The days of the week work by counting which day it is or which activity takes place on that day. Most x̄á’isla day names end with the suffix /-p̓ens/, which is a counter that means something like “day of the week”.

There are two names for Saturday, they have different meanings but either one can be used. q̓áksi’ud refers to splitting something in half because people used to only work half a day on that day. q̓eƛ̓áp̓ens continues with the counting of the days.

Here are some audio files for the pronunciation of the name of each day of the week:

Here’s a table that shows what the names of the days mean in x̄á’islak̓ala:

x̄á’isla name	Definition	English name
helilás	time of rest (can also mean weekend)	Sunday
n̓áxʷp̓ens	first day of the week	Monday
maɫp̓éns	second day of the week	Tuesday
yúdexʷp̓ens	third day of the week	Wednesday
múp̓ens	fourth day of the week	Thursday
sek̓áp̓ens	fifth day of the week	Friday
q̓áksi’ud	work half a day, divide something in half	Saturday
q̓eƛ̓áp̓ens	sixth day of the week	Saturday

The x̄á’isla names of the days from Monday to Friday are based on cardinal numbers, they indicate the number of the weekday. Here’s how they compare:

x̄á’isla number	English meaning	x̄á’isla day name
n̓auxʷ	one	n̓áxʷp̓ens
ma’eláuxʷ	two	m̓aɫp̓éns
yúdexʷ	three	yúdexʷp̓ens
muxʷ	four	múp̓ens
sek̓áuxʷ	five	sek̓áp̓ens
qéƛ̓áuxʷ	six	q̓eƛ̓áp̓ens

Notice that in maɫp̓éns (Tuesday), the accent shifts to the end of the word, whereas all the other days have the emphasis on the first or second syllable.