Halkomelem

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The Salishan language traditionally spoken by Indigenous peoples along the lower Fraser River and eastern Vancouver Island in British Columbia
2. An indigenous language of the Coast Salish group, used around the lower Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island region of southwestern Canada
3. A Salishan tongue of the Pacific Northwest, historically spoken in southwestern British Columbia and parts of northwestern Washington State

Etymology: Halkomelem is the name of a Salish language spoken around the lower Fraser River and Vancouver area of British Columbia, and also of the people who speak it. The name is an English rendering of a term from the language itself, "hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓", which is often glossed as referring to the "downriver" people, set against the upriver speakers of neighbouring Upriver Halkomelem. Linguists and community members have long used the spelling as a convenient way to write the name in English, and there are several other transcriptions in circulation. The name matters for another reason: the language has two main varieties, Upriver and Downriver Halkomelem, and the terms distinguish their location along the Fraser rather than any difference in ethnic identity. Since the word is a proper noun, its form has shifted over time as orthographies have changed, so older books and maps may show spellings that look quite different from modern ones.