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sétl’atel

Illustration for sétl'atel - big brother, big sister

Sétl’atel means ‘big sibling‘. You can use it for males or females, so it can translate as either ‘big brother‘ or ‘big sister‘, depending on the context.


Pronunciation

Sétl’atel sounds like this: SITT-la-tull, except that the t-sound at the end of SITT is ‘popped’ (‘ejective’), by combining it with a catch in the throat (glottal stop)


Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips


Notes

  • Sétl’atel in itself is ambiguous between big brother and big sister, but sometimes other words in the sentence (like the words for my, or the) can indicate whether the person is male of female.
  • Certain of your cousins also count as your sétl’atel. Specifically, if your dad or mom has an older sibling, then the children of that uncle or aunt (our cousins, in English) also count as your sétl’atel.

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