Word List: Affixes
-al | , suffix | his; her; its; their. |
-ang | , suffix | him; her; it. |
-ed | , suffix | our (including you). |
-ei | , suffix | used in terms of address such as chedei, ngelekei, merrengei, ochellei. |
-emam | , suffix | our (excluding your). |
-emam | , suffix | us (excluding you). |
-emiu | , suffix | you (plural). |
-id | , suffix | our (including your). |
-id | , suffix | us (including you). |
-il | , suffix | his; her; its; their (non-human). |
-im | , suffix | your (singular). |
-ir | , suffix | their (human). |
-iu | , suffix | your (plural). |
-kid | , suffix | us (including you). |
-mam | , suffix | our (excluding your). |
-miu | , suffix | your (plural). |
-ud | , suffix | our (including your). |
-ul | , suffix | his; her; its; their. |
do- /du- | , prefix | we (including you). |
i-
| , prefix | used to add emphasis to a pronoun (e.g. ikid, ise, itia). |
ki- /kimo- /kimu- | , prefix | we (excluding you) (second person plural exclusive affix).
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me- | , prefix | used to modify a state verb to indicate that it is describing more than one thing. |
mo- /m- /cho- /chome- /chomo- /chomu- /mu- | , prefix | you. |
Examples: |
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> The school faces in the direction of M-Dock. |
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o- | , prefix | used to convert a verb into an action noun. |
ou- | , prefix | used to signify owning, possessing, or using something. |
re- /r- | , prefix | used to indicate a plurality of people.
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rechad | n. | people. |
rekebil | n.pl. | girls. |
remo /remong | n.plural | those people going (somewhere). |
resensei | n. | teachers. |
rebetok el chad | expr. | many people. |
See also:
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Examples: |
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> His family and the villagers were quite surprised at the boy's sudden good health and quick recovery. |
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> Now that the Syrians say that God is the lord of the hills and not the lord of the plains, I will give you victory over their huge army. |
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> The door was opened by one of the teachers to cool down the classroom. |
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> People tend to start arriving at one o'clock. |
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> The ones who are going to the hospital are sick. |
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Proverbs: |
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> Narrow was our birth as humans. The saying defines life as a confined, perilous journey, symbolized by the painful narrowness of the birth canal. Generally applied to the trials of life, or sometimes by a parent to a child that does not want to do his chores. |
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> The mountains of Koror are people. Several interpretations are given for this idiom: (i) Koror doesn't have mountains as high as other districts to the north, but the people are as high (elite) as mountains. (2) Others lay claim to the height of the mountains near their village, in Koror the people make the villages great. (3) A group of warriors from a northern village set out to raid Koror, but, as they approached the islands on which the hamlets of Koror are situated, they saw mountain after mountain fading away into the distance; dispairing any success against such a great nation, the raiders turned home. Actually, the mountains that they saw rugged, raised limestone islands-are nearly uninhabited, with Koror's population concentrated on islands of clay and volcanic origin along the northern fringe of the group. |
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More Examples: |
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> People were betrothed. |
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> People who need medical care go to the hospital. |
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> Most Americans living in Belau love Belau and future compact towards the island. |
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> The dental program is visiting the village tonight. |
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> There are lots of people in Guam. |
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rechi- | , prefix | used to indicate a group of people from a particular country or of a particular ethnicity. |