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!
