Home Introduction Grammar English-Rapanui
a e g h haka i k m n o p r t u v
I
- i,
- 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.
- 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.
- preposition: in, on, at (space): i te kaiga nei, on this island.
- preposition: in, on (time): i mu'a, before; i agataiahi, yesterday; i agapó, tonight; i te poá, in the morning.
- preposition: in the power of: i a îa te ao, the command was in his power.
- adverb of place: here. i au nei, I am here (also: i au i , here I am, here).
- î,
- full; ku-î-á te kete i te kumara, the bag is full of sweet potatoes.
- to abound, to be plentiful; ki î te îka i uta, as there are lots of fish on the beach.
- 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,
- nose; ihu more. snub nose, snub-nosed person.
- ihuihu cape, reef; ihuihu - many reefs, dangerous for boats.
- 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.
- 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,
- fish.
- 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).
- 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).
- corpse of man fallen in war.
- îku,
- 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.
- 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,
- bit of, piece of: ioio hukahuka, a bit of wood; ioio kiko, a piece of meat.
- 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,
- 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.
- 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,
- bone; fishbone.
- ivi-tia, sewing needle.
- ivi tika, spine, vertebra.
- ivi atua, being of the other world.
- ivi tumu atua, seer, wizard.
- ivi heheu swordfish.