Reference desk
The Compound Registry
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76 canonized compounds.
Canonized compound idioms are multi-word expressions with a stable reading in Phi. Each entry records what the expression means and why its visible parts remain useful.
A registered compound can be used when its recorded analysis fits. Free composition and coinage remain ordinary choices for other concepts. Every member is an ordinary lexicon word, and the explorer shows the compound on those words' entries.
Emotional and mental states
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
korua thero | heart-fire | anger | The image places anger in inward heat without assigning moral character to the person who feels it. |
lothea korua | love-heart | the loving heart; a friendly mind | The pair names the disposition the Metta Sutta cultivates. When the sutta declares its reach, mawha norui, no boundary, composes freely before it. |
thiku nila | see (as) small | to despise, contempt | Contempt appears as a manner of seeing rather than a property of the person seen. |
remo kire | thought-shape | a fixed view, an opinion held rigidly | The image treats a rigid view as a shape formed and held in thought. |
phelu pula | holding-wish | envy, jealousy | The wish is directed towards what another holds. When that possession relation does not fit, direct rinu states wanting without adding it. |
nulo sano | deep knowing | wisdom | Wisdom is presented as knowing with depth. A source tradition may give that depth a more exact account of its own. |
remo tiwa | thought-tying | puzzlement, confusion | The compound pictures thoughts caught together when a person cannot yet find a clear path through them. |
tawi remo | counting-thought | mathematics | This is Phi's broad ordinary label for mathematical thought. An exact field, method, or notation remains in its source form. |
Cosmos and orientation
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
sileta thorui | sun's beginning | east | The Sun's apparent daily beginning is the conventional eastward anchor. North and south remain atomic because their relation to the Sun changes by hemisphere. |
sileta lumae | sun's end | west | The Sun's apparent daily end marks westward direction and forms the counterpart to sileta thorui. |
keru loa | give brightness | to shine | Shining is pictured as giving brightness, with the shining source as the giver. |
Body
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
whalo thumai | big finger | thumb | The registered body-map reading singles out the thumb among the hand digits. Exact anatomy can add its position and movement. |
mokura kesho | belly-middle | navel | The body location serves as the ordinary definition. |
paloi thumai | foot-finger | toe | A toe is the foot's digit. The familiar body pattern makes the compound immediate once thumai is known. |
mirae hisae | eye-skin | eyelid | The movable skin that covers the eye needs no hidden anatomical label in ordinary speech. |
nophae phae | nose-opening | nostril | The event noun of phae names the opening itself, and nophae says exactly where it is. |
pelio kesho kiparu | arm-middle joint | elbow | The arm's middle joint is a stable landmark even when its exact anatomical structures are left to medical terminology. |
manuwe kiparu | hand-joint | wrist | The joint adjoining the hand is easy to locate and keeps the general body word visible. |
paloi kiparu | foot-joint | ankle | The joint adjoining the foot follows the same pattern as the wrist, so neither compound has to be memorised alone. |
nolika whila | animal hair | fur | The animal possessor narrows general whila (hair) to fur. |
mirae phialu | eye-water | tears | The bodily source narrows water to tears. Direct nuhewa names the act of weeping. |
Sound and speech
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
haoni welisha | voice-color | timbre, tone of voice | Voice-colour compares audible character to visible colour. Pitch, volume, wording, and other traits can be stated separately when they matter. |
Writing
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
thekiro tinoa | writing-dye | ink | Ink is the colouring material used to leave readable marks. The compound names its work and leaves an exact recipe with its source. |
thekiro kiroa | writing-sign | letter, written character | kiroa already names a visible sign; thekiro narrows it to one used in writing and keeps it apart from correspondence. |
thekiro milaro | writing-message | letter, written correspondence | milaro keeps the expression directed towards a recipient, while thekiro states its written form. Exact wording remains with the source text when it matters. |
Color
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
kerou welisha | stone color | gray | Stone is a familiar neutral-grey anchor. A modifier or source sample can narrow the shade. |
thero welisha | fire color | orange | Fire is the ordinary orange anchor, though a particular flame may have another colour. |
horathe welisha | dawn color | pink | Dawn is the ordinary pale-red or pink anchor. The visible source remains part of the expression. |
norawhi welisha | dusk color | violet, purple | Dusk is the ordinary violet or purple anchor and the temporal counterpart to dawn-colour. |
Time
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
ha philo | this day | today | Proximal ha locates the day that contains the utterance. |
luera philo | past day | yesterday | luera locates the relevant day in the past, normally the preceding day in context. |
wireo philo | future day | tomorrow | wireo locates the relevant day in the future, normally the following day in context. |
theula philo | all days | every day | Universal theula distributes the claim across days. |
theula thimu | all time | always | Universal theula extends the claim across the whole relevant span of time. |
mawha thimu | no time | never | Null mawha denies any time within the relevant span. |
sheloi shemu | many moments | often | Many moments express frequent occurrence over a contextually understood span. |
phina shemu | few moments | rarely | Few moments express infrequent occurrence without supplying an exact threshold. |
soli shemu | some moments | sometimes | Some moments place an occurrence within the span without calling it frequent or infrequent. |
Beings and life
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
wea thowia shua | come toward birth | seeking birth; the not-yet-born | Birth lies ahead, but nothing in the phrase says that the approach was chosen. The Metta Sutta fixes this reading. |
thowia phao | birth parent | the parent in the birth relation | Birth names the relevant parent without assigning gender to parenthood as a whole. The Metta Sutta uses the phrase in its parent and child simile. |
shero phiwapi | night butterfly | moth in ordinary descriptive reference | The night-active image gives an ordinary reading for moth. Exact species identity remains with its source. |
nuko pelori | black bird | black bird; blackbird in ordinary context | Colour and bird identify the creature in ordinary context. Exact species identity remains with its source. |
shiro pakewu | tree stem | trunk | A trunk is a tree's principal stem. The compound also works for trees with several trunks and leaves exact botanical boundaries with their sources. |
peloru lirowa | flower leaf | petal | A petal is the leaf-like part of a flower in ordinary description. Exact modified structures can retain their botanical account. |
tokemi lureko | fungus fruit | mushroom; fungal fruiting body | The visible fruiting body is only one part of the fungus. Keeping tokemi audible prevents the mushroom from standing for the whole organism. |
wotami sholei | shrub gathering | thicket | A thicket is encountered as shrubs growing closely together. The phrase keeps the plants visible instead of treating the place as an unrelated landform. |
lureko shiro koshira | fruit-tree grove | orchard | Fruit identifies the trees and grove identifies the place. A source can still name the crop, ownership, or cultivation arrangement. |
sorila phireo | cultivation plant | crop; cultivated plant | The expression names a plant through the act of cultivation. Harvested produce, yield, and legal crop categories remain separate. |
wuloe nolika paloi | soft animal foot | paw | Yielding contact distinguishes the familiar paw from a hard hoof. Exact pads, claws, and species anatomy can be stated when they matter. |
kethua nolika paloi | hard animal foot | hoof | The hard animal foot is the ordinary visible distinction. Split and unsplit hooves keep their exact source descriptions. |
kethua pelori phulae | hard bird mouth | beak; bill | The bird and its hard mouth structure remain audible together. Shape and feeding use can be stated for the particular bird. |
keloe nolika | companion animal | pet | Companionship names a present relation rather than ownership. A household can state care, residence, and responsibility separately. |
pelori womu | bird home | nest | The bird's home is the ordinary nest expression. Material, location, eggs, and present occupation remain separate observations. |
hemoko womu | bee home | hive; bee nest | Bee identifies the residents and home the structure. Colony, managed hive, and exact species remain distinct. |
limu nolika | young animal | young animal | The same age word works across species until an exact life stage or husbandry class matters. |
nolika haoni | animal voice | animal call | The expression reports a vocal sound without pretending that every species or situation has one fixed call. |
nolika sholei | animal gathering | animal group; herd, flock, pack, or swarm in ordinary reference | The gathering stays generic while the animal noun identifies its members. Exact social structure or biological terminology remains available from its source. |
The household and the made world
| Compound | Literal | Meaning | Why compositional |
|---|---|---|---|
koma nuwera | head-bed | pillow | This is the transparent base-vocabulary paraphrase. Household komalu is the optional direct word for a pillow that supports the head or another body part. |
kerou lureko | stone-fruit | nut | Hardness gives the fruit its ordinary name while species and exact structure remain available to state. |
keli korua | device-heart | mainspring, a mechanism's driving part | The heart image marks the part that drives a mechanism. An exact mechanism can name its part in the source record. |
moriwhe kerou | sea-stone | pearl | The sea is the conventional setting in the image, while stone describes the small hard form. An exact account can identify a freshwater or marine origin and the mollusc in which the pearl formed. |
phemi womu | guest-home | guest-house | The compound names a home arranged for a guest's temporary stay without assigning ownership. |
halemu womu | remembering-house | museum | The institution is described as a place where a community keeps material connected with remembering. |
whelina sholei | grass-gathering | hay-harvest, haymaking | The event noun of sholei (gather) takes grass as the material being gathered. |
lona lokue | meeting-place | hall | The place is identified by its recurring use for meetings and gatherings. |
mueri kerou | clay stone | brick | A brick is shaped clay hardened until it can take a stone's place in a wall. The compound already carries the material contrast at the centre of Babel. |
shumeko muralo | sticky material | glue; adhesive | Stickiness names the property that matters in ordinary joining. Chemistry, curing behaviour, and safe use belong to the particular adhesive. |
thero muralo | fire material | fuel | The material is fuel because it feeds a fire. The expression says what it does without praising the fuel or hiding its origin. |
theru pelua | thick paper | card; cardboard | Thick paper covers ordinary card and cardboard where the sheet form matters. Corrugation, lamination, and exact grade can be added when they change the object. |
welotu keluo | mixed metal | alloy | An alloy is metal made from a deliberate material mixture. Its material description states the constituents and their proportions. |
muwi toru | interior roof | ceiling | The roof names the upper cover; the interior tells us which face a person sees from inside. A suspended or decorated ceiling can add its material and construction. |
rihe ruela | rising path | stairs; stairway | Stairs are a route whose ordinary course rises or falls between levels. Step shape, handrails, gradient, and access remain available as separate facts. |
muwi ruela | interior path | corridor; hallway | A corridor is the path through the inside of a building. Its width, doors, turns, and uses can be stated without making one institutional floor plan universal. |
norui ponu | boundary door | gate | A gate is the movable closure at a boundary. The compound does not decide who set that boundary, who holds a key, or who may pass. |
norui moru | boundary wall | fence; enclosing wall | A fence gives a boundary material form, whether its construction is open or solid. Material and height can distinguish wire, rails, woven panels, masonry, or another local form. |
thumiro ruela | smoke route | chimney; flue | A chimney gives smoke a made route out of an occupied place. Draft, heat, soot, and exact safe construction remain part of the source guidance for the structure in use. |