̅aʼislak̕alanugʷa. I talk / am talking Haisla.
- X̅aʼislak̕al̓ix̄danugʷa. I want to
talk Haisla.
The sentences in the Conversation section (1.1) of this lesson
illustrate some important endings. Three of them are:
- -nugʷa / -n : I (as actor or subject
- -as : you (as subject in a question or suggestion)
So to say `I work' we take the word that means `work' and add the
suffix that means `I':
- p̓ala -nugʷa == p̓alanugʷa
To tell someone to work you may say:
To ask someone if they work you may say:
- p̓al(a) -as (h)a == p̓alas ha?
Other endings seen in this lesson are:
-(i)ax̄i, -di/-ti, -i,
-s, -us, -aʼex̄ʷs. We'll learn about these and other endings in following
lessons. When we list an ending or suffix, we will write it with a hyphen (or
similar mark) before it, as with these examples. This will remind us that the
ending has to be attached to something to make sense.
1.4 Cultural notes.
Place Names. The site of present-day Kitamaat Village was
originally called
C̓imauc̓a -- meaning `place of snags.'
Kitamaat is a Tsimshian word meaning `people of snow.' The word
X̅aʼisla is the name for a site somewhere near the mouth of the Kitimat
River. It means `down the river, down channel' or the like. Clio Bay is
called
Gʷax̄sgelis The bay at MK Marina is called
Zakʷelisela.
Suggestions for studying.
Learning a language takes a lot of time and practice. The most important
thing is to keep at it and try to practice every day. You don't have to
restrict yourself to working at it at special times, you can practice while
you are doing other things. Make yourself word lists. Practice with friends
and relatives. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, they will get ironed out
eventually. As you learn words and other expressions, practice them while
doing appropriate things, such as pointing at objects, imagining or acting out
what you are saying. Don't get discouraged and have fun!
1.5 Practicing.
A. Pronunciation practice: practice saying these words, say the word first,
then click on the word for a model:
kúta
k̕uu
púʼes
p̓úsa
qápela
q̓ála
taa
t̕aláus
ʼáʼent
B. Bring a word! Get into the habit of carrying a notebook around with
you and writing down examples you hear or see or ask someone about. Every
class we will take time for us to share these words or other information about
language or culture.
C. Memorize the conversational materials and the vocabulary. Practice
whenever you can: half an hour a day is much better than three hours on one
day. Don't be afraid to try out your X̅aʼislak̕ala and don't
be afraid to make mistakes!
D. Exercises:
i. Make the suggested substitutions and translate:
Example:
Gaiqelan
X̅aʼislix̄i.
(Massachusetts-ax̄i)
Gaiqelan Massachusetts-ax̄i. I come from Massachusetts.
1. Gaiqelan
X̅aʼislix̄i.
(Geldalix̄i) (Kildala)
(Belxʷelix̄i) (Bella Coola)
(Terrace-ax̄i)
2. K̕un q̓al
gada.
(Jeff-di)
(him̓asax̄i)
(begʷanemax̄i)
(ḡenemax̄i)
3. K̕eci
yalekʷa.
(talk English)
(walk)
(sit down)
(go in)
ii. Translate into English (if you're not sure, guess!):
1. K̕eci Q̓ʷemksiwak̕ala!
2. Yalexʷ w̓ac̓iax̄i.
3. W̓aili Michael-ti?
4. W̓igaiqeli begʷanemax̄i?
5. K̕un duqʷel him̓asax̄i.
6. K̕eci t̕lelisd gada!
7. K̓ʷaʼilhc!
8. K̕un gaiqel X̅aʼislix̄i.
9. Wisenis qalhela!
10. ʼEngʷai gada?
iii. Answer the question in X̅aʼislak̕ala:
1. W̓igaiqelas?
2. M̓aasi duentus?
3. ʼEngʷaas?
4. Sen ʼiku gax̄ʼilh ha?
5. Si ʼix ḡʷailasaʼex̄ʷsa?
iv. Express in X̅aʼislak̕ala:
1. Hi, I come from Kitamaat.
2. Do you want to speak Haisla?
3. Goodbye, don't get hurt!
4. What are you called?
5. Did you forget? (Do you forget?)
6. I don't know this.
7. I forget your name.
8. Do you come from Rivers Inlet?
9. I think this.
10. Don't walk!