Wamesa and Tongan/Lexical Selection
From LING073
wad → ton
The Wamesa word matotap can mean to fall or to collapse.
- (wad) matotap (to fall) → tō (ton)
- (wad) matotap (to collapse) → holo (ton)
In Wamesa, mun means to hunt or to kill.
- (wad) mun (hunt) → fakaʻete (ton)
- (wad) mun (kill) → tāmateʻi (ton)
Example sentences
- Ex: Babinpai antumpai sumatotap. (The woman and the child fall.)
- Ex: Aniopasiat simatotap. (The houses are collapsing.)
- Ex: Imun pimunapesi. (I am hunting a pig.)
- Ex: Imun muanpai. (I killed the man.)
ton → wad
The Tongan word tangi means to cry/weep as well as to ask/appeal.
- (ton) (to cry/weep) tangi → sau (wad)
- (ton) (to ask/appeal) tangi → utanusara (wad)
In Tongan, kakalu means either cricket or whistle. Generally speaking, kakalu will likely translate to cricket more often than whistle, because it is a secondary definition for whistle.
- (ton) (large cricket or cicada) kakalu → sararer (wad)
- (ton) (whistle) kakalu → nginggisi (wad)
Example sentences
In this example sentence, the lexical selection tool should choose the translation "nginggisi", because the "kakalu" is preceded by the verb "angi", which means to blow.
- ʻOku ou angi e kakalu. (I blow the whistle.)
- ʻOku ou moloki e kakalu. (I step on a cricket.)
In this example, the translation "utanusara", because "tangi" is followed by the word for question.
- ʻOku ou tangi a fehuʻi. (I ask a question.)
- ʻOku tangi