ʕs ʕ̄awsts x̌ʷy̓aqy
Put u l ʕs čšnmi ʕs x̌ʕyilšy ɬu sccm̓elts šʕ ʕs ʕ̄awsts x̌ʷy̓aqy ɬu put u ʕs šy̓it qs čšin – When the children accompanied the raiders they were called x̌ʷy̓aqi, right from the start of going along.
- x̌ʷy̓aqy, adolescent, one that goes on raids/battle with warriors, as a helper, as well a warrior in training.
Language Warriors — A Breath of Life
An addendum to the original 2018 post – October 24, 2026
This recording was made around 1974. More than fifty years later, the words of the elders continue to teach.
One of the remarkable things about this passage is that we hear Salish explaining Salish. The elders are not simply translating words into English. They are using their own language to explain an experience, passing along an understanding of what it means to undertake something difficult.
And within their words is an expression that deserves a closer look.
ʕs x̌ʕyilšy — S/he is raiding.
The elders are speaking about the experiences of young people as they moved toward adulthood. Among those experiences was the undertaking of a raid.
But what is the Salish word actually telling us?
The root x̌y expresses interaction through continuous change. The suffix -ilš develops that interaction toward fulfillment.
Together, they describe an undertaking that unfolds through changing relationships, circumstances, and encounters.
A raid is not simply an event with a beginning and an end. It is something people enter without knowing everything they will face. Conditions change. Obstacles arise. Decisions must be made. The undertaking continues as the participants respond to what they encounter.
And here is where Salish becomes especially fascinating.
Three Ways of Experiencing an Undertaking
ʕs x̌yilšy — S/he is raiding.
The undertaking is underway, unfolding through changing circumstances. The emphasis is on the activity itself as it continues toward fulfillment.
ʕs x̌ʕyilšy — S/he is experiencing the raid from within.
The undertaking is already in progress. Its changing circumstances are not simply events along the way; they are part of the experience the participants are living through.
ʕs x̌ʕ̄yilšy — The raiding unfolds as an openly experienced undertaking.
The experience is brought into a more open field of awareness. Its changing course becomes perceptible beyond the participants’ contained experience.
These are not three different kinds of raids. They are three ways of orienting toward the same unfolding undertaking.
The small difference between x̌y, x̌ʕy, and x̌ʕ̄y changes how the experience is presented.
The first expresses the unfolding undertaking. The second brings us into the experience itself. The third opens that experience into a broader field of awareness.
This is part of the remarkable nature of Salish word formation. A word is not simply a label attached to something. Its parts work together to express how something happens, how it is experienced, and how it relates to the world around us.
And when these words enter Salish sentences, they become part of something larger: the sharing of experiences, the telling of stories, and the passing of knowledge from one generation to another.
The Language Warriors
There is another way to appreciate what these elders are telling us.
Today, those who are learning, speaking, teaching, and helping bring Salish forward are engaged in an undertaking of their own.
Language revitalization is not a single accomplishment. There is no one word to learn, one book to finish, or one obstacle to overcome that completes the work.
There are unfamiliar sounds, difficult expressions, forgotten connections, and knowledge that must be patiently recovered.
There are also the deeper obstacles left by colonization, boarding schools, and generations of interrupted language transmission.
The path changes as we travel it.
Some days bring discoveries. Others bring frustration. Sometimes a single word opens an understanding that has been waiting for generations.
We learn. We stumble. We help one another. We continue.
And the undertaking changes us as we move through it.
This is why ʕs x̌ʕyilšy offers such a powerful way to think about the work of language warriors.
It is not about calling language learning a literal raid. It is about recognizing the nature of an undertaking whose challenges cannot all be known beforehand, whose circumstances continually change, and whose fulfillment depends on those willing to carry it forward.
We are not waiting for the undertaking to begin.
We are already living it.
Each of Us Adds a Breath
The preceding x̌ʷy̓aqy brings us back to the young person learning through participation in the undertaking.
And that brings us to something essential about language.
A language lives through the people who speak it.
We begin by listening. We learn to hear distinctions that once escaped us. We discover how the sounds of Salish are shaped and how our own breath gives them voice.
Gradually, those sounds become familiar. Words begin to take shape. Sentences begin to carry our thoughts.
Then come the questions.
What does this word mean? Why does it change? How do we express an experience that English describes so differently?
Learning a language is also learning how to ask. Even the ways we ask questions in Salish open new paths toward understanding.
Every question can lead to another discovery.
Every discovery gives us something more to carry forward.
And every word spoken aloud gives the language another moment of life.
Every conversation creates another connection. Every learner who shares something with another learner helps carry the language forward.
No single person has to accomplish everything.
Each of us adds a breath of life to the language.
And together, those breaths become conversations, stories, teachings, laughter, and the voices of another generation.
The elders in this recording were speaking about the undertakings of their time. Their words also give us a way to recognize the undertaking before us.
ʕs x̌ʕyilšy.
We are living the undertaking.
And with every breath, we carry the language forward.