abu ‘all right’, ‘let's’ / marks polite order: ‘please’ / [...]

Part of Speech	modal
Phonetic Form	aᵐbu
Tanema Equivalent	abu
Lovono Equivalent	abu

1. • ‘all right’, ‘let's’
   • • Gram

   Syntactic Restriction

   before hortative

   • • Example 24:
       

       Abu ne-kila Puma!

       Let me try and ring the guys in Puma.

       Example Comment

       teleradio

     • Example 25:
       

       Abu le-romo kape i-ka we tae?

       Let's see if she'll come or not.

2. • marks polite order: ‘please’
   • • Disc

   Syntactic Restriction	before imperative verb
   Encyclopedic Info	Cognate with the conative prefix bu-.

   • • Example 26:
       

       Abu bai-aiu ba-vio me ne-rom!

       Could you please stand up and let me have a look there?

     • Example 27:
       

       Ab' u-leng' i-ka.

       Listen to me for a second.

3. • encouragement towards action: ‘come on’, ‘please’

   Syntactic Restriction

   used alone

   • • Example 28:
       

       O, abu, kaipa! Pe-ka p-atui botu 'none!

       Come on, you all! Come and check out my boat!

Related entries

• See also:
  • ka² marker of Perfect aspect: describes a current situation by reference to a previous event / prospective aspect, marking an action as imminent / polite imperative
  • ko first, as a first action / (do) for a second: forms a polite order; hence please / exclamatory particle pointing to the immediate context, typic. to the addressee's speech or action
  • takoli yo-heave-ho! Exclamation used when making a group effort