Page-148-R

oɽ̃ɔʋ̃ɛ [ ˩ ˥ ˩ ] married state; cf.
    ɽ̃ɔʋ̃ɛ [ ˩ ˥ ].
    
oɽ̃uʋ̃u [ ˥ ˥ ˩ ] avocado-pear, Pachy-
    lobus edulis; another sort (list
    of Forestry Dept.): oɽ̃uʋ̃-ɛzɛ
    [ ˥ ˥ \ ˩ ] “river-pear” Pachylobus
    barteri; yet another sort is:
    oɽ̃uʋ̃-ũxioxio [ ˥ ˥ \ ˩ ˩ ].
    
osa [ ˩ ˥ ] debt; v. ɽu [ ˥ ], ɽe 1 [ ˥ ],
    ʋ̃ɛ [ / ].
    
Osa [ ˩ ˩ ] (1) the Bini high god,
    creator of the world; his worship
    seems to have developed mostly
    since the times of the Ɔba Ɛsigie
    [ ˥ ˦ ˩ ]; he has shrines and priests
    in Benin City only; the cult
    was stated to be a later out-
    come of the early Portugese
    missionary activity developed
    after the departure of the Euro-
    pean missionaries. The cross
    plays a rôle in the cult: the
    Osa [ ˩ ˩ ] shrine at Akpakpava
    [ ˩ ˩ \ ˩ ] street contains a cross
    and a kind of rosary, the state
    sword of the Ɔba (ada [ ˥ ˥ ]) that
    is used when he goes to -
    xxxxx
    osa [ ˩ \ ˩ ], the Osa shrine, was
    said to bear a cross, and the
    badges worn by participants in
    the new yam fast (agwɛ [ ˩ ˩ ])
    which are distributed to them by
    the oh-ɔ̃sa [ ˩ \ ˩ ], the Osa priest,
    are in the shape of a cross. The
    three shrines in Benin City were
    said to stand on the sites of
    early Portuguese chapels. Osa
    is often called Osanobua [ ˩ ˩ ˥ (4-1) ],
    Erhaʋ̃osa [ ˥ ˩ \ ˩ ], “godfather”,
    and has also the names Oɣodua
    [ ˥ ˩ \ ], Ododua [ ˥ / \ ] (?), Udazi
    [ ˥ / ˩ ], and Itɛbitɛ [ ˩ ˥ \ ˥ ], which
    have been taken over by Chris-
    tian translators. Many names
    containing the word Osa [ ˩ ˩ ]
    seem to be used by Christians