tútl’o

he, him

Tútl’o means ‘he’, or ‘him’.  It is a pronoun, meaning that it refers to someone in the context of the conversation.

Pronunciation

• Tútl’o sounds like TOOT-law, except that the t’ in tl’ is ‘popped’ (combined with a catch in the throat, to make an ‘ejective’ release)
• The dictionary records this word with a variety of different spellings including tú:tl’ò and tútl’ò. These other spellings correspond to slight differences in vowel length and pitch.  All are ‘correct’.

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

Examples

Here are some examples of how you can use this word:

• Lam tútl’o. – He goes.
• Imex tútl’o. – He walks.
• Tsel kw’étslexw tútl’o. – I saw him.
• Tsel éystexw tútl’o. – I like him.

Note: Elders often ‘drop’ the tútl’o.  For example, instead of Lam tútl’o, an Elder could just say Lam, for a complete sentence meaning ‘He goes’.

Related words

Tútl’ò is related to a number of other words, all based a round a root tl’o,  including:

• tl’ó – it is… (e.g. Tl’o telewe. – It’s you.)
• thútl’o – she, her
• tl’o su – so then