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TERNATE THE TERNATESE LANGUAGE
Ternatese Halmahera; however, he does not give the names.
fasik, thief (from Arabic).
fato, in a row, lined up, something ordered; to place something in a certain order.
fatu, grip, handle; dari ma-fatu, the haft of a knife.
fefe: bia fefe, a sort of pearl shell.
fere, to climb, mount, ascend; ifere toma kadatu, they entered the palace (literally “climb,” as
there is a stone staircase with thirty-four steps that leads to the actual living quarters).
sibere, to make climb or ascend.
festa, party, the Dutch feast.
fete-fete, a plant, Crinum asiaticum; the leaves are laid on burns and pieces cut from the
fleshy bark frequently serve as bait when fishing with a line.
fiki: sifiki, to purify, cleanse.
fiolah: violin (the Dutch viool); as accompaniment at European dances the Sultan has several
youths trained to play the violin, flute and triangle.
firah, relations, brothers and sisters; firah ma-dihutu, brothers and sisters of the mother and
father.
firi, to walk away, flee; ifiri maruah, they already left. This word is written the same as fere;
therefore, the meaning must be ascertained from the sentence.
fiskal, the regional, provincial secretary (the Dutch fiskaal), different from the secretary to the
Sultans.
fitako, a tree, Calophyllum Inophyllum L.; the fruit is called capilong, and the bark is steeped
in warm water and given to nursing babies to drink.
It is less correctly called “Fidakka” and “Tsjopelon” by Filet.
fo, we; personal pronoun masculine and feminine plural; e.g. fo tagi, we are going; fo mina, we
see. The use of the prefix fo seems to be the informal way of expressing this; examples in this
text are, therefore, not very clear due to the lack of other pronominal prefixes.
foeo: a plant, Phaseolus radiatus L.
It is less correctly called “Fuo” in Filet’s work.
fofoheka, see foheka.
fofoheka, woman (in general), feminine. See also kawin.
fofoki, a plant, Solanum menlongena L. The fruit is cooked and, prepared in different ways,
then eaten.
In Filet’s work, it is less correctly called “Fokki-fokki.”
foforai or besa foforai, drizzle or light rain.
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