Yalh we ol selh lhíxw ew x̲ e’óthel máqa

Yalh we ol selh lhíxw ew x̲ máqa means ‘I was just three or four years old’‘. (Note that Elizabeth repeats the lhíxw twice, literally ‘I was just three—three years old‘. This phrase has many words that do not translate directly into English.)

Pronunciation

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling

Structure

• yálh – has several uses, including for now, just now. Here the closest trasnatlin is just
• we – an untranslatable emphasis marker
• o – approximately translates as just
• -l – I (there are several different ways of saying I, here it is just an l suffix)
• selh – -elh is the past tense marker, the s- may be an agreement marker, or a kind of noun marker
• lhíxw – three
  

  three

• ew – this word has various uses in the language, including for emphasis, but here the best translation is or
• x̲e’óthel – four
  

  four (general counting)

• máqa – snow (refers to fallen snow, not snow still in the air; also pronounced máqe)
  

  snow