MORE KUANUA VOCABULARY

Terms and their definitions. Edited 13/9/2017

Some more terms and their definitions are presented here. They are defined both in Kuanua and English.

bobol  A kapual na tawa na ta; a kapual na ta ipupuar ma iwana tuk ipore ra keke na woawor. Wave; sea wave. A bobol na ta.

bokaboko   A pakana tara matanoi ure ra turtur kai ra parau.
1. Anchorage; boat anchorage. A bokaboko kai ra umana parau. Ships' anchorage.

boko   A tunur na wawairop ba wawako. A parau itur; a parau iboko.
1. Anchor; to anchor a boat. A parau itar boko. bokaboko.press. cont. waboko adj. 2. Wait; wait a little while; hold on a minute.

bokon Mal bat ba turbat.
1. Prevent. Prevent from rolling downhill. Prevent from moving. bokonia  adv     2. Structure built to prevent soil erosion. 3. Deflect.

bolo 1. Kap ra magit tara ulawara; 2. Bolo na dawai. 3. Wana pakit taranga.
1. Carry on shoulders. 2. Crucifix. 3. Pass by.

bor   Kankan ure; kankanuane. Scold, berate

boroi   A wawaguai a iangina a boroi. Pig. var. bäräi (Boawa)

bonot   A magit di paitia ba tul taria upi wamutue ra niba ba wapar ra papalum
.Add; To add something more to make an amount complete or meet the required amount or need.

bong   Wakir ikapa; pa inukure; ngulngul.
Stupid. var. lunga

bongbong  A tuptup wakir ikapa ba matoto
1.The state of being stupid or unconscious. 2. Mental instability or retardation. papawua.

bola Wartulang upi da kap ta magit tara ulawara.
Carry; To carry on the shoulder. Used  when instructing someone to carry something on the shoulder.

boto Tikai tara lavur manga na en i laun tara raga ma wakir ta kotokotono.
A number of species of reef fish with no scales but tough skin. Some are coloured.

bua  A wawatur; a wawatur aira pakat ba ta magit na papalum.
1. Handle. 2. Bribe. warbua  bribery. 3. A shrub

buabuai  A bilim worogop ra tawa ininimim arikai, ba irop tara ngia.  
Froth.

buana. A pakana ituluai.
Mountain. buabuana moutanous. var. luana. lualuana mountanous

buara   A magit na nian igol tara pia. Di ilibe ra kuburuna aira nian.
A type of edible fern. Thie young sprouting leaves are collected and cooked for consumption and can also be purchased at markets where it issold in bundles or wrapped in banana leaves.

bubukul       A pakana iluluan.
Bulge

bubura      A dawai i alalir tara ulata ma mangoro a bobol iwore ra walian..  
Floating log. Also used to describe logs washed ashore.

bubur   Break; to break a stick. e.g., Bubur ra dawai. Break the law. Bubur ra warkurai.buburia        Break it.

burbur    Iwui ra umana lavur beo igol namur.     Tail feather. burburi Tail feather of. burburuna  
Its tail feather; tail feather of.

bukubuk  A dawai na nian. A wuaina i limut ma livuan tana, nianina, ipua. A patina ikorong.   
A fruit tree that bears edible juicy fruits with very thin green skin and white flesh. The seed of the fruit is diamond shape and has a brown to black color.

bula A wawatang guvai.
Also,too, as well. Iau bula.Me also. Tapi na wana bula. Tapi is going as well.

bul   Natna gunantuna; a wawina ba tutana di watangia a bul. 1.Child.e.g., Bul wawina. Female child. Bul tutana. Male child. 2. Swollen

bulit A tawa na dawai ideraderek.
1. Gum extracted from tree sap, e.g. Bulit na kapiaka. Breadfruit gum. Breadfruit gum is used for various purposes but mostly was used for aerial bird trapping.

bulukua. Tikai tara umana beo ikorong ra iwuna ma lolowina burburuna.     
a species of black colored bird  with long tail feathers and related to the bird of paradise. It is found in thick forest with huge trees but feeds like chicken by scratching for grubs and worms on the ground.

Kapeo

kapeo   Solo; one. tikai. var.kapono

kapmon       Show off; showy.

kapbala         Pregnant

kapnat         Breast-feeding mammal carrying its young, e.g., A flyng fox.

kapkap        1. A work team. 2. Carrying pres cont of kap
kapakapana Patana iki; a gunan i lingling;

kapu Sea cucumber

kapual Stirred up dust or water

karakum      Red tree ant

karakaraik   A small species of red ant.

kari   Move

karua   Mallet head fish

kau   A species of bird light brownish in colour and light grey in the chest.

kau   Dawn. var. kavunvun. Kau relates to the bird

Kaugu My, Mine. Var. kalugu, karugu (Boawa, Nodup)

kaul Race: to race.

Kaum   Your, Yours. E.g. Wakir kaum. Not yours Var. kalum. Karum. (Boawa, Nodup)

kaur Bamboo; Kaur lubalubang and kaur wat are two species of bamboo.

kawip   An object with a drilled hole such as galip nut that is used as whistle.

kelelek         A grub that develops into a beatle.

kere 1. Hat. 2. Coconut shell after it has just been grated off the meat.

ki      1. Sit. eg. Una  ki. You sit down. 2. Enough. e.g. Itar ki. It is enough.

Ka

Some words in Kuanua beginning with the letter K and their meanings in English. Note that not all the words are listed here.

K

ka     A herbal plant of various species and colours.

kaba 1. Break into pieces; e.g. break chicken meat into small pieces. 2. Dispel

käbang 1. Lime. Lime is popularly used for chewing betel nut. käbäkäbang   Lime-like; ashened.

Käbäkäda    A village in the North Coast. Kulau Lodge is located about three hundred metres away from Kabakada United Church.

Kabakuara   Poisonous jelly fish.

kabala Pot; saucepan.

kabe Beard

kabawuap   Mould.
.

kabi Rub; Rub ornamental or medicinal substance on the body or part of the body. e.g.

Kabi ra kinadik tara tamurugu.mara dawai. Rub medicinal substance on the pain on 

my back.

kada rattan cane. Cane is used as rope for various purposes in the home. Before it is used it is cut, cleaned, and dried for some time in the sun. Later it is split into strips and the inner soft part is removed and discarded. The cane strips then are used or stored for later use. One of the common uses is making shell money, tabu, as well as covering the rolls of tabu.

kadä stiff; dead stiff body; rigor mortis. var. kadi

Kädäkäda    A village closely neighboring Rakunai United Church and Rakunai Catholic Church.

Kadenger vb. Sunny, not rainy.

Kadeo. vb. Tough; tough as in tough meat.

kadir   possessive noun Theirs. Used to describe non-food items for two persons.

kadiat possessive noun For them (for more than three people)

kädik    1. pain; ache. 2. black ground ant.

kadik na potol        A black tree ant that frequents potol trees but may be found on other trees.

kadital         Theirs. Possessive noun in reference to  something that belongs to three persons.

kador  For the two of us. Describes non-food items for two persons.

Kadolo         A species of crab that lives along the sandy beaches. It is greyish in color.

Kadui n. A food container made of various items including banana leaves.

Kail plead; ask

Kaile      Sing

kairane        1.To feel. 2. To experience.

kaka Digit; toe, finger. Kaka na keke:  Toe. Kaka na lima: Finger.

kakairanai   n. of kairane. A feeling. An experience.

kakari   Move; shift.

käl Dig. Kinakal n

kälä 1. Sharpen; to sharpen one end of a piece of wood for use as tool or fence stake. 2.

compensate: to compensate a victim for either bodily injury or offence.

kale own; posses
.

kalangar      1. parrot: kalangar mapina pa; (green coloured),  kalangar mangmangilu; (red 

coloured). 2. red

kalolo  Ground worm.

Kalou   God. The word kalou is a Fijian word introduced by the early missionaries and has been 

in Kuanua usage since then. Before the introduction of the concept Kalou, tulungen was 

used and still it is in use today.

kamale        Refuse to give.

kamara        n. Destruction. Wakamara is also used. kamare        vb     Destroy;

kamavet      For us (more than three persons) var.kawavet

kamir      Squeeze. warkamir  n. Kamir warurue: Press together.

kän   1. Away from. 2. In case

kana His,hers/its. Kana wiliwil. His/her bicycle

kän kan            Angry

kao   1. Climb. 2. Catch fire.

kaongo        Cough

kap. Carry

Wawi and Turana

Changing meaning of Wawi and Turana

Ismael Isikel 2/03/2017 Edition

Wawi is a term used mostly by females to mean sister. Today it is used more frequently than tanawawigu. For some reason some males now are using the term wawi to call each other brother. I guess it is to do with dialect variations or perhaps it is a popular expression in some parts of the Kuanua speaking community. It may die out soon or later or remain permanent as it spreads in usage. However, if you watch the social media some Kuanua  speakers do not agree and frown upon males using the term wawi to address each other as brother. The terms that males use to address each other is the opposite of wawi and that is turan.

Turan means brother or bro as is commonly abbreviated. Turagu means my brother and turana means his brother. Turana now is used in place of turagu which is odd in the sense that you are pointing out your brother as someone else's brother in addressing him as your brother. Odd?

Let us wait and see, but language does change.

If you observe the wind, you will see where the smoke from the fire flows.

 

Climate Change and Tawa

Tawa is the word for water in Kuanua and like everywhere it is a basic human and environmental need. Tawa becomes scarce during dry seasons affecting all - humans, animals and their habitats.

Recently, that is only about a month ago, the effects of El Nino was so severe for a couple of months in East New Britain and affected almost everyone in the Province. In Kuanua the dry season is called E na Keake or Keake wana. In some dialects of Kuanua Keake wana is also pronounced keke wana. In literal Kuanua Keake wana means the sun is travelling. Now, back to the dry season in East New Britain. It affected people across the board, both the well-off and the not so well-off. It triggered off complaints in the social media, especially Facebook, about the scarcity of water. There were even posts and pictures of people waiting up to 10.00 pm for their turn to fetch water from the water wells and creeks.

The problem in East New Britain was not so much on the lack of water, but the lack of storage and distribution services provided by the Provincial Government. If anything that we have learnt from the current El Nino, it is tawa storage and distribution services especially in the rural areas.

In acknowledgement this brief commentary is inspired by one of the  World Bank's posts that i receive regularly and in part one of it appears here.

World Bank

Shared publicly  -  03:36

The effects of #climatechange often hurt the poor the most.@JimKim_WBG says we can do something about it. 

Kuanua Greeting

Words and phrases used in Kuanua greetings and expressions of gratitude.

Greetings

Good morning. Bona malana. In short you can say malana, the same as just saying morning.
Good day. Bona keake. In short you can say keake.
Good afternoon. Bona ravian. In short you can say ravian.
Good night. Bona marum. In short marum.
Good morning. Bona malana. In short malana.

Hello. Tabaiga or Abara
Tabaiga is used in Kokopo and Toma. Abara is used in the North Coast.
How are you? A nilaun? The response phrase is Iau boinaka. I am good/fine. And to inquire back is Ma u?

Gratitude

Thank you.  Boina. Thank you very much. Boina tuna.

Boina is also used to express quality such as good. The opposite of boina (good) is kaina (bad). 

Seasons Greetings

Christmas: Many Kuanua speakers now use Merry Christmas. Bona Bung Na Lukara Na Kinakava or in short Bona Bung Na Kinakava. The word lukara here means festive, as in festive season.

Easter:  Paska. Good Easter. Bona Paska. Happy Easter. Bona Gugu Na Paska. Happy Easter Celebrations. Bona Na Lukara Na Paska. Happy Easter Celebrations

Note: Edited on 22/12/2016. Ismael K. Isikel