elelepei

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛˈlɛ.lɛ.peɪ/

Verb

elelepei

1. (intransitive) he/she/it cries, weeps, sobs, sheds tears, wails, whimpers (in sorrow, fright, pain, or distress)

   Iyene painyakuwi. Yamukunaun elelepei. Aminya yelele, aminya yelele omawiu yamukunaun ipitsi.

   [She] entered [her] house. The children were crying. "Don't cry, don't cry," she said to the children.

   Tinejunaun elelepei nuutsa.

   Women wail at my approach (women reject me).

   [Humorous Wauja traditional kapojai song].

   Aminya pasato. Elele minya ouneke.

   Don't let [the baby] see [it]. [She] will cry to [have] it.

2. (transitive) he/she/it laments, bewails, mourns (passionately expresses grief or sorrow)

   Elelewi paitsupalu ipitsi.

   She lamented [the suffering of] her daughter.

   [She wept at the sight of her daughter, realizing how much she had suffered.]

Antonyms

• ajatua (“laughs”)

Derived terms

• onelelen (“his/her/its sound of crying, sobbing”)

See also

• suyuma (“smiles”)
• tuma okaya (“mourns, grieves”)

References

• "Iyene painyakuwi" uttered by Itsautaku, shaman and elder, recounting traditional Wauja tale, "The Man who Drowned in Honey". Recorded in Piyulaga village in the presence of his adult daughter, adolescent son, and others, December 1989, transcript p. 32.
• "Elelewi paitsupalu" uttered by Itsautaku, ibid., transcript p. 17.
• Other examples from E. Ireland field notes. Need to be checked by native speaker.