Nukuoro English

noun the part of a coconut’s meat next to the sap

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 10

today

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun mollusk sp., spider conch

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 13

noun hour

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

pronoun I, me

noun blanket

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun husband

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun cat

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

verb arrive

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun guts, intestines, buttocks

Speaker: Maynard Henry

noun tuna

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun priest

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

pronoun your (singular; for singular, alienable noun)

epidemic

Speaker: Mina Lekka

that one over there

those ones over there (plural)

noun mollusk sp., bivalve sp.

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 61

noun wart, mole (raised)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 62

pronoun your (dual; for singular noun)

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun ghost

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

banana

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 352

shore

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 79

sakau drink

Source: Johnny Rudolph

noun thigh

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

pronoun they (plural)

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

skin

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 90

hillock

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 90

pronoun you (singular, object)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun hat

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun fist

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun bug; flea

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun the outer coconut palm frond

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 99

verb wrap from under, wrap around; to wrap something (e.g., a present)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 100

verb wash someone’s hands (or mouth)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 101

noun crook of the knee or elbow

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun sharpening tool

Speaker: Mina Lekka

verb heat

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

miserly

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 137

verb insult (someone)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 186

the time at which it is midday

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 200

ebbing of tide

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 139

verb leave

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun cave

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun shell necklace

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun the sound of tapping

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 235

placenta

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 237

shape of, form of

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 242

noun needlefish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 251

backbone

Speaker: Maynard Henry

noun frog, toad

Speaker: Mina Lekka

adjective wide

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun lime

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun the making of sounds repeatedly; talking

Speaker: Ruth Rudolph

noun nickel

Speaker: Mina Lekka

pronoun his/her (for dual, alienable noun)

pronoun our (dual, exclusive; for dual, inalienable noun)

Speaker: Ruth Rudolph

energetic

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 270

noun small green offshoots of the coconut tree trunk

number twenty six

noun headache

Speaker: Mina Lekka

menstruation

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 279

adjective becoming more and more malali

Speaker: Mina Lekka

lizard fish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 284

verb breathe

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun animal (doesn’t include people)

adjective frequently manuhi

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 288

balls of grated taro (for making huaahuu)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 298

verb to live; be alive

Gilbert Islands

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 307

tooth

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

adjective having many eyes (of the taro corm)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

to husk (a coconut) with a sharp stick

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 313

a sound expressing surprise or disapproval

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 314

an area in which sand has accumulated; beach; sand spit

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 315

pronoun your (singular; for plural, inalienable noun)

verb touch

verb to wander around continually (doing so at present and likely to be doing so in the future)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 319

fornicate, have sexual intercourse

Speaker: Mina Lekka

echo

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 323

noun fishing pole

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun white (or grey) hair (appearing in old age)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

verb wash hands

Speaker: Mina Lekka

fully mature coconut apple

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 331

a fleshy (non-muscular) man

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 331

noun chief

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun coast, shoreline

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 72

noun trunk of coconut tree

Example: Photo by Emily Drummond, 06/16/15

noun brother-in-law

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun elder sister

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

adjective sleepy

noun paternal grandfather

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun middle (of something round); center

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 73

noun ship

verb nurse; look after

noun vein or artery (blood vessel)

noun larger blood vessels

noun lobster

Speaker: Mina Lekka

adjective dark (in color), blackened; covered with (people, flies, etc.)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

feet-first presentation of a fetus at birth

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 345

verb like someone or something, feel affection for

Speaker: Mina Lekka