1 – do, make: a dummy verb used as a causative auxiliary
Demdōem të ne gi mit da vë mōo nike!Make sure the kava doesn't make you sick!
SyntaxThe causative structure may follow a serial pattern {V1vë V2} (e.g.ret vë mermēr ‘tie strong, strengthen by tying’); or it may use the generic, semantically non-specific verb da as V1 (e.g.da vë mermēr ‘make strong, strengthen’);
2 – + postverbal modifiera dummy verb used as the first element in several compounds, whether with a causative meaning or not
da metogviefrighten
da megariesadden
da mēse[make die] kill
da-hiadamage, harm
da-urvëmend, heal
da-toginprepare, make ready
da-reramake fun of
da-vitëtake away
da-gōrforbid, prevent
da-leldo in vain, fail
da-rakestart
da-hërfind
da-hur / da-urfollow
da-gerë / da-sëhtry
da-vetënie(be / do) how?
da-gëtuwēbe identical
da-habe different
📘 All these compounds are listed separately in this lexicon, whether spelt in two separate words, hyphenated, or written as a single lexeme.
seeda-vedo what?
3 – + bare noun Nturn into N, become N; be N
Ne tēle ni mat, pah vēn ni da n̄wië.Men die, and then become spirits.
Ni men̄ënie vē—n vēn vēn, ni da tēle luwō, ne ten̄wën.(His mother) fed him so well that he became a grown-up, a young man.
Ne n̄wië ne ni rak të ni da remë mi Merawehih.The devil managed to become (i.e. change himself into) M.'s mother.
SyntaxWhereas nouns do not need a copula in present statements (Nie ne leqëvine ‘She's a woman’), da becomes necessary when nouns are to be combined with T.A.M. markers (e.g. Complete aspect mat in Nie mat da leqëvine ‘She has become a woman’).
1 – s.th.have a particular effect, whether pleasant or unpleasant, upon ‹s.o.›
Tewë të nike gengën tuwtōw, ne gi tat ho daike luwō.If you eat first, the kava won't have any strong effect upon you [it won't ‘do’ you big].
2 – event, feeling+affect, happen to ‹s.o.›
Ne vën gë ve daie nike?What's happening to you? [lit. what is ‘doing’ you?]
Nihe ge rōn̄ ne mētemeturtur ni daie nihe.They suddenly began to feel sleepy [they felt that sleepiness was ‘doing’ them].
📘 This is the usual pattern for statements about physical feelings and other uncontrolled states: hunger, thirst, heat, cold, sleepiness, fear, diseases, and so on.
3 – pejs.o.bother, harm ‹s.o.›; play a bad trick on ‹s.o.›
Leqëvine ne na lōlmerën ē të Merawehih të n' ake daihe ē si ave.That woman knew that M. was going to harm them in some way or another.
synonymda-hia
dal hië metuʈᶳal hiɛ mətʉnoun
(cake?) of coconuttraditional name for the nalot cake, now usually called nalōt
Pa ne davot ie, na sōw weren̄o pe wë ne, tat me si tēle te va.This is wild yam, it just grows like that, nobody ever planted it.
da wëʈᶳawɛphrase
do/be likebe like (this or that), act in such and such way
Ne gengën kike tate da wë ne gengën pe remë mino ve rak.with negationThis food is not like the food my mother usually cooks.
Da ie pe wë ne vol-qen̄.The same thing happened [lit. It was like that] again every day.
Da wë nōk na taterihe.[lit. doing this way is right] That's the right way to do it.
SyntaxThis is how the word wë ‘like’ can form a predicate ‘be like’.
da wë nephrase
do/be like thatthat way; sometimes in fact, actually
Nihe ve dōem të remë mēhe pe nihe ve vēn ne; pa da wë ne, ne n̄wië pe nine.They thought that person they were walking with was their mother; but in fact [lit. but that way], it was a devil!
dën1ʈᶳɛn
dë
dëne
preposition
<°dani
3sgdënie
1 – Ablative preposition: from, coming from ‹somewhere›
Nihe ge vēn dën ne Gawe vēn Venielave.They travelled from Gaua to Vanua Lava.
Nihe da-hur ne sipahare dën ne tarepi n̄ër.They climbed down the ladder from (the top of) the almond tree.
2 – figfrom ‹s.th., s.o.›: various non-spatial ablative meanings, e.g. origin of a transaction (‘buy from X’), individual in a group (‘one of them’), etc.
Nihe ge vēn të ge luk dën ne wëde.They went to shelter from the rain.
Noke n̄ih të ke tun dë sa n̄wil.I wanted to buy it from the chief.
Ne gi mak pah dën li gemël.The kava has run out in [lit. from] the men's house.
+ noun, NP, or AdvPbe not: negative form of da ‘do, be’
E e e, deda nine, na ha.No, it's not that one, it's a different one.
Ne hen̄wëvot deda vërvegol mi heqere wereri.Knives are not toys for children.
Noke deda qotker, noke mat luwō!I'm not a child, I'm already grown up!
Pene deda vi tēn: ri tēn.the abode of the deadPene is not under the ground, it is on the ground.
SyntaxExact equivalent of tate da ‘be not’ (Seeda). Used essentially for noun (equational or inclusory) predicates of the type {S is not a/the N}. Adjectival predicates combine directly with the negation tate, just like verbs: e.g.Nie tate medudut / *Nie deda medudut ‘It's not black’
deda… peverb, transitive
be not… any longer
None kike nie deda ne n̄welen̄wēle reri pe.Nowadays, she's not a small girl any more.
Li venone k', deda remë mē pe, ne n̄wië pe v' in ne.At that moment, it was no longer his mother, it was a devil who was lying there!
deda-lewōʈᶳəʈᶳaləwo
Averb, intransitive
group of peopledo bigcelebrate
Heqere te metëvenie ve gel ve deda-lewō.The people in the village are celebrating.
Bnoun
feast, community ceremony
Dege mi ne deda-lewō merën li venie.We'll have a feast tomorrow in the village.
📘 The nature of the celebration itself depends on the occasion (traditional ceremony, religious celebration…), but in general such feasts include prayers, collective meals as well as dances.
dedavēʈᶳəʈᶳaβenoun, relational
davedo what
3sgne dedavēne
1 – s.o.usual behaviour of ‹s.o.›, character, manner
Ne liek na n̄ih ne dedavēne pa nawë nie na gōp hia.I like her character, but I find her too skinny.
2 – figs.th.way, manner, fashion; nature of ‹s.th.›
Tuwtōw, nihe na lōlmerën ē ne dedavē lën̄.In olden days, they used to know a lot about the nature of winds.
dedavēgë
dedavegë
noun
way, manner; nature of ‹s.th.›
ne vegevage ē ne dedavēgë i huqeexplanations about the nature of initiation rituals (huqe)
Nihe ge iugëtuwē, ge mok ne dedavegë te vete lelōl.They had a meeting to plan the way they would go surfing.
Ne liek na n̄ih varen̄wet pe nalōt pëg, mi ne tun̄ n̄ër: na ditwëh rēt!My favourite one is the breadfruit cake with almond coating: this is absolutely delicious!
think things truebelieve, give credence (to s.th., ē)
Tewë të nike vë tat dōt-gë-vewie ē, nike të w' ake gerage vēn w' itë ne melpēgë Merawehih ve rak si, w' ake dōt-gë-vewie ē.If you don't believe (this legend), then go up there and have a look at the traces left by M., this will make you believe it.
Nie na dōt-vërgōr pin leqëvine mē.He's jealous about his wife.
duleʈᶳʉlənoun
PTB*dulename of a Spirit
Anthropology
sacred pedestal: a 3ft-high monolith representing a Spirit, historically erected near the entrance of a men's house (gemël)
Na ne, pe wë ke vë hawe ri dule, mowe ne, nëke na togin pe të ke huqeroh, të ke vēn wurëg ne gemël.The day when I'll be dancing on top of the sacred pedestal, that's when I'll be ready to become a great chief, to go through the initiation in the men's house.