Nukuoro English

noun European

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 5

noun dawn

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun false labor pains (of a pregnant woman)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 9

noun mollusk sp., spider conch

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 13

fingernail

Speaker: Maynard Henry

clap hands

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 14

noun fish sp.

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 20

adjective bad

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

adjective short

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun the light just before daybreak

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 25

noun second stage of a green coconut; type of huaamee

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun dollar bill

Speaker: Mina Lekka

how

Speaker: Mina Lekka

fan

blood

Speaker: Maynard Henry

pronoun your (plural; for singular noun)

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

stilts; walk on stilts

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 64

verb allow one’s beard to grow

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 66

noun tool used to soften the pandanus leaf

Example: Photo by Emily Drummond, 06/11/15

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun breast

verb laugh

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun itch

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

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 82

bird species

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 83

noun plant species whose leaf is used for cooking

adjective yellow

Speaker: Mina Lekka

hip

Speaker: Maynard Henry

adjective narrow (skirts, fabric, road)

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun crocodile

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

alligator, crocodile

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 87

noun sand

Speaker: Maynard Henry

improving

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 123

verb to treat as an eldest child

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 142

verb cause to have skin disease

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 143

verb cause to have pimples

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 174

verb cringe to deceive one’s opponent into thinking one is afraid (when one is not)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 175

verb cause to be muscular

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 189

verb becoming darker (of sky or clouds)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 221

an avoidance relationship between kin

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 230

verb wash someone

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun bathroom, toilet

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

noun diarrhea

Speaker: Mina Lekka

atoll (literally, sand island)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

atoll.

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 350

eyebrow

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun eyelash

noun eyelash(es)

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

rust

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 243

the flower of the coconut tree

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 247

sorcery (made with chants)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 248

noun rib

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 251

noun collar bone

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 251

noun skirt; sewn skirt

Speaker: Ruth Rudolph

adjective angry

Speaker: Ruth Rudolph

verb measure off in fathoms

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 265

oil

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 265

a love potion (applied to the clothes or body)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 265

a type of medicine made from coconut oil and centipedes

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 265

pick up information from others’ conversation

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 265

noun ten dollar bill

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun fifty dollar bill

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun ashes

adjective bald

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun a careless diver (who is frequently almost drowned)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 284

noun crack (of a whip)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 284

noun bird

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

starfish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 288

noun small red insect that sucks blood

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun rainy season

Source: Johnny Rudolph

verb go or do by oneself; a one-man canoe

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 290

candy

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun fan

Example: Photo by Emily Drummond, 06/11/15

Speaker: Mina Lekka

the way in which a current moves about

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 293

adjective round, clear in outline

Speaker: Mina Lekka

quantifier few

Speaker: Mina Lekka

boxfish (yellow)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 298

a name children tease each other with

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 299

noun hair (on the head)

noun an overindulgence in fatty foods, leading to a loss of appetite

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 315

noun rolls of softened pandanus leaf

Example: Photo by Emily Drummond, 06/11/15

Speaker: Mina Lekka

verb to wander around continually (from past time to the present)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 319

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

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 319

lion-fish

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 323

noun coins

Speaker: Mina Lekka

a fine jet of water

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 328

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

Speaker: Mina Lekka

orphaned

Speaker: Johnny Rudolph

completely wet all over

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 334

become wet

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 335

defecate (children’s language)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 337

noun shoe

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun maternal uncle

Speaker: Kurt Erwin

noun teacher

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun mother (formal)

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun sea cucumber

Speaker: Mina Lekka

crave (for food)

Source: Vern & Soulik 1973, p. 338

noun vein or artery (blood vessel)

intensifier too; overly

verb to put an infant to sleep by singing a lullaby

Speaker: Mina Lekka

noun wrinkle (fabric)