La tsel i cha kwelát tha’ méle means ‘I am going to take your child’. (Note: when the xwelitem lady says this, she means that she is going to take Elizabeth on a short trip only; this will become clear later in the story.)
Audio: Elizabeth Herrling
This phrase has the following structure:
- la – this is an auxiliary (‘helper’) verb, related to the meaning go
- tsel – I
- i – this may be another auxiliary (‘helper’) verb, or it may be a variant of the word ye, which Elders often use when talking about actions related to travelling and motion
- cha – this marks the future tense
- kwelát – to take, grasp, take hold of
- tha’ – your – This is the form more usually used before females; before a male or neuter Elders often say ta’
- méle – child (used for talking about people’s kin, not just any young person)
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