*Categories: 
Dimension Levu - big; plenty Valevu - loudly, big, 
a lot 
Levulevu - very big 
lailai/lalai - small 
Valalai - shorter, 
smaller 
E xa lailai a vinivo - 
the dress is small 
Physical Kaka - hard Vakaka - hard (adv?) 
Rawarawa - easy 
Rawa - can? possible? 
Colour Tamutamu - red Xaraxarawa - blue 
Loaloa - black 
A mo’oxa levu - the car is (very) big ‘Ama’a levulevu - a big person 
A ‘ama’a levulevu - The person is very big A gone levu - the child is big 
A gone levulevu - the child is very big *A gone valevulevu - can’t use ‘valevulevu’ here 
*A gone valevu - can’t use ‘valevu’ here E levu ‘ama’a - plenty of people 
E lailai ‘ama’a - few people 
A ‘ama’a lailai - the person is small *A ‘ama’a lai - need ‘lailai’ not just ‘lai’ Lai sili - go shower (imperative) 
Sili - shower 
*A mo’oxa levulevu - can’t use levulevu here *A mo’oxa valevu 
Ma levu a mo’oxa - There was plenty of cars *Valevu a mo’oxa 
E levu a mo’oxa - plenty of cars 
*E valevu a mo’oxa 
E xa levu a mo’oxa - The car is big (lit. the big thing, it’s a car) 
A ma xa levu a mo’oxa - the car was big Kai rogorogolevu ira va’agi - the music is very loud 
‘Ona xisi lailai - her small box 
A gone xoi e lalai mai vei xea a gone gona - this child is smaller than that child 
Sa musuxa rawa a banixacu kaka - She was able to break the hard branch 
E ‘onoxa xea vaxaxa - he poked her hard (with his hand) 
A xalo e rawarawa - swimming is easy 
A mo’oxa tamutamu - the car is red Tamutamu ona mo’oxa - his car is red 
E boroya valoaloa. - he painted it black.
Human propensity Civo ‘anger’ Re - ‘kind, nice’ 
*E valoaloa ‘axina a mo’oxa. - He blackened the car. - this is incomplete (needs a verb with ‘valoaloa’) 
E xaraxarawa ai boro - the paint is blue 
*E xaraxarawa ai boro bale’i xea - the paint is blue because of her (not complete, doesn’t have an end) 
E tanava e so viro ai boro - She mixes in other paint 
E tanava’a ai boro tamutamu. - She mixes the red paint. 
Tanava - mixing, put together 
So viro ai boro - other paint 
E loaloa a mo’oxa - the car is black 
E boroya loaloa - he painted it black E boroya vatamutamu. - he painted it red. 
‘O xea civo’i au - he’s angry at me 
Au civo ‘ixo - I’m very angry (lit: I’m remaining/still angry) 
Au civo - I’m angry 
Au civocivo - I’m very angry (rep. is emphatic) Laxo vacivocivo - I’m walking away angrily O xea sa civo - T hat person is angry Gone re - That person is kind/nice 
Gone re ‘ixo - Child is good 
O xea gone gona e gone re veiau - That person is nice to me 
O xea e caxava va re - S/he does that well *O xea e caxava re - needs the ‘va’ 
Mo’oxa xoi e xa re mai vei xea gona - This car is better than that car
Age Kase - old Gone - yoswung 
Mo’oxa xoi e xa re - This car is good/This car is better/This car is the best (intonation changes for better, high falling pitch on “xa re”) 
Mo’oxa xoi e ma’alau - This car is 
comfortable/excellent (nice seats, really nice) 
Mai vei ira aucoxo a mo’oxa o xea xoi e xa re. - Compared to the other cars, this (car) is the best one. (of all the cars, this is the best one) Aucoxo - other/s 
Sa ma‘ua xena ‘uraga - That man is old (polite way of saying ‘old man’) 
?Sa ma’ua xena ‘ama’a - doesn’t work well with ‘ama’a 
Xena ixa - his/her fish 
Gona xemu ixa - That’s your fish 
Gona xemu ni ixa - That’s your fish (more formal) 
*Sa ma’ua xemu ‘uraga - Wouldn’t say this, kind of rude (grammatically okay though - example from Sisilia of Biden being called ‘older brother’ rather than uncle) 
Sa ma’ua omu ni ‘uraga - Your man is old (with the ‘ni’ is more polite, it’s not so direct) Sa ma’ua omu ‘uranga - Your man is old (without the ‘ni’ is not so polite) 
*Sa ma’ua xeku ‘uraga - not good for ‘that man is old’ 
Memu wai - your water 
Memu ni wai - your water (formal, respectful) 
‘Ama’a vuku - A clever man 
E ‘ama’a a vuku - The man is clever *E xena ‘ama’a a vuku - not good for ‘the man is clever 
Sa vuku xena ‘ama’a - That man is clever
Sa vuku xemu ‘ama’a - Your man is clever; Your people are clever 
*Gonemu - not good for ‘your child’ ‘Ubumu - Your grandmother 
Sa ma’ua luvemu ‘alewa - Your daughter is mature 
*Sa ma’ua ni luvemu ‘alewa - ‘ni’ can’t fit in here to be more formal 
luvemu agane - Your son 
*luve - need to use it with ‘luvemu ‘alwewa’ for ‘daughter’ or ‘luvemu agane’ for ‘son’ 
Sa ma’ua omu gone - Your child is mature (This first one is just general, in the market place etc) 
Sa ma’ua omu ni gone - Your child is mature (using it to someone who is more of a different standard, maybe in an official place or talking to someone in their official position, much more formal) 
*Sa ma’ua ona ni gone - not good for his/her child is mature 
Sa ma’ua ona gone - His/her child is mature Sa ma’ua o ira gone - Your children is mature Sa ma’ua omu druxa gone - Your (du) child is mature 
*Sa ma’ua omu druxa ni gone - Can’t use ‘ni’ here 
Gona xedra ixa - That’s your fish 
*Gona xedra ni ixa - Can’t use ‘ni’ here 
Ma’ua - old, ripe, mature 
Sa kase xena ‘uraga - that man is old (not really a difference between kase and ma’ua) 
‘Uraga - man 
Sa ma’ua xena gone - that/his/her child is mature (formal) 
Sa ma’ua ona gone - that/his/her child is mature (casual)
Value Re - good ca - bad? 
Speed ‘O’olo - fast Berabera - slow 
Malua - slow 
*Sa ma’ua mena gone - not okay, “mena” is for drinkables only 
Ona yabaxi - his age 
*xena yabaxi 
Xena - refers to the age 
A xena magi’i - his/her food 
Xena xoli’i - that dog’s food 
Xena - that person’s food 
*Sa ma’ua ona gone 
*sa ma’ua xemu gone 
*Sa kase xena gone - that child is old “The five year is ma’ua than the four year old” 
E ma’ua o xea e abaxi lima - The five year old is older 
E ma’ua o xea e abaxi lima mai vei xea e abaxi ‘olu - The five year old is older than the three year old 
Abaxi - age 
‘Oku nei sa gone - My aunt is young. ‘Oku nei sa gone ‘ixo. - My aunt is childish (can say in a joking way). 
*‘Oku nei sa gone ‘u. (can’t have gone with ‘u) *‘Oku nei na gone - can’t put ‘na’, need ‘sa’ ‘Oku nei e gone - My aunt is young 
E gone ‘oku nei - My aunt is young 
‘Oi druxa vuanixacu e ubu re - their plant fruit is growing well 
A sucu e gunure (gunu re) - the milk is delicious 
A raisi e xanare - the rice tastes good Xana - eat 
E ‘o’olo a mo’oxa - The car is fast. 
Au bale - I’m walking, I walk (casually) Laxo va‘o’olo - I’m walking fast
Try: 
Adj + ‘ixo/ ‘u 
Adj + na (fut) 
Adj + ma (Prefective aspect/Past tense) Possession + adj 
Superlatives 
Comparatives 
Also interesting to check: 
I’m hungry 
Au ma’a xana - I want to eat 
I’m thirsty 
Au ma’a gunu - I want to drink I’m tired 
Au tagataga - I’m tired 
Au sa rui tagataga - I’m very tired Rui - very 
Laxo ‘o’olo - go fast (instruction) 
Laxo vaberabera - I’m walking slower and slower 
Laxo vamalua - I’m walking slowly 
*E malua a mo’oxa 
E berabera a mo’oxa - The car is slow E vaberabera a mo’oxa - The car is slowing down 
E bera a mo’oxa - The car is late 
*E vabera a mo’oxa - not ok for ‘The car is very slow/late’ 
‘Ubu va’o’olo a xa e ‘ea - The plant is growing quickly
‘aga - sack 
I’m sick 
Au avima’e - I’m sick (generally unwell, not specifically a cold or anything) Au avima’e valevu - I’m very sick 
*Au sa rui avima’e - not good for ‘I’m very sick’ 
E berabera a mo’oxa - The car is slow (could also use intonation to mean ‘a bit slow’) Sa berabera a mo’oxa - The car is slow (could also use intonation to mean ‘a bit slow’) A mo’oxa e sa rui berabera - The car is very slow 
A mo’oxa e sa rui berabera sara ga - The car is very slow 
Words with “very” meanings -- can they be treated as nouns/verbs? (Might be different than “base” words like levu or rawa 
Examples we have in Flex: 
levulevu levulevu very big 
rawarawa rawarawa very easy 
sara sara very 
vaitamera vaitamera very big 
varerevaxi varerevaxi very frightening 
(we have both “atola” and “tolava” for open) 
Sa atola ‘u a draxana - She opened her mouth 
‘O Alumita e sa tolava a ‘ona xisi lailai - Alumita opened her little box 
Also: 
Yaga (useful) → vayaga (using) ?→? vayaga’a a xina (using as an ablative(?) instrument to) ablative check:
E vayaga’a ‘axina ai ‘uxi me vaxavoro vele’i lase - He’s using a hammer to break the plate   vaxavoro - break 
  
  

xabi’a - to glue 
xabi - glue/stick 
Drega - glue, but also ‘chewing gum’ 
to fix/repair 
Sa vare a xina - To make it better again 
*E vayaga’a a xina ai xabi me xabi’a vele’i lase - He’s using glue to fix the plate. E vayaga’a a xina a drega me xabi’a vele’i lase - He’s using glue to fix the plate. 
Do other non destructive/negative/away meanings use “vayaga’a a xina”?
E vayaga’a a xina ai cula me culava ai sulu - S/he’s using the needle to sew the cloth 
E culava ai sulu - he’s/she’s sewing the cloth 
cula - sewing needle 
Need to check in FLEx: 
Igaiga 
igaiga re ‘looks beautiful’ 
iga ‘look’s 
Igaiga 
Sa va ca ‘axina a vava - He’s ruined the shoes 
Sa va re ‘axina a vava - He’s made the shoes better. 
Sa va ca ‘axina a vava iya sa va re ‘axina. ‘He ruined the shoes but he made them better’ Vava - shoes 
Igaiga ca - looks bad 
A mo’oxa e igaiga ca - The car looks bad 
A ‘alewa e igaiga re - The girl looks beautiful 
*igaiga ‘o’olo - doesn’t make sense for ‘looks fast’ 
iga sobu ‘looking down’ 
Differences between similar words: 
iga ‘see’ 
vativi ‘look’ 
rairai ‘looks’ - ‘maybe’ (‘seems’) 
*Au iga gona ‘alewa 
Iga xina ‘abamu mawi - Look to your left. (lit: look to your left arm/hand) Mawi - Left 
Ma’au - right (also ‘axe’) 
*Va mawi - doesn’t make sense 
Vayaga axi (line 24)
E vayaga ‘axi ʻu ai sele me musuxa ʻauʻauvaʻa ʻixo a vadreʻi e varai axina e tuga a sele 
e varai axina ai sulu 
*vayaga’i 
E vayaga ’axi au me valu‘umi xea - he’s using me to knock her down Valu‘umi - to drop 
E yavaga ‘axina ai sele 
Vasauri - suddenly 
*sauri 
Vaixea - itself 
vaiau - myself 
Au vasilimi au. - I’m washing myself 
Vasilimi - to wash 
‘Arausese - trousers 
*silimi 
Varai - ‘to look’ 
Rai - ‘look’ 
Varoca - ‘to saw’ 
*varoca’a 
*Roca 
Vaxasama’a a xina → should be “vaxasama ‘axina” 
*vaxasama’i 
Vaxasama ‘think’
E vaxasama ‘axina a ona vuli. - S/he’s thinking about his/her school. *Sama 
*valailai (should be ‘valalai’) 
Kasenivuli bexa sa varau me vavulici ira gone vuli 
Varau - prepare 
Rau - the two of them, them (not related to preparing) 
Vulici - teach 
Au gu’a me vei vulici - I like to teach 
Au gu’a meu vavulici ira gone - I like to teach children 
Vavulici - to teach someone 
Xauxau - things that you take with you to an event (e.g. food, gifts to party, funeral) A ona xauxau - the things that they are taking (food, gifts) to this place Uu se kai tuga xalevu e vayagaʻa a xina a maʻau me vaxavoro a xina a xuroniviʻi Vaxauxauwa - work hard 
Xauxauwa - difficult, hard (like it’s hard to pull up a taro) 
O dro’o kiova axina ‘ixo a ga’a - They’re playing with a snake 
E varai axina - She’s showing you that (thing you already know what is) Vayaga axi ‘u ai sele - Using the knife 
axi - “it”, rfr pronoun like “xa”? 
Very Rough Theory: 
axi - inanimate patients 
xa - inanimate agents 
xea - people 
A ma xa levu a mo’oxa - The car was big (lit: the thing that was big, it was a car) Xa re a yaloyalo - The movie is good (lit: thing good the movie) 
To test:
Xa re a yaloyalo - The movie is good 
?Xea re a yaloyalo 
?Xa re a ‘ama’a - The man is good 
?Xea re a ‘ama’a 
Vayaga axi ‘u ai sele me musuxa - (use it did the knife to break) 
?Vayaga a xea ‘u ai sele me musuxa 
?Vayaga a xa ‘u ai sele me musuxa 
Vayaga’a (morphemes?) 
Only instance of “vayaga’a in Flex is “E vayaga’a a xina” 
-’a glossed as infinitive suffix 
xina can be ablative preposition 
Lao (sa lao, line 57.2) 
Nowhere else in Flex! 
O Mela ma vaxasama ʻaxina me seleʻa a vacava a ixa. Sa kai seleʻa a uluna va‘a a buina. 
Laxa (musumusu laxa, line 9) 
E sa musumusu laxa ʻabani xuwawa. 
Laxa ‘abani xuwawa - all the little pieces of the guava branch (chopped up very finely) **ask class about glossing** 
Laxa doesn’t work with breaking up paper, chopping up carrot 
seems specific to wood 
E sa musumusu laxa toa - He’s breaking up small pieces of chicken 
*valaxa - not a word
Au vavulica a vosa va varanise - I teach French 
Au vulica a vosa va varanise - I learn French 
Au vavulica xea - I teach him 
au vavulici xea na vosa va varanise 
au vavulici xea e na vosa va varanise 
*au vulici xea 
SAR ENTER FROM HERE DOWN 
Xena ixa - her fish 
E ‘ixo a xena ixa - She has fish (Lit: her fish are existing) 
E ‘u a xena ixa - She has fish. 
E ca a xena ixa - She has a bad fish 
E ca e ‘olu a xena ixa - She has three bad fish 
E ma ‘u a xena ixa - She had fish. (but doesn’t anymore?) 
*E ma ‘ixo a xena ixa - Not good for ‘she had fish’ 
Sa ‘u a xena ixa - She has fish (in the past and still has them) 
E ‘u a luvena - She has children. 
E lima luvena. - She has five children 
E ‘olu xedro’ou ixa - They have three fish 
*E xedro’ou ‘olu ixa - Not good for ‘they have three fish’ 
*E ‘ixo a lima luvena - Not good for ‘she has five children’ 
Sa ‘u a luvena - She has children (the children are there now) 
E ma ‘u a luvena - She had children (in the past but she doesn’t have them anymore) Ma ‘u a luvena - She had children (in the past but she doesn’t have them anymore)
E ‘ixo a luvena. - She has children. - It’s definite (compared to the ‘u one) 
A xena rairai e valoloma sara ga 'auva'a e lomani xea. 
She looks really sad and feels sorry for herself. 
A xena rairai - her looks (more formal, e.g. talking to a professor) 
A ona rairai - her looks (more casual than ‘xena rairai’, e.g. talking to a classmate) E wele - He’s careless (stimulus: page 140, ‘The Fijian Language’) 
E wele ’axina - He neglected it (not *E wele‘axa (expected from correspondences with Bauan Fijian)) 
E seni - It’s untrue 
Sa o’i - It’s finished 
Sa vao’i a caxacaxa - He finished the task 
Caxacaxa - task 
*Sa o’iva (not Bua) 
Sa xa’axa’a - It’s hot 
Au vaxa’axa’a ‘axina a magi’i - i’m heating up the food 
Buan - (As in the English adjective for ‘Bua’) 
Sitereliya - Australia 
Mo’oxa mai Sitereliya - Car from Australia 
Vavi’i - Fijian 
Au xai vi’i - I’m Fijian 
Vasitereliya - Australian 
*Au/e vasitereliya - Not good for ‘I’m Australian’ 
Au mai sitereliya - I’m Australian (lit: I’m from Australia)
*E magi’i a vasitereliya - not good for ‘the food is Australian’ 
Magi’i ni Sitereliya - Australian food 
Au civocivo - I am very angry 
*Au civocivo’a xea - I’m very angry at him 
Au civo’i xea -I’m angry at him 
Ixo civo’i xea - you’re angry at him 
*Ixo civo’a xea- Not good for ‘you’re angry at him’ 
Ixo civo‘i au - You’re angry at me 
Au civo’i ixo - I’m angry at you 
Au civo’a ‘ama’a gona - I’m angry at that person 
Au civo’i ‘Omasi - I’m angry at ‘Omasi (doesn’t matter if ‘Omasi is the name of a fish, dog, person) 
‘Omasi e civo’i au - ‘Omasi is angry at me 
Au civo’a a gone gona - I am angry at that child 
A gone gona e civo’i au - That child is angry at me 
O xea civo’i xea - He’s angry at her 
Au civo’i oku momo - I’m angry at my uncle (you wouldn’t say this, pretty rude bc uncle is above you) 
O xea e civo’a a gone gona - He’s angry at that child 
*O xea e civo’i a gone gona - not okay for ‘He’s angry at that child’ 
O xea e civo’a a xoli - He’s angry at the dog 
*O xea e civo’i a xoli - Not good 
*O xea e civocivo’a a gone gona - Not good for ‘he’s angry at that child’ 
O xea civo’i au - He’s angry at me 
*O xea civo’a au - not ok for ‘He’s angry at me’
O xea ‘ama’a civocivo - He’s an angry man 
*Au civocivo’i xea 
‘Ama’a civocivo o xea gona - That person is a very angry person Sa sele o’i a xarote - The carrot is completely cut up Sa selesele’a a xarote - He/she is cutting the carrot Sa sele’a a xarote - He/she is cutting a carrot