OUTOFPAPUA database: Lexicons of the West Papuan language area

Entry record from de Josselin de Jong (1947): Ili'uun Erai

hai

•  climb; ascend.

hai la ai

•  climb a tree.

hai la kruhun

•  climb a mountain.

hai loi

•  embark.

hai oni

•  ascend to; sail to (always from sea to land or from a smaller to a larger island).

hai oni djela

•  climb up.

hai oni raha

•  climb up to the house.

hai tjoi pair

•  sail (or paddle) upstream.

Note: hai is evidently used with or without prefix a- (also: O-) (plur. ra-, ro-) no semantic difference whatever being perceptible; thus the forms nihai, nahai, nohai, ninahai, ninohai all mean: he climbs, ascends