Yeláwel x̲wém kw’el kyó

My car is faster

Yeláwel x̲wém kw’el kyó means ‘My car is faster’.

Literally it means: ‘More fast (is) my car’.

Vocabulary and pronunciation

• yeláwel – more (see yelá:w )
• x̲wém – fast
• kw’el – my (you would normally say tel, but you use kw’el when talking about distant objects, or objects that exist as possibilities)
• kyó – car

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling
Note: this is an edited selection from a longer phrase. The full phrase will be covered in a following post.

Structure

The structure of this phrase is as follows:

You could also say Yeláwel x̲wém tel kyó, but because the car is distant or something discussed as a possibity, Elizabeth uses kw’el.