The local species is the White Sturgeon.

Scientific name: Acipenser transmontanus

Etymology: This is evidently an old combination of lhukw ‟fish” and cho ”big”. The /n/ may be the same mysterious linker that shows up in some old compounds, such as susumbilh ‟black bear snare”. The glottalization of the /kw/ reflects the fact that the final /kw/ of ‟fish” was once glottalized. In all other forms, it lost its glottalization as part of the general loss of glottalization in coda consonants. That it shows up here is evidence that this is an old form, dating to a time prior to the loss of coda glottalization. The glottalization is still seen in modern forms in languages such as Tsut'ina, where ‟fish” is ɬúkʼά, and Dena'ina, where ‟fish” is ɬiqʼa.

Example

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White Sturgeon

White Sturgeon [© Carrier Sekani Tribal Council]

[ɬkʷʼentʃo]

Related Words:   Fish and Shellfish

arljoh  d  marjoh