Word List: Affixes
| -al | , suffix | his; her; its; their. |
| -ang | , suffix | him; her; it. |
| -ed | , suffix | our (including you). |
| -ei | , suffix | used in terms of address such as chedei, ngelekei, merrengei, ochellei. |
| -emam | , suffix | our (excluding your). |
| -emam | , suffix | us (excluding you). |
| -emiu | , suffix | you (plural). |
| -id | , suffix | our (including your). |
| -id | , suffix | us (including you). |
| -il | , suffix | his; her; its; their (non-human). |
| -im | , suffix | your (singular). |
| -ir | , suffix | their (human). |
| -iu | , suffix | your (plural). |
| -kid | , suffix | us (including you). |
| -mam | , suffix | our (excluding your). |
| -miu | , suffix | your (plural). |
| -ud | , suffix | our (including your). |
| -ul | , suffix | his; her; its; their. |
do- /du- | , prefix | we (including you). |
i-
| , prefix | used to add emphasis to a pronoun (e.g. ikid, ise, itia). |
ki- /kimo- /kimu- | , prefix | we (excluding you) (second person plural exclusive affix).
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| me- | , prefix | used to modify a state verb to indicate that it is describing more than one thing. |
mo- /m- /cho- /chome- /chomo- /chomu- /mu- | , prefix | you. |
Examples: |
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> The school faces in the direction of M-Dock. |
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| o- | , prefix | used to convert a verb into an action noun. |
| ou- | , prefix | used to signify owning, possessing, or using something. |
re- /r- | , prefix | used to indicate a plurality of people.
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| rechad | n. | people. |
| rekebil | n.pl. | girls. |
remo /remong | n.plural | those people going (somewhere). |
| resensei | n. | teachers. |
| rebetok el chad | expr. | many people. |
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See also:
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Examples: |
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> He held discussions in the synagogue, trying to convince both Jews and Greeks. |
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> His family and the villagers were quite surprised at the boy's sudden good health and quick recovery. |
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> Because humans aren't as smart as animals. |
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> The inhabitants of Ngiual eat constantly (lit. seven times) throughout the day. |
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> The president persuaded the senators that were being stubborn. The president obtained the hearts of the senators that had high hearts. |
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Proverbs: |
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> The mountains of Koror are people. Several interpretations are given for this idiom: (i) Koror doesn't have mountains as high as other districts to the north, but the people are as high (elite) as mountains. (2) Others lay claim to the height of the mountains near their village, in Koror the people make the villages great. (3) A group of warriors from a northern village set out to raid Koror, but, as they approached the islands on which the hamlets of Koror are situated, they saw mountain after mountain fading away into the distance; dispairing any success against such a great nation, the raiders turned home. Actually, the mountains that they saw rugged, raised limestone islands-are nearly uninhabited, with Koror's population concentrated on islands of clay and volcanic origin along the northern fringe of the group. |
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> Narrow was our birth as humans. The saying defines life as a confined, perilous journey, symbolized by the painful narrowness of the birth canal. Generally applied to the trials of life, or sometimes by a parent to a child that does not want to do his chores. |
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More Examples: |
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> And you, how many people are in your family? |
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> People with headaches go to the hospital. |
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> There are 8 people in my family. |
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> Mormons ride bicycles. |
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> The people of Melekeok are very attractive. |
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| rechi- | , prefix | used to indicate a group of people from a particular country or of a particular ethnicity. |