In April 2026, several lab members headed on another trip to the Interior to meet our nɬeʔképmx collaborators.

The first stop was in Lytton to work with Bev Phillips at the parish hall.  Ella asked about second-position clitics, Reed asked about demonstratives, Brent asked about possessors and recorded part of a narrative from Bev, Noah asked about transitive words (investigating t-deletion), and Danica recorded pronunciations of particular words.

Next, the team headed to Merritt.  At the CNA headquarters, we met with Madelynn, Desiree, kʷaɬtèzetkʷ Bernice Garcia, c̓úʔsinek Marty Aspinall, and Doreen.  Together, we went over some stories from kʷaɬtèzetkʷ, and discussed topics like orthography, recording, and publishing. c̓úʔsinek also shared some personal notes.  Later, there was time for elicitation and recording with kʷaɬtèzetkʷ and c̓úʔsinek.

Part of the team also did some bird-watching at Nicola Lake, featuring yellow-rumped warblers, white-crowned sparrows,  Steller’s jays, common mergansers,  ospreys, mountain chickadees, common loons, red-tailed hawks … and yellow-bellied marmots!

Spotted: street signs in nɬeʔkepmxcín in Lytton, BC.

On Friday, July 25th, members of the lab were joined by Mandy Jimmie, John Haugen, and Rhiannon to test out ultrasound imaging for distinguishing tongue shape and movement of different sounds in nɬeʔkepmxcín.

We focused on comparing velar vs.  uvular sounds and saw noticeable differences between the two in different word positions. We hope to be able to use this technology in the future to record fluent speakers of nɬeʔkepmxcín, giving learners the ability to see how sounds are produced.

This visit wouldn’t have been possible with out the help of the UBC Integrated Speech Research Lab and, in particular, research assistant Marija Cvetkovic.

In May, a few lab members were able to get a quick trip to Merritt in!  First they met with speakers kʷaɬtəzétkʷu and Mandy Jimmie at the Coldwater School, doing some language work together and listening to the students recite prayers about the Four Food Chiefs.  Later they had a chance to meet up with kʷaɬtəzétkʷu again for coffee and a bit more language work.  It’s always great to get to see one another in person!

UBC students Bruce Oliver (L) and Ella Hannon (R) catch up with kʷaɬtəzétkʷu (centre) at Valley Graze café in Merritt.

In March, a group of lab members went on a  trip to Lytton and Merritt.

We stopped in with speaker Bev Phillips in Lytton, asking questions for ongoing projects about the sounds and grammar of the language as well as recording a story she had written.

In Merritt, we had lunch with speakers kʷaɬtəzétkʷu Bernice Garcia and c̓úʔsinek Marty Aspinall at the western end of Nicola Lake. We shared canned salmon, sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables, while KBG and CMA shared stories with us in English and nɬeʔkepmxcín.

On the final day of our trip, we had a big meeting with the speakers we work with and members of Citxw Nlaka’pamux Assembly, where we talked about the conversations that have been recorded, transcribed, glossed, and translated, and how we might go about publishing them. 

Lab members with kʷaɬtəzétkʷu Bernice Garcia at Nicola Lake. (L-R: Cayla Smith, Ella Hannon, Bruce Oliver, kʷaɬtəzétkʷu Bernice Garcia, and Reed Steiner).

In October 2024, a few lab members headed back to nɬeʔképmx territory to work with some of our language consultants.  In Merritt, they recorded more conversational speech with c̓úʔsinek and kʷaɬtəzétkʷu.  This is part of our ongoing project to gather and share conversations and stories in the language, funded by an ISI grant from UBC.  The work took place at CNA headquarters and at Coldwater School — thanks as always to our hosts!  And, of course, our gratitude goes to the speakers for sharing their language with us.

Some students along for the trip made the most of the journey by also recording some Secwepemctsín speakers in Skeetchestn and Williams Lake!

Lab member Ella Hannon gets to work in-person with speaker c̓úʔsinek Marty Aspinall.

Two beautiful views of Merritt from Sander’s runs!