TRANSLATIONS

next page previous page up home

When coordinating GD29 glyphs with words I noticed that also the word oho often was chosen. To show this the 'uncomplicated' glyphs in Aruku Kurenga serves well:

Ba7-27 Ba8-23 Bb1-27 Bb2-27 Bb2-30 Bb4-14
ko to vaé kua Rei kua oho to vae vae oho ka oho mai te vae oho mai te vae ki to vae oho

7 / 10 = 70 % 

Notice the expression oho te va’e.

Bb4-19 Bb8-36 Bb9-2 Bb12-26
vae oho o te vae ki to vae e tagata vae oho

The statistics accumulated from all four tablets showed, however, that oho reached only 27 % (compared to 67 % for va'e):

text GD29 oho at GD29
B 25 7
A 38 6
C 25 11
E 3 1
sum 91 25
Word → glyph: 25 / 167 = 27 %
text GD29 va'e at GD29
B 25 10
A 38 11
C 25 10
E 3 2
sum 91 33
Word → glyph:  33 / 49 = 67 %

While va'e at other glyphs (than those I once decided as belonging to GD29) reached the number 16 (= 49 - 33) - i.e. the total number of va'e was 49 - the total number of oho was much greater than those which occupied positions at GD29 glyphs. Of the total 167 oho, only 25 of them were associated with GD29.

The 'competition' between va'e and oho gave a clear result: va'e is better than oho.

What is the difference in meaning between oho and va'e?

Oho

1. To go: ka-oho! go! go away! (i.e. 'goodbye' said by the person staying behind); ka-oho-mai (very often contracted to: koho-mai), welcome! (lit.: come here); ku-oho-á te tagata, the man has gone. Ohoga, travel, direction of a journey; ohoga-mai, return. 2. Also rauoho, hair. Vanaga.

1. To delegate; rava oho, to root. 2. To go, to keep on going, to walk, to depart, to retire; ka oho, begone, good-bye; oho amua, to preced; oho mai, to come, to bring; oho arurua, to sail as consorts; hakaoho, to send, a messenger. 3. Tehe oho te ikapotu, to abut, adjoin; mei nei tehe i oho mai ai inei te ikapotu, as far as, to; kai oho, to abstain, to forego; hakaoho, to put on the brakes. 4. The head (only in the composite rauoho, hair). Churchill.

Va'e, vae, vaega

Va'e: Foot, leg; te va'e mata'u, te va'e maúi, right foot, left foot. Va'e ruga, va'e raro, quick and light, without detour (lit.: foot up, foot down). Ka-oho koe ki a nua era va'e ruga va'e raro, ina ekó hipa-hipa, hurry straight to your mother, do not make any detours. Va'e pau, misshapen foot, clubfoot. Vae, to choose. Vaega, middle, centre; i vaega o, in the middle of. Vanaga.

1. Foot, paw, leg, limb; vae no roto, drawers; karikari vae, ankle. P Pau.: vaevae, foot, leg. Mgv.: vaevae, id. Mq.: vae, id. Ta.: vaevae, avae, id. 2. Pupil. 3. To choose, elect, prefer, promote, vote; vavae, to destine, to choose; vaea (vae 2), pupil. Vaeahatu (vae 1 - ahatu): moe vaeahatu, to sleep sprawling with legs extended. Vaega, center, middle, within, half; o vaega, younger; ki vaega, among, between, intermediate. P Pau.: vaega, the middle. Mgv.: vaega, center, middle. Mq.: vaena, vavena, vaveha, id. Ta.: vaehaa, half. Vaehakaroa (vae 1 - roa): moe vaehakaroa, to sleep with legs stretched out. Vaehau (vae 1 - hau 3), pantaloons, trousers. Vaeherehere (vae 1 - here 1), to attach by the paw. Vaerere (vae 1 - rere 1), to run. Churchill.

It seems as if oho has more of action in it than va'e; we could say 'verb' respectively 'noun' but that would presumably be to force the Easter Island grammar into the pattern of our own.

Though oho can be changed into a noun by adding the suffix -ga:

Aa1-15
i tona ohoga - ki te ariki

According to Vanaga ohoga, means 'travel, direction of a journey; ohoga-mai, return'.

Vaega (center, middle), on the other hand, does not occur among the readings of Metoro.

Before leaving the discussion about oho contra va'e I would like to add a few curiosities for studies later on:

1. In Aruku Kurenga Metoro used oho at the sitting down person in GD52 glyphs, e.g.:

Ba3-28 Ba3-30 Ba3-32 Ba3-34
koia kua oho ko te tagata kua oho ko te tagata kua oho ko te tagata kua oho
Ba4-4 Ba4-10 Ba4-13 Ba4-19
e tagata oho eko te tagata kua oho mai tae e oho ki te tagata kua oho

2. At GD35 (rima) Metoro sometimes used oho or va'e:

Ba2-14 Ba2-34 Ab3-77
ko te rima kua oho kua oho te rima ka Rei i te vae.

3. There appears to be some kind of connection between Rei and oho / va'e, e.g.:

Ab3-66 Ab3-77 Ba7-27 Ca7-1
... ma te vae Rei ... ka Rei i te vae. ko to vaé kua Rei kua Rei te vae

I have not searched for these Rei occurrences among the 167 - 25 oho glyphs outside GD29.

The 10 'uncomplicated' GD29 glyphs in Aruku Kurenga (see above) makes me think of the 10 periods of the sun (in the daylight calendar and in the calendar at the beginning of Tahua). To these the probably parallel structure in hau tea on side a can be added:

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Aa1-19

Aa1-21

Aa1-23

Aa1-27

Aa1-29

Aa1-31

Aa1-34

Aa1-36

Aa1-17 and Aa1-25, the reversed (but normal 6-feather) tapa mea are not listed here.

Aa4-43

Aa4-46

Aa4-54

Aa4-70

Aa5-5

Aa5-63

Aa7-79

Aa8-51

The 10 periods have here been reduced to 8. In the daylight calendar Aa1-17 and Aa1-25 are missing. The 2 periods of reversal at dawn and noon are chaotic (without rule).

In the calendar at the beginning of side a we cannot see the 4 glyphs at the start (Aa1-1--4), presumably because sun is then too weak and moon is ruling. Similarly, the hau tea glyphs in the early dark period of the year are not listed.

Aa1-1 Aa1-2 Aa1-3 Aa1-4

Aa2-74

Aa3-15

Aa3-32

Aa4-18

A general pattern may be inferred, with only some of the glyphs belonging to the sun and the others (presumably) to the moon. Perhaps this can explain also the GD29 structure we earlier recreated:

Two identical glyphs separated by 40 glyphs (counting the right part of Aa1-15 as one glyph). Two identical glyphs close together and with 6-feather maro.
Aa1-15 Aa1-54 Ab2-20 Ab2-23
Two identical glyphs close together and with 5-feather maro. Two identical glyphs close together and with 5-feather maro.
Aa3-2 Aa3-4 Ab2-25 Ab2-29
Two different glyphs separated by 91 (= 364 / 4) glyphs. Two different glyphs separated by 110 glyphs.
Aa5-71 Aa8-79 Ab3-34 Ab4-67
Aa5-71 resembles Ab7-65 and Ab7-83. Aa8-79 obviously marks 'cut off' ('spirit'), whereas no such sign is seen on the side of the moon (b).

Aa1-15 and Aa1-54 respectively Ab7-65 and Ab7-83 mark 'great periods'

Two identical glyphs separated by 18 glyphs.
Ab7-65 Ab7-83

If 12 may be compressed into 10 (with the last period prolonged to cover also number 11 and 12), if 10 may be compressed into 8 (to cover only the life cycle of the sun), then 8 may be further compressed into 6 in order to concentrate attention on the 'red' months when sun is not dying or already dead.

In a way 6 periods must be the right number for the sun, because 6 is the number of the sun, the number of 'flames' in GD12:

In the moon calendar of Mamari we have discovered 8 periods. Unavoidably the conclusion is reached that sun is discussed on side a of Tahua, while the moon has been allotted 8 periods on side b. That would explain why we see - in the table above - 6 GD29 glyphs on side a and 8 on side b.

Twice 5-feathers maro in the GD29 glyphs on side a result in 10.

On side b we find 2 * 6 + 2 * 5 = 22 similar feathers for the moon. The reversed 5 at Ab4-67 probable has another meaning. Maybe we should count 22 - 5 = 17?