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Introduction
Grammar
English-Rapanui
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K
- ka, particle of the affirmative imperative, of cardinal numerals,
of independent ordinal numerals, and of emphatic exclamation, e.g.
ka-maitaki!
how nice!
- ka-ka-ka,particle expressing that something is done repeatedly or in
several places:
he-rarama ka-ka-ka,
checking something in several places or on repeated occasions.
- ká,
- to light a fire in order to cook in the earth oven (see
umu): he-ká i te umu, he-ká i te kai.
- figuratively: to fire up the soul. To put oneself in a fury (with
manava): ku-ká-á toona manava
he has become furious.
- kaha, gourd (was used as a container:
ipu kaha).
- kahara,
ata-kahara, to take good care, to do carefully
e-ata-kahara koe o oone,
take care not to get dirty;
e-ata-kahara koe o kori te moa o te tahi pa,
take care not to steal the chickens of another place.
- kahi, tuna; two sorts:
kahi aveave, kahi matamata.
- kahu, dress, clothes, material;
kahu vaka,
sail.
- kahui, bunch;
kahui maîka,
bunch of bananas.
- kahukahu, peritoneum;
kahukahu mâmari,
pelusa del huevo (entre la cáscara y la clara).
- kai,
- ina kai;
verbal negation (but not used with the imperative);
ina kai kai matou,
we have not eaten.
- to eat; meal.
- fruits or produces of the land, vegetables, edible plants.
- figuratively:
he-kai ite rogorogo,
to recite the inscriptions
kohau rogorogo
(as spiritual food).
- eclipse:
ku-kai-á te raá, te mahina,
the sun, the moon has been eaten (eclipsed).
- kaiga,
- action of eating; meal; nourishment
(katiga
was the ancient word).
- ground; country; island.
- womb, uterus (also
matakao).
- kaikai, cat's cradle, in which patterns are made by
moving a thread through the fingers of both hands,
and are accompanied by the recitation of verses (one
of the main pastimes of yore).
- ka'ika'i, sharp: also "to sharpen" used instead of
hakaka'ika'i.
- kaiore, a plant.
- kakai, to quarrel; altercation, quarrel.
- kakaka, (also
kaka
) bark of banana-tree. Cut into strips, and left to dry out,
its fibres,
hau kakaka,
are used to make small baskets, small bags etc.
- kakapa, a sea bird.
- kakara,
- sweet-smelling, fragrant, smelly; used for pleasant and unpleasant smells
alike.:
tagata kakara i te kava,
man with smelly armpits.
- used with
rima,
means skill or good luck in work;
tagata rima kakara mo te îka mo hi,
man skillful or lucky at fishing.
- with a negation: to neglect, to fail to look after someone
entrusted to your care;
kai kakara koe i taaku kurî, i-gau-ro-ai e te paihega,
you didn't look after my cat, the dog bit him.
- to fail in a business:
ku-kakara-á koe ku-geo-á koe.
- kakarará, an insect (a Coleopter with black cephalothorax
and yellow stigma).
- kakari,
- articulation, bone joint:
kakari rima,
wrist:
kakari va'e,
ankle.
- to be destitute, in dire poverty, short of food;
ku-kakari-á te tagata,
the people are destitute.
- kakaro, to carve a hole in a stone, like the paega holes
in which were stuck the roof poles of the
hare paega.
to extract the flesh of a shellfish (to eat it)
using a small stick or a pointed bone.
- kakau, sharp, wide hand weapon made of obsidian in a wooden handle:
kakau rima
(used in hand-to-hand fighting).
- kakokako, to ask for (also
nono'i); he-kakokako uha,
to ask for a girl (as bride for a boy);
he-kakokako uha e te tagata ki te tahi tagata mo taana moa,
a man asks another for a girl for his son (uha
and
moa
are used figuratively for daughter and son).
- kami, comfort, solace, happiness. Used only in the expressions
he-ora te kami, he-hoki te kami,
happiness returns (to the heart),
he-hakahoki te kami,
to bring solacce, happiness to someone.
Ana tu'u-mai te miro, ku-ora-á te kami o te tagata,
when the boat comes, people feel happy.
- kamo, deviation, kink in a line otherwise straight; small hollow
on a surface; slight deviation.
- kamokamo, to fit tightly (in a hole or an opening.)
- kane, said of yams whose tubers form tough, indigest protuberances,
badly developed yams.
- kao,
- side, edge, rim;
kao gutu
(or just
kao
), labia minora.
- steep, almost perpendicular; thin, skinny.
Motu Kaokao,
name of one of the islets opposite Orongo, with a steep shape.
- kapeu, fin;
kapeu hônu,
turtle fin.
- kapua,
- mist, fog;
ku-puru-á te kapua i ruga i te maúga,
there is a thick fog on the mountain.
- mould;
kapua-á te kahu,
the clothes are covered in mould.
- kapuapua, moss (no the large type in Rano Kau, but the small, short type
that grows on rocks).
- kapuhivi, shoulder.
- kará, wing of bird.
- karaga, uproar, row:
he-tagi te karaga.
- karatu'u, to remain upright (said of a spinning top).
- karava, low cave; hiding place under rocks in the sea (where lobsters hide).
- karega,
- properties, possessions:
tagata karega,
rich man;
tagata karega kore,
poor man.
- importance, worth:
ku-karega-á,
it is important;
me'e karega kore,
worthless, unimportant thing;
ina he karega o taa po,
those dreams are worthless.
- ka-reka-avai koe, ancient expression of thanks for a gift
- karera, to shine momentarily, to flash;
ku-karera-á te uira,
lightning flashed.
- karikau, hollow, incision, nick, dent. This word is used especially
for the opening of Rano Kau crater.
- kariti, to give the string of a trap a tug to entrap the catch.
- karo, to train at parrying, dodging.
karoga,
the art or action of parrying, dodging.
- karoga,
te karoga o te mata, both eyelids; perhaps also: eye socket.
- karu, to congregate in circles around something, for instance at a festival:
karu tagata,
groups of people; to arrive on the beach following one another (of waves):
karu vave
.
- karukaru,
- to wrinkle; to get wrinkled.
- to get tangled up (of a line, a string - hau).
- to swing, to rock, to roll (of a boat).
- kata, katakata, to laugh; laughter.
- katikati,
- to rehearse (songs).
- to fabricate false news:
he-katikati i te vânaga reoreo.
- to waste something by neglecting it.
- katiki, halo (of sun, of moon).
- kato,
- landing place (such as a wharf).
- to parry, to dodge (also: karo).
- to cut sweet potato branches or leaves (in order to plant them); to harvest.
- katu, ancient term which seems to mean "indigest, of slow, difficult
digestion", judging from the expression:
taro noho katu, ka-topa ki te magugu,
taro of slow digestion until it comes down to the anus.
- kau,
- to move one's feet (walking or swimming);
ana oho koe, ana kau i te va'e, ka rava a me'e mo kai,
if you go and move your feet, you'll get something to eat;
kakau
(or also
kaukau),
move yourself swimming.
- to spread (of plants):
ku-kau-áte kumara,
the sweet potatoes have spread, have grown a lot.
- to swarm, to mill around (of people):
ku-kau-á te gagata i mu'a i tou hare,
there's a crowd of people milling about
in front of your house.
- to flood (of water after the rain):
ku-kau-á te vai haho,
the water has flooded out (of a container such as a
taheta).
- to increase, to multiply:
ku-kau-á te moa,
the chickens have multiplied.
- wide, large:
Rano Kau,
"Wide Crater" (name of the volcano in the southwest corner of
the island).
- expression of admiration:
kau-ké-ké!
how big!
hare kau-kéké!
what a big house!
tagata hakari kau-kéké!
what a stout man!
- kauatu, ten, group of ten;
e-tahi te kauatu, e rua te kauatu... 10, 20; kauatu-kauatu,
many, many.
- kaúga, to line up; to march in a procession.
- kaúha,
- bottom, rear, behind; generic word for the hindparts of animals
and human beings; rear end of a thing, such as the poop of a boat:
kaúha vaka.
- (familiar)
kaúha tótó,
clumsy, phlegmatic man.
- kauhaga,
- space between the thighs; groin; perhaps also the action of
kau,
that is, of moving one's feet (as substantive derived
from the verb kau). Kauhaga mâmari,
skin eruption accompanying the formation of a bubo.
- kauhaga moa,
first toe of a chicken.
- kauhaga more, tumor of the inguinal glands. In ancient times those who
suffered from such tumours, because of war injuries, were useless
for rejoining the fight, for fear of being wounded again. A wider
meaning has been given to this word: fear caused by a guilty
conscience, viz
tagata kauhaga more, e-ma'e-no, e-aga-aga tahaga-nó;
is an expression which refers to a man who has a guilty conscience
and, imagining
(e-ma'a-nó)
that others talk about him, behaves accordingly
(e-aga-aga tahaga-nó),
for instance, blaming others or constantly asking about rumours.
- kaukau,
- horizontal poles of a frame (of a
hare paega,
or a
paina statue): he-hakatu'u te tama o te paina, he-kaukau,
they erect the vertical poles of the
paina
then they lay upon them the horizontal ones.
- group of people:
e-tahi tuitui reipá i Te Pei, ekó rava'a e-varu kaukau; i-garo
ai i Hiva, i te kaiga,
a necklace of mother-of-pearl is on
te Pei,
few will find it (lit: eight groups of people); it has remained
in Hiva, in our homeland.
- to go through, to pass through in unison;
he-hogi-mai te ûka i te e'eo o te pua kaukau-á i roto ite hare,
the girl smelt the fragrance of the pua wafting inside the house.
- newborn baby's first hand and feet movements (kaukau
or
kau).
- kauteki, sort of adze made of obsidian, or of a very sharp
toki
and of a wooden handle (the original pronunciation
may have been
kautoki
);
he-to'o-mai ite kauteki (kautoki?) he-to'o-mai i te toromiro,
he-tarai i te puoko, i te mata, i te ihu...
he took a
kauteki
and
toromiro
wood, and he shaped the head, the eyes, the nose...
- kauva'e, chin.
- kauvaha, jaw:
kauvaha ruga, kauvaha
raro, upper jaw, lower jaw.
- kauvaka, conductor, the man who directs the songs executed by the
pere
and the
ihi singers at a feast.
- kava,
- sour; salty:
vai kava, saltwater, sea;
te kava o te haíga,
acrid underarm smell;
tagata kava - tagata kakara i te kava,
man with smelly armpits.
-
he-kava te haha, to be thirsty.
- to turn sour, to become embittered, bad-tempered, exasperated
(used with
manava): tagata manava kava,
bad-tempered, angry man.
- kavahia, belch; to belch.
- kavakava, rib; chop;
moai kava-kava,
wooden statuette with projecting ribs.
- kave, fibres, thread;
he-to'o-mai te hau, he-hakapakapaka, he-ihi-ihi te kave mo hiro i
ruga i te papakona,
he removes the fibres, dries them well, divides them into threads
to twist them on his thigh.
- kavei,
- short handle.
- peduncle.
- loop (of a rope, when tying it).