Apatani English

[aceɁ] adj. narrow; tight

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[aɉĩbò] n. friend (used as both term of reference and address)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[aɉu] int. yes; okay

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[aleɁ] n. wing

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[alɨɁ] v. insert; put

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[axɨ] n. comb

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[axɨ harnɨ̃] n. diarrhea

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[baarã] adj. interior (esp. location of a house)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[baró] n. brother

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[batĩ] n. hedge; cattle barricade designed for humans to climb over it

Example: Photo by Tage Kanno

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[belũ] n. friend; audience (term of reference)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[biɉe] n. generic term for bamboo; bamboo species commonly cultivated by the Apatanis (Phyllostachys bambusoides)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[burtaɁ] n. a variety of snake; cobra

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: var. borta’

[buuxe] n. a variety of house rat

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[bɨjo] n. yesterday night

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[bíi] v. cascade; flow (as water)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[caaɉeɁ] v. step on something

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[còo] v. bounce (as a ball); hop on one foot (of a human)

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[deŋe] n. hair (of a child)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[ʎeɁpu] n. doorlatch

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: syn. arkonanw; fe’ko

[gõpjã] v. close mouth

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: ant. goñko’ syn. goñpiñ

[haaru] n. mourning; grief

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[heɁi] n. a portion of meat

Speaker: Nani Anga

[hõ] v. burn (esp. in bulk)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[hubur] n. pipe, usually of bamboo or wood, to conduct water from one field to the other

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: var. hurbu

[hɨɲò] n. the ninth day of the ten-day post-natal confinement of a mother and newborn

Speaker: Nani Anga

[ɉiʎũ] n. Indian strawberry (Potentilla indica)

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: syn. jifiñ

[ɉigɉiro] n. kind of a traditional shawl

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[ɉiimu] v. giddy; dizzy; vertiginous

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: syn. sumu

[ɉú] v. weigh; measure

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[kaʎu-kaca] adj. unrecognizable

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[kaɉiɁ] adj. good to look at; good

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[koʎã] adj. round

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[koʎũ] n. primordial time

Speaker: Tage Yassing,
Dialect: syn. kofuñ kolo

[kolò] n. the day before yesterday

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[koopuɁ] v. sprain

Speaker: Tage Yassing,
Dialect: var. kopw’

[kǝ] int. okay; yes; affirmative interjection

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[kɨdi swbi] n. serrow

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[kɨra] n. a variety of tree; oak tree (Lithocarpus dealbata)

Example: Photo by Tage Kanno

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[laɁdɨ] n. forefinger; a unit of measurement equivalent to the length of the outstretched thumb and forefinger

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[lamuɁ-laju] adj. pinkish (color)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[loci] n. hook; peg

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[lunù-luna] v. speak in vain

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[lɨguɁ] n. incubating hen

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[lɨrĩ] n. kneelet comprising of string of beads, esp. worn by priests

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[malo-kalo] adv. please; pray

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[miilò] n. eighth lunar month of the year; July-August

Speaker: Tage Yassing,
Dialect: syn. miilò pwlò

[Misã] n. common term for non-Apatani tribes like Nyishis, Tagins, Galos, etc.

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[mocuɁ] v. kiss

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[murpa sai] n. fog in the horizons that is usually associated with the advent of Myoko festival in March

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[mɨʎu] v. waste; spend

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[mɨgeɁ] n. pincers, usually of bamboo

Example: Photo by Tage Kanno

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[mjokũ] n. ritual performed for the well-being of plants

Speaker: Tage Yassing

[naru] v. odor; smell

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[nẽ] v. sniff; smell

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[née] v. wrestle

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[paɁsǝr] v. kill by hanging

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pató hamã] n. a variety of vegetable (Clerodendrum colebrookianum)

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[paxu] n. shell; scale

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[paxɨ] v. kill by cutting

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pi] v. slice or saw

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pĩta] n. rounded liquid container made from the hard hollowed and dried skin of gourd

Example: Photo by Tage Kanno

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[põ] v. soak; marinate

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pulis] n. police

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pǝrǝ] n. large cane mat used for temporary storage of paddy during harvesting

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pɨcó] v. make offering to God before food or drink in the form a morsel of rice or a drop of drink

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pɨse] n. a variety of bird; Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis)

Example: Photo by Koj Mama

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pjaɁmĩ puʎe] n. a variety of traditional shawl

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[párkoɁ] v. screw open

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[pìi] v. dry

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[reɁke abja] n. ladder leading to the ceiling

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: syn. re’ke re’bya

[rimjoɁ-riso] adj. striped; streaked; variegated

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: syn. ripó-rilo

[rɨlã] adj. euphemism for “heavy” when referred to the weight of a baby

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[sǝǝ] letter name s the letter representing s in the Apatani alphabet

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[sabeɁ] n. key

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: Or. Assamese

[saʎiɁ] adj. green

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[sah patɨ] n. tea leaf; tea grain

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[sarlã] n. a variety of cane

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[siɁ] v. urinate

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[sisa] n. glass

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: or. Hindi

[soɁko] n. jaw

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[sorɉĩ] v. stretch straight; straighten out

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[soj tarɨ] n. sweater

Speaker: Tage Kanno,
Dialect: or. Assamese

[sõ] v. move sideways

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[subu sa] n. cane rope for mithuns

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[sɨmi] n. lake

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[taʎũ] n. tapeworm larvae

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[tamù] n. a deity

Speaker: Tage Numpi

[taɲiɁ pamɨ] n. corn powder

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[ɨŋa gɨ] v. be pregnant

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[ɨ̃] inter. yes

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[xa] v. peel; pare; skin; take the skin off

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[xaɁce] v. split; break apart

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[xõxũ] n. falcon; eagle

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[xɨ] v. slide while in sitting position; scoot

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[jamu muku] n. smoke

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[ɲakù] adj. tilted; askew

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[ɲaŋa] v. put one’s head in

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[ɲẽ] v. chew; masticate

Speaker: Tage Kanno

[ɲuu] v. prod as with a needle

Speaker: Tage Kanno