Contionary:wan

Bemé

Pronunciation

• (Bemetak) IPA^(key): [wan]
• (Columbé) IPA^(key): [wɛn]

Etymology 1

From English go on; cf. Jamaican Creole gwaan.

Verb

wan

1. to go

   Mi eh wan nyow.

   "I'm going now."

2. (auxiliary) expresses future tense; cf. English will

   Im wan bi big eh yong minis ni wal.

   "He's going to be the youngest president in the world."

3. (auxiliary, fossil) to habitually do; exclusively used in the expression mwoi wan bi mwoi "boys will be boys", making it essentially a fossil word

   Mwoi wan bi mwoi.

   "Boys will be boys."

Alternate forms

• wa
• (Columbé) wen

Etymology 2

From English want.

Verb

wan

1. (transitive) to want

   Yu wan pis bekun?

   "You want a piece of bacon?"

Etymology 3

Bemé numerals ^(edit)

		10
		1	2  →	10  →
Cardinal: wan     Ordinal: wanyeh

From English one.

Numeral

wan

1. one

   Wan pis, eh plis.

   "One portion, please."