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isai

Etymology[]

from sai "be, exist", akin to sha

verb[]

  1. I call, name, give a name to
    • binyi isai Bele I name my baby Bele, "Virtuous".
  2. I address a person as name/pronoun/epithet/word, I call
    • Ajaseh yehwi ise I call myself Ajas.
    • Ajiheh zuhwu isa You call yourself Aji.
    • zuhwu isa ma What do you call yourself?
  3. I am in essence
  4. (of a word) I mean; have a certain denotation, connotation, and nuance
Usage notes[]

Although isai and ise are both first-person present tense forms, they carry distinct nuances. Isai indicates the single act of assigning a name to an infant, that is, it indicates perfective aspect, whereas ise indicates the habit of addressing someone in a particular manner or with a particular name, that is, it indicates (habitual) imperfective aspect.

Substantive[]

  1. name, appellation, the word by which a person calls himself/herself
  2. title, honorific address
  3. (grammar) a word that denotes a concrete entity or an abstract concept; a word that names entities, concepts, and their classes; substantive; comprises nouns and adjectives
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