Híkw te lá:léms te sqá:q.

The little brother’s house is big.

Híkw te lá:léms te sqá:q means ‘The little brother’s house is big.’ (literally ‘Big (is) the house of the little brother’).

Vocabulary and Pronunciation

• híkw – big – sounds like heek, but with rounded lips on the final k.
• te – the – sounds like tuh.
• lá:lém – house – sounds like LA-lum.
• sqá:q – little brother, younger sibling – sounds like SKACK, except that instead of k you say the Halq’eméylem q, which you make by touching the back of your tongue to your uvula.

  
  Audio: Elizabeth Herrling

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  Similar Examples

  Here are some examples of similar phrases:

  • Híkw te sqwemá:ys te sqá:q – The little brother’s dog is big.
  • Iyómex te méles tel sqá:q- My little brother’s child is good looking.
  • Tl’eqtameth’ te stó:les te sqá:q. – The little brother’s wife is tall.
  • Híkw te lá:lems tl’ John. – John’s house is big.

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  Structure

  The structure of this phrase is as follows:

  • Híkw te lá:lém-s te sqá:q.
  • big the house-of the little.brother

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  Note that:

  • In Halq’eméylem there is no word for ‘is’ or other forms of ‘to be’.
  • The word-order for this type of phrase is quite different from English. Literally you say Big (is) the house-of the little.brother.

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