He tell Bruh Rabbit one day, tellum say, "We gators live in the river and my chil'ren smart cause of that." —“Bruh Alligator Meets Trouble,”
Virginia Hamilton

How does the author help the reader understand what is meant by the word tellum?

by defining the word in the glossary at the end
by using the word many times in the story
by beginning the sentence with a similar phrase
by having the gator use a special language