Tl’eqtámeth’ te John.

John is tall.

Tl’eqtámeth’ te John means ‘John is tall.’  Literally: ‘Tall (is) the John’.

Vocabulary and Pronunciation

Tl’eqtámeth’ – tall sounds like “t-luck-TAM-its’.

te sounds like ‘tuh‘

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling

Structure

The structure of this phrase is as follows:

Notes:

• There is not equivalent of ‘is‘ in the Halq’eméylem. The tense is just understood from context.
• Literally Elizabeth says ‘the John’. Unlike English, in Halq’eméylem proper names require the equivalent of ‘the’ before them, in most sentences.
• Elizabeth does not translate ‘John’, or adjust it to Halq’eméylem pronunciation.  Some speakers would pronounce it Chol.