| Ebele ene pana.[my body is hot] I feel hot. |
| Leka, kape u-labu ebele ini metae.With your (opp.-sex) cross-cousin, you are not allowed any body contact. |
| Nga mwaliko i-bu, le-iu ebele ini i-wene ne kie ini.When somebody dies, their body is buried in a grave. |
| Li-romo po dapa ebele dapa tae.[We can't see their bodies] These creatures are invisible. |
| Buro pe li-pongo ebele idi ñei.It's a song meant to wake up the dancers' bodies. |
| ebele ngapiene the end of the festival |
| Ebele kuo i-karem demene.Genuine canoes have an outrigger. |
| Ebele enga ini tae.There's no specific name for it. |
| Ini i-te Franis, ia ebele kulumoe iape Japan.She lives in France, but she is actually from [lit. her genuine country is] Japan. |
| Noma li-lanasu idi ne ngatene engaenga: ebele nga namolo iaidi, viabasa idi, kula none aidi, viñe buioe aidi.In the olden days, killing someone could be done using a variety of objects, such as their clothes, their hair, the food they left, the nut they chewed… |
| Ebele ko nga ene, ni-kila emele kulaña Tekupie ka Vonovono.predicateIt's a bit like me, I married a woman who's half from Tikopia, half from the Reefs. |
| ne to ebievein the middle of the year |
| ebieve 2005in 2005 |
| ebieve abiaevery year |
| ebieve iote k' awoiu ponulast year |
| Ebieve iono ka tivi?[how many are your years?] How old are you? |
| Ai' one ka i-bu, ebieve tua ka i-da.My father died eight years ago. |
| Li-wete otovo awoiu pon li-ejau telemoe.Once the thatch is finished, we make the house walls. |
| Pi-ka pi-abui ngatene upa pi-ko me p-ajau toñaki iote.We took our tools down (from the ship) so as to build another boat. |
| Ni-ko me n-ajau kopi abia.I want to print [to make] many copies. |
| Li-ejau aña none mijaka.We cook a little (bit of) food. |
| U-bi bale u-toe u-ajau tepwoe.You pick some breadfruit, cut it, and make dried-breadfruit with it. |
| Kasule, li-ovei pe l-ejau ñe idi pe li-tavie.medicine leavesSome vines are useful [lit. You can ‘make’ them] for sick people. |
| I-ejau ini i-lebie, i-lebie men’ iape.She made him bathe, she bathed her baby. |
| Ata tadoe kap' i-ejau bas' eo mumule.The spirits of Ghosts can make your head go crazy. |
| Dapa tadoe li-ejau idi li-madau, tamwase ne bwogo.Ghosts scare people [lit. they make people afraid], particularly at night. |
| Tadoe i-ka i-koie i-mako samame dapa me li-ejau makone korone.The spirits came in and began dancing with the men – which made the dances powerful. |
| Ka ni-lengi ni-ejau tae.storyI didn't hear it properly. |
| Li-ovei li-ejau anoko iadapa.They recognised [lit. knew well] their itinerary. |
| Ka ba-rom bai-ejau ?Did you look carefully? |
| U-lengi u-ejau me u-ovei.Listen carefully, so you learn. |
| Pe-labu pi-ejau, pe-somoli etapu!Handle it carefully, don't damage it! |
| U-botongo eo u-ejau!Take good care of yourself! |
| Idi li-mako li-ka li-koie ne mane, ponu li-la li-mini li-ejau!As the dancers came into the village area, they were dancing like crazy! [they were really intense] |
| Ka po li-ejau ngatene pon awoiu.So that’s what they did. |
| Dapa li-ejau ngatene susuko tae.They didn't do (the ritual) correctly. |
| Li-te li-ejau ngatene.[They are sitting, making things] They are cooking. |
| Awoiu, menu ka i-re tengiro, ka i-ekeke.The child stopped crying, and laughed. |
| U-ekeke u-sai ene etapu!Stop making fun of me! |
| Ni-ko ni-ejau eo u-eketele.I wanted to surprise you. [lit. to make you startle] |
| ekuo pe li-avo luroa stick used to husk coconuts |
| ekuo pe li-wete ñe tanoea digging stick [stick used to spear the ground] |
| Li-elele kuo i-katau revo.They dragged the boat along the coast. |
| Voko iote pon li-re ne elene Lege ponu.There was once a large stone down there, in the clearing known as Lengge. |
| Emele, we mwalkote?babyIs it a girl, or a boy? |
| emele damalaa Western woman |
| U-le u-wasu emele re u-min' ene!Please go and connect me with that girl! |
| emel’ enonemy wife |
| mwaliko iote da emel’ iapea man and his wife |
| ~kila emele [lit. follow a woman] get married |
| dapa po li-kila emelethose (men) who are married |
| Ni-kila emele pe Tetevo.I married a woman from Utupua. |
| pwoi emelea sow [a female swine] |
| leka emelefemale cousin |
| menu emele ie telikithe chief’s daughter [lit. female child] |
| enaka | (food…) for me |
| ono | (food…) for you |
| ape | (food…) for him/her |
| akia | (food…) for you and me |
| aba | (food…) for me and him/her |
| amela | (food…) for you two |
| ada | (food…) for them two |
| akapa | (food…) for us (Incl.) |
| upa | (food…) for us (Excl.) |
| aipa | (food…) for you |
| adapa | (food…) for them |
| aidi | (food…) for people |
| we ② | (food…) for X |
| Ne-tau namuko enaka ne-kae?How will I be able to cook my fish? |
| buioe 'nakamy betelnut (to chew) |
| laro 'nakamy fresh coconut (to drink) |
| okoro 'nakamy knife |
| kangele teuko enakamy fishing hook |
| monone 'nakamy food chest |
| Uña ngaten' enaka i-wene tev' iu re.My stuff (bags+) is up over there. |
| Pi-avo ponu pi-abui ‘tool’ upa pi-ko me p-ajau toñaki na.We brought down some tools of ours, so we could start building a ship. |
| telepakau akapaour customs, our tradition, our culture |
| uro apehis magic powers |
| Li-puie li-kilasi tadoe adapa.They were addressing their god(s). |
| Ene ni-lengi ñe taña ene, ka ebele piene, ene ni-le ene.I heard it with my own ears. It's the truth, I believe it. |
| Ne basavono ponu, kulumoe Tetawo idi mamote li-te ene.At that time, the village of Tetawo was still inhabited. [lit. this village, people still lived there] |
| Ni-le ene.fig. use of locativeI believe it. [lit. I go to it] |
| moe pe li-apinu enea house where people cook |
| kulumoe iadapa pe li-te ene ponthe village where they were living |
| Ene?as a questionHere? |
| Sekele iaba ene vitoko ne, takoie ne.as a predicateOur garden is here, nearby this way. |
| Pele iono i-tatawoe ne temaka ene, ka ere.Your fishnet is damaged here, and there. |
| U-ka u-abu u-te ene!Come sit down here! |
| Dapa gete 'none na ta ene!My boys, here they are! |
| enone | of me |
| iono | of you |
| iape | of him/her |
| iakia | of you and me |
| iaba | of me and him/her |
| iamela | of you two |
| iada | of them two |
| iakapa | of us (Incl.) |
| iupa | of us (Excl.) |
| iaipa | of you |
| iadapa | of them |
| iaidi | of people |
| ie ① | of (X) |
| mwoe 'nonemy house |
| kuo 'nonemy canoe |
| topola 'nonemy basket |
| uña namolo enonemy clothes |
| Enone!predicateIt's mine! |
| emele 'nonemy wife |
| dapa gete 'nonemy boys |
| dameliko 'nonemy children |
| Enga ini Lupo.His name is/was Lupo. |
| Basa iupa re po i-wen’ iu re, enga ini Popokia.That mountain of ours up over there is called Popokia. |
| Vilo peini revo ponu, enga ini tongobe.That seashore tree is called mangrove. |
| Ni-mui enga temaka na.I don't know the name of that place. |
| Uk' one tilu, kape ne-vete enga da metae.My in-laws, I can't say their names out loud. |
| Udo ponu, enga ini tilu.There are two sorts of bananas. |
| Kava pon, noma, enga tete ne basa kulumoe na; enga tilu iote ka i-bu.Our island used to have three types of kava; two of those types have disappeared. |
| Banie i-waivo ñe idi ñe makone: makone iote, makone iote, makone iote... Enga makone tilu-tae.deityBanie instructed humans with dances: one dance, another one, another one again… Altogether, eight different types of dance. |
| Li-teli avtebe, li-vo udo, uña ngatene engaenga.They planted taros, bananas, various things. |
| Noma li-lanasu idi ne ngatene engaenga: ebele nga namolo iaidi, viabasa idi, kula none aidi, viñe buioe aidi.In the olden days, killing someone could be done using a variety of objects, such as their clothes, their hair, the food they left, the nut they chewed… |
| Ne temaka kula nga ponu; na, engaiote.It's the case in some places; but here, it's different. |
| Awa ini engaiote.[her neck/mind is different] She doesn't have the same point of view. |
| Pe kupa ponu makone engakula ia na iote ni-romo ka wako tamwalikose!In our place, we do have a few dances already, but this one I saw here was absolutely fabulous! |
| Emele pon i-engi menuko.It's a woman kissing a bird. |
| Ni-ko ni-engi eo.I want to kiss you. |
| Abu u-engi menu one.Come give a kiss to my baby. |
| Ia eo, eo a-ka vele?And you, where are you coming from? |
| Eo u-te. U-ka u-te u-romo.You, sit down. Come have a look. |
| U-botongo eo u-ejau!reflexive constructionTake good care of yourself! |
| Ni-ovei ni-ko ngatene abia teve eo.preposition teveI know you have a lot of work. [lit. many things are with you] |
| Pele iono i-tatawoe ne temaka ene, ka ere.Your fishnet is damaged here, and there. |
| Dapa kula li-koie ere, se vono Lege re.Some men went ashore over there, in the area of Lengge there. |
| Li-le li-vagas’ ere, tetake n’ adie ngamuli.They went all the way to that point over there – out there towards the ocean. |
| jokoro peini erobamboo for freshwater |
| ero medigocold water |
| Pi-teli awoiu, pi-loko ero mina.Once we've planted it, we add water to it. |
| ero | fresh water; creek, stream, river |
| iaero | river |
| al’ ero | river mouth |
| waluko ero ; pwama iaero | river bank |
| mata ero | water spring, river source |
| toloto | lagoon, lake |
| ~pu | ‹river› run, flow |
| ~lebie | ‹s.o.› bathe |
| Le-lebie ne ero.Let's bathe in the river. |
| Ero i-pu i-abu i-vagasi revo.The river flows down to the sea. |
| I-katei ero ne et' iape.He's sucking on the milk of his mother. |
| ero me bulukacow's milk |
| Besungale ini emele ero me ini biouro.mythologyBesungale is a woman with long breasts. |
| Ini mamote emele mwatebe; ero ka i-vio.breast shape as a sign of age in womenShe was still a virgin, but her breasts were already sticking out. |
| Ero me ini! Ero wako!jocHer breasts! Such beautiful breasts! |
| Temaka etapu, temaka pe li-tamava ene.A sacred place is one where rituals are performed. |
| Aia God, enga eo etapu.Our Father God, hallowed be Thy name. |
| Noma ini nga et’ iape!His face is just like his mum's! |