ra¹ [ `][ɽà] {SS::} inter. part. question particle
requiring a “Yes” or “No” answer:
Ọ rre ra? ― Did he come?

ra² [ `][ɽà] {SS::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} vb. to till; to stuff up;
to cram: Ọ ran uvun ne ọ tọnnọẹ ―
“He filled the hole that he dug.”

rae [ `'][ɽàé] {SS::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} vb. to fry in oil;
to cook by frying ― Ọ ranmwẹn
emiowo ne ima re ― “He fried meat
for us to eat.”

ranran [ ` '][ɽã̀ɽã́] {SS::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} vb. to incur (e.g. hardship)
%%

(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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} cop. to be: Ọkpa re okpia
nọkẹre re okhuo ― “One is male
while the other is female.”

ree [ `'][ɽèé] {SM::} vb. 1. to bury (a dead person).;
2. to conceal: Ọ ree ẹre ye uwu ukpọn
― “She concealed it in her apparel.”

reghe [ ' '][ɽéɣé] {SS::} adv. describes something
that is very high up: Ọ rhie rrọ reghe
vbe odukhunmwun ― “He hung very
high above (also reghereghe).”

reghereghe [ ' ' ' '][ɽéɣéɽéɣé] {SM::} adv. 1. very
high; far beyond reach; 2. (of eyes):
deep-set.

rere [ ' ][ɽéɽe] {SS:gr:} int. a greeting, used mainly
by the elderly, to mean “welcome”.

rerere [ ' ' '][ɽéɽéɽé] {SS::} adv. describes a very
high pitched sound ― Ọ da van rerere
― “He gave vent to a loud shrill.”

rẹẹn [ `'][ɽɛ̃̀ɛ̃́] {SM::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SM::} 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] {SS::} vb. to crawl (like an
insect); to glide slowly on the ground.

rẹnrẹnrẹn [ ` ` `][ɽ̃ɛ̃̀ɽ̃ɛ̃̀ɽ̃ɛ̃̀] {SS::} adv,; adj. de-
scribes smooth and gentle motion,
or appearance.

rẹrẹ [ ` '][ɽɛ̀ɽɛ́] {SM::} 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] {SS::} dem. adj. a variant of the
demonstrative adjective “nii”, used
mainly by “^old people”.

rinmwian [ ` '][ɽĩ̀ɱyã́] {SS::} 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] {SS::} vb. to be cheap: Evbare waa
ro vbe ẹvbo na ― “Food is quite
cheap in this town.”

ro² [ '][ɽó] {SS::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} vb. to be undesirably soft
%%

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] {SS::} vb. cf. roro.

roro [ ` '][ɽòɽó] {SM::} 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] {SM::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SM::} 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] {SM::} 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] {SS::} vb. to marry (used
mainly of a woman) Ọtenmwẹn ẹre
ọ rọnmwẹn ― “It is my relation
that she married.”

ru [ '][ɽú] {SM::} vb. 1. to do; to perform ―
Ọ ru iwinna ne a munẹẹn 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] {SM::} vb. 1. to sin; to err;
2. to ill-treat.

rua¹ [ `'][ɽùá] {SS::} 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] {SS::} pron. same as ruan².

ruan¹ [ `'][ɽũ̀ã́] {SS::} 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] {SS::} 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).
%%

ruburubu [ ` ` ` `][ɽùbùɽùbù] {SS::} adj. (usually in-
troduced by the vb. ye) describes
something that is round and smooth.

rue [ `'][ɽùé] {SS::} vb. to vie with (usually of
co-wives).

ruegbe [ ` '][ɽwègbé] {SS::} 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] {SS::} vb. to shake; to move
back and forth; to be unsteady.

ruẹ¹ [ `'][ɽùɛ́] {SM::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} 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] {SS::} n. same as ruẹ², but
occurs only in a nasal environment:
ẹmwẹn ruẹn ― “your matter”.

ruẹse [ ` '][ɽwɛ̀sé] {SM::} 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] {SS::} adj. (usu-
ally intr. by the vb. “ye”) describes
something (or somebody) that is
weak and unhealthy-looking.
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runran [ ` '][ɽ̃ũ̀ɽ̃ã́] {SS::} 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.”
%%

ruosa [ ` '][ɽwòsá] {SS::} vb. (< ru¹ ― osa) to
incur a debt; to be in debt.

rururu [ ` ` `][ɽùɽùɽù] {SS::} adj. (usually in-
troduced by the vb. “ye”) describes
a big and distended object.