Dictionary Entries explained

 
There are two kinds of entries in this dictionary: main entries and minor entries. A main entry contains detailed information about a specific word. A minor entry provides minimal information about a variant of a main entry and refers the reader to that main entry. Here are two examples:

dɔla  pl. de dole
màa₂ acc. irrég. de màrɩ̀

In the first example, the minor entry states that the word dɔla is the plural of the noun dole. In the second, màa is explained to be the irregularly formed completive form of the verb màrɩ̀. The subscripted number 2 indicates that màa is the second of at least two homonyms.

In each entry, the Phuien headword appears in bold characters. It is followed by other information about it. Here is an example:
làgɩ v. aller (to go)

For nouns, the singular form is given as the headword, and the plural form is indicated in parentheses immediately after it:
dole (pl. dɔla) n poutre (wooden beam)

Diacritics are used to indicate tone. High tones are unmarked (no diacritic) since they are the most common in the language. Unpredictably downstepped high tones are indicated by an acute accent over the vowel. Low tones are indicated by a grave accent over the vowel.

sa v. danser (dance) {high tone}

sà v. construire (build) {low tone}

hala n. oeufs (eggs) {high tone, high tone}

halá n. femmes (women) {high tone, downstepped high tone}

Sometimes, if a word is borrowed from another language, or if it is specific to a certain dialect, this information is indicated in parentheses:

mobili (emprunt au français) n. véhicule (vehicle)

mã̀zɩɩ́ (emprunt au français) n. machine (machine)

Variants of a word are indicated by the label Var :

gàsió (pl. gàsiigé) n. habit Var : gàsuó (pl. gàsuugé)

The part of speech of the Phuien word (see the list of abbreviations) is indicated in italics:

For example:
adv. = adverbe
thàà adv. encore (again)

The explanation in French of the sense of the Phuien word is indicated in ordinary letters. If a word has multiple distinct senses, they are numbered 1) 2). If the different definitions are only nuances of the same sense, they are separated by a comma:

nà v. 1) pleuvoir (to rain) 2) disputer (to dispute)

sà v. 1) construire (to build) 2) préparer (to prepare)

nààmɩ̀ v. 1) crier fort (to cry loudly) 2) gronder (to scold)

thuee n. portion, part

Complementary information, enclosed in parentheses, clarifies or specifies the French definition:

dẽduió n. mur (de la bordure d'un toit)

Adjectives and ordinal numbers in Phuien are independent of the nouns they modify. Phuien no longer has a noun-class system. The following table shows examples of adjectives in Phuien:

adjectif	glose en français	English
ɛ̃ɛ́	deux	two
dɩphʋlʋmɔ	blanc	white
dɩnana	bon	good

In Phuien an adjective can attach to the noun it modifies; in this case, only the root of the noun is used in the compound.

adjective	English	noun	English	noun + adjective	English
falʋ	new	halʋ́	wife	hafalʋ	new wife
nana	good	ɲɩma	water	ɲɩ̀-nana	clean water
gbɛ̀la	large	zukpèlo	rooster	zukpè-gbɛ̀la	large rooster

The scientific classification appears in italics at the end of an entry:

somo (pl. sòge) n. shea nut tree vitellaria paradoxa