D - d

daeha   vi. be red in colour, be bruised.

daekarai daeha   n. a kind of soft yam.

daekarai lulu   n. a kind of soft yam.

daendae₁   vi. be rusty.

daendae₂   vi. be on heat. Vuria mo daendae. The dog's on heat. Usage: In reference to dogs only. See: lolombu.

dae-   n. blood. daeku, daera my blood, their blood.

daha   n. cowry, brown-black in colour.

dalihahi   adv. around, all about. Mo walau dalihahi Natamambo. He went all about Malo.

dalindalihahi   adv. all around everywhere.

dalingalinga   vi. 1 • overflowing, as with bucket of water.

2 • fully laden, as with a boat.

dali, dalindali   vi. walk on four legs, roam around. Usage: Used only in reference to animals.

dam   n. yam/s. Dioscorea species.

dam buria   n. 'strong' yams, planted January-February; harvested usually September->October, especially at palolo worm season (bong'eli). Dioscorea nummularia. 33 varieties recorded on Malo. e.g buarambuara, buria hani na vauranji, haritawa, livuha, malaiwoke, marou, marou bambaravu, marou daeha, marou hanjaviri, marou waitalaua, raharaha, taemuata, timbuaki,vora, vusawora.

dam imasu   n. wild yam/s. Sometimes planted in gardens but usually along bush tracks and amongst kakao trees; 15 known varieties, incl. 2 suru and 11 'strong yams' on Malo. buarambuara sile, buarambuara buho, lesulesu, manjiou.

dam malulum   n. 'soft' yams, planted September-> December, harvested in March-> June. 89 known varieties on Malo. e.g beimbei bisuroi mamua bisuroi tambelo buasa buelira bambaravu buelira bumbusohi daekarai daeha daekarai lulu eretab (from Nth Efate) hambai toa jingomae makila muatamanjo prospek rangai mambue ravusahi bambaravi ravusahi bumbusohi tambae tambae kerembuilo tambae vavine toltolu huri malulum toltolu hurindira tumas viravira vuruvuru waelu waelu joriha wowaromba. Variant: dam vurohi. Dioscorea alata.

dami   vt. 1 • ask about something. Mo damiau hinia. S/he asked me about it.

2 • ask for something or someone. Tamalohi tari na mai na damira. Lots of men came and asked for them (to marry).

dami sai   vt. enquire after something, make enquiries about something.

dami vuotovuoto   vt. ask after someone. Ole damvuotovuoto kamam. You are asking after us. Variant: dami wotowoto. See: sorae damvuotovuoto.

damindami₁   n. prayers. Variant: damdam.

vi. pray.

damindami₂   vi. carry all the yams to church. Kale damdami ana skul. We are carrying all the yams to church. Variant: damdam.

danga   vi. be rotten, in reference to food.

dange   n. shell.

dangemburohi   n. coconut shell after being scraped. Ka lai na dangemburohi ka taua mo lai buaki na buru. We get the scraped-out coconut shells and put them down around the earth oven.

dangendange   n. shellfish (general term).

danindani   vi. tell false stories about someone, lie about something. Usage: Old word. Variant: dandan. See: korekore.

darami   vt. answer someone. Mo daramiau hinia. He answered me about it.

darasi   vt. tear calico or paper.

dare   vt. tear something. Mo dare na bembe. He tore the letter. See: mandare.

daui   n. coconut crab. Variant: dawi.

davindavili   vi. walk about to see what's going on, wander around, 'hang out'. Nale davindavili mo vano aien. They keep/kept on wandering around here. Ka jivo alau kale davindavili ana oneone. We went down to the coast and were walking about on the sand.

davu   vt. pull out something.

davuahi   vt. watch someone, stare at something or someone. Kumbo davuahi na vaimuera na kova. I will watch the boys play soccer. Variant: dawahi.

davulevule   vi. full. Ketel mo davulevule. The kettle is full.

dawawa   vi. very surprising and unexpected. hinahinau dawawa something very unexpected. Ka dawawa hinia. We were very surprised about it.

dehi   vt. carry something on one's shoulders, or with one's hands (such as a child, load of wood); to carry a mental burden. Kute dehi watia. I'm not able to bear it.

dende   vi. grow crooked. Nate dende na batuna tovon le vorivori. They kept his head straight when he was little. (lit. they did not grow his head crooked when he was little.)

dendei simba   n. blunt edge of a knife blade.

dengadenga   n. Green palm Lorikeet, a kind of small green parrot, about 15cm long; has a yellow-green neck, breast, belly, and a bright scarlet beak. Makes a chattering sound 'tswit..tswit'. Eats nectar, pollen and especially likes the coral tree (vurara).

deo   vi. defecate, shit.

deosi   vt. defecate on something, shit on something.

derenga   n. a 'tabu' or sacred place, perhaps a tree or stream where bad spirits dwell.

dihe   n. cowrie , white-yellow in colour.

dihi   vi. hop.

dila   n. small stones, put down underneath in earth oven. See: tahasi tiutiu.

dilandila   n. pebbles.

dilangi   vt. bang something together. Na dilangi na batura. They banged their heads together.

dilo   1 • vi. be bald. Tamalohi niala mo dilo. That man is bald.

2 • n. bald head.

dimango   n. coconut, at young stage with no flesh, only water. maku dimango my coconut (to drink). See: bombo.

dingi₁   vt. chase out something. Na dingi na heletu ana tano. They chased the pigs out of the garden.

dingi₂   n. small bunch, especially of bananas. dingi vetai small bunch of bananas. See: sola.

dingisisi   n. long wooden support posts, running the length of house, placed on beru (main houseposts). Variant: dingsisi.

dira   vi. hard to the touch, difficult.

dirahi   vt. stretch out something, as with arms or wings.

diri   vt. hatch out egg/s.

dirindiri   vi. be hatching out, as with chickens. Nale dirindiri. They are hatching out.

diringi   vt.

diringi buerohi   vt. remind someone. Mo diringi buerohia. He reminded him.

diringi vusa   v.phr. tap lightly with finger on coconut to see if it is ripe.

diri-   n. buttocks. Rangai vuhai mo turu ana dirina. The branch of the tree stuck in his bottom.

diundiu   n. small sugar ant; general term for all small brown/ red ants.

divedive   vt. shake off, brush off something. Mo divedive na 'crums' ana ruru. She shakes the crumbs off the cloth.

dividivi   Usage: East dialect See: divindivi.

divindivi   vi. sniffly, have a runny nose. Vavine vorivori mo divindivi. The little girl has a runny nose.

divi-   n. nasal mucous, snot.

divule   Usage: East dialect See: sevuti.

doa   vi. scream, call out. Usage: Same in East dialect

doae   n. screams, sounds of calling out.

dohi   Usage: East dialect See: ronjo.

doli   vi. be round. Batuna mo doli. His head was round.

domdom   v. think. Moiso mo domdomi na sala atea. Then he thought of a way. Variant: domdomi.

domdomia   n. thought/s.

domi   vt. feel sad about something, sorry for something/ someone. Ku domiho. I feel sad for/about you. Usage: Use of this word is an expression of sympathy, not an apology.

domi-   n. neck. Bulaku vuria, domina mo vuriha. As for my dog, his neck was black.

domtau   vi. believe. Ku domtau matan kumbo vano. I believe that I will go. Variant: domitau.

domtauhi   vt. believe in something. Vevesai hinahinau rindi nira na domdomtauhira, nambo lolira. As for all of those things they believed in, they will do them. Variant: domdomtauhi.

domtauhia   n. belief. Noku domtauhia nia sohena. My belief is the same.

domtihaihi   vt. lose something, for no reason, needlessly, or because of inaction. Mo domtihaihi na mauruna. He needlessly lost his life.

domtoho   vi. meditate, think seriously.

domtuhutuhu   vi. repent.

domtutun   vi. be concerned, conscientious, take something seriously. Hinda ka domtutun hina nonda sahasahae. We are conscientious with our work. Variant: domitutunu.

domue   vt. cut something. Variant: domwe.

domuetahi   vt. cut something completely through or out. Volima mo domuetahi na asi mwende le tauri lalati na vumbwe. Volima cut off the rope that held the bamboo together. Variant: domwetahi.

dondo   n. night, night time.

dondo tawera   n. midnight.

dondoha   vi. 1 • be dark.

2 • be cloudy, overcast.

dondole   n. throat.

dondonaka   n. whale.

dongo   vt. crown someone. See: indongo.

dono   vi. sink.

donohi   vt. make something sink. Tamalohi atea mo tiu donohi na aka matai kelekelea. A man sank the boat as payback.

donomi   vt. swallow something.

donosere   vi. choke, as when something is stuck in throat.

doro   v. 1 • make a sharp noise such as snap, knock.

2 • belch. Mo doroa. He belched (it).

dorondoro   vi. be knocking.

dorongi   vt. make a banging sound on something, like a stick on a glass bottle.

dosi   n. name of a traditional dance in which women dance, while men sing and keep rhythm.

dovo   vi. be rotten, worn out (trees, clothes). Na tai hunjurahi na lovuhai matani na dovondovo. The cleared the trees because they were rotting. Variant: dovondovo.

duele   n. fruit from asinduele vine.

dueli   v. remove mid-rib of ravaro (varo leaf) to be used for tying up laplap.

duhu   vi. be good, nice, lovely.

duhuha   vi. be important. Nian mo duhuha. This is important.

duhunduhu   vi. very good, wonderful. sorae duhunduhu wonderful story (usually in reference to Bible).

duhuvosai   vi. very nice, very good. Nia vavine duhuvosai. She's an extremely nice woman. Usage: Used to describe a person.

dule₁   vt. dig holes for yams and plant them.

dule₂   vt. husk something. Tom mo dule na niu alima. Tom husked five coconuts.

dulendulea   n. planting of yams, yam planting time.

duli   n. dwarf, kind of very small wild person, with sharp fingernails. It is believed that they used to live in caves on Malo in olden times.

duma   vt. cover over someone, as with a blanket. O dumae! Cover him over!

dumani   vt. put on top, get on top of someone, as when two children are playing and one rolls on top of the other. Niho o dumania! You got on top of him!

dumdum   vi. make the noise of truck backfiring, or with a noisy engine. Truk mole dumdum. The truck's backfiring. Variant: dumdumu.

dumi   vt. measure something, as with petrol, length of bamboo. Ka dum na petrol. We measured out the petrol. Variant: dum.

dumisi   vt. explain something step by step, 'spell out' something. Voi mo dumisia teleiau matan mama a jivo Vila. Mum explained to me that dad was to go to Vil.a.

dumu   vi. explode lf SynD=dibali. Variant: dum.

dundunu   vt. soak clothes in water, immerse something in water. Voi mo dundun na ruru matai sombusombua. /xe Mum soaked the clothes for washing.

duradura   Usage: East dialect See: savsav.

duro   vi. be raw. Usage: Old word.

duru   v. break, split, as of walls, box, teeth. See: manduru.

duvuahi   vt. look at, stare at. Variant: duwahi.