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*    (2) sharp (of smells, e.g. of



*    urine); cf. taĩtaĩ [ ˩ ˩ ].



*te [ ˥ ] an auxiliary verb indicating



*    (1) that something was going on



*    or was in a certain state in the



*    past but implying that the end



*    of the action was not attained,



*    or that the state referred to is



*    no longer existing; ɔtema [ ˩ ˥ / ]



*    it was good (but it is no longer



*    so); itewu [ ˩ ˥ ˥ ] I was dying, viz.



*    ʋ-uhuʋ̃u ni amu ʋ̃ɛ [ ˩ ˩ / ˩ / ˩ ˥ ]



*    “(always) when that illness



*    attacked me”. This leads to the



*    meanings “nearly”, e.g. in itewu



*    [ ˩ ˥ ˦ ] I nearly died, and “mis-



*    takenly”: utew-ɛr-eʋa-nwa (re



*    [ ˥ ], enwa [ ˩ \ ]) [ ˩ ˥ ˦ ˦ ˩ \ ] “you



*    were mistaken in saying: he is



*    not there now”. (2) that the



*    action of the verb to which it



*    is linked follows another action



*    (“before”); imi-ɔɛ̃, (ʋ-)ɔtekpaɔ



*    [ ˩ ˥ ˩ ˥ \ / ] I saw him before he



*    had left; imi-ɔ̃‿ɛ̃dɛgbegbe, (ʋ-)



*    ɔteɣaxiã [ ˩ ˩ ˩ ˩ ˥ ˦ ˩ ˥ ˩ ˥ ˥ ] I see him



*    every day before he leaves.



*te [ / ] to decorate; t-ɛɽe [ / ˩ ]



*    decorate it! ɔt(e)‿owa [ ˩ ˩ ˥ ] he is



*    decorating the house; ɔt-egbe



*    [ ˩ ˩ ˥ ] he is decorating himself



*    (“the body”).



*t-ẽgbe [ ˩ ˥ ] mu [ ˥ ]; cf. tɔ̃ 4 [ ˥ ].



*teitei [ ˦ ˦ ] imitates the beating of



*    pulses (generally with fear); in



*    the case of the tortoise, leilei [ ˦ ˦ ]



*    is used (in stories) (the i is



*    long); v. afĩama [ ˩ ˩ ˩ ].



*tete [ ˩ ˥ ] to save, to be economical



*    with something; tet-ɛe [ ˩ \ ] save



*    it! Ozo, tet-inya n-iviɔ nwɛ ni n-



*    ɔmi-eke nay-usɛ̃ [ ˩ ˥ ˩ ˩ ˩ ˥ / / / ˦ ˩ ˩ ˥ ˩ ˥ ˦ ]



*    Ojo, be economical with the



*    yams I brought you so that they



*    will last ( “get a chance to last”)



*    for five days!