CHAPTER EIGHT:
FAMILY LANGUAGE
PT 1: FIDDLEHEADS
mahsosəyal
fiddleheads
mahsosike
gather fiddleheads
mseltol mahsosəyal pečiptawekil
we bring a lot of fiddleheads
pekihtonal mahsosəyal
clean fiddleheads
nətəlαkʷasəyal mahsosəyal
I cook fiddleheads
wəlihpokat
tastes good
PT 2: WEATHER
tαn aləkisəkat peməkisəkat’
what’s the weather like today?
peməkisəkat kisóhso
today is sunny
peməkisəkat alohkat
today is cloudy
peməkisəkat áləlαmsən
today is windy
PT 3: FAMILY
Laurie, Lorraine wətosal
Laurie, Lorraine’s daughter
Rita, wihkwessal
Rita, her mother
Cliff, Gayle wənemanal
Cliff, Gayle’s son
JD, Josh wənemanal
JD, Josh’s son
When talking about two people, one of them has to have the -al ending. It indicates a feature of who you are talking about. You couldn’t have one without the other, but you are talking about that one.