a a interjection
coll‘right?’: a sentence-final tag used to ask for the addressee's agreement
Pa Merawehih, nawë nie na lōlmerën, a?Now, that Merawehih, he was a crafty man, right?
ah1 ah verb, intransitive
live, be alive; survive
Na ah, hi të na mēt?Is it alive, or dead?
Tewë të tat mene pē, ne qëte mēke tat ho ah.If there is no water, your taro won't survive.
ah2 ah verb, intransitive
run away, escape
Dege të ge ret mermēr ne pepi si të mit ah.We'll have to tie the bait fast so that it won't escape.
synonymuah
ah3 ah verb, transitive
share out ‹food› among a group of people, esp. according to each individual's rank and importance
Nawë ne kastōm, nike tat ah gengën pe wë na hia; nike të w' ak' ah ne gengën gëwie.According to tradition, you should not share out bad food, you should only choose the best parts.
ake akə ak’
ATense Aspect Mood marker
after a personal subject pronoun, esp. light formsDilatory aspect: indicates an event taking place at a specific time reference, and not earlier. Generally implies a contrast between two time spans, an earlier one vs. a later one
📘 The subject (S) usually takes the form of light clitics: ke, we, ne ②, ōr, ge, with elision (k’, w’, n’, g’.
1 – in a past contextonly then, not earlier; hence for the first time
Nok' ak' itë pe li qen̄.I saw it for the first time last night.
2 – later, afterwards
Nihe ge vēn tuwtōw, Merawehih n' ake vēn tegur.They went first; M. [only] went afterwards.
3 – in a future contextonly then, not earlier; hence later
Mēleqë! Dōr wiēne pah, g' ake gengën.Not yet! We shall drink kava first, and only then shall we have dinner.
Noke të ke vēn ke revrav pah, k' ake holōq welë me.Let me go fishing first, I will come back later on.
4 – Future tense
Nok' ake tëh nom' ēke.I will cut your canoe for you.
K' ake vē ke hiar gemi gengën.I'll go and find some food for you.
Dege g' ak' isiside welë den̄wē 'k li lewate revrëv.We shall meet again today in the afternoon.
synonymtë (S) ake
ake (V) si Tense Aspect Mood marker
just recently: marker for Recent Past
Kemëm g' ake huqe si, g' ake vēn s' il.We just went through the initiation rituals, we just got admitted.
al al
PNCV*salefloat, flow
Averb, intransitive
float, remain on the water's surface; drift
Na al weren̄o si me.a plantIt just floated here (on the sea).
Merawehih ni rav n' ēke mē rōw: n' ēke mē ni al.M. dragged his canoe down (to the sea), and it floated.
antonymrōrsink
Badjective
objfloating; esp. drifting on the sea
ne metu ala floating coconut
alē ale particle
Bisl.aleFr.allez
a polysemous discourse particle
1 – + ordercome on! Used as an encouragement
Ni vese hi heqer' tegtegine të “Alē, dege ge vin!”He said to his brothers “Come on, let's climb (this tree)!”
Alē, vēn ha!Come on, get out of here!
2 – then, so. Introduces a new event
Alē nie ni hur wulë. Alē megole verue ni vēn me.So she sang her song again. Then, two children came…
Ni të “Kemë ge vē ge gengën.” Alē, nihe ge vē ge gengën.He said “We're going to have dinner”. And so they went to have dinner.
Ni vēngë nike me — alē, ne tē ni holōq n̄wule wulë me li tarepi.(the healer) brings you back — and finally, your soul returns into your body.
synonympah vēn
3 – so, I was saying. Reverts to an idea one had dropped temporarily
Tewë të nike mōo — nawë vete na vehē na hia, ne temēt na velvilë ne tē tēle… — Alē, nike mōo…Suppose you fell sick — indeed, there are plenty of bad places, where evil spirits seize people's souls — So, say you fell sick…
ave aβə noun
POc*sapa
form taken by ēve ‘what’ in compound forms and certain phrases
si ave noun
some thingsomething, anything
Nihe na lōlmerën ē të nie të n' ake daihe ē si ave.They knew he was going to do something (bad) on them.
Nike si gën ne metu, hi të ne gire, hi të si ave ha.You may have a piece of coconut, or pineapple, or anything else.
📘 Non-specific indefinite (opp. sega ‘a (referential) thing, something’).
hisi ave interrogative
why? what for?
ur ave interrogative
following whatwhy? what for?