stand; to stop. Idiom.: iy-ow-
ɔkpa mu dia [ ˩ ˥ / ˥ ˩ ˥ ] “I stand
on one leg”: I have not yet
reached a decision (in a palaver,
or in any problem). mu [ ˥ ] dia
[ ˥ ] na [ ˥ ] to stand bail for some-
body; mu dia mɛ‿itey-owa re
[ ˩ ˩ ˥ ˥ ˩ ˩ ˥ ˦ ] “stand bail for me until
I go home and return”, i.e. until
I have returned; ɔʋ̃a n-imu dia
na lɛ fua [ ˩ ˩ ˥ ˥ ˩ ˥ / / ] the man
for whom I stood bail has run
away (which is said to happen
often). mu [ ˥ ] dia [ ˥ ] xɛ [ / ] to
wait for somebody; mu dia xɛ
ʋ̃ɛ-ɣ-ide [ ˩ ˩ ˩ ˥ ˩ / ] “wait for me
for I am coming”! Redupl. in:
imu dia mu dia [ ˩ ˥ ˦ ˩ ˥ ] I waited
and waited.
mua 1 [ / ] in mua [ / ] ɛʋ̃ɛ [ ˩ ˩ ]
to disobey; to argue; ɣɛgũ ʋ̃ɛ
mua‿ɛ̃ʋ̃ɛ [ ˥ ˩ ˥ ˩ ˥ ˩ ] “don’t argue
(the) matter with me”: don’t
disobey me! ɔmua ʋ̃-ɛ̃ʋ̃ɛ [ ˩ / ˦ ˩ ]
“he argued my word”: he dis-
obeyed me (also mua [ ˥ ]).
mua 2 [ / ] to multiply; inya na
mua gbe [ ˩ ˥ ˩ / ˦ ] “this yam has
multiplied”; not of the harvest,
but of an amount or piece of
yam which has yielded more
fufu than expected (also mua
[ ˥ ]); mua is also used of money
that multiplies by trading.
muegbɛdoo [ ˥ ˦ ˧ / ] a bird, rather
big, similar to idu [ ˥ ˩ ] (a dove);
cries at night, and in the
evening and morning. Its cry,
believed to be caused by worm-
bite, is interpreted as “(I am)
ready for Benin”, i.e. a cry to
affirm its willingness to go and
serve the Ɔba, while, on the
other hand, the worms that in
Bini belief cause it to cry are
