Wamesa and Tongan/Lexical Selection
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
- Babinpai antumpai sumatotap. (The woman and the child fall.)
- Aniopasiat simatotap. (The houses are collapsing.)
- Imun pimunapesi. (I am hunting a pig.)
- 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.)
The translation for "kakalu" here should be "sararer", because it is preceded by the verb, "moloki", meaning to step on. It is common to use the verb to step on, to refer to stepping on an insect.
- 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.)
In this example, the translation "sau" should be chosen, because "tangi" is followed by the word for baby, "valevale". A baby is more likely to cry, than to ask a question.
- ʻOku tangi e valevale. (The baby cries.)
