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Sinixt pronunciation guide
About the Sinixt language (n̓səl̓xčin̓)
The language of the Sinixt people is known as n̓səl̓xčin̓. Today this Salish language has an estimated 30 fluent first-language speakers across the Sinixt homeland in southeastern B.C. and eastern Washington. (To hear “Sinixt,” “n̓səl̓xčin̓” and other words spoken aloud, you can visit the Language Revitalization page at Sinixt.com.)
Like any language, n̓səl̓xčin̓ combines sounds in ways that can be new to people who haven’t learned it. In the same way as “str-” rolls off the tongue in English, a group of consonants like “-n̓tkʷ-” feels natural in n̓səl̓xčin̓, with no need to add vowels in between.
You’ll also see apostrophes over some letters. For consonants like k̓, p̓, q̓, or t̓, this means means making the sound harder with a small burst of air from your throat; for others like l̓, m̓, n̓, w̓, or y̓, it means making the sound more abrupt by tightening your throat at the end. In the rough pronunciations below, these are shown as a capital K, P, Q, T, etc. (Just as t and d sound completely different to English-speakers, t and t̓ are totally distinct in n̓səl̓xčin̓, and they count as different letters. These kinds of sounds are found in Indigenous languages across northwestern North America—including neighbouring Ktunaxa, which isn’t related to n̓səl̓xčin̓ but uses apostrophes in a similar way.)
Accents over vowels like í and ú mean they get more emphasis. In the rough pronunciations below, these syllables are shown in bold.
Letters not used in English
Most letters in n̓səl̓xčin̓ can be read like in English, but some need an extra note:
Letter | How to say it | How it’s shown below |
|---|---|---|
č | ch as in “cheese” | ch |
c̓ | hard ts similar to the ts in “cats” | TS |
ə | This, my friends, is a schwa: the unspecific vowel sound that English uses in unstressed syllables (e.g. the first and last a in “banana”) | uh |
ɬ | slurpy l: make it by placing your tongue like you’re saying l in “lion,” and at the same time breathe out past both sides of your tongue (same as double ll in Welsh; written ⱡ in Ktunaxa) | lh |
ƛ̓ | This “running man” letter is a slurpy tl: make it by adding a hard, clicking t to the start of the ɬ sound above | TLH |
q | deep k: make it like k in “king,” but instead of tapping your tongue to the top of your mouth, tap it toward the back of your throat (same as Arabic q in “Quran” or “Qatar”) | q |
x | h toward the back of your throat (same as ch in Scottish “loch” or German “Buch”) | h |
x̌ | guttural h deep in the back of your throat (same as ch in German “ach”; written x̣ in Npoqínišcn or Spokane, a cousin of n̓səl̓xčin̓ in the Salish language family) | kh |
ʔ | short interruption of breath in the back of your throat (same as the hiccup in the middle of “uh-oh”) | ’ |
ʕ | slight rasping constriction at the back of your throat (same as the starting sound in Arabic “῾Irāq” or “῾Arab”) | ῾ |
Word list from The King of Sandon
Čʕawl̓xíc̓aʔ
Rough pronunciation: ch-῾awL-hee-TSa’ (hear it said aloud at Sylix.org)
Meaning: “Wash Body”: Trail, B.C.
kəkn̓iʔ
Rough pronunciation: kuhk-Nee’
Meaning: Kokanee salmon (the anglicized word has spread far and wide, appearing in many place names and as a beer brand)
K̓lwist
Rough pronunciation: Klweest
Meaning: “Up in the Hills”: Rossland, B.C.
Kp̓iƛ̓l̓s
Rough pronunciation: kPee-TLHLs (hear it said aloud at Sinixt.com)
Meaning: Brilliant, B.C. (confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia rivers near Castlegar)
Ky̓ʕamlúp
Rough pronunciation: kY῾am-loop (hear it said aloud at Sinixt.com)
Meaning: Nelson, B.C.
Nc̓əc̓ərísm̓
Rough pronunciation: nTSuh-TSuh-rees-M
Meaning: “Having Kingfishers”: Northport, Washington
Nc̓əlc̓əlítkʷ
Rough pronunciation: nTSuhl-TSuh-leet-kw
Meaning: “Trees Standing in Water”: part of the old town of Marcus, Washington, now underwater west of the present town
N̓qʷusp
Rough pronunciation: Nqwoosp
Meaning: “[The Lake] Comes Together”: Nakusp, B.C.
N̓t̓al̓txítkʷ
Rough pronunciation: NTaLt-heet-kw
Meaning: “Water from the Cared-for People”: lower Kootenay River, from the West Arm of Kootenay Lake to the Columbia River (the “cared-for people” were the Ktunaxa, who according to the Sinixt came here from across the mountains, where a place was made for them)
Sčíx̌ʷəɬkʷ
Rough pronunciation: s-chee-khwuh-lh-kw
Meaning: “Rapids”: Little Dalles, Washington
Skxikn̓
Rough pronunciation: sk-hee-kN
Meaning: Large village opposite Revelstoke, B.C.
Sɬəw̓qin̓
Rough pronunciation: slhuhW-qeeN
Meaning: “Pierce; Strike on the Head”: Slocan River, B.C. (in reference to the Sinixt practice of harpooning salmon, which were plentiful in the region before construction of dams in the 20th century)
Sn̓x̌ʷn̓tkʷitkʷ
Rough pronunciation: sN-khwNt-kweet-kw (hear it said aloud at Sinixt.com)
Meaning: Columbia River
Sx̌ʷnitkʷ
Rough pronunciation: skhw-neet-kw
Meaning: “Roaring Water”: Kettle Falls, Washington
Tʔakliʕaickst
Rough pronunciation: t’ak-lee-῾a-eech-kst
Meaning: Slocan Lake (from a Syilx Okanagan map with different spelling conventions)
Other place names on this map come from the Ktunaxa, Npoqínišcn (Spokane), and Snchitsu’umshtsn (Coeur d’Alene) languages.
Thanks to Wikipedia’s Okanagan language page, Sinixt.com, and the language revitalization classes of the Salish School of Spokane. Any errors are the responsibility of the author.