teanu dictionary


	A dictionary of Teanu (Vanikoro, Solomon Islands)
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teanu dictionary

Index

wa
~wabe
wabeiu
wablei
waga
wai
~wai1
~wai2A
~wai2B
waiero
waiero peini vono
waini
waivo
waka
wako
wali
walukoA
walukoB
waluko ote
wamabo
wamitaka
wamtake
~wamuA
~wamuB
~wamu piene
wapio
wapono
wasi
~wasu
~wate1
~wate2
~wate tepapa
waviliro
wavilo
wañaka
we2
we i-kae?
webwe
wele
welero
~wene
~wene moli
~wene moli
~wene teve
~wete
~wete mama
~wete otovo
wido
wik
wo
~wo1
~wo2
~wo3
~wo4
~woi
~woi okoro
woiote
~wokobe
woku
woloko
wolowolo
~womanga
wonone
wonone
wopine
woubo
wowo1
~wowo2
~wowo3
~wowo4
woworo

wa [wa] -.

~wabe [(i·)waᵐbe] transitive verb. fill up. ▻ ~sabisi ‘pour’: Dapa gete le-wabe, le-lui tev' dapa li-anu.; The young men fill up (the cups) and give them to (the elders) for them to drink.

wabeiu [waᵐbeiu] -.

wablei [waᵐblei] -.

waga [waᵑga] -.

wai [wai] -.

~wai1 [(i·)wai] intransitive verb. paddle, row, go on a canoe.: U-wai u-mabui!; Paddle slowly!

~wai2 Ⓐ [(i·)wai] intransitive verb. ⟨earth⟩ quake, shake. ▻ ~ekili ‘tremble’: Ni-lengi tanoe pe i-wai.; I felt the ground shake.

~wai2 Ⓑ transitive verb. ⟨s.o., s.th.⟩ shake ‹s.th.›.: U-wai ebele u-ka pon etapu!; Don't shake your body like that!; Li-wai elela vongoro pon.; We shake the branch of the almond tree (to knock the nuts down).; Nobwogo miko i-la i-wai moe ne.; Last night an earthquake shook the houses here.

waiero [wajero] noun. <Sea> wave, surf of the sea. ▻ revo ‘sea’

waiero peini vono -. lit. “wave on land” : tidal wave. ► waiero

waini [waini] -.

waivo [waivo] -.

waka [waka] -.

wako [wako] -.

wali [wali] -.

waluko Ⓐ [waluko] noun, obligatorily possessed. <Anat> side of ‹s.th.›.: waluko aele; hip; Li-le li-te teta-vene pon, ne waluko ero.; They went to stay uphill over there, along the river.

waluko Ⓑ noun. <Anat> side of the waist, hip.: I-la puro kula i-vio ne waluko.; He had a few arrows tied around his waist.

waluko ote [waluko ote] noun. <Mus> a membranophone drum, not native from Vanikoro, but found in islands further West. ◈ Etym.. The body of the drum is made out of a sago tree, hence the name ote ‘sago tree’.

wamabo [wamaᵐbo] -.

wamitaka [wamitaka] -.

wamtake [wamtake] -.

~wamu Ⓐ [(i·)wamu] voi. hide ‹s.th.› (from s.o., mina).: Ka a-wamu labaro 'none vele?; Where did you hide my shoes?

~wamu Ⓑ vrfl. ⟨s.o.⟩ hide ‹oneself›, hide.: Li-le li-wamu dapa ne pwa moe.; They went to hide [lit. hide themselves] beside a house.

~wamu piene -. lit. “hide speech” : talk using cryptic words, in order to keep o.'s speech hard to understand for the casual hearer. ► ~wamu [A]: Le-wamu piene mina dapa.; Let's keep our discussion secret from them.

wapio [wapio] -.

wapono [wapono] -.

wasi [wasi] -.

~wasu [(i·)wasu] transitive verb.: Ne-wasu ngaten' enaka i-vio.; I'll tidy up my stuff.; U-wasu piene 'none.; [fix my words] Please correct my mistakes.; U-wasu kuo re u-min' ene.; Please could you arrange for me a trip on that boat?; U-le u-wasu emele re u-min' ene!; [Go fix this girl for me] Please go and connect me with that girl!

~wate1 [(i·)wate] voi. <Ethn> lit. “bang on boards” : stomp on the dancing boards (see tepapa): perform the main dance at the ngapiene festival. ▻ ~pinoe ‘perform traditional dance’: Li-wate tepapa, li-viane tepapa ponu; ka li-pinoe pon ta ka li-mako.; They were hitting the boards, stomping on the boards: such was their dance.

~wate2 [(i·)wate] transitive verb. point at ‹s.th., s.o.›, indicate.

~wate tepapa ~ ~viane tepapa -. ► ~wate [1]

waviliro [waviliro] noun. <Fish> Lined Surgeonfish. Acanthurus lineatus.

wavilo [wavilo] -.

wañaka [waɲaka] -.

we2 [we] pos. PosFood ▻ enaka

we i-kae? -. ⦗question tag⦘ lit. “or how?” : …or what? …or something?. ► ~kae: Mata ini i-ledi, we i-kae?; Was he hungry or something?

webwe [weᵐbʷe] noun. <Zool> troca

wele [wele] -.

welero [welero] noun. <Ornith> Whimbrel. Numenius Phaeopus.

~wene [(i·)wene] intransitive verb.: Ka i-mamei ponu ka i-maliawo ka i-wene teve.; As she was feeling cold, she lit a fire and lied down beside it.; Van' ni-wene ni-botongo nara kape le-punuo ñi.; I sleep on (my money) so nobody can steal it.; Nga mwaliko i-bu, le-iu ebele ini i-wene ne kie ini.; When somebody dies, their body is buried [and lies] in a grave.; basa re po i-wen' iu re; that mountain that's lying over there; Okoro 'naka pon i-wene vele?; So where's my knife?; Uña ngaten' enaka i-wene tev' iu re.; My stuff (bags+) is up over there.; Kie dapa i-wene Paiu.; Their graves are in Paiou.; U-re i-wene!; Leave that alone. [lit. you drop it, it lies]; La-wamu ne bonge iote i-wene pon.; They hid (the treasure) in a cave. [lit. they hid it in a cave it's ‘lying’ there]; Monon' enaka iote pine i-wene.; [one big box of mine is there…] I've got a huge wooden trunk.

~wene moli -. lit. “lie unconstrained” : be easy. ► moli [B] ► ~wene moli

~wene moli [(i·)wene moli] intransitive verb. lit. “be-there unconstrained” : be easy (to s.o., teve). ▻ Ant: ~aiae: Piene adapa i-wen' moli, i-aiae tae!; Their language is easy, it's not difficult.; Matapiene pon, i-wene moli teve dapa.; That life was so easy for them.; Nganae le-ko l-ajau, i-wene moli teve dapa.; Whatever they wanted to do, was easy to them.

~wene teve [(i·)wene teve] vti. lit. “be-there with” : belong to ‹s.o.›. Forms possessive predicates equivalent to Eng. ‘have’.: Nganae awa dapa i-viaene, na, i-wen' teve dapa.; Whatever they wanted, they could have it. [lit. it was there with them]; Sitoa iote i-wene tev' ai' one.; My father had a shop.

~wete [(i·)wete] voi. <Techn> Lvn: ~vele violently push a long, hard object into ‹s.o., s.th.›: pierce, spear, stab, pound+. ▻ Syn: ~woi ▻ ~tobo ‘poke, pierce’: li-wete namuko; go fishing using a spear; Pe li-wete telupe, u-avi visone ka u-iui diro i-le i-wete ini.; When you hunt [lt. shoot] pigeons, you bend your bow, and let the arrow fly and hit it.; Vilisao i-abu i-abu i-wete toñaki ie Laperus pon i-metelu.; The tornado came all the way down and pounded Lapérouse's ship, which sank immediately.; ekuo pe li-wete ñe tanoe; a digging stick [stick used to spear the ground]; Vivilo li-wete ñe ekuo, li-wete li-kamai.; Cyrtosperma taros, we dig them out with the digging stick, and take them home.; I-tau jebute moioe ponu, i-loko i-ka i-le ne monone ka i-wete. I-wete awoiu ka i-ejau mama ada.; Once the taro was cooked, she put it in a bowl and began to pound it. When she finished pounding it, she made the pudding.; Li-wete jebute li-wete vongoro awoiu pon, li-ejau mama.; We mash taros, we crush almonds, and thus make the pudding.; Li-wete kava awoiu ka li-vili.; After grinding the kava, we squeeze it.

~wete mama -. lit. “pound pudding” : prepare the mama* pudding, by pounding cooked taros and Canarium almonds in a bowl (monone) with a pestle. ◈ This dish is prepared for important social occasions. ► ~wete: Li-wete mama adapa.; They prepared the pudding.

~wete otovo -. <Techn> lit. “pin sago” : prepare the roofing of a house, by pinning together sago leaves. ► ~wete: Li-wete otovo awoiu pon li-ejau tele moe.; Once the thatch is finished, we make the house walls.; Otovo iupa ka tamwaliko, pi-tabo pi-wete kula motoe.; Our roofing has been damaged, we are making [lt. pinning] a new one.

wido [wiⁿdo] noun. <Bot> Fish-Poison tree. Barringtonia asiatica.

wik [wik] -.

wo [wo] -.

~wo1 [(i·)wo] intransitive verb. run away, escape (from, mina).: P-aiu pe-wo pe-le ne ngogoro!; Get up and run away to the bush!; Ba-wo etapu!; Don't run away!

~wo2 [(i·)wo] transitive verb. carry ‹basket, net+› on o.'s back, hanging from a strap put around forehead. ◈ This way of carrying is typically used when coming back home from the gardens, whether to carry firewood or harvested food.: Ni-wo topola 'none ne die 'ne.; I'm carrying my basket on my back.

~wo3 [(i·)wo] transitive verb.: Dapa li-wo enga dapa i-ka.; They told out their names, one after the other.; La-tabo la-wo enga temaka.; Let's list all the place names again.; Ka a-wo awoiu?; Have you read it?

~wo4 [(i·)wo] intransitive verb. ⟨plant⟩ bear fruit. ▻ ua ‘fruit’: Udo ono pe a-vo ka i-wo.; The banana trees which you planted have already borne their fruits.

~woi [(i·)woi] transitive verb.: Li-woi okoro ñe utedie ini.; They stuck a knife in his back.; Li-woi elela manioka.; They planted a stock of manioc.; Blateno ponu li-woi ne mane.; They have put up the ritual posts on the dancing area.; Dapa li-woi nuduro ne touro.; They put up taboo signs (nuduro*) on the seashore.; Ni-woi basa ene li-asai.; I banged by head, and it was stitched up.; li-woi okoro; pound bamboos on the ground, to make music [see ~woi okoro]

~woi okoro [(i·)woi okoro] voi. <Mus> lit. “stick bamboos” : pound heavy bamboos vertically and repeatedly onto the ground, to mark bass rhythms while singing. ◈ Bamboos are especially played that way in a musical genre called Buro bula okoro ‘Songs for bamboos’. A handful of musicians are lined up in the centre of the village area (mane); as they pound the bamboos, they sing songs, to the sound of which the dancers dance around them.: Kape ba-woi okoro, bai-oburo ne mane.; We shall pound the bamboos and sing songs, in the dancing area.

woiote [woiote] -.

~wokobe [(i·)wokoᵐbe] transitive verb. welcome ‹traveller› upon their arrival, typic. on the beach.: Teliki iadapa li-abu li-ka, li-wokobe da po la-sai kuo.; The chiefs came down and welcomed them as they landed their canoe (on the beach).

woku [woku] noun. <Ornith> Red-bellied Fruit Dove. Ptilinopus greyii.

woloko [woloko] noun. <Bot> Red Ginger, k.o. plant with bright red flowers (Zingiberaceae). Alpinia purpurata.

wolowolo [wolowolo] -.

~womanga [(i·)womaŋa] phr. give food to, feed ‹man, animal›.: A-ko bwara kape u-e namuko, ia vana a-womanga dapa nga ponu!; You thought you would eat these fish, but actually you're only feeding them!

wonone -. (rare) plural form of none. ► none [2]: wonone pe li-e; the various types of food

wonone [wonone] -.

wopine [wopine] -.

woubo [wouᵐbo] noun. <Bot> k.o. pandanus. Pandanus tectorius. ▻ Syn: kie ▻ vede: Dapa noma, li-ovei pe li-loko uie woubo pe le-vei bavede peini.; People before used to weave sails out of pandanus leaves.

wowo1 [wowo] noun, obligatorily possessed. top of ‹tree+›.: wowo iero; the top of the Casuarina tree

~wowo2 [(i·)wowo] intransitive verb. swim.: Dapa kula ka li-bu ne revo, dapa kula li-wowo li-koie ne kulumoe.; Some of them died in the sea, some others swam till they reached the island.; Li-wowo ñe viko iadapa.; They swam with their treasures.

~wowo3 [(i·)wowo] transitive verb. plant ‹tuber, esp. yam› in the ground. ▻ ~teli: None pon, ini ñepe pe i-ta, pe li-wowo tae.; This kind of yam grows on its own, it is not planted.

~wowo4 [(i·)wowo] transitive verb.: 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.; Ni-wowo revo i-ke mina lema kuo.; I'm bailing out the (sea) water from inside the canoe.

woworo [woworo] noun. <Bot> k.o. lawyer-cane or rattan. Calamus sp.. ▻ moboro

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