| be | v.imp. |
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| ble | v.s.hypo. | |
| mera | cont. | mei er a |
merekung /merkung | v.i.pred. | is about to come or arrive. |
mermang /meremang | v.inch. |
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mlei /mle | v.past | came; arrived.
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| mlera | cont. | mlei er a |
| be kbong | expr. | goodbye; I'm leaving. |
me e mong /memong | expr. | pass by; go on; "(in a direction) towards me and then keep going (past me)." |
| nguu el mei | expr. | bring. |
| ta el buil er mla me e mong | expr. | one month ago. |
Examples: |
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> And there was a poor man who lived in that village whose heart was so light that it was his ability to make the town survive, but there wasn't anyone who thought about him. |
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> I have assigned as the possession of your tribes the land of the nations that are still left, as well as of all the nations that I have already conquered. |
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> The people called the priests and the magicians. |
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> He succeeded in his work. |
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> Elilai and Ltelatk are Bkau and Elibeob's children. |
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Proverbs: |
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> Really a child of the back. A child (sometimes an adult) that behaves well whether its parents are present or not; a child that is good when one's back is turned. |
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> I build it and you destroy it? May be applied to a person who feels his aims or projects are being destroyed by the actions of another. |
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> You grab and then you pick it up. Like telling a joke, you're still telling it yet you laugh like you just heard it. |
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> Like Ngiramesemong, rehashing what has been finished. Pertains to a person who repeatedly reminds another of past favors or continually recalls the mistakes of others. (My sources no longer recalled the episode or story from which this idiom derives.) |
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> When the purple swamp hen appears, it brings remembrance There is a song (Oumachas) from which this saying derives: Once there was a young couple who made love in a secluded spot in the taro garden. While they were lying together a purple swamp hen darted out of the brush startling the couple. Eventually love cooled, but thereafter whenever the girl saw a purple swamp hen while she worked in the gardens, she recalled her lover. Hence any occurrence that brings back fond memories. |
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More Examples: |
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> Do tell, what happened last night? |
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> Well, bye'see you later. |
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> The mango tree at the taro swamp is covered with fruits. |
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> Wealthy are getting wealthier and the poor are getting poorer. |
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> And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. |
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