you: second singular realis prefix
| A-tomoli!You're lying! |
| K' a-tab' a-mui?Have you forgotten again? |
MorphologyBecomes ai- before a vowel, or some monosyllabic roots.
snake
| Abilo pon i-ovei pe i-somoli mwaliko.This kind of snake can be harmful. |
| lava abilo [sides of a snake] k.o. large liana |
1sabo ne ene2sabo ne eo3sabo ne ini
Anatomy
1 – blood
| Men' one i-tabau i-woi visibaele ini ne touro, abo i-ke.My son fell down and hurt his knee on the reef; he was bleeding. |
| Abo peini ma i-udu.His blood was dripping from his hand. |
| Abo na, (abo) ne ngele?Whose blood is this? |
| I-ko i-la abo ne kaipa i-ko i-romo abo i-ko pi-tavie we tae.He wants to draw your blood and examine it to see if you are sick. |
poss. classifierne1B1
1 – before hortative‘all right’, ‘let's’
| Abu ne-kila Puma!Let me try and ring the guys in Puma village! |
| Abu le-omo kape i-ka we tae?Let's see if she'll come or not. |
2 – before imperative verbmarks polite order: ‘please’
| Abu bai-aiu ba-vio me ne-rom!Could you please stand up and let me have a look there? |
| Ab' u-leng' i-ka.Listen to me for a second. |
📘 Cognate with the conative prefix bu-3.
Averb, intransitive
go down
antonym~vene
1 – physical motiongo down
| Kape idi abia ponu na Aneve na, li-abu li-le li-vio n’ ole.Let everyone in the village go down and stand on the beach. |
2 – figsubside, slow down
| Pana iawo i-abu mijaka.The flames (of the fire) have died down a little. |
| O, tae, la-wañaka iada ka i-abu i-wene.That's all right, their dispute has gone down now. |
Bsecond verb, intransitive
1 – after intransitive verb(move+) down
| I-sabu i-abu ne ero.He fell down in the river. |
| Kuo ponu i-atili i-abu i-le.The canoe slid all the way down (to the sea). |
| Ero i-pu i-abu i-vagasi revo.The river flows down to the sea. |
2 – after transitive verb(take, move s.th.) down
| Ka mobo kata kape la-ka ponu: li-elele kuo iada i-abu.The next day, as they were getting ready, they dragged their canoe down (on the sand). |
| Ni-tabulu voko i-abu i-le ne gilita.I rolled a rock down into the valley. |
3 – geocentric meaningdownwind, towards north or west
| Ngiro Tangake i-aka i-abu i-kamai tev' iu ne.The Tangake wind blows down from the east. |
seetev’ tawo
1 – hit, strike
| Ka vitoko kape i-abu tanoma ini, ia i-abu i-kovi.He almost hit her face, luckily he missed her. |
| Vilisao i-abu toñaki pon.The ships were struck by a tornado. |
| Dapa kula li-abu revo, me le-labu namuko.The others slap the water, in order to (scare and) catch the fish. |
see~wete
2 – kill, slay, murder ‹s.o.›
| Nga po idi le-sune ngele kape i-te, pon kape l-abu.If they found somebody around, they would kill him. |
synonym~apini
3 – kill ‹animal›, hence hunt, fish+
| Mobo kape le-lui nuduro me l-abu namuko.Tomorrow we'll carry the scareline to get some fish. |
wash ‹clothes+› with water, esp. vigorously
| Kape n-abu lusa ene ne iaero.I'm gonna wash my shirt in the river. |
~abui (i·)aᵐbui verb, transitive
take ‹s.th.› down
| Pi-ka pi-abui ngatene upa pi-ko me p-ajau toñaki iote.We took our tools down (from the ship) and brought them to build another boat. |
seeabu2
see lexical list at~lui
~abu ~te (i·)aᵐbu (i·)te serial verb, transitive
descend sitsit down
| U-ka u-abu u-te ene!Come sit down here! |
abwa aᵐbʷa noun
Cf. (?) abo2 ‘blood’
1 – sap ‹of tree›: natural liquid coming out of a plant's trunk or stem
| Li-toe bale, abwa i-pu i-ke.When you cut at a breadfruit, sap will come out. |
| Abwa dero i-ke mina oie basavono po li-toe, i-ka i-beiu ka li-kila li-ko “tepulu peini dero”.The sap of the kauri tree runs out of the trunk when you cut it; then it solidifies, and we call it tepulu, “kauri gum”. |
2 – liquid characterized by its specific colour; hence colour
abwa nabene noun
tobacco colourred-brown colour
| Li-kanu ra ra li-ra abwa nabene.As they chew betelnut, what they spit out is red. |
abwa nga toloto
nga toloto
adjective
colour like the lagoonturquoise blue
| Dapa ka li-romo i-katau kiñe tamate, lusa ini, temaka ene pe moloe, ene po koro, ene po nga toloto, ene ka ene nga toloto –They would observe the grass skirts, the dancing gear; which part was red, which part was white, which part was blue, here and here… |
abwa bale aᵐbʷa ᵐbale noun
breadfruit gumresin of the breadfruit tree (bale), used as glue; hence glue
| Dapa Niteni li-loko viavia mamdeuko pe moloe, li-la abwa bale li-lateli ne mengela vilo, li-ejau viko iadapa ñei.The people of Santa Cruz collect the red feathers of the Cardinal honeyeater, then use breadfruit sap to glue them to a piece of wood. |
abwaro aᵐbʷaro noun
coconutcoconut ‘milk’, obtained by squeezing coconut flesh
| abwaro peini lurococonut milk |
see lexical list atluro
Grammar
their (food+): form of the possessive classifier used for food, tools, customary possessions etc. (enaka*), with a 3 plural possessor (see dapa)
| avtebe me vongoro adapatheir taro and almonds |
| Li-ejau none pine adapa ne kulumoe.They are preparing a huge meal for the villagers. |
| monone adapatheir chest |
| ngaten' adapatheir food, their belongings |
| piene adapa Teanuthe language of (the people of) Teanu |
adie aⁿdie
Anoun, relational
2 – rear part of ‹s.th.›
| La-koie Teanu la-koie ne Adie Vono.They came on shore on Teanu via the rear side of the island. |
synonymviri
Badverb
rareafterwards, then
| Adie, pi' iape ini i-ka, i-atevo iepiene peini noma.Then her grandfather came in and told her a story. |
📘 More commonly preceded with a preposition ne.
1 – what?
| A-vete a-ko ae?What did you say? |
| Na, piene adapa Teanu a-ko ae?How is this called in Teanu? [lit. this, in Teanu language, you say what?] |
| Na toñaki ae na?What sort of ship is this? |
📘 Sometimes longer form nganae*, from ngaten' ae.
2 – between pauseshesitation marker used when looking for one's words, esp. before a noun
| Enga ini iote li-ko, ae, Takole.It also had another name, (what is it?) Takole. |
seevele
1 – hollow out; remove stuff from ‹wood+›
| Tano ponu, li-ae mijaka me kava i-pu i-katau.This kava bowl has been hollowed out a little, to allow kava to flow along. |
| I-bo kuo awoiu, i-ae lema.Once he had cut out the canoe, he began to hollow out its inner part. |
POc*qaqe (?)
POc*qaRa
aero2 aero noun
POc*kaRi
Sea
1 – genseashell of any form
| Le-le ne touro li-odo aero?Shall we go to the reef and look for some shells? |
2 – espbivalve shell, traditionally used as an instrument to grate (~lu) coconut flesh or scrape the skin of tubers
aero we anive aero we anive noun
Sea
shellfish for dugongsmall cone shell used as traditional money (viko) in Vanikoro, and other parts of MelanesiaConus musicus ceylanensis.| Li-ia aero.scrape cone shells to make cowries |
| Li-loko aero we anive, li-si kangele i-ke mina.They collect cone shells, and cut off the mollusc part. |
1 – the sun
| Aeve pana!The sun's hot! |
| Li-tabe i-le i-wene ne aeve me kokoro.They bring it out to lie in the sun so it dries up. |
2 – espthe sun in its daily course, as a reference for indicating the time of the day
| Aeve ka i-vene labiou awoiu.The sun has long risen already. |
| Aeve ka i-le.[the sun has gone away] It is early afternoon. |
| Aeve ka i-tavali.[the sun has gone down] it is late afternoon. |
see lexical list atmoro1
~ago (i·)aᵑgo
Bverb, oblique
strike (s.o., s.th.: ñe) using a long object
| U-la tepao u-ago ñe namuko pon.You spear the fish with a harpoon. |
| Besungale ini emele ero me ini biouro, i-ago ñe eo kape u-bu.mythologyBesungale is a woman with long breasts, with which she can strike you to death. |
ai- ai· subject prefix
you: variant of a- (2sg Realis prefix) before a vowel or certain monosyllabic roots
| Ai-ovei Cindy?Do you know Cindy? |
| Ka ai-ve?Have you given birth? |
Anoun, kinship
2 – classificatory father: any male member of the parental generation (F, FB, FZH…) except the maternal uncle (MB = gea)
~aiae (i·)aiae verb, intransitive
s.th.be difficult
| Piene adapa i-wen' moli, i-aiae tae!Your language is easy, it's not difficult. |
| Li-vete piene ñi i-aiae, ia li-lengi wako.They speak it with difficulty, but they understand it well. |
| Ni-romo viko i-aiae teve ene.Money is an issue for me. |
form of the possessive classifier used for food, tools, customary possessions etc. (enaka*), with an impersonal possessor (idi ‘people’)
| Na tanoe aidi abia.This land belongs to everyone. |
| Noma li-lanasu idi ne kula none aidi, we viñe buioe aidi.In the olden days, black sorcery would make use of someone's leftover food, or of their leftover betel nut. |
1 – stand up, get up
| Ka u-aiu!Stand up! |
| Abu bai-aiu ba-vio me ne-rom!Could you please stand up and let me have a look there? |
seeviostand
2 – depart, leave a place, take leave
| Idi abia ne kulumoe li-aiu li-le li-langatene ne sekele.All the villagers have left to go and work in their gardens. |
| P-aiu pe-wo pe-le ne ngogoro!Get up and run away to the bush! |
| Ngiro Palapu i-ka ka li-aiu li-ke li-pwalau i-le Iura.As soon as the northern wind began to blow, they left [Vanikoro] and set off to sail southwards. |
rubbish, refuse, garbage
| Ni-bo ajekele mina mevele 'none.I have collected rubbish from my front yard. |
| Kape le-loko ajekele le-iui ne revo.They're going to gather rubbish and throw it in the sea. |
~akai (i·)akai verb, transitive
set ‹a trap›
| Li-akai i-le ne meteliko, menuko i-ava i-ka…bird huntingWe set [a trap] up in the sky, and when a bird flies in… |
~akasi (i·)akasi verb, transitive
send ‹s.th., s.o.›
| Awisi pine peini angede ovene ai-akasi i-ka.Many thanks for the email you sent to me. |
~akawo (i·)akawo verb, transitive
1 – wear ‹s.th.› around o.'s neck
| Noma, idi wopine li-akawo kolokolo me i-botongo dapa.In ancient times, great men used to wear ‘kolokolo’ breast plates as a protection. |
see lexical list at~labu
al’ ero alero
alero
noun
river footriver mouth, down where a river reaches the sea
| alero peini iaero Paiuthe mouth of the Paiou river |
see lexical list atero1A
pick ‹areca nuts, buioe› by climbing on the tree
~ali2 (i·)ali verb, transitive
cast ‹a net, pele›
| Kape u-ali pele po a-labu ponu?Will you be casting that net you're holding? |
Alvaki alfaki placename
name of an area on the island of Utupua (Tetevo), where the Nembao language is spoken
Aadjective
1 – in small quantity; few
| Li-ejau aña none mijaka.We cook a little (bit of) food. |
| none aidi mijakafood for just a few people |
| Ero na mijaka: votobo pe ni-anu tae.predicateThere's too little water, it's not enough for me to drink. |
Anatomy
animal+flesh, meat
| anes kuleveluchicken meat |
| anes poipork meat |
| anes namukofish meat |
| anes mwalikorarehuman flesh |
sweep ‹place, s.th.› with a broom
| Li-aneve lema mwoe, ka maro.They sweep inside the house, and outside too. |
anive anive noun
| Ni-rom anive iote pine ni-sai ñe kuo 'none ne.I saw a large dugong, I thought it was (as big as) my canoe. |
aero we anive noun
Sea
shellfish for dugongsmall cowrie shell used as traditional money in some areas of Melanesia – though not in VanikoroConus musicus ceylanensis.
1 – footprint, tracks left by ‹man, animal› on the ground
| angede enemy footprints |
| angede idiunknown possessorfootprints |
| angede vaotracks of wild pig |
| angede kulevelutracks of chicken |
derivativeangede ovene
1 – piece, bit of ‹food+›
| aña mana luroa bit of rice |
| Li-ejau aña none mijaka.We cook a little (bit of) food. |
2 – taste of ‹s.th.›
| Aña wako tadoe![Taste is terribly good] This is absolutely delicious! |
| None ne aña tamwaleko.[this food, taste is bad] This food doesn't taste good. |
añaña aɲaɲa noun, relational
small bits of ‹s.th.›
| Li-mali iawo semame añaña longe.We light a fire with small bits of firewood. |
MorphologyReduplication of aña, with pluralising and diminutive effect.
non-relationalchild, young person
| E, apali! U-ka ko!Hey, child! Come here! |
| Basavono pon ene mamote apali.At that time, I was still a child. |
pldameliko
apalimata apalimata noun, relational
relative of ‹s.o.›, member of o.'s close family
| Eo apalimata ene.You're my relative. |
| Apalimata Stanley tilu kape la-ka la-romo ini.Two of Stanley's relatives will come visit him. |
his, her (food+): form of the possessive classifier used for food, tools, customary possessions etc. (enaka*), with a 3 singular possessor (see ini)
| namuko apehis/her fish (to eat) |
| okoro apehis/her knife |
| Taluaito i-su uro ape.The sorcerer lit his (magic) charcoal. |
| Ene ni-mui piene ape.I don't know her language. |
~apilo (i·)apilo verb, transitive
make, create ‹s.th.›
| Li-apilo vekai wamtaka.They made small puddings. |
| Dapa noma vana li-apilo tenuro.People in the past used to make coconut-string ropes. |
| Li-apilo toñaki.They built a ship. |
synonym~ejau
~apini (i·)apini verb, transitive
kill ‹s.o.›, destroy ‹a group of people›
| Vilisao i-lubi kuo ka i-apini idi.The tornado spun the ship and killed everybody. |
~apinu (i·)apinu verb, intransitive
cook, prepare dinner
| Noma, li-apinu ne mwoe.In the old days, cooking was done inside the house. |
| moe pe li-apinu enekitchen [lit. house where one cooks] |
synonym~ejau ngatene
~arevo (i·)arevo verb, transitive
break into pieces, shatter, destroy ‹s.th.›
| Vilisao i-ka i-arevo toñaki pon kula tilu na.The tornado split the ship into two halves. |
| Li-arevo uo.They have destroyed the cairn. |
POc*qatasoul, spirit
soul, spirit of ‹s.o.› insofar as it can be separated from the body
| Ata ini kape i-le ne Popokia.abode of the DeadHis soul will travel to Popokia. |
| Nga u-le, ata tadoe kap' i-ejau bas' eo mumule.If you go there, the (evil) spirit of Ghosts can make your head go crazy. |
~atili (i·)atili verb, intransitive
slide along a surface
| Kuo pine ponu i-atili i-abu i-le.The huge canoe was sliding down (on the rollers). |
~au2 (i·)au verb, transitive
wrap ‹s.th.› with a leaf or equivalent
| Kape li-au ñe uie baudo.We will wrap (the food) with baudo leaves. |
| U-au ñe pepa.Wrap it in paper. |
POc*kapak
1 – bird+wings
| Ava ini ukiliro.Its wings are colourful. |
ava saba noun
frigate wingsname of a traditional geometrical design (tetawene), whose shape is reminiscent of open wings
~avi (i·)avi verb, transitive
pick ‹s.th.›, pick up, espec. by pinching it between o.'s fingers, or holding it with tongs
| Awoiu pon li-avi otovo.Then they picked sago leaves (from the trees). |
| Li-avi visiboko ñe aviro.You remove the oven stones with the tongs. |
Naut
4 – boat+float, stay afloat (vs. sink)
| Toñaki ka i-avo ka i-tab' i-le.The ship remained afloat, and began its way back. |
avtebe afteᵐbe noun
Words for taro ✧ avtebe, jebute, vioe…
| avtebe ; bute ; jebute | Colocasia esculenta |
| vioe ; vioe die | Xanthosoma sagittifolium |
| vioe talabao | Alocasia |
| vivilo | Cyrtosperma spp. |
| jie ; tongo | taro sucker |
| ~teli | to plant ‹tuber+› |
| ~langiro | to plant Colocasia taro |
| ~ae | to dig out ‹tuber+› |
formal registertaroColocasia esculenta.
| Li-apilo sekele i-le li-teli avtebe.Once they had prepared the gardens, they planted taros. |
casual synonymjebute
2 – the seat of feelings, the ‘heart’. Grammatical subject of certain predicates referring to feelings
| Awa ene i-su.[my throat is blocked, ~su2B3] I am sorry. |
| Awa ene i-aka.[my throat blows, ~aka12] I am angry. |
| Awa ene motoro ñe piene pe a-viñ' ene.[my throat/mind is heavy…] I give a lot of consideration to your words. |
3 – esp+object NP, or object clausethe seat of will and desire
| Awa ene ni-ko ne-sava teve teliki.I want to buy it from the chief. |
| Awa eo i-viane? – Tae, ni-mene!Do you want it? – No, I don't. |
4 – hencewill, desire
| Awa eo i-viaene pwo nga iu.prayerThy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. |
| Emele pon i-katau awa ene!humThis girl sure suits my desire! |
awa ~ko awa (i·)ko construction
1 – my neck/mind saysthink, believe
| Awa ene i-ko “Kape wako.”I thought to myself: “It's going to be alright.” |
| Awa ene ni-ko kape le-l’ l-aneve Toplau.I want them to go clean up the men's house. |
| Awa ene ne-ko me le-la awis pine iakapa le-lamini tili’ akapa Dr Alex.I would like us to extend our big thanks to our friend Dr Alex. |
awa ~viane awa (i·)vjane
awa ~viaene
construction
my neck/mind hitslike, appreciate
| Awa ene i-viaene tamwase!I absolutely love it! |
Around the oven ✧ awene
| awene | stone oven |
| visiboko | oven stones |
| iawo | fire* |
| ~avi | remove ‹stones› |
| aviro | tongs for moving ‹stones› |
| iunubo | food parcel |
| mama2 ; vekai | pudding |
| ~vai | bake ‹s.th.› |
| ~tau ; ~apinu | cook ‹s.th.› |
| motoe | raw |
| moioe | cooked, done |
traditional stone oven
| Li-mali iawo ne lema awene, semame añaña longe.We light a fire inside the stone oven, using small bits of firewood. |
| Emel' iote i-le i-wowo revo i-ka i-sabisi se awene.A woman went to draw saltwater, and brought it back to pour it above the oven. |
awis awis
Ainterjection
| Awis pine !Thanks! |
| Awisi pine peini angede ovene ai-akasi i-ka.Many thanks for the email you wrote to me. |
📘 Usually reinforced with pine ‘big’, or pine tamwase ‘very big’.
Apredicative
1 – s.th.end, finish, be over
| Ka awoiu pon ta.closing formula(the story) it's over. |
| Ra awoiu.It went on and on, until it finished. |
| Li-langatene i-le i-le i-le, ebieve iote awoiu.They worked on and on, for a whole month. [lit. and a month finished] |
synonymkatae
Ccoordinator
between two clauses; or beginning a new clauseafterwards, then
synonymn‘ adie
synonymwakoD2
Dquantifier
linked with plural pronounall, everybody
| Kiapa abia ponu na bwara awoiu ne sekele, nanana.floating quantifierAll of us here, we were all in our gardens, earlier today. |
| Kupa ka pi-le awoiu ne temotu tilu pon tae.floatingWe did not all go to the two small islands. (i.e. Some stayed on the mainland) |
synonymabia2