Salish Root Project
Documenting the deeper root structure of the Salish language. Root families, language structure, worldview, and the research journey.
Here’s the full vowel series brought together in one video.
Same structure. Only the vowel changes.
x̌sp — good base/start
x̌sap — it is significantly a good start
x̌sep — it is a good start
x̌sip — by process it resulted in becoming good
x̌sup — it naturally became good/fitting
What changes is how the beginning is experienced:
strong and noticeable
steady and reliable
worked into
or naturally emerging
That’s what the vowel is doing.
Watch this all the way through, then go back and listen again.
You’ll start hearing the differences more clearly.
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💬 Which form changed the meaning the most for you?
This is the full set from the vowel series.
Same structure. Only the vowel changes.
x̌sp — good base/start
x̌sap — it is significantly a good start
x̌sep — it is a good start
x̌sip — by process it resulted in becoming good
x̌sup — it naturally became good/fitting
What’s important is not just the translation.
It’s the difference in how the beginning is experienced:
strong and noticeable
steady and reliable
worked into
or naturally emerging
That’s what the vowels are doing.
If you go back and watch all 6 videos now, the pattern becomes much clearer.
Bonus word
ʕwup — it dripped
A condition unfolding naturally, without force.
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💬 Which one changed the meaning the most for you?
05/11/2026
Did you know…
in Salish,
if you were the first born child,
the language can literally describe you
as the one who made your mom become a mother.
tum̓ys — “She (first daughter born) made her a mother.”
k̓ʷuymys — “He (first son born) made her a mother.”
That idea opened into something much bigger for me.
Because once you begin following these words deeper,
you start realizing:
motherhood in Salish is not just a title.
It is a relational orientation carried through the language itself.
tum̓
“mother of a female”
comes from a root meaning:
“prominent of itself.”
And once you see that,
you start recognizing the same relational orientation in other familiar words:
tum̓š — socially prominent; hero
tum̓mxʷ — prominent being; hero; alpha wolf
stum̓čst — thumb (“prominent finger”)
Then there’s:
sk̓ʷuy
“mother of a male.”
This one widened over time too.
The deeper relational orientation points toward the mother as the foundational one:
the one who carried him,
began him,
brought him forth.
Even later,
when the son grows larger than his mother,
the word can still carry that remembered beginning.
And today’s x̌sup video connects to this too.
The more I work with these forms,
the more I realize the vowels themselves are carrying orientation and worldview.
Especially the u-vowel:
something carried naturally from within itself.
I wrote a deeper Mother’s Day entry on the website today following these relationships through roots, vowels, older spellings, and relational structure.
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Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, foster mothers, and foundational women who carried others into the world.
Day 5 of the vowel series — and this one shifts away from effort.
In the last video, it felt like something had to work to become.
In this one…
it doesn’t.
It feels like:
it comes together on its own
it becomes what it should be
it settles into a natural state
That’s a different kind of beginning.
Not forced.
Not worked toward.
Just:
arriving naturally into a fitting condition
x̌sup — it naturally became good/fitting
Watch this one and compare it to yesterday.
Bonus word
ʕwup — it dripped
A condition unfolding naturally, without force.
CTA
If you want to see how this connects across the language:
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💬 Does this one feel more natural than the last?
Day 4 of the vowel series — and this is where the process becomes really noticeable.
Same structure as the earlier ones.
But this vowel carries something different:
It feels like:
effort
process
working toward a result
Not just starting…
but:
getting there.
You can almost hear it:
something trying, catching, resolving into a state. x̌sip
That’s a really important distinction in the language.
Watch this one and compare it to the others so far.
Bonus word
xʷt̓ip — it ran off / escaped
A condition that develops and resolves into a new state.
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💬 Does this one feel more like a process than the others?
Day 3 of the 6 part vowel series — and this is where it really starts to feel different.
Same structure as the previous ones.
But this vowel gives a different kind of beginning.
This one feels:
stable
reliable
like it’s functioning the way it should
Not just starting…
but:
starting in a way that holds together. x̌sep
That’s an important distinction in the language.
Watch this one, and compare it to the last two.
You’ll start noticing the difference more clearly now.
Bonus word
qʷmep — a group starting to move together
A beginning that holds as a shared, functioning movement.
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💬 Does this one feel more “reliable” than the earlier ones?
Day 2 of the 6-part vowel series.
Same structure as yesterday — but the vowel changes how the beginning feels.
In this one, the beginning has more presence.
It doesn’t just start quietly.
It shows up in a way that’s:
noticeable
more immediate
more “there” as a condition
That’s something the language tracks really clearly.
The structure stays the same.
The vowel shifts the experience.
Watch this one, then come back tomorrow and keep building the comparison.
Bonus word
x̌ʕap — it got cool
The cooling condition becomes noticeable and present.
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💬 Does this one feel more immediate than yesterday’s?
In this series, I’m showing how vowels work in Salish.
But not in the usual way.
In English, vowels mostly help form the word.
In Salish, the vowel helps show:
how something begins
how it takes shape
how it becomes real
The structure stays the same.
Only the vowel changes.
And when the vowel changes, the experience changes.
Some feel:
natural
effortful
immediate
gradual
This video is one part 1 of a 6-day series.
Watch this one today, then come back tomorrow and notice how the next one feels different.
Bonus word
x̌sip — it finally starts after effort
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💬 Which one do you think would feel the most natural?
Did you know Cinco de Mayo isn’t actually Mexican Independence Day? 😄
In the United States it became a huge commercial holiday for restaurants, bars, shopping, and party culture.
Meanwhile, in Salish:
sclčstasq̓t l̓ sp̓eƛ̓m spq̓ni
“The fifth day of the Bitterroot Moon.”
And to the relatives:
x̌cm̓ncutš mšʕ x̌ʷaq̓ʷntxʷ anpecʕ̓ ɬu kʷqs x̌ecty t sp̓eƛ̓m
“Get prepared, sharpen your bitterroot digger.”
That’s the real seasonal holiday announcement 😂
I love this phrase because:
x̌cm̓ncutš (“prepare yourself”)
and
x̌ect (“dig roots”)
come from the same root.
x̌c, prepare, make ready
Preparation itself is understood through root digging and seasonal readiness.
The land told you what time it was.
ha kʷ ʕpɬkʷtunt sx̌lx̌alt l̓ sp̓eƛ̓m spq̓ni?
Do you have a holiday or seasonal tradition in May?
The final video in the -p intro series is up, focusing on -up.
This form has a really interesting feeling in Salish.
A lot of the words carry the sense that:
the condition emerges from within itself.
Not externally caused.
Not simply initiated by someone.
More like:
darkness settling naturally
snow beginning
water flowing
a sudden springing movement
It’s a very different way of viewing how things begin.
The whole series has been building toward this:
base
foundation
entry into condition
establishment
emergence from within
I’m really happy with how this series came together.
Bonus words 🌊
mʕʷup (often written moóp, and sometimes shortened to just moó) — something became flowing
This word quietly hints at something bigger that’s coming later in the pharyngeals series.
Outside of my work, many learners only encounter forms like:
moóp
or simply moó
But beneath those spellings is:
mʕʷup
And once you begin seeing that structure, a really interesting question starts forming:
Why does the word use -up in the initial form…
but then in all the flowing forms afterward, the language returns to:
-p
Like:
ʕs mʕʷpmisty — it is flowing
ʕs nmʕʷpmisty — it is flowing inside
ʕs čmʕʷpmisty — it is flowing down/on something
ʕs k̓ʷɬmʕʷpmisty — it is flowing out of something
That’s where the deeper structure starts becoming visible.
The initial emergence happens through:
-up — the condition arising from itself
Then the language shifts back to:
-p — the base condition from which all the developed flowing states continue.
That pattern matters.
And it opens the door toward understanding both:
the vowel system
and the pharyngeals underneath many modern spellings.
What patterns have you started noticing now that you’re seeing these forms connected together?
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