Dictionary Entries

Dictionary Entries

1.0 Entry Types

Morphemes are the smallest meaningful grammatical unit in Keley-i. There are five classes of morphemes that are treated as lexeme entries in the dictionary: words, roots, affixes, reduplicants, and geminates. In these explanatory notes related to the use of the dictionary, the meaningful grammatical units will be called ‘lexemes’, while in the Grammar Sketch, the same units will be called ‘morphemes’; the word ‘form’ is also used in some descriptions in the Grammar Sketch.

1.1 Single word entries

Single word entries are of two types: major entries and sub-entries

  • Major entries consist of nouns, e.g. tuu ‘person’; adjectives, e.g. emin ‘all’; pronouns, e.g. kami ‘we’; demonstratives, e.g. huttan ‘that’; determiners, e.g. hu ‘the’; adjuncts, e.g. dedan ‘actually’, and conjunctions, e.g. tep ‘because’. None of these forms require affixation, though nouns and adjectives can occur with affixation.
  • Sub-entries consist of roots or words with affixation and compounds, e.g. bangngad ‘to return’ + maN- 🡲 mambangngad ‘will return’, kalat ‘to bite’ + ma- 🡲 makelat ‘something that bites’. Compounds may consist of two or more words and may be written together or separately, e.g. et han ‘before’, dedan+ ngu 🡲 dedangngu ‘long ago’

1.2 Multiple word entries

Multiple word entries are of two types: noun phrases and idioms. Both types are sub-entries.

  • Noun phrases primarily consist of a determiner and a noun head, e.g. ni nunya ‘today’.
  • Idioms are groups of words that mean something different than the sum total of their parts, e.g. endi ‘none’ and petek ‘direction-toward’ endi maptek ‘uncertain’.

1.3 Roots

Roots are major entries of forms that require affixation. These are largely verbal root entries, e.g. baddang ‘to help’, kapya ‘to make something’.

1.4 Affixes

Affixes are major entries.

  • Prefixes occur preceding a root or word, e.g. i- 🡲 i ha-ad ‘will place something’.
  • Infixes occur within a root, e.g. -in- 🡲 kinapya ‘made something’.
  • Suffixes occur following a root, e.g. -en 🡲 kapyaen ‘will make something’.
  • Circumfixes have co-occurring prefixes and suffixes or co-occurring infixes and suffixes, e.g. paN- -an 🡲 pampeyyewan ‘place of rice cultivation’ -in- -an 🡲 binaddangan ‘helped someone’. Each circumfix functions as a single meaningful grammatical morpheme.

1.5 Reduplicants

Reduplicants are major entries showing the forms that are meaningful copies of syllable patterns of roots and words.

  • Syllable 1 reduplicant CV or CVC, e.g. hamul ‘feast’ nanhamul ‘feasted’ + CV 🡲 nanhahamul ‘continually feasted’, haklub ‘to be in proximity or near to something’ + CVC 🡲 nanpanhakhaklub ‘were continually near’
  • Syllable 1 and the first consonant and vowel of the second syllable reduplicant, e.g. matukal ‘staying awake’ + CV(C).CV + matukatukal ‘staying awake constantly’

1.6 Geminates

Geminates are the forms that result from a gemination process. The process copies one of the consonants of a root. There are three geminate entries: C1 is the entry form standing for the copying of the first consonant of a root. C2 is the entry form standing for the copying of the medial consonant of a root. Both the C1 and C2 geminates are related to non-past tenses, i.e. present and future tenses. The C1 geminate co-occurs with prefixes ending in a vowel. The C2 geminate co-occurs with prefixes ending in a consonant and with suffixes.

  • C1 gitek ‘to cut something’ + pekaiC1 🡲 pekaiggitek ‘cut it very well’
  • C2 bikang ‘to widen the opening of container’ + paN- -an + C2 🡲 pambikkangan ‘widening the opening of the container’

2.0 Entry Fields

It should be noted that the examples given here to illustrate the description of the entry fields do not have the final formatting that the dictionary will have. They are simply edited copies of the database entries.

Abbreviations: 2

adjectival predicate
modal category
adverbial predicate
compound word
demonstrative pronoun
demonstrative predicate
dial. var
dialect variant
existential predicate
fr. var.
free variant
interrogative pronoun
intransitive verb
nominal, derived noun
passive verb
ph. v.
phrasal verb
process verb
Proper noun
part-whole lexical relation
specific-generic lexical relation
sp. var.
spelling variant
stative verb
transitive verb

2.1 Parts of Speech

Parts of Speech are called lexical categories in the Grammar Sketch. There are six main Parts of Speech in Keley-i: verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and conjunctions. Adverbs have one subclass: adjuncts. Pronouns are categorized into three subclasses: personal pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and interrogative pronouns. Determiners are considered to be a subclass of demonstrative pronouns. Nouns are categorized into two subclasses: common nouns and proper nouns. Verbs are categorized into four subclasses: intransitive verbs, transitive verbs, stative verbs, and process verbs. When affixed, intransitive and transitive verbs have been further categorized into passive verbs, causative verbs, reflexive verbs, and reciprocal verbs. There are five classes of non-verbal predicates: adjectival, adverbial, demonstrative, existential, and nominal. See 2.3 Word Formation Processes in the Grammar Sketch for more information regarding lexical categories.

2.2 Definition

Each sense of a lexical entry has its own definition and each sense is marked with a number.


gatang trans. 1) to buy something. Gettangen tu balwasik ni nelakah. He will buy my shirt at a cheap price. Ginetang tu etan kantun pinpinhed tun balwasi. He bought the shirt that he said he liked best. Gimmatang kamin banga ey ngimminan peteg nunya. We bought a pot and it became very expensive now. -en/-in-, um-/-imm- (sem. domains: - Buy.) 2) to sell something. Inggatang tun emin kukuwah tu tep ya tugal tu. He sold all his properties because of his being a gambler. Hi-gatu annengigetang ni payew mi. He was the one who sold our field. i-/iN- (sem. domains: - Sell.)

2.3 Sentence examples3

Each sense of a lexical entry has one or more illustrative sentence example(s) and a free English translation.


gelang 1) n. a baby; a young child. Heni kayu gegellang hedin hanniman. As if you are like children in that way (you are acting). 2) v. refers to the time of childhood. Lawah hedin kapeglangi itek tep um-ingha. It is bad if you start to be a liar during your childhood because you will be used to it. 3) v. to act in a childish manner. Muka pangginengellang emin hu muka pehding. You do all things as if you are acting like a child.

2.4 Encyclopedic Info

The Encyclopedic Info Field adds additional information related to the meaning of a lexical entry. The information is often cultural, but may also relate to how the word is used. Encyclopedic information is placed in square brackets within the entry [ ].


abbal 1) n. a traditional belief that a certain act or event would cause rain or a storm. [The common examples that the people of the villages believed caused rain or storms were laughing at certain animals or at the death of people they considered to be important or prominent.] 2) v. to interpret an omen or to cause an omen to be fulfilled. Kele kaum-abbal hu kaketteyiddan mabeki? Why does the death of shamans cause rain? Kaw makulug ni immenabbal kunun nunman hu tukak? Is it true, according to someone, that long ago the frog has been causing rain? Ngini-ngi-ngian da hu ahhun kaalman et humman inabbalan tu. They laughed at the dog yesterday and that caused the rain. Ya neteyyan Simmicpaw hu immabbal tu na-mu et umudan ni tellun aggew. The death of Simmicpaw probably caused the storm and so it rained for three days. (sem. domains: - Prophecy.)

abtu v. 1) to long for; to desire; to want something. [There is a component of intensity which is expressed as impatience in waiting for food or for someone to come.] Kaum-abtu u-ungnga ni um-anemut tep neupa. The child is wanting her to return because he is hungry. Daka abtun kennen hu appangdan ey eleg malutu. They are wanting to eat the pineapple but it is not ripe. um-/-imm- Sim: ihik. 2) to be in a hurry to do something. [This meaning also implies a strong desire to do something.] Nakka um-abtu ni umlaw di bebley. I’m in a hurry to go to the barrio or place. Ida kaum-inglay et humman hu daka abtuin mambangngad di bebley da. They are lonely and that is why they are in a hurry to go back to their place.

2.5 Grammar Notes

The Grammar Note Field contains grammatical information that is helpful in understanding the use of a lexical entry. The Grammar Notes are placed in angle brackets < >.


ameh trans . 1) to envy; be jealous; to covet. [This word describes the feelings of discontent and ill will because of another person’s advantages or possessions.] <Morphology: The affix sets um-/-imm- and maN-/naN- cross-reference the person undergoing or experiencing the feeling of jealousy or envy. The affix set -an/-in- -an cross- references the person who is being envied.> Lawah hu an keemmehan hu edum ni tuu. It is bad to envy other people. Lawah an keemmehan hu edum ni tuu tep lintu deitsun emin ni Meknengan. It is bad to be jealous of other people because we are all created by God. Ida kaman-in-ameh hu tuud Pulaan. His relatives are envious of him. Lawah hu ita um-ameameh ni edum ni tuu. It is bad to be envying other people. (sem. domains: 3.4 - Emotion.) maN-/naN-, um-/-imm-, -an/-in- -an

2.6 Discourse Notes

The Discourse Notes Field contains information about how a lexical entry is used in a context larger than a clause or sentence. The Discourse Notes are placed in braces { }.


gaway adj. pred. an expression of agreement or concurrence but implying that there is additional information to be considered in regard to the issue at hand. {This word is only used in conversation when one person is making a comment about something that was said by another person.} Gaway di Tomas tep eteng pihhuh da. It’s fine for Tomas because they have a huge amount of money. (This might be said in response to a statement about college expenses and the fact that Tomas’ children are attending college.) (sem. domains: - Certainly, definitely, - Evaluator.)

2.7 General Notes

The General Notes Field contains cultural information, additional general meaning, or use of a lexical entry.


amta trans . to know something. Amtaen yulli etan meippanggep nan Inway hedin um-ali amam. You will know about Inway if your father comes. Inamtak etan inhel mun nahdem. I know what you said last night. Hi Bummulu hu nengamtaan dan nekapkapyad Baguio. It was Bummulu from whom they learned (lit. knew) the events in Baguio. Hipa nengipeamtan hi-gayun meippanggep idan han-agi? Who informed you about the two sisters? The verbalphrase aggak amtais the formal way to say ‘I don’t know.’ The word tawwey is the idiomatic way.(sem. domains: 3.2.3 - Know.) aggak amta, peamta

2.8 Restrictions

The Restrictions Field contains information regarding the limitations on the use of a lexical entry.


Bagel 1) n.a type of prayer ritual. Restrictions: Traditional religion 2) v.to perform ritual prayer. Hipadda nambagel di alang Patukalang? Who performed the Bagel-ritual in Patukalang’s granary? Imbaglan da bibiyaw di Hebheb. They performed the Bagel-ritual for the fairies in Hebheb. Kele heni immen ida kaumbagebagel di baley yu? Why is it like there are people performing the Bagel-ritual in your house? (sem. domains: 4.9.5 - Practice religion.) maN-/naN-; i- -an/iN- -an

2.9 Language of Borrowing

The Language of Borrowing Note contains information about the language from which a lexical entry is borrowed.


da-yun trans. to agree to something.Dina-yunan nan Lindawan hu inhel Dulnuan ni pehding tu. Lindawan agreed to what Dulnuan said for him to do. Eleg tu da-yuni hu inhel ku tep eleg tu ewwasi. She does not agree with what I have said because she does not understand it. Endi kaumda-yun di muka ituttuddu tep eleg metunnung. No one seems to accept what you are teaching because it is not clear. -an/-in- -an Sim: abulut. Language of Borrowing: Ilocano.

2.10 Lexical Relations

The Lexical Relations Field lists words that have particular types of semantic or logical relationships with the entry word. There are many possible relationships that the words of a language may have but this dictionary designates only nine: antonym, calendar, part-whole, whole-part, similar, specific-generic, generic-specific, and synonym. The similar relation is the one most commonly used in this dictionary. The relation simply indicates that the words listed share some semantic components with the entry word.


dagaw n. light brown pig. Dagaw idan emin hu impah ni killum da. All their piglets are brown. Kaw dagaw la etan inggatang yu? Is the one you sold brown? gen: killum. (sem. domains: 1.6 - Animal.)

killum n. the generic word for pig. spec: dagaw, lidem. (sem. domains: 1.6 - Animal.)

kinit 1) sta. to be selfish. Nekinit hi Puguwen. Puguen is selfish. Endi kinit idan Ifugao. Ifugaos are not selfish. ne- ant: medawat; Sim: keheb. 2) trans. to be stingy in sharing something. Tuka ikkinit pihhuh tu. He is selfish with his money. i-/ iN- 3) v. to be stingy. Agtu kinita tu kaiddawat. He is not stingy when it comes to giving. (sem. domains: - Below standard.)

2.11 Semantic Domains

The Semantic Domains Field is used to categorize entries as members of classes of words that refer to interrelated concepts within a cultural or mental network.


lekbi trans. to close door. Ilekbi yu hu habyen ma-lat eleg humgep ida etan imuk. Close the door so that the mosquitoes will not come in. Inlekbian dad bawang hi mahhiken ma-lat ilah tu ey isiked tu nangih. They closed the door on baby boy inside hoping that he will stop crying. Nangkeilekbi hu kabelebeley tep hileng law. Every house is closed because it is night time now. i-/iN- Sim: dakig 2. (sem. domains: 7.3.2 - Move something in a direction.)

lidi n. the carved round piece of wood mounted on the posts of a house to prevent the entry of rats; rat barrier. Antan tu tenelnu eya tukud tep me-gah lidi. Don’t be pounding that post because the rat protector will fall down. (sem. domains: 6.5.2 - Parts of a building.)

Example excerpt of a Semantic Domain from the Classified Dictionary 4 Container 5 Domain

akbut 1) n. a backpack, usually made of animal skin

alweg 1) n. a bamboo tube used for carrying water

appullan n. a container used to hold the lime for a betel nut chew (Inf. of apul )

asip n. a sheath for bolo or knife

ayud 1) n. the name of the container for spoons

balyag 1) n. a large rattan basket that is carried on the back with a strap around the person’s head

bay-ung 1) n. a cloth sack

besen n. a basin

duyu 1) n. a bowl or a plate

gampa n. a type of basket.

kaban 1) n. a wooden chest; a box with a lid

2.12 Senses

Lexemes that have more than one meaning, grammatical class, or function will have more than one sense; the senses are numbered. Each sense and sub-sense may have each of the above fields though not all are required. The senses that are defined based on different grammatical classes will have a field showing the affixes that co-occur.


ehel 1) n. language; dialect; word. (sem. domains: - Word, 3.5.3 - Language.) 2) v. to speak; to talk. 2.1) intrans. to speak. Kele ka-hel kayun emin hedin kaman-e-ehhelen hi Cuyahen? Why are you talking when Cuyahen is speaking? maN-/naN- (sem. domains: 3.5.1 - Say.) 2.2)v. to speak to someone in order to correct, advise, or scold. Kele kaka umbunget hedin inhelan dakaddan ammed mun itek mu? Why do you get angry when your parents try to correct you for being a liar? Kaw makaggeh hedin immehel itan hi-gam eyan pilyum? Is it painful when I try to correct you for your mischievousness? Aggak um-ehel ngun hi-gatu tep tuka pakahhuggagta ehel ku. I don’t try to correct him because he always answers back. -an/-in- -an, um-/-imm- (sem. domains: - Criticize.) 2.3) trans. to say something in particular. Inelawah Pedro hu inhel kun meippanggep ni linawwan yud Amduntog. Pedro took personally what I said in regards to your trip to Amduntog. i-/iN-

ali 1) intrans. to proceed in the direction of the speaker; to come. Um-ali kunud amam ni hakey bewahtu. Your father will come on the day after tomorrow. Hipadda eman mampengelli? Who are those coming? Pigantu illian yu? When did you come? um-/-imm- (sem. domains: 7.2.2 - Move in a direction.) 2) trans. to bring something with one. Yadda tuud Banawe kamengi-i-lin binuhlan niya ginallit di deya. The people in Banawe are the ones bringing loincloths and skirts here. (sem. domains: 7.3.2 - Move something in a direction.) i-iN-

2.13 Stem Class

The Stem Class field shows the categorization of some of the entries into root classes. They are categorized on the basis of semantic and functional components. The Grammar Sketch describes and explains the semantic and functional components of each stem class (see 4.1 Verbal root classification in the Grammar Sketch).


baktad intrans. to lay down on back. Limmaw ni umbaktad tep nandegeh. She went to lie down because she is sick. (sem. domains: 7.1.3 - Lie down.) um-/-imm-, maN-/naN- Class 2B Movement, change of position

ha-ad (sp. var. haad) trans. to place something. Inha-ad ku etan di da-ul ni yuddungan hu bola. I placed the ball under the seat. Iha-ad kayun kennen alin ameyu tep neupallid muyung. You leave (lit. place) some food for your father because he might be hungry in the forest. Hipa nengiha-adan lan agim ni begah? Where did your brother place the rice? Yad akbut hu mika pengihha-adin begah min eman ni mika pan-iskulid Kiangan. We put our rice in a leather bag when we were studying in Kiangan. Ida kaan-umhamahamak ni panha-adan da nem endi da hemmaka. They are looking for a place to stay but they cannot find any. (sem. domains: 7.3.2 - Move something in a direction.) i-/iN- Class 3A Move and position object at site

2.14 Affixation

Affixes are shown as tense sets, e.g. i-/ iN-, maN-/ naN-. The first form in each set is the non- past tense form, and the second form following the backslash is the past tense form. It should be noted that although only the future and past forms are shown in the dictionary entries, each set also has present tense forms. When more than one set is shown in an entry, the first set is the default set, and the other sets have different morphological or syntactic functions as described and exemplified in the Grammar Sketch (see 2.2 Affixes and 4.2 Inflectional Affixes for tables showing the sets including their present tense and imperative forms). Note that a separate affix field for each sense is provided. The particular affixes listed in each sense affix field are those that denote the modification of the basic semantic and morphosyntactic components of the senses of the entry.


aldan2 1) intrans. for someone to transfer or move from one place to another. Man-aldan kami di Bahag ni bewahtu. We will transfer to Bahag the day after tomorrow. Nan-aldan idad pakebehwat ni baley da. They moved to their newly-built house. (sem. domains: 7.2.2 - Move in a direction.) maN-/naN- 2) trans. to transfer something, e.g. to infect with illness. Antan keihnup ni hi-gatu tep aldanan tuka ni degeh tu. Do not stay close to him because he will infect you with his illness. Inaldanan ni killum yu hu killum mi ni kupu. Your pig has infected our pig with a skin disease. (sem. domains: 7.3.2 - Move something in a direction.) -an/-in- -an

2.15 Complex Forms and Component Fields

The Complex Forms Field shows inflected forms, compounds, or phrases that are separate entries in the dictionary. The entry forms of the Complex Forms are shown at the end of the entry (e.g. see bolded forms in the elaw entry below). The Component field will show the components of a complex entry or the root form immediately following the entry form (see the bolded forms in the ilaw entry below which shows it is an inflected form of the root elaw1). The Complex Form entries will show their classification with the following abbreviations.


elaw1 intrans. 1) to go somewhere. Umlaw kami law. We will go now. Elaw kad Nepayew et mulli alen ida hu gangha tep ussalen tayud Bahag. You go to Nepayew and bring with you the gongs because we will use them in Bahag. Yan kabbuhhan hu lawwan tayud Pula. It is tomorrow that we are going to Pula. Pakilaw yu hi James ni lawwan yud Bahag ni Linggu. Take James along with you when you go to Bahag on Sunday. Nanhummangan ida e mampellaw di pangil hakey ey ya damad pangil hu hakey et manhi-yan ida. (1 Kings 18:6) They have agreed that one of them would go in one direction and one would go in the other direction, and so they parted. (sem. domains: - Go.) um-/-imm- 2) to take someone or something somewhere. Negibbuh hu nemistigalan Kayaphas nan Jesus ni kamangkewa-wa et ilaw dad baley Pilate e gobernor. (John 18:28) Caiaphas’ examination of Jesus was completed as it was becoming dawn and then they took him to the house of Pilate, the governor. (sem. domains: 7.3.3 - Take somewhere.) i-/iN- ilaw, limmaw, palaw, umlaw

ilaw (Inf. of elaw1) trans. to take someone or something somewhere. Inlaw da etan killum di baley da. They took that pig to their house. i-/iN-

2 Two abbreviations that may occur following a lexical entry: sp. var. ‘spelling variant’ and fr. var.
3 In some example sentences and their translations, the symbol … has been placed to indicate ellipsis of a part of the illustrative sentence. Also, hyphens are used in the English translation of sentences when multiple English words are needed to show the meaning of a single word in Keley-i.
4 The Classified Dictionary will be published electronically in the future.
5 These words are just a few examples of those that are in the 6.7.7 Container class in the Classified