I

i
  1. preposition denoting the accusative: o te hanau eepe i-hoa i te pureva mai Poike ki tai, the hanau eepe threw the stones of Poike into the sea. Te rua muraki era i a Hotu Matu'a. the grave where they buried Hotu Matu'a.
  2. preposition: for, because of, by action of, for reason of…, ku-rari-á te henua i te ûa the ground is soaked by the rain; i te matu'a-ana te hakaúru i te kai mo taana poki huru hare, the mother herself carries (lit.: by the mother herself the taking…) the food for her son secluded in the house.
  3. preposition: in, on, at (space): i te kaiga nei, on this island.
  4. preposition: in, on (time): i mu'a, before; i agataiahi, yesterday; i agapó, tonight; i te poá, in the morning.
  5. preposition: in the power of: i a îa te ao, the command was in his power.
  6. adverb of place: here. i au nei, I am here (also: i au i , here I am, here).
î
  1. full; ku-î-á te kete i te kumara, the bag is full of sweet potatoes.
  2. to abound, to be plentiful; ki î te îka i uta, as there are lots of fish on the beach.
  3. to start crying (of a baby): i-ûi-era te ma-tu'a ku-î-á te poki mo tagi, he-ma'u kihaho, when a mother saw that her baby was starting to cry she would take it outside.
îa
personal pronoun: he, she, it; often preceded in the nominative by e: e îa; and in the other cases by a; a îa, ki a îa.
îgoîgo
dirty, to get dirty.
igoa [îgoa]
name; igoa nuinui, main name (of a country); he-nape i te igoa, to give a name; igoa hakaponoko, nickname.
ihe
a fish.
ihi, ihi-ihi
to break up into small pieces, to crumble, to tear to pieces; he-ihi i te maúku, to separate fibres.
ihi
line of singing women at a feast or an êi.
iho
recent, just now, immediately, then: poreko iho, newborn. he-tu'u-iho-mai koe mai rá? have you just arrived from there? he-agiagi-iho. I just learnt it.
ihoiho
to ebb (of tide water); undertow. Ana tai hori, he-ihoiho te vai, when low tide begins, the waters ebb.
ihu
  1. nose; ihu more. snub nose, snub-nosed person.
  2. ihuihu cape, reef;ihuihu - many reefs, dangerous for boats.
  3. ihu moko.
    • to die out (a family of which remains only one male without sons); koro hakamao te mate o te mahigo, he-toe e-tahi tagata nó, ina aana hakaara, koîa te me'e e-kî-nei: ku-moko-á te ihu o te mahigo. when the members of family have died and there remains only one man who has no offspring, we say: ku-moko-á te ihu o te mahigo.
    • to disappear (of a tradition, a custom), me'e ihu moko o te tagata o te kaiga nei, he êi, the êi is a custom no longer in use among the people of this island.
  4. eldest child; first-born; term used alone or in conjunction with atariki.
ii-iore
a marine gasteropod which, like the squid, secretes a dark blue ink-like liquid.
îka
  1. fish.
  2. in some cases, animal in general: îka ariga koreha, animal with the face of a koreva fish (name given to horses when they arrived on the island, because of the resemblance of their heads with that of a koreva).
  3. victim (wounded or killed), enemy who must be killed, person cursed by a timo and destined to die; îka reirei, vanquished enemy, who is kicked (rei).
  4. corpse of man fallen in war.
îku
  1. to choose the best; to arrange something in the best possible way; something fine, exquisite, choice: he-îku i te tagata. to select the best men; tagata îku, fine man: he îku i te kahu, to make a fine dress; he-îku i te kaihaga, to choose delicate, light food. I te nohoga tûai, te matu'a he hakama'a ki taana poki me îku i te kai-haga; e-kai i te me'e mo ta'e pagaha'a; te uhi, te tôa, te me'e mokai. Ana tu'u ki-te ta'u o te oge, ina ekó rahi te haga ki te kai. In the old days, a father would teach his son to choose fine, light foods, and not to eat heavy foods: yams and sugarcane was what he had to eat. When later came a famine, he did not need to eat much.
  2. to receive one's due share: ka-tahuga.
ikuvera
ash (ancient word for éoéo).
ina
no, nothing, no-one; ina au kaihaga I don't want to.
inaga
heart.
inaki
to complement some food with (hai) some other food; e-inaki-nei au i te îka hai kumara, I am helping myself to fish with sweet potatoes.
ioio
  1. bit of, piece of: ioio hukahuka, a bit of wood; ioio kiko, a piece of meat.
  2. ioio ragi mageo, a poison used in ancient times to poison people.
ipu
gourd (as a container): ipu kaha; abdomen of a lobster: ipu ûra.
irá
there.
iramuta
fellow human-being, neighbour.
iri
  1. to go up; to go in a boat on the sea (the surface of which gives the impression of going up from the coast): he-eke te tagata ki ruga ki te vaka, he-iri ki te Hakakaiga, the men boaded the boat and went up to Hakakainga.
  2. Ka-iri ki puku toiri ka toiri. obscure expression of an ancient curse.
iri-are
a seaweed.
ite
to know; possibly a Tahitian word, nowadays used more than ma'a or agiagi.
iti, iti-iti
small, little, few. The idea of "all without exceptions" can be expressed by iti-nui (iinstead of ananake) ka-oho tahi, tagata iti, tagata nui, vî'e iti, vî'e nui, poki iti, poki nui. let all go, big and small men, big and small women, big and small children.
iuhi
bone needle, anciently used for tattooing.
ivi
  1. bone; fishbone.
  2. ivi-tia, sewing needle.
  3. ivi tika, spine, vertebra.
  4. ivi atua, being of the other world.
  5. ivi tumu atua, seer, wizard.
  6. ivi heheu swordfish.