Nukuoro English

noun European

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 5

first light of the moon

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 5

noun one’s first spouse

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 6

noun having lots of roots

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 7

noun bird sp., fairy tern (Gygis alba)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 7

noun false labor pains (of a pregnant woman)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 9

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

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 10

noun throat (of fish only)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 10

verb fish, hunt (during the day)

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

toenail

Speaker: Maynard Henry

noun fingernail

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun log on which the pandanus leaf is smashed

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun a fishing method (angling with the side of a flying fish as bait)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 14

noun rain

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 19

noun fish sp., parrot fish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 19

adjective ugly

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun sow

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

adjective short

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun sibling (mostly children’s talk)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 33

noun slipper lobster

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 36

verb pull

Speaker: Mina Lekka

fan

noun mother (formal)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 59

noun breast

bosom/breast

Speaker: Maynard Henry

shore

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 79

verb laugh

Speaker: Mina Lekka

verb have itch

wasteful of food

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 81

the grains in the trunk of wood of the coconut tree which are hard, dark, and sharp

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 82

mucus

Speaker: Maynard Henry

noun plant species whose leaf is used for cooking

giggle

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 89

noun stone

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun bat

Speaker: Maynard Henry

a game played by children

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 91

noun beard (lit. hair on the chin)

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

verb act like or emulate Europeans

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 103

improving

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 123

verb to make a child urinate

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 155

urinate (piss)

verb hold an election

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 228

verb masturbate

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 231

verb sexual intercourse; fornication

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun bath house

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun bathroom, toilet

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun flatfish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 232

lung

Speaker: Maynard Henry

atoll.

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 350

noun eyebrow

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

the flower of the coconut tree

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 247

sorcery (made with chants)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 248

noun serving dish basket made from coconut palm

Example: Photo by Emily Drummond, 06/10/15

a canoe used to transport food to a feast

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 257

noun pants

Speaker: Ruth Rudolph

noun skirt; sewn skirt

Speaker: Ruth Rudolph

verb fly

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

good at massaging

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 261

noun pinky finger

indecisive, undecided

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 264

adjective sad

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

oil

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 265

adjective long

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

pronoun our (plural, inclusive; for dual, alienable noun)

Speaker: Ruth Rudolph

verb die

Speaker: Mina Lekka

half-cooked

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 276

verb identify tentatively; to think that one recognizes but not be sure

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 277

adjective sweet

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

adjective sparkly; glittery

noun areola of the breast; a boil on the body

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 284

lizard fish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 284

noun crack (of a whip)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 284

adjective scattered

Speaker: Mina Lekka

verb becoming more and more calm (of weather)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 284

noun burned (food)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 290

riddle, parable

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 291

adjective broken in many places (like string), easily broken (like rope)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

to carry things repeatedly / in multiple trips from one place to another

Speaker: Mina Lekka

adjective round, clear in outline

Speaker: Mina Lekka

a canoe rigged for galele fishing

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 298

boxfish (yellow)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 298

damselfish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 300

walk barefoot, stroll

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 309

lie (tell a falsehood)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 312

a wave of sufficient force to wash over normally dry land; tidal wave

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 307

adjective having many eyes (of the taro corm)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

a phosphorescent flash in the water

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 318

verb perspire

Speaker: Mina Lekka

look for girls

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 325

adjective slippery

Speaker: Mina Lekka

adjective white headed; old (of living things); big (of animals)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

verb to wave back and forth (as a coconut tree in the wind)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

orphaned

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

become wet

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 335

noun maternal aunt

buttocks

Speaker: Maynard Henry

crave (for food)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 338

noun capillary

adjective small (for a vast plural noun; used with dengaa)

verb to put an infant to sleep by singing a lullaby

Speaker: Mina Lekka