wipe ‹s.th.› dry or clean
| U-u mwa eo!Wipe your mouth! |
| Abu u-u tebol pon.Could you please wipe that table? |
you: second singular irrealis subject prefix
| U-re bavede!Release the sail! |
| Nga u-ium’ u-viñ' ene!You should have told me! |
ubuko uᵐbuko noun
Geo
bay
| Ubuko urene.The bay is quiet. |
| ubuko RaboeSaboe Bay, on the southern coast of Banie island |
POc*pudi
| li-vo udoplant a banana tree |
| mouro udo / taña udobanana bundle |
| bele udoskin of banana fruit |
| Udo ono pe a-vo ka i-wo.The banana trees which you planted have already borne their fruits. |
| Udo kata kape ka moso.The bananas are almost ripe. |
udo pe i-ako noun
ripe bananask.o. banana, characterised by a sweeter taste
| Uña udo pe i-ako, li-lui i-avo ne tone.The ripe bananas had been put to hang from the hook. |
liquiddrip, fall by drops
| Tengiro i-udu.Her tears were dripping. |
| Abo peini ma i-udu.His blood was dripping from his hand. |
1 – leaf
| uie viloa (plant) leaf |
| ule uie wopine k.o. vine with large leaves |
| bete peini uie kiemat made of pandanus leaves |
uie baliñoe uje ᵐbaliɲoe noun
Flora
unidentified tree variety, similar to Areca catechu (see buioe), yet unsuitable for human consumption
uie luro ujeluro noun
Things woven with coconut leaves ✧ Li-vei ñe uie luro
| mawene | larger coconut-leaf mat |
| temabete | smaller coconut-leaf mat |
| temamene | k.o. basket |
| topola | round basket |
| telau | food basket |
| tebekuma | round basket for food |
| tekate | round basket for food |
| teili | fan |
coconut leaves, used to weave (~vei) a variety of artifacts
| Mawene, ini bete peini uie luro.A ‘mawene’ is a mat made of coconut leaves. |
ukiliro ukiliro adjective
colourful, with bright colours
| Viavia ini ukiliro.Its plumage is quite colourful. |
1suk' one3suk' iape
affine of different generation (vs. mule)
Kin
1 – father-in-law (WF, HF), mother-in-law (WM, HM), and their siblings
| uk’ one mwalkotemy father-in-law |
| uk’ one emelemy mother-in-law |
| Uk' one tilu, kape ne-vete enga da metae.My parents-in-law, I am not allowed to utter their names. |
| Uk' aidi, li-labu motoro.In-laws are to be respected. |
| da uk’ iapedyadic paira pair consisting of a parent-in-law and their child-in-law |
ule ule noun
POc*puRebeach creeper, prototypically Ipomoea pes-caprae
unuo unuo noun
POc*panakosteal
~punuo ‘steal’
thief
| Eo unuo iote!You're a thief! |
| neido unuo[stealing kid] a thief |
Grammar
plural article, compatible with all nouns (opp. dapa ⓑ, plural marker for human referents)
| uña momoso me damelikowomen and children |
| moe uña dapa getedouble pluralthe house of youngsters |
| Uña teliki li-lamini tanoe se dapa.The authorities granted them some ground. |
| Uña udo pe i-ako, li-lui i-avo ne tone.The ripe bananas had been put to hang from the hook. |
| I-si buka iote ñe uña iepiene peini kulumoe iakapa.He wrote a book with several stories from our country. |
uñebe uɲeᵐbe noun
manflirt, womanizer
| Eo uñebe iote!You're quite a flirt! |
| Neido uñebe, ini mwaliko pe awa i-viane daviñevi tamwase.A womanizer [lit. a womanizer kid], that's a man who likes women too much. |
POc*qupi
| li-wowo uoplant yams |
| li-vai uobake yams |
| uo moloered yam |
| Na uo kula kupa ka pi-ae.These are a few yams we just dug out. |
cairn of stones
| Li-iu dapa li-bei dapa ñe voko li-ko nga uo.They would bury them and cover them with stones, [they meant it] like a cairn. |
The ancient murder of female babies ✧ Noma li-abu daviñevi li-bu ne uo
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 li-bei dapa ñe voko, ne uo. Dapa pe li-abu dapa li-bu, kape le-lui dapa le-teli dapa ne tanoe.
According to an ancient practice, when female children were born, they would be killed. People would keep only one daughter; other female babies would be buried under a cairn of stones (uo ②), and left there to die. Those who were killed that way were later buried in the ground.
(food+) for me and them: form of the possessive classifier used for food, tools, customary possessions etc. (enaka*), with a 1 exclusive plural possessor (see kupa)
| Pi-ka pi-abui ‘tool’ upa pi-ko me p-ajau toñaki iote.We took our tools down (from the ship) so as to build another boat. |
see lexical list atenaka
uro uro noun
1 – charcoal, obtained from burnt wood or plants
| vese uropiece of charcoal |
2 – espcharcoal reduced to powder, for various uses; black soot
| U-la uro, u-katei ñe wabula eo.You take charcoal powder, and rub it on your cheeks. |
| U-la uro u-si tetawene ñei.You can use charcoal powder for tattooing. |
Anthropology
4 – black magic, sorcery
| Taluaito i-su uro ape.The sorcerer lit his (magic) charcoal. |
| Dapa noma li-labu uro abia tamwaliko me li-abu ñe idi.People in the past used to use black magic to kill people. |
Gram.When uro means ‘magic’, it takes the enaka classifier, which includes Food, Tools and instruments, as well as “customary” practices.
Magic charcoal ✧ uro
Black sorcery involves the handling of ashes or charcoal powder (uro) obtained from special plants or leaves (tongolukilo). The sorcerer (taluaito) rubs the freshly burnt black powder onto his body or face. Sometimes he will swallow a small bit.
Flora
2 – treestump, base; root system ‹of a tree›
| Otovo kotekote, utele pine.Spiny sago trees have large bases. |
| ne utele vewo pine ponuat the base of that big chestnut tree over there |
| Utele i-vian' eo?proverbialAre you so prosperous? [lit. do roots trip you up? – cf. ~viane▻⑤] |
