ra1 [ɽà] inter. part. question particle
requiring a “Yes” or “No” answer:
Ọ rre ra? ― Did he come?
ra2 [ɽà] conj. or; a conjunction in-
troducing the second of two alterna-
tives: Ọ gha rre ra ẹ i dee? “Will
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he come or not?”
ra [ɽá] adv. inceptive formative which
indicates that an action is about to
begin: Ọ ra kpaọ ― “He is about to
depart.”
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raan [ɽã̀ã́] vb. to till; to stuff up;
to cram: Ọ ran uvun ne ọ tọnnọẹ ―
“He filled the hole that he dug.”
rae [ɽàé] vb. to go to a place (occurs
more generally in a negative clause):
Ọ wẹ irẹn i ghi rae ― “He said that
he will not go any more.”; 2. (with
sẹ in sẹ-raẹ): to leave; to depart: Ọ
sẹ erhae rae ye igue ― “He from his
father departed at the village” ―
“He departed from his father in the
village or: He left his father behind
in the village.”
raghoragho [ɽáɣóɽáɽó] adj. describes
the shades of colour between light
green and light blue. Ukpọn ne ọ
rhuaẹn ye raghoragho ― “The cloth
that he tied looked greenish.”
ranmwẹn [ɽã̀ɱɛ̃́] vb. to fry in oil;
to cook by frying ― Ọ ranmwẹn
emiowo ne ima re ― “He fried meat
for us to eat.”
ranran [ɽã̀ɽã́] vb. to melt; to become
liquefied by heat: Ofiugbọn ne ọ mu
yan erhẹn ranran nẹ ― “The oil that
he put on the fire has melted.”; 2.
(fig.) to melt with fear or apprehen-
sion: ọ te ranran vbe ọ deghe ẹre ―
“He almost melted when he saw her.”
re1 [ɽé] vb. to eat (when followed
directly by its object, it becomes
rri) Iran rri ẹma ne ọ le ne iran ―
“They ate the pounded yam that he
cooked for them.”
re2 [ɽé] vb. to acquire (something):
(when directly followed by its object,
it becomes rri) ― Iran gu ẹre ghọghọ
yẹ egie ne ọ re ― “They rejoiced with
him over the chieftaincy title that
he acquired.” Ọ rri egie ― “He
acquired a title.”
re3 [ɽé] vb. to incur (e.g. hardship)
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(when directly followed by its object,
it becomes rri): Ọ rri oya vbe owa
ọdọ ọre ― “She incurred abuse in
her husband’s house.”
re4 [ɽé] vb. (of shoes, blades of knives,
machetes, etc.) to deteriorate in quality;
to wear; to show signs of damage or
age as a result of ordinary use: Ibata
na re nẹ ― “These shoes are now
worn.”
re5 [ɽè] cop. to be: Ọkpa re okpia
nọkẹre re okhuo ― “One is male
while the other is female.”
ree [ɽèé] vb. 1. to bury (a dead person).;
2. to conceal: Ọ ree ẹre ye uwu ukpọn
― “She concealed it in her apparel.”
reghe [ɽéɣé] adv. describes something
that is very high up: Ọ rhie rrọ reghe
vbe odukhunmwun ― “He hung very
high above (also reghereghe).”
reghereghe [ɽéɣéɽéɣé] adv. 1. very
high; far beyond reach; 2. (of eyes):
deep-set.
rere [ɽéɽe] int. a greeting, used mainly
by the elderly, to mean “welcome”.
rerere [ɽéɽéɽé] adv. describes a very
high pitched sound ― Ọ da van rerere
― “He gave vent to a loud shrill.”
rẹẹn [ɽɛ̃̀ɛ̃́] vb. 1. to know ― I rẹẹn
inu ne ọ rre evba ― “I know how
many that are there”.; 2. to be ac-
quainted with; to recognize ― Ọ
ma ghi te rẹẹn ọnrẹn ― “He almost
did not recognize him.”
rẹghẹrẹghẹ [ɽɛ̀ɣɛ̀ɽɛ̀ɣɛ̀] adj. (of colour):
shades ranging from pale pink to
light shades of red and orange; (of
temperature): warm, lukewarm: Amẹ
na ye rẹghẹrẹghẹ ― “This water is
lukewarm.”
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rẹnrẹn1 [ɽɛ̃̀ɽɛ̃́] vb. 1. to tickle (some-
body); to excite the nerves (of some-
body) to produce laughter: Ọ gha
rẹnrẹn mwẹn ― “He is tickling me.”;
2. to be tickled.
rẹnrẹn2 [ɽɛ̃̀ɽ̃ɛ̃́] vb. to crawl (like an
insect); to glide slowly on the ground.
rẹnrẹnrẹn [ɽ̃ɛ̃̀ɽ̃ɛ̃̀ɽ̃ɛ̃̀] adv,; adj. de-
scribes smooth and gentle motion,
or appearance.
rẹrẹ [ɽɛ̀ɽɛ́] vb. 1. to deceive ― Ọ
rẹrẹ ọre miẹ ọnrẹn igho ― “He decep-
tively took money from him.”; 2.
to lure, to entice: Ọ ya igho rẹrẹ ọre
rhie kpaọ ― “He used money to
lure her away with him. He lured
her away with money”.
riin [ɽĩ́i] dem. adj. a variant of the
demonstrative adjective “nii”, used
mainly by “^old people”.
rinmwian [ɽĩ̀ɱyã́] vb. to beg; to plead
with: Rinmwian mwẹn ne i ghẹ kpaọ
sẹ ruẹ rae ― “Plead with me not
to depart from you.”
ro1 [ɽó] vb. to be cheap: Evbare waa
ro vbe ẹvbo na ― “Food is quite
cheap in this town.”
ro2 [ɽó] vb. (of a boil or an inflamed
tumour) to leak out pus; to discharge
pus: arighẹghan ne ọ mu ẹre owẹ
ma he ye ro ― “The boil that afflicted
him on the leg has not yet started
to discharge pus.”
ro3 [ɽó] vb. to flood; to inundate;
to form a crowd: Amẹ ro vuọn úkpo ―
“Water has flooded the road: The
road is flooded with water.” Ọgba
ro ne ẹvbo ― “The tap is crowded
(with people).”
rogho [ɽòɣó] vb. to be undesirably soft
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or watery; (of fruit or vegetable);
to deteriorate; to start to rot.:
Etamatosi hia ne ọ dẹ rre rogho vuọn
okhuae ― “All the tomatoes she
bought here have started to rot in
the basket.”
roo [ɽòó] vb. cf. roro.
roro [ɽòɽó] vb. 1. to think, to med-
itate; 2. to compute; to reckon; 3.
to add: Roro ehia kugbe ne u khama
mwẹn inu ne iran khin ― “Add all
together and tell me how many they
are.” (also roo).
rọ1 [ɽɔ́] vb. 1. to exchange: Ya ọnona
rọ ọnii ― “Exchange that with this.”;
2. to change money into smaller
denominations; to make change: Lahọ,
rọ ígho na mẹ ― “Please, change this
money (into smaller denominations)
for me.”
rọ2 [ɽɔ́] vb. to come to a standstill;
to rest; to stop: Ai miẹ ẹghẹ ne
agbanmwẹn ọnrẹn ya rọ ― “There
is never a time that his jaws are at
rest. (i.e. He is forever talking).”
rọkhọ [ɽɔ̀xɔ́] vb. (of fruit) 1. to be
very ripe: alimoi na rọkhọ nẹ ― “This
orange is now very ripe.”; 2. to be
easy (to do); to be stress-free: Iwinna
ne ọ mu mẹ ru rọkhọ ― “The work
that he gave me to do is easy.”; 3. to
be comfortable; peaceful: Owa na
rọkhọ mwẹn egbe ― “This house
is comfortable for me (for my body)”.
4. (of illness) to subside; to lessen:
Uhunmwonva ẹre fẹko rọkhọ nẹ ―
“His illness is gradually subsiding.”
rọn [ɽ̃ɔ̃́] vb. 1. to drip; to shed moisture
or liquid; to leak: Ofiugbọn rọn
kua vbe uko ― “The oil dripped out
of the calabash.”; 2. to look radiant;
to have a sheen: Ke ne ọ ya sẹ Ẹdo,
te ọ ghi rọn ― “Since she arrived in
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Benin, she has been looking radiant.”
rọnmwẹn [ɽ̃ɔ̃̀ɱɛ̃́] vb. to marry (used
mainly of a woman) Ọtenmwẹn ẹre
ọ rọnmwẹn ― “It is my relation
that she married.”
ru [ɽú] vb. 1. to do; to perform ―
Ọ ru iwinna ne a mu nẹẹn nẹ ― “He
has already performed the task that
he was assigned.”; 2. to perform
the ritual rites (e.g. of ancestors or
a deity); to offer sacrifice: Akhuẹ
ẹre ọ khian ru erhae ― “It is tomorrow
that he will perform the rites of his
father (or ancestors).”; 3. to be like;
to have the characteristics of: Ukpọn
ne iran dẹe ru ebebe ― “The cloth
which they bought is greenish (is
like foliage)”.
ru-khọọ [ɽúxɔ̀ɔ́] vb. 1. to sin; to err;
2. to ill-treat.
rua1 [ɽùá] adv. indicates that the
action in the verb with which it co-
occurs was performed to the extreme
limit: Ọ bun mwẹn obọ rua ― “He
broke my hand completely.” (Other
forms of the adverb are ruan; -uan;
-ua, -a).
rua2 [ɽùá] pron. same as ruan2.
ruan1 [ɽũ̀ã́] vb. to drug (a person);
to administer poison (to a person).
Iran ruan rẹn vbe ehe ne ọ yoo ―
“They drugged him where he went.”
ruan2 [ɽũ̀ã́] pron. a form of the 2nd
person pl. pron. (poss. & obj.) which
is used mainly by the elderly: Ẹmwẹn
ruan ọ ya mwẹn sẹ usẹ ― “It is on
your (pl.) account that I am suffer-
ing”: “^I am suffering on your account”.
Now most people would say: “Emwẹn
uwa ọ ya mwẹn sẹ usẹ.” (other forms
of the pronoun are rua, -uan, & -ua).
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ruburubu [ɽùbùɽùbù] adj. (usually in-
troduced by the vb. ye) describes
something that is round and smooth.
rue [ɽùé] vb. to vie with (usually of
co-wives).
ruegbe [ɽwègbé] vb. to engage in a
verbal or physical tussle with some-
body: Te iran eveva ruegbe sin ―
“Both of them have since been engaged
in a tussle.”
rueghe [ɽwèɣé] vb. to shake; to move
back and forth; to be unsteady.
ruẹ1 [ɽùɛ́] vb. 1. to learn: Ọ ruẹe
vbene a ya kuun ẹnrẹn hẹẹ ― “He
learned how it is constructed”; 2. to
teach (to somebody) Ọ ruẹ ọre ikẹkẹ
ne a hin ― “He taught him how to
ride a bicycle.”
ruẹ2 [ɽùɛ́] pron. a form of the 2nd
pers. sgl. pron. (possessive): ebe ruẹ ―
“Your book”; (other forms of the
pron. are ruẹn, -uẹ, -uẹn, -ẹn, -ẹ).
ruẹn [ɽ̃ũ̀ɛ̃́] vb. to pour liquid into a
container; to fill with liquid: Ruẹn
amẹ ye ọgọ nii mẹ ― “Fill that bottle
with water for me.”
ruẹn [ɽ̃ũɛ̃] n. same as ruẹ2, but
occurs only in a nasal environment:
ẹmwẹn ruẹn ― “your matter”.
ruẹse [ɽwɛ̀sé] vb. 1. (< ru1 ― ẹse) “to
do a kindness”; to help; to bestow
a favour; 2. (as part of the greeting:
“U ruẹse”) to be deserving of one’s
gratitude or indebtedness: “U ruẹse
vbe egbe mwẹn ” ― “I am grateful
for your help/kindness to me.”
rundẹnrundẹn [ɽ̃ũ̀dɛ̃̀ɽ̃ũ̀dɛ̃̀] adj. (usu-
ally intr. by the vb. “ye”) describes
something (or somebody) that is
weak and unhealthy-looking.
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runran [ɽ̃ũ̀ɽ̃ã́] vb. to be startled; to
start or shudder (e.g. with shock or
fright): Ọ runraẹn vbe avan-nukhun-
mwun vaẹn ― “She shuddered when
it thundered.”
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ruosa [ɽwòsá] vb. (< ru1 ― osa) to
incur a debt; to be in debt.
rururu [ɽùɽùɽù] adj. (usually in-
troduced by the vb. “ye”) describes
a big and distended object.
