nga ŋa
1 – + NPas, like
| abwa nga toloto [colour like the lagoon] turquoise colour |
| Noma ini nga et’ iape!His face is just like his mum's! |
| Li-toe kara nebe li-bo nga kulaña metele.You cut a root of rosewood tree, and carve it in the shape of [lit. like] a semi-circle. |
| Basavono na ka tae, ka li-vesu bavede ñe kuo nga noma tae.Nowadays it's over: people don't sail any more like they used to [lit. like before]. |
nga ne adverb
like thislike this: presentative accompanying gesture or reported speech
| Biouro iape nga ne –It was long like this – |
| Tetawene kape le-si nga ne –The tattoo designs, they would draw them like this – |
synonym~ko ② ⓑ▻②
Grammar
2 – habitual, + Realis or Irrealiswhen, whenever; every time
| Nga aña ene tae, ni-le ni-wene, awoiu ni-lengi wako.Whenever I feel tired, I take a nap, then I feel better. |
| Nga mwaliko i-bu, le-iu ebele ini i-wene ne kie ini.When somebody dies, their body is buried in a grave. |
| Nga ne tomoro nga le-romo ngiro wako, le-vesu i-katau.If they found the wind to be fine, they would sail along. |
3 – conditional, + Irrealisif, in case
| Nga u-romo leka, kape u-kila.Should you have any eye contact with your cross-cousin, you will have to marry her. |
| Da viñevi kula nga awa dapa li-ko li-anu kava, mijaka, me le-lengi.Some women, if they want to drink kava, [they can] do so, a little, to get a taste of it. |
| Nga i-abu mata, kape bwara mata ini kilo ñei.counterfactualIf he had hit her eyes, she could have turned blind. |
Ngabe ŋaᵐbe placename
Ngambe, location on the southwest coast of Banie island
| Li-makui Ngabe pon, temaka po toñaki tamwaliko.underwater archaeologyThey've been diving around Ngambe, at the site of the wreckage. |
~ngago (i·)ŋaᵑgo verb, transitive
1 – tie, bind ‹rope, string+›
| Li-ngago woworo awoiu ka li-kila li-ko nuduro.We tie together rattan stems, and call it a nuduro (scareline). |
2 – esptie ‹belt, clothing› around o.'s body
| Ni-la bele vilo, ni-ngago ñe waluko ene.I took a bark cloth and wrapped it around my thighs. |
nga li-ko ŋaliko
ngaliko
phrase
Discourse
commlike (we/they) sayformula used when looking for words: ‘such as’, ‘like’; ‘how should I say’, ‘you know’
| Webwe iape ngaliko i-vene i-wene ne ma ini.His armands, they were, like, they went all the way up his arm. |
nga ebele li-ko phrase
Discourse
like (we/they) sayformula used when looking for words: ‘such as’, ‘like’; ‘how should I say’, ‘you know’
| In’ na, nga ebele l’ko Teliki Makumoso, ai’ akapa, i-waivo idi ñe telepakau, ñe piene, i-waivo idi ñe ngatene pe li-ajau : nga ebele ko i-waivo idi pe li-vo mwoe, i-waivo idi pe li-bo vilo, kuo ngatene nga pon, wele, ngaten’ abia pon na…And that's him – how shall I say – that's Elderly Lord, our father, he's the one who taught us our culture, our language, everything we do: for example, he taught us how to build houses, how to create things with wood, how to cut canoes, how to make paddles, all those things… |
Geo
Ngama, location on the southwest coast of Banie
| N' adie Laperus dapa li-ka Ngama susuko.Then Lapérouse and his men arrived precisely where Ngama is. |
ngapiene ŋapiˈene noun
Anthropology
dance festival
| li-vete ngapieneannounce the festival |
| Ngapiene ka i-sali pon ta — bwogo tili.Then the festival comes to an end, after five days. |
📘 These dance festivals occur seldom nowadays; but they are central to many traditional stories.
Dance festivals ✧ Li-mini ngapiene
Among major community events on Vanikoro, the main one was a dance festival called ngapiene. While such events occur seldom nowadays, they are central to many traditional stories. The festival revolved around a sort of greasy pole (blateno), erected in the middle of the village area (mane), loaded with fruit and food. Stomping boards (tepapa*) were laid out in a circle all around that pole, half-buried in the ground; for days on end, villagers would stomp those boards (~wate tepapa) and dance (~mako, ~pinoe) in a joyful and rowdy atmosphere. Such dancing festivals could last for several weeks on end, bringing the whole community together.
Aadverb
1 – pointing to the addressee's actions or speechlike thatlike that, in that way
| Nga ponu na susuko.It's perfect like that (like you're doing). |
| Pi’ on’ ka i-vete nga pon tae.My grandfather never said anything like that. |
Discourse
3 – commedging strategy in speech‘and so on’, ‘that sort of thing’. Generally not translated
| Li-toe iuro, ae, digo, we uña ngatene nga pon.They cut out pillars, beams, and other pieces like that. |
4 – commjust, only: restrictive
| Ni-ovei mijaka nga ponu.I only know a little. |
| Ponu kava pon, piene peini kuledi nga pon.And so, the story of kava is just a short one like that. |
| Sande, moro pine, pe li-langatene tae, pe li-tamava, pe li-te ne moe nga pon.Sunday is an important day – one when we don't work, when we pray, when we just stay at home. |
| Telepakau pe noma, basavono po li-ve dameliko, nga emele kape li-abu dapa. Kape le-loko ne i-te iune ngapon, li-abu dapa.According to an ancient practice, when female children were born, they would be killed. People would keep only one daughter; others would be killed. |
Cf. nga ⓐ▻① ‘like’
how?
| Pine ngapwae?How big is it? |
| Buioe amela, kela bai-odo ngapwae?Your areca nuts (for you to chew), how will you find them? |
| Dapa ka li-romo i-katau kape li-ejau ngapwae.The people had had the time to figure out how exactly they were going to proceed. |
synonym~kae
Aadjective
| Ene ngasune nga eo.I am just like you. |
| Ka vitoko ngasune nga piene akapa.It's nearly the same as our language. |
| “Menu aplaka 'none”, we “men’ one aplaka”, da-tilu ngasune susuko.“Menu aplaka 'none”, or “men’ one aplaka” [my little baby], both (word orders) are equally correct. |
| Ni-toe jokoro iote me susuko me ngasune semame jokoro iote.I cut a bamboo rod to the same length as the other one. |
ngaten’ ae ŋatenae interrogative
what thingwhat?
| Li-le pe ngaten' ae?Why did they go? [lit. they went due to what thing?] |
main entrynganae
thing
1 – concrthing, object
| Uña ngaten' na, kape i-vio tev' eo.All those things will be yours. |
| Li-makui li-odo ngatene peini toñaki ie Laperus.They search underwater for objects from the wreck of Lapérouse. |
2 – esps.o.'s belongings; luggage
| Uña ngaten' enaka i-wene tev' iu re.My stuff (bags+) is up over there. |
3 – piece of food
| Le-le le-labu ngatene?Shall we go grab something? (=food) |
| Li-e ngatene pe mie, li-ko “te masi”.The food they eat is smelly, they call it “te masi”. |
4 – rareanimal; non-human creature
5 – abstrthing; topic, issue, idea, meaning
| Ngatene pon etapu tamwase pe li-vet’ piene ñi.This topic is very delicate to talk about. |
| Vesepiene iune, i-vete ngatene tilu.polysemyIt is the same word, but with two distinct meanings. [lit. it says two things] |
seeawa
ngava ŋava noun
Anatomy
scales
| U-do ngava, awoiu u-ia bea mina.You scrape off the scales, and then gut it. |
~nge (i·)ŋe verb, transitive
chew ‹sugarcane+› so as to suck out its juice while avoiding to eat the fibres
| Dameliko li-nge to.The kids are chewing some sugarcane. |
| Lekele i-nge wa vede.Flying-foxes chew fruits of pandanus. |
1 – in questionswho
| Ngele? Sintia pe Niteni?Who? Sintia from Santa Cruz? |
| Ngele i-wablei kupa?Who is teasing us? |
| Buluko ie ngele ponu?Whose flashlight is that? |
| Enga eo ngele?What [lit. who] is your name? |
2 – freqwhen hesitating on s.o.'s nameer –
| Ka dapa ka li-odo ngele, Laperusi.So they went to search for, er, Lapérouse. |
ngele nga ŋeleŋa
POc*aŋin
Anoun
bush, forest (opp. kulumoe, village)
| Ngogoro ka i-maili.The bush has grown there. |
| Li-le li-toe longe ne ngogoro ka li-tabe li-kamai li-wapio i-vio ne moe.They went to chop firewood in the bush, then brought it back and piled it up in the house. |
| Poi pe li-womanga ne kulumoe, vao i-moloe ne ngogoro.Domesticated pigs are fed in the village, but wild pigs wander about in the forest. |
Bpredicative
placebe overgrown by nature
| Ka ngogoro tamwase.with perfect ka ②This place is totally overgrown. |