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Wiyot Tribe, CA

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Soulatluk signs

Below are Soulatluk (aka Wiyot language) words and phrases that have been displayed on lighted signs in the Da Gou Rou Louwi' (cultural center) and Tsek Houdaqh (youth program) offices, along with playable audio & links where available.

Except where otherwise noted, all audio is excerpted from Soulatluk recordings archived at UC Berkeley’s California Language Archive:

Gou ship guluvughurruk = new year gou = again ship = first guluvughurruk = year/season (lit. 'turning over') Spoken by Della Prince (1956); click to listen	Gutslhawik. = It's cold. Spoken by Della Prince (1956); click to listen Also pronounced gutsplhawik (Elsie Barto; no audio)
Doupa'wurr. = It's raining. doupa'w = to rain -urr = one does it (impersonal ending) Spoken by Della Prince (1956); click to listen Doupawurratsa'n.= (There is) fog-rain. (lit. 'there is small-rain') doupa'wurr = it's raining -ats = small -u'n = there is __ing This phrase was spoken by Elsie Barto in 1922, and sadly there are no audio recordings of her speech. However, we will attempt to record new audio of this phrase soon!	Douwa vu lali'yum? = Where are you going? douwa = where? vu = go to do lal = go/walk/travel + -i'yum = you/subj. >> lali'yum = you go (subjunctive) Spoken by Nettie Rossig:
we'n wulinu'l = sky's eye(s) = star(s) we'n = sky wulirr = eye(s) + -u'l = its >> wulinu'l = its eye(s) Spoken by Della Prince:	Himi gou louw! = Hurry back! himi = quickly gou = again/back louw = come! Spoken by Della Prince:
Hidurrayu'qil. = I am strong. (From Della Prince; no audio yet)	Wiya't halilhit! = Let the Eel River flow! Spoken by Marnie Atkins:
ilhagi' = oh my! No audio (yet)! This pronunciation is from Elsie Barto and Jerry James. Slight variations are hilhagi (Elsie Barto), ilhage' (Elsie Barto & Jane Searson), and ilhagi (with no final glottal stop; Jerry James & Della Prince). "Oh my" is probably not the best or most modern English translation, but this one is difficult to translate exactly. It's a kind of exclamation when you are remarking on how much, how big, how nice, how thin, etc. something/someone is. For example: Hou basu'l ilhagi' haleni'! = "Oh my, isn't her basket plate nice (lit. 'valuable')!" or "How nice her basket plate is!" (Jane Searson & Elsie Barto) Ilhagi', gourru moutwilh galu me'luvilh = "Oh my, that woman is so thin (lit. 'she has no meat/flesh')" or "How skinny that woman is!" (Elsie Barto)	Wu dutgi' da gapa'y = Easter ('when eggs are eaten')
This week's sign is a phrase made up of 2 words: shou = I wish/if only wigagigh = I am rich Together, they express "I wish I was rich" or "if only I was rich". Some related phrases: Yil gudughunu wigagigh. = I am really rich. Wigagighilh. = S/he is rich. Swawi wigagighurr. = Someone is very rich.	~No audio (yet)~ We constructed this phrase (partly with COVID in mind) from: gouts = good, well wulh = continuative (keep on doing), mild obligatory haloul = take care of -wiw = reflexive (oneself) -ut = you The one-word construction halouluwiwut would mean simply "take care of yourself"--but we wanted to encourage the community to keep on doing the things they have been doing to care for themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually in these difficult times.
~No audio (yet)~ Elsie Barto & Della Prince both gave Wi gou mi youw = "I will come back quickly." Jerry James gave Jiwilh gitga ha gou rou = lit. "I'm always gonna come back around", but with a practical meaning of "I'll be right back."
	~No audio (yet)~ This is from Jeremiah Curtin’s (1889) field notes (Wiyot speaker unknown).
	Spoken by Tsek Houdaqh participants: