Ni-le ne ngogoro n-i, ia ni-lengi ngele i-laiaini tae.As I was walking in the forest, I called out, but I heard nobody reply. |
I-aiae mijaka.It's a bit difficult. |
Ia! Okor' ono!Here you are! This is your knife. |
U-do ngava, awoiu u-ia bea mina.You scrape off the scales, and then gut it [lit. remove its guts]. |
Li-wowo ñe viko iadapa.They swam with their treasures. |
I-te tev' ai' iape me et' iape ne moe iadapa.He lives with his parents, in their house. |
aero iadapa Teanu+locativethe territory of the Teanu tribe |
toñaki iadapa Franisithe ship of the Frenchmen |
makone iadapa tadoedance of the spirits |
Pon teliki iadapa pe li-maluo, ka Teliki Makumoso iadapa po li-bu.+relative clauseThere are chiefs for those who live; but the Supreme Lord for those who are dead. |
Tae, ponu ajekele, iae!Leave that, that's the rubbish! Yuck! |
iaero Paiuthe river Paiou |
Ni-lebie ne iaero.I bathed in the river. |
ne pwama iaeroon the river bank |
al’ ero ne iaerothe river mouth [lit. foot] |
Li-iaibi samame ero.You mix (it) with water. |
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… |
teliki iakapa na pe ka i-re kiapa naour leader who has left us today |
Na kuo iakapa tae! Na bwara kuo ie damala.That is not one of our ships. That must be a ship of Westerners. |
iawo | fire |
longe | firewood |
awene | stone oven* |
kangele iawo | flames |
vangana | glow ‹of fire› |
pana | heat |
~maili ② ; ~maliawo | light a fire |
~ia ③▻② | light ‹fire› by rubbing |
~vongo | burn, be burnt |
~bi ② | fan ‹fire› |
~su ① | set fire, burn ‹s.th.› |
~tau | cook ‹s.th.› |
kaiawo | smoke |
beniawo | ashes |
viomoro | charcoal in fireplace |
uro | charcoal; soot |
Li-ia iawo ñe vilo.We light fire with (pieces of) wood. |
Telau i-avo boso iawo.The food basket is hanging above the fire. |
Moe enone i-vongo ne iawo.My house perished in the fire. |
idi | free pronoun |
li-▻③ | subject pfx, realis |
le- ③▻③ | subject pfx, irrealis |
iaidi | possessive, general |
aidi ① | possessive, food/tool |
aidi ② | possessive, kin |
Program kula idi li-la moli.subjectSome software programs are free [lit. people give them unconstrained]. |
Tamate li-romo wako, ia idi li-madau.The dancing masks were beautiful, but scary. [lit. but one feared them] |
U-labu idi motoro!objectBe respectful to people! |
Tongolukilo ponu wako peini basa idi i-meli.possessor of inalienable nounThis medicinal plant is useful against headaches. |
Ka telepakau pe na, lek’ iaidi, idi pe li-romo idi tae. Kape le-wamu idi ñe idi.reciprocal constructionIn our culture, cousins must not look at each other. They must hide from each other. |
Puro, li-ejau ñe die idi.War arrows are made using human bones. |
Dapa Niteni li-ovei pe li-e idi.People from Nendö are cannibals. [they can eat people] |
Dapa tadoe li-ejau idi li-madau, tamwase ne bwogo.Ghosts scare people, particularly at night. |
Teliki Makumoso, ai’ akapa, i-waivo idi ñe telepakau, ñe piene, i-waivo idi ñe ngatene pe li-ajau…Our Elderly Lord, our father, he's the one who taught us (humans) our culture, our language, everything we do… |
Bwara le-ko le-watebo iepiene teve uña dapa wopine.We should rather enquire about those traditional stories from the elders. |
I-si buka iote ñe uña iepiene peini kulumoe iakapa.He wrote a book with several stories from our country. |
N-atevo iepiene amjaka peini Laperus. Iepiene pon na, ni-lengi tev' et' one.I'll tell a short story about Lapérouse. This story, I heard it from my mother. |
Li-bei bete pon, li-atevo iepiene pe noma, li-oburo, li-vongo ka li-mokoiu.During funeral ceremonies, we tell old stories, we sing, we eat, and then we go to sleep. |
Ije ene i-makoe.I have a broken tooth. |
Poi ponu, ije ka i-ke biouro ka i-velei i-vene.This pig has had its teeth grow long, and bend upwards. |
Awa ene i-viaene imaluo iape.I like her character. |
Ini i-lebie men’ iape.She's bathing her child. |
In’ ne me in’ re, da menuko.This man here, and that one there, they are friends. |
Momoso iono, ini bworobworo, we koro?Your wife, is she black or white? |
Jeboro ini tongolukilo iote.Wild basil (it) is a medicinal plant. |
Ai’ one i-ovei piene Tetevo ka ni-ko u-vagasi ini pon ta.My father knows the language of Utupua, I suggest you contact him. |
enga inihis/her name |
Awa ini i-viane.[his neck/mind hits it] He wants it. |
Die ini i-meli.[Her back hurts.] She's having labour contractions. |
eo ka uña damiliko ionoyou and your children |
Piene iono vengela tamwase.Your explanations are extremely clear. |
Ebieve iono tivi? – Uluko tamana teva.[lit. How many are your years?] How old are you? – Fourteen. |
Et’ adapa pon “Takulalevioe”. Enga ini iote li-ko “Takole”.Their mother was called Takulalefioe. She also had another name, Takole. |
Tae, ini tae. Iote teve.predicateNo, it's not her. It's someone else. [lit. another one from her] |
I-si buka iote ñe uña iepiene peini kulumoe iakapa.He wrote a book with several stories from our country. |
Pi-ko me p-ajau toñaki iote.We want to build a boat. |
Moe iaba pwo; iote iu, ie mwaliko iote.Our house is located below; as for the one above, it belongs to someone else. |
Iote pe eo a-vete ponu, i-wene ne moe 'none.+ relative clauseThe one you were mentioning is in my home. |
Ise eo enaka!from a woman to a manI want your sex! |
Ise ene i-to!I have a boner! |
ne otovo iuup in the thatched roof |
Moe iaba pwo; iote iu, ie mwaliko iote.storey houseOur flat is located below; as for the one above, it belongs to someone else. |
basa re po i-wen' iu rethat mountain up over there |
Ai-ava iu ñe vakaboro?Did you fly (in the sky) in a plane? |
Li-romo i-katau vangana kanmoro iu ne meteliko.We watch the light of the stars up in the sky. |
Viko iadapa li-iu.They buried their shellmoney in the ground. |
Li-iu tepapa i-le awoiu, li-vesu bulateno i-vio.First they buried the dancing boards, then they erected the ritual pole. |
Nga mwaliko i-bu, le-iu ebele ini i-wene ne kie ini.When somebody dies, their body is buried in a grave. |
Dapa Iura li-la vesevelae li-iu me viko.People in Vanuatu thread cone shells into shellmoney. |
U-iui i-le!Push it forward! |
Katae kape le-iui kuo i-abu ne revo.They were about to push their canoe out to sea. |
Dapa li-ioi tovokowo ene: kuo pine ponu i-atili i-abu i-le.As they pushed the lever, the large ship slid down all the way. |
Kape le-loko ajekele le-iui ne revo.They're going to gather rubbish and throw it into the sea. |
Pe li-wete telupe, u-avi visone ka u-iui diro i-le i-wete ini.When you hunt pigeons, you bend your bow, and let the arrow fly and hit it. |
Ni-nabe jokoro lea iune ka kula.I measured the bamboo to be one fathom and a half. |
uie kwate tamana iunepage thirty one |
rea iune tamana iuneone hundred and one |
Emele iune, ini da men’ iape, la-te ne kulumoe.[There was once] one woman, with her child, who were living in the village. |
Vesepiene iune, i-vete ngatene tilu.It is the same word, but with two distinct meanings. |
Ia enon' iot' tae! Pe enone na iune na.But I don't have another (knife). This is my only one. |
Mwaliko iune na ka i-te.There's only one man left (who can speak the language). |
Kape li-au, li-ngago iunubo iune iune ñe veve.They will wrap [the food], and fasten every parcel using rope. |
Dapa Lovoko na li-ovei pe li-la ngatene iune.The Lovoko people are used to cooperating with each other [lit. working as-one] |
~le iune (be, do) the same; (go) together |
iunubo vongorobasketful of almonds |
Kape li-katei vekai iunubo apilaka.They cut the pudding into small portions. |
Mata da i-koie ponu, la-romo iunubo vekai, iunubo poi, i-wene ne lema Toplau.They looked inside, and saw portions of pudding and portions of pork, set out inside the Men's house. |
Makone peini basakulumoe iupa na.It’s a dance from our country. |
Basa iupa re po i-wen’ iu re, enga ini Popokia.That mountain of ours up over there is called Popokia. |
Apono i-somoli otovo peini mwoe iupa.The hurricane damaged the roof of our house. |
dapa iupa nomaour ancestors |
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. |
Vana uña toñaki i-ka i-loko dapa ne kulumoe na, dapa li-lui li-langatene ne Iura, Santo.Ships used to come to this island to collect people, and then take them away to make them work somewhere in the south, on (Espiritu) Santo. |
Kulumoe Iura, kulumoe i-wene tev’ iu.The islands of (north) Vanuatu are located southeast. |
Li-ovei pe li-pwalau li-le Iura ne tepuke.They used to travel to (north) Vanuatu on their canoes. |
iutego kuledi peini tokolishorter stilts for the floor structure |
Eo pon, ive?[lit. as for you, how's things?] What's up with you? |
Aia kape i-ka ne! – Ka ive?Your father's coming! – So what?! |
A-ko ive?What did you say? |
Li-ka ponu, li-ko (ive?) li-wokobe da.So they all came in order to… (to do what again?) …to welcome them. |
A-kai lusa ene na (pe) ive?But why did you tear my shirt? |
Eo a-mokoiu ai-ovili pe ive?Why are you sleeping so late? |