te syétl’q’tes te lá:léms

his house’s paint

Te syétl’q’tes te lá:léms means ‘his house’s paint’.

Literally it means ‘the paint job of the house of (him)‘ The possessor (‘him‘) is not explicitly stated, you just understand it from context.

Vocabulary and Pronunciation

• te – the
• syétl’q’t – paint job
• -s – of
• lá:lém – house

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling

Related words

The structure of this phrase is as follows:

The –s ending, translated ‘of’, marks that there is a ‘third person’ (someone other than you or me).

The possessor of the house is is not explicitly stated. You understand that it is ‘him‘ from the context of the story.