1.1 Welcome speech.

’i ’u tseep ’uw’ ’eli’ ’ul’?	“How are you (pl)?”
nem’ tseep ’umut!	“You (pl) go sit down!”
tth’ihwum ’i’ ts’ets’uhw!	“Please be quiet!”
hwiyuneem’ tseep!	“You (pl) listen!”
’ilhe’ hwulmuhwqun!	“Let’s speak a First Nations Language!”

1.2 Vocabulary: intransitive verbs.

’umut	“sit down”, “get out of bed”
hwts’e’nutsum	“sit down”
lhxilush	“stand up”
qwal	“talk”
ts’ehwul’	“shut up”, “keep quiet”
ts’ets’uhw	“be quiet”
hwiyuneem’	“listen”
t’ilum	“sing”
qw’uyulush	“dance”
hwyunumus	“smile”
’imush	“walk”
xwchenum	“run”
teem	“call out”, “telephone”
lhuqw’tsum	“clap your hands”
’unuhw	“stop”
huye’	“leave”
yaays	“work”
huw’a’lum’	“play”
q’ulum’	“camp”, “stay overnight”
lhumts’el’s	“pick (berries, fruit, vegetables)”
t’i’wi’ulh	“pray”
’ulhtun	“eat”

1.3 Basic commands.

There are several different ways of expressing a command.

1.3a You can use a verb with the right intonation to express a command to one or more people.

’umut!	“Sit down!”
t’ilum!	“Sing!”
lhxilush!	“Stand!”

1.3b The second person singular pronoun ch “you” can be used after the verb when expressing a command to one person.

’umut ch!	“You sit down!”
hwyunumus ch!	“You smile!”
ts’ehwul’ ch!	“You shut up!”

1.3c The second person plural pronoun tseep “you (pl)” can be used after the verb when expressing a command to more than one person.

’umut tseep!	“You (pl) sit down!”
t’ilum tseep!	“You (pl) sing!”
’unuhw tseep!	“You (pl) stop!”

Note: English does not make a distinction between second person singular and plural. “You left” can mean one person left (you) or more than one person left (you and some other people). English speakers sometimes use “you all”, “you people”, or “you guys” to convey the plural meaning. In this book, “you (pl)” indicates the second person plural.

1.3d Instead of using a pronoun, you can express a command with the imperative particle lhe’, which is often pronounced lhu.

’umut lhe’!	“Sit down!”
qwal lhe’!	“Speak!”
t’ilum lhe’!	“Sing!”

1.4 Translation.

Translate (1-5) into English and (6-10) into Hul’q’umi’num’.

1. lhuqw’tsum tseep!
2. ’unuhw!
3. teem!
4. qw’uyulush!
5. hwiyuneem’ ch!
6. You (pl) dance!
7. Leave!
8. Work!
9. You shut up!
10. You (pl) stand up!

1.5 ’i’ “and”.

You can use the conjunction ’i’ “and” to combine two verbs.

1.5a Just put the conjunction between the two verbs when the two actions are being done simultaneously or concurrently.

lhxilush ’i’ t’ilum!	“Stand up and sing!”
’umut ’i’ hwiyuneem’!	“Sit down and listen!”

1.5b You can place the pronoun after the second verb.

lhxilush ’i’ qw’uyulush ch!	“You stand up and dance!”
lhxilush ’i’ qw’uyulush tseep!	“You (pl) stand up and dance!”
’umut ’i’ ’ulhtun ch!	“You sit down and eat!”
’umut ’i’ ’ulhtun tseep!	“You (pl) sit down and eat!”

1.5c Or you can place the pronoun after the first verb.

lhxilush ch ’i’ qw’uyulush!	“You stand up and dance!”
lhxilush tseep ’i’ qw’uyulush!	“You (pl) stand up and dance!”

1.6 Translation.

1. ’unuhw ’i’ hwiyuneem’!
2. lhxilush ’i’ ’imush ch!
3. ts’ehwul’ ’i’ hwiyuneem’ tseep!
4. Stand up and talk!
5. You (pl) shut up and work!
6. Sing and dance!

1.7 Some polite phrases.

tth’ihwum.	“Please.”
hay ch q’a’.	“Thank you.” (said to one person)
hay tseep q’a’.	“Thank you (pl).”
namut kwu.	“You’re welcome.”
qw’aqw’ul’ux!	“Excuse me!”
qw’aqw’ul’ux ch!	“You excuse me!”
qw’aqw’ul’ux tseep!	“You (pl) excuse me!”
’uw’ ’ee ch’ ul’!	“Carry on!”/“Go on!”

1.8 Polite commands.

You can make a command more polite by adding the word tth’ihwum “please” in front of the verb.

1.8a Link tth’ihwum to the verb with the conjunction ’i’.

tth’ihwum ’i’ ’umut!	“Please sit down!” (literally “Have pity and sit down!”)
tth’ihwum ’i’ ’ulhtun!	“Please eat!”

1.8b The pronoun can follow the verb.

tth’ihwum ’i’ ’umut ch!	“You please sit down!”
tth’ihwum ’i’ ’umut tseep!	“You (pl) please sit down!”

1.8c Or the pronoun can follow tth’ihwum.

tth’ihwum ch ’i’ ’umut!	“You please sit down!”
tth’ihwum tseep ’i’ ’umut!	“You (pl) please sit down!”

1.9 Translation.

1. tth’ihwum ’i’ ts’ets’uhw!
2. tth’ihwum ’i’ t’ilum tseep!
3. tth’ihwum ’i’ ’unuhw!
4. Please listen!
5. You (pl) please stand!
6. Please work!

1.10 Motion auxiliaries.

The words nem’ “go” and ’um’i “come” (usually shortened to m’i) can be placed in front of the verb.

1.10a The auxiliary nem’ indicates motion away from a point of reference.

nem’ ’umut!	“Go sit down!”
nem’ xwchenum!	“Go run!”
nem’ ’ulhtun!	“Go eat!”

1.10b The auxiliary m’i indicates motion toward a point of reference.

m’i ’ewu!	“Come here!”
m’i ’ulhtun!	“Come eat!”
m’i yaays!	“Come work!”

1.10c In a command, the pronoun appears between the auxiliary and the verb.

nem’ ch yaays!	“You go work!”
nem’ tseep huw’a’lum’!	“You (pl) go play!”
m’i tseep ’ulhtun!	“You (pl) come eat!”

1.10d You can form a polite command by putting tth’ihwum before the auxiliary. Link tth’ihwum to the auxiliary with the conjunction ’i’.

tth’ihwum ’i’ nem’ ch ’umut!	“Please go sit down!”
tth’ihwum ’i’ m’i ’ewu!	“Please come here!”
tth’ihwum ’i’ nem’ tseep ’ulhtun!	“Please you (pl) go eat!”

1.11 Translation.

1. nem’ ’imush!
2. nem’ huye’!
3. nem’ tseep yaays!
4. tth’ihwum ’i’ m’i ’ulhtun!
5. You (pl) go sit down!
6. Please go walk!
7. You (pl) go dance!
8. Come here!

1.12 tse’ future.

You express the future tense with the future particle tse’.

1.12a Place tse’ after the verb and pronoun. With the right intonation, you can use these sentences as commands.

’umut ch tse’.	“You will sit down.”
qwal ch tse’.	“You will speak.”
t’ilum tseep tse’.	“You (pl) will sing.”

1.12b A more polite way to make a command is to add the interrogative particle ’u after the verb. You will study this particle in the next unit.

t’ilum ’u ch tse’?	“Will you sing?”
’umut ’u tseep tse’?	“Will you (pl) sit down?”
qw’uyulush ’u tseep tse’?	“Will you (pl) dance?”

1.13 ’ilhe “let’s”.

Use ’ilhe to express “let’s”. In fast speech this word often sounds like ’ilhe or ’ilhu.

1.13a The verb comes after ’ilhe.

’ilhe ’umut!	“Let’s sit down!”
’ilhe t’ilum!	“Let’s sing!”
’ilhe qwal!	“Let’s talk!”
’ilhe hwulmuhwqun!	“Let’s speak a First Nations language!”
’ilhe nem’!	“Let’s go!”
’ilhe t’iw’i’ulh!	“Let’s pray!”

1.13b ’ilhe can also be followed by a motion auxiliary.

’ilhe nem’ q’ulum’!	“Let’s go camp!”
’ilhe nem’ lhumts’el’s!	“Let’s go picking!”

1.14 Translation.

1. ’ilhe ’unuhw!
2. ’ilhe nem’ ’umut!
3. ’ilhe lhxilush!
4. ’ilhe ’imush!
5. Let’s dance!
6. Let’s go play!
7. Let’s leave!
8. Let’s go work!

1.15 -muhw “people”

Many words in Hul’q’umi’num’ that refer to types of people contain the suffix ‑muhw (or -mush).

hwulmuhw	“First Nations person”
mustimuhw	“person”
snuneymuhw	“Nanaimo”, “Nanaimo person”
nuts’uwmuhw	“stranger”, “people from somewhere else” (nets’ = “different”)
sqwxwa’mush	“Squamish”, “Vancouver”

1.16 Peoples and their languages.

Adding the lexical suffix -qun “throat” to the name of a people expresses the idea of speaking the language of those people. With some words, the prefix hw- is added as well.

hwulmuhw	hwulmuhwqun
“First Nations person”	“speak a First Nations language”
snuneymuhw	snuneymuhwqun
“Nanaimo”	“Nanaimo language”
yuqwulhte’x	yuqwulhte’xqun
“Lekwiltok”	“Lekwiltok” speak the language of the Campbell River, Cape Mudge
flench	hwflenchqun
“French person”	“to speak French”
cheymun	hwcheymunqun
“Chinese person”	“to speak Chinese”
hwunitum’	hwunitum’qun
“White person”	“to speak English”

1.17 What do these words mean?

1. snuw’nuw’usqun
2. hwchapaniqun
3. hwquw’utsun’qun
4. hwshts’um’inusqun
5. hwsqwxwa’mushqun
6. hwspenishqun
7. hwshishe’lhqun
8. hwmuskwi’umqun

1.18 Translation.

1. ’umut ’i’ ’uw’ hwiyuneem’ ch’ ul’!
2. tth’ihwum ’i’ nem’ ch teem!
3. ts’ehwul’ ’i’ yaays tseep!
4. ’ilhe nem’ xwchenum!
5. t’ilum ’u tseep tse’?
6. lhxilush ’i’ qw’uyulush tseep!
7. Let’s just speak French!
8. You (pl) dance and clap!
9. Let’s just walk!
10. Will you (pl) sit down?
11. Please you (pl) go stand!
12. Stop and go work!

1.19 Reading lesson.

ni’ tetsul lhu hwuy’athun’uq sis ’uw’ thut, “ ’uy’ skweyul tun’a kweyul. tth’ihwum tseep ’i’ ’uw’ ’umut ’ul’. tl’lim’ tseep p’uw’ hwiyuneem’. hwulmuhwqun tseep tse’.”

The language teacher came in and said, “Today is a good day. Please you (pl) just sit down. You (pl) really listen. You (pl) will speak a First Nations language.”

1.20 q’uyatl’un’ song.

’imush q’uyatl’un’! (thume)

tstamut q’uyatl’un’? (thume)

hwiyunumus q’uyatl’un’! (thume)

qwal lhe’ q’uyatl’un’! (thume)

tstamut q’uyatl’un’? (thume)