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vakasteglok

4/5/2017

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[vakastɛɰ'lɔk]

Take care of your own parents, in recognition of all the care they've given you in your younger years.

Mwotlap – 2,100 speakers – Vanuatu (Motalava Island, Banks Group)

The verb vakasteg alone means ‘take care of a weak person: a child, a person who is sick, disabled or elderly…’

By adding the suffix -lok ‘back, in return’, we get the meaning ‘take care of a weak person in return (for what they did for us in the past)’. 

This is an important concept in Mwotlap culture: we should give back our respect and care to those who helped us when we needed it. This is how a society can hold together from generation to generation.

Source: 
François, Alexandre (2017). A Mwotlap-French-English Dictionary. Electronic files. Paris, LACITO-CNRS. (http://tiny.cc/Mtp-E-F-dict)

Credit: Alex François
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