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Introduction
Grammar
English-Rapanui
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V
- vaai,
to give (also:
avai).
- vae,
to choose.
- va'e,
foot, leg;
te va'e mata'u, te va'e maúi, right foot, left foot.
- va'e ruga, va'e raro,
quick and light, without detour (lit.: foot up, foot down).
Ka-oho koe ki a nua era va'e ruga va'e raro, ina
ekó hipa-hipa,
hurry straight to your mother, do not make any detours.
- va'e pau,
misshapen foot, clubfoot.
- vaega,
middle, centre;
i vaega o, in the middle of.
- vaero,
chicken's long tail feather; lobster's antenna (vaero ura).
- vaha,
hollow; opening; space between the fingers (vaha rima); door
cracks (vaha papare).
- vahavaha,
to fight, to wrangle, to argue with abusive words.
- vahi,
- to separate, to part;
ka-vahi, separate them;
ku-vahi-ra-á, the separation has been done.
O te Atua i-vahi-ai i te vai, i te henua, God separated the
water from the earth.
- to pass (of the beginning of a season);
ku vahi-á te toga, ku vahi-á te hora, winter is past its
beginning, summer is past its beginning.
- vai,
water, liquid, juice;
- vai tagata, semen, sperm (also:
takatea);
- vai kava, saltwater, sea, ocean.
- vaiapuga,
to be unsuccessful (when asking for a girl in marriage).
I-vaiapuga-nó au, kai rava'a-mai te rega mo te
poki, I was
unsuccessful, I did not get the girl for my son.
E-vaiapuga-nó tooku ara, i-oho-atu-ai hai kona uha, ina kai
rava'a. My trip was useless, going to the girl's place, I didn't get her.
- vaiarega,
celebration where men and women keep apart.
Te me'e he koro vaiarega: e-tahi hiritoke o te hare mo te tagata,
e-tahi hiritoke mo te ga vi'e, mo katikati i te ate-atua, i te rîu, ate
rivariva. The festivals called
vaiarega are this: one side in front of the house (built for
the purpose of the feast) is for the men, the other is for the women, to
practice
ate-atua or
rîu songs, which are serious, not frivolous, songs.
- vaihí,
a tasty species of taro.
- vaiora,
generous, munificent person;
he vaiora tou tagata era, that man is a generous person.
- vairua,
- good fortune, good luck.
o te vairua i rava'a-mai-ai-i tooku kahu, by a piece of good
fortune I got myself some clothes.
- misfortune, bad luck;
he uga koe e te maga i te vairua-á, you have been unlucky;
o piría te vairua, so that no misfortune may happen to you.
(Both expressions are ancient and almost unknown today).
- vaka,
canoe, small boat;
vaka ama, outrigger canoe.
- vaka-ivi,
graves under
ahu which hold skeletons (lit. "bone canoe").
- vaka-ure,
to lay foundation stones in the outline of a canoe (e.g. for
hare paenga); nowadays used in the more general sense, without
reference to a special shape of outline.
- vakovako,
rectangular; rectangle.
- vana,
a sea-urchin, larger than the
hatuke and with shorter, thinner spines.
- vanavana,
radiate, said of any object with its parts radiating horizontally
from a central axis, such as the feather hats on Thomson's
Plate 54 [opens new
window].
- ha'u vanavana belt adorned with multicolour feathers radiating
out horizontally, used on occasion of important festivals.
Compare with:
- ha'u tara, ha'u teketeke the feathers of which
stick out vertically.
- vánaga,
to speak, to talk, to pronounce; conversation, talk, word, language;
he vânaga i te vânaga rapanui, to speak Rapanui;
vânaga reoreo, lies, lying words, falsehoods.
- vanavanaga,
to talk at length; useless talk.
- varavara,
to sow, to plant (seedlings) leaving adequete growing space between them.
- vare,
spittle, drivel, any viscous liquid; viscous;
vare mâmari, egg white;
pipi-vare, slug.
- varegao,
-
to have one's mouth water, to feel a consuming desire for, to crave
(ki);
ku varegao-á au ki te koreha, I have this sudden craving for
eels;
- to crave, to desire, in a general sense:
he-varegao ki te mee rakerake, to have evil desires, cravings.
- vari,
- menstruation, period (also:
tiko).
- to tack, to veer (nautical);
ku-vari-mai-á te miro, the boat arrives, have veered [around
Rano Kau].
- varu,
- to cut one's hair (te puoko);
- to shave.
- to paint, to put on make-up:
he varu te kiea.
- varua,
spirit, soul; sleep, dream. This is a Tahitian word, but the same
term may have been used in ancient times.
- varu a-roto,
to have diarrhoea.
- vatavata,
merry, happy;
kope vatavata, poki vatavata, merry youngster, merry child, of
smiling, pleasant temperament.
- vavae,
to separate, to part, to be divided into groups;
ku-vavae-á te tagata, the men are divided into several teams
(see vae).
- vave,
- coastal wave (waves in the open sea are called
pari).
- not yet (used in the imperative, following the verb);
ina koe ekó oho-vave, ka-tiaki-no mai, don't go yet, wait for me.
- vavovavo,
echo; to echo.
- vehi,
- song in someone's honour;
ka-hoa-mai te vehi o te repa. sing us a song in our friend's honour.
- to form a circle, to sit in a circle;
- ku-vehi-á te ga kope, the youngsters are seated in a circle;
- ku-vehi-á te gogoro, the assistance is seated in a circle;
- ku-vehi-á te mahigo i tau raá tomo era te Matu'a the people
formed a large circle on the day the Padre arrived;
vehi-á te taro, the taros are planted in a circle.
- vekeveke,
eyelash.
- vekuveku,
- wet (said of birds wet from the rain).
- disshevelled:
ku-vekuveku-á te oho (oho, hair).
- messy, full of garbage (of houses);
ku-vekuveku-á te hare, the house is a mess.
- veo,
nail; to nail.
- vera,
heat, hot, to feel hot;
veravera, to burn, to be consumed. The following two terms are
of obscure meaning:
vera pipiro was said of person who did use face powder and
vera hati was said of those did.
- vera-paka,
scar; to heal (of scars).
- vere,
- to cut (plants).
- hair, beard;
- vere gutu, moustache;
- vere kukumu, whiskers, mutton-chops;
- vere kauva'e, beard;
- vere ha'iga (or haíga), armpit hair;
- vere puku, pubic hair.
- verepaka,
moa gao verapaka, chicken with featherless neck .
- verevere,
down, fine hairs;
moa va'e verevere, chicken with feathers on its feet.
- verehiva,
drizzle (also: ehu ûa).
- veretaûeve,
servant, employee.
- veri,
- fly eggs.
- pretty;
he-veri-nó te kope era, this youth is really pretty;
ko te veri te vî'e, how pretty this woman is!
- veri arahu,
scorpion.
- veri-gao,
a sort of scarf made of human hair.
- veriveri,
puddle, small pond; to get wet going through puddles;
veri-veri-á te va'e, I got my feet wet.
- vero,
to throw, to hurl (a lance, a spear). This word was also used with
the particle kua preposed:
koía kua vera i te matá, he is the one who threw the obsidian
[weapon].
- verovero,to throw, to hurl repeatedly, quickly
(iterative of vero) .
- veta,
a seaweed.
- veti,
neighbour; also seems to mean a stranger who has come to settle, an immigrant.
- veu,
root of certain plants:
veu kumara, veu uhi.
- veu te va'e,
to run;
ka-veu te va'e ruga, va'e raro, run as fast as you can.
- veveke,
- dragonfly.
- to arrive early;
e-veveke koe; do come early.
E-haaki koe i te gagata tupa o te rago mo veveke mai! Tell the
stretcher-bearers to come early at dawn!
- vevete,
to untie, to release.
- veveveve,
to be in a hurry, to hurry;
he-veveveve au mo oho ki te aga, I am in a hurry to get to work.
- vî'e,
woman, female;
matû'a vî'e, mother.
- Vî'e hoa,
ancient name of a spirit of the other world..
- vihaviha,
uninhabited, deserted, abandoned.
- viri,
- to wind, to coil, to roll up;
he viri i te hau, to wind, coil a string (to fasten something).
- to fall from a height, rolling over, to hurl down, to fling down.
- viriviri,
round, spherical (said of small objects).
- viviri te henua,
to feel dizzy (also: mimiro te henua ).
- viví,
partridge (modern onomatopoeia).
- vo'u,
to raise shouts (te karaga); vo'u vo'u, to raise continual
shouts or groans.
- vovo,
girl, daughter (term of endearment used by parents to their
daughters, brothers to their sisters, or more generally to any female).
- vuhi,
water puddle; to get dirty;
ku-vuhi-á (ku-vuhivuhi-á) te kahu, I got my clothes dirty.