na1 [nã́] vb.
1. to narrate:
Ozo na evbene emwin nii hia ya sunu hẹẹ ― “Ozo narrated how all those things came about”
;
2. to say, to utter (e.g. a prayer). (cf. naa).
na2 [nã́] adv.
sequential marker: then; and then:
Ọ ghi tuẹ iran nẹ, ọ na tota: ― “After he had greeted them, he then sat down.”
na3 [nã́] prep.
A variant of the
prep. ne which introduces the recipient or beneficiary in a sentence with verbs such as rhie, mu, viọ, etc. na is used when the complement NP does not immediately follow it:
Ọ rhie ígho ne Ozo: “He gave money to Ozo”
;
Ozo ẹre ọ rhie ígho na ― “It is Ozo that he gave the money to.”
na [nã́] adv.
1. occurs in relative clauses in which the relation is either temporal or locational:
Ẹghẹ ne ọ na rre, ma ma miẹ ọnrẹn ― “At the time when he came, we did not see him.”
2.
Ọ khama ima ehe ne ọ na miẹ ọnrẹn ― “She told us the place where she saw him.”
na [nà] dem. pron.
1. this:
Owa na ẹre ọ ye ― “This house is where he lives.”
;
2. general proximate: nearest, next before or after (in terms of place, order, time, thought sequence, causation, etc.):
Emwin ne u ru na i yẹ mwẹn ― “What you are doing now does not please me.”
Ne ọ na rre na, vbe ọ ghi ra dia? “As he has now come, where will he stay?”
.
naa [nã̀ã́] vb.
to spread uncomplimentary information about; to broadcast maliciously:
Ọ gha naa mwẹn khian ighẹ i ma rhie okhuo: “He is spreading unpleasant news about me concerning my not marrying.”
naa-ẹko [nã̀ɛkó] idiom.
to make pregnant; to put in the family way:
Ozo o naa Atiti ẹko: “It was Ozo that put Atiti in the family way.”
namwunsin [náɱṹsĩ̀] adv.
― cf. enamwunsin.
nana [nã̀nã́] vb.
1. to tread step by step; to climb gradually;
Fẹkọ nanaẹ ne u ghẹ de ― “Climb it slowly and gradually so that you may not fall.”
2. to narrate in detail; to spell out fully.
nè1 [nè] rel. pron.
it introduces a relative clause; the vowel is usually deleted before the vowel of the pron. subj. of the rel. clause, or the initial vowel of the following noun:
Ọ ma mwẹn eke nẹ ọ diaa: “He showed me where he stays.”
nè3 [nè] adv.
so that; that:
Lare ne i khama ruẹn ― “Come so that I may tell you (something).”
né1 [né] complz.
serves as a complementizer for (embedded) subjunctive clauses:
I ho ne u gha die owa mwẹn ― “I want you to come to my house.”
Ọ we ne ima kpaọ ― “He said that we should leave.”
(e)né2 [(e)né] dem.; art.
1^.^ serves to specify a definite reference; the vowel is usually deleted before a following vowel in normal speech:
ene ọmwan vboo? “Where is the person?”
I dẹ ene ukpọn ne u khare ― “I bought the cloth that you indicated.”
In this sense, ne, though translated as “the”, is different from the English def. article in that when it occurs with a noun, it does not merely indicate that the noun is not a first mention, but more strongly indicates that it is a specific reference: note the difference between these two sentences:
I miẹ ọnrẹn vbe ẹki. “I saw it at the market”
.
I miẹ ọnrẹn vbe ene eki. “I saw it at that particular market”
;
2. also serves to make attributive adjectives out of certain stative vbs:
kherhe ― “to be small”
;
nekherhe ― “small”
;
wẹnrẹn ― “to be thin”
;
newẹnrẹn ― “thin.”
né3 [né] epithetic part.
1. introduces attributive or titular qualifiers of a noun:
ọvbi-ẹre nokpia: “his male son”
;
Arhuanran n’olẹtin: “Arhuanran the strong one”
, etc.;
2. when it introduces a noun which serves as qualifier of itself, the particle usually serves to amplify the meaning of the noun, or to indicate the authenticity of the value of the noun:
okpia ne okpia nọ ― “He is a real man”
:
Ẹzọ ne ẹzọ ẹre ọ gui rhu ruẹ naa ― “It is a very solid case that he has argued against you.”
né4 [né] temp. part.
occurs before temporal nouns to express the sense of “that has passed”:
nukpo ― “the year that has passed”^ ― “a year ago”; “last year”
;
n’owiẹ-ẹrẹ ― “the morning that has passed”: this morning
.
negẹdẹẹgbẹ [négɛ̀dɛ̀g͡bɛ̀] adj.
very big, huge.
nekherhe [néxeře] adj.
small; little:
Owa nekherhe ― “a little house.”
nekhui [néxwĩ̀] adj.
black:
Ọmwan nekhui ― “a black person.”
nene [néne] dem. art.
emphatic form of né
2:
n’okpia ọna khin ― “This is the man (we were talking about).”
nene okpia ọna khin ― “This is the very man (we were talking about).”
nerhunmwun [néřũ̀ɱũ̀] vb.
to pray (also lerhunmwun).
nẹ1 [nɛ́] vb.
to defecate; to pass out faeces.
nẹ2 [nɛ́] adv.
already:
Ọ wu nẹ ra? “Has he died already?”
nẹ3 [nɛ́] n.
the form of the 3rd per. sgl. pronoun “it” which occurs with the interrogative word vboo:
nẹ vboo nia ― “Where is it now?”
nẹdẹ [nɛ́dɛ̀] adj.; adv.
in the days past; in the old days.
nẹdẹso [nɛ́dɛsò] adj.; adv.
some time ago.
nẹghẹdia [nɛ́ɣɛ́dya] adj.; adv.
two days ago (third day back from today).
nẹkpẹnnẹkpẹn [nɛ̃̀kpɛ̃̀nɛ̃̀kpɛ̃̀] adv.
gradually, cautiously:
Si irri nii nẹkpẹnnẹkpẹn ne ẹ ghe fian ― “Pull that rope cautiously so that it won’t cut.”
nẹvusẹn [nɛ́vúsɛ̃̀] adj.; adv.
four days ago (fifth day back from today).
ni1 [nĩ́] vb.
1. to subscribe (money) toward a group fund; to pay a membership levy:
i ni ígho-emitin mwẹn nẹ ― “I have paid my membership levy for my society”
;
2. to impose a membership levy:
Iran ni ígho-ukpọn emitin gun mwẹn ― “They sent to me about the membership levy I was required to pay, toward the purchase of the society uniform.”
ni2 [nĩ́] vb.
1. (of a boat or canoe) to overturn; to sink:
Ọkọ iran ni ye ẹzẹ ― “Their boat overturned in the river.”
ni3 [nĩ́] vb.
(with orhiọn) to fail; to cease:
Orhiọn ni mwẹn ― “Soul has failed me”: “I feel faint; I am tired.”
nia [nĩ̀ã́] adv.
1. now; at this time:
ọ sẹtin gha khian nẹ nia ― He is now able to walk already
;
2. at last, finally:
Eban i ghi doo mioẹn nia ― “It is now that I have finally found it.”^
(nia never occurs in utterance initial position).
niania [nyã̀nyã́] vb.
(usually with an abstract obj.) to drag indefinitely; to extend beyond proportions:
Ọ guẹ vbe a niania ẹmwẹn hẹẹ gbe ― “He is too fond of dragging matters indefinitely.”
(also tiantian).
niẹ [nĩ̀ɛ̃́] vb.
1. to stretch; to extend, to point:
Ọ niẹ owẹ gbe odẹ ― “He extended his legs across the way.”
nii [nĩ́ĩ́] dem. adj.
1. “that”:
ebe nii ― “that book”
;
2. generally specifies things remote or far away, in place or time:
Ne u na rre nii ― “that (time) when you came”
;
ehe ne i ma te ye nii ― “that place where we used to be”
, etc.
niwẹwẹ [nĩ́wɛ̀wɛ̀] adj.
(with amẹ) drizzling:
amẹ niwẹwẹ ne ọ miẹ ẹdẹ ― “the drizzling rain that took all day.”
nodẹ [nṍdɛ̀] adv.; adj.
yesterday.
nogie- [nṍgiè] adj.; num.
prefix used with numerals to derive their ordinal forms:
nogieva ― second
;
nogieha ― third
;
nogiene ― fourth
. etc.
nokaro [nṍkàɽò] adv.; adj.
the first.
nọ [nɔ̃́] cop.
to be; a form of the copula which does not take a complement.
Ọse mwẹn nọ ― “My friend it is”: “He is my friend”
.
Rẹn nọ ― “Him it is”: “It is him.”
(also cf. khin.)
nọfua [nɔ̃́fwà] adj.
white; whitish (pl. nefua).
(e)nọkhaevbisẹ [nɔ̃̀xaeʋìsɛ] adj.; n.
“he who says what comes to be”: the one in authority; the presiding authority. (pl. nikhaevbisẹ).
nọkhua [nɔ̃́xwà] adj.
1. big, large ―
erhan nọkhua ― “big tree”
;
2. (with kin terms): grand:
erha-nọkhua ― (pl. nekhua) “grandfather”
.
nọkpa [nɔ̃́kpà] adj.
the other (one):
Ebe nọkpa ọre ọghomwẹn ― “It is the other book that is my own (pl. nekpa).”
nọkpọlọ [nɔ̃̀kpɔ̀lɔ́] adj.
large, expansive:
Ẹvbo nọkpọlọ ọ yẹ mwẹn ― “It is large towns that I like.”
(pl. nikpọlọ).
nọmaa [nɔ̃̀mã̀ã́] adj.
good:
evbare nọmaa ― “good food”
.
nọnọ [nɔ̃̀nɔ̃́] vb.
to drip; to pour a drop at a time, or very slowly e.g.
ofigbọn nọnọ ye aga ― “Some palm oil dripped on the chair.”
nukpo [nṹkpò] adv.; adj.
last year:
Ọ rre nukpo ― “He came last year.”