tl’eqtámeth’

tall

Tl’eqtámeth’ means ‘tall’.

You use tl’eqtámeth’ only to talk about a person:  for a tall building or tree, you would use tl’áqt.

Pronunciation

Tl’eqtámeth’ sounds like t-luck-TAM-its, except that:

• Thet in tl is popped (‘ejective’), made by combining it with a catch in the throat (glottal stop).
• The q is made further back than an English k. To make the q, touch the back of your tongue to your uvula.
• For the th’ sound you start with a popped t.  Then you can follow that with either an s sound or a th sound. Some elders use the s, others the th, for th‘.

Audio: Elizabeth Herrling, Elizabeth Phillips

Related words

Here are some other words related to tl’eqtámeth’:

• tl’á:qt – tall, long (for any object)

tall, long

• tl’álqtele – deer (literally ‘long ears’)
• tl’eqtépsem – long neck, have a long neck