Aneityum

[aɣes noraŋitei] phr. sing a song

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[ahi] adj. white (color)

Speaker: David Nasauman

v. to weed

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 68

v.n. to cross over or above, as over a fence, or tree in a path, or on stones through a river

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 58

n. reed work in the opening of a fence

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[as vakuej] v. break something circular (like a fruit); break something lengthwise

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[asvii naret̚o] phr. break bread

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adj. healed, applied to wounds; ripe; yellow

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 77

[eroʊ nadimi] phr. two men

Speaker: David Nasauman

v.n. to go

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 81

adj. sick

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. tree to 6 m, dbh 8 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #5002)

Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. herb, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3676)

Scientific name: Hedychium coronarium, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[inŋa] n. Purple Swamphen

Example: Photo by Bernard Spragg, License: Public domain via Flickr

Scientific name: Porphyrio porphyrio, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. the stem of a bunch of bananas, coconuts, etc.

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 86

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. pendent epiphyte, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4037)

Scientific name: Phlegmariurus phlegmaria, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. summer, autumn

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 190; 126

n. tree to 5 m, dbh 8 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4855)

Example: To treat a flu that has resulted in a thick, runny nose, collect sap of this tree, drink 2-3 drops directly (not in water). This is for treating the type of flu that provokes yellow mucus coming out of the nose. Drinking the sap breaks up the stuffy nose. Use once, it tastes very sour. In 3-4 days the mucus will be expelled. Do not use too much! If a person has a new cut, and the bleeding will not stop, place the sap on the cut and the bleeding will stop. If you have a burn that is bleeding, applying the sap will stop the blood and oozing sore. If a person has a sore on their body, cover it with a layer of the sap from this plant. This will ensure that the sore will not get larger from infection, flies, etc. but stay its original size. This plant is also used for unspecified spiritual practices. To determine if a fish you have caught is poisonous, e.g. with ciguatera, take an 8’ piece of small branch from this tree, peel the bark and put it inside the fish before you cook it on the earth oven. If the stick turns black, then you know that the fish is not good to eat--it has a poison so should be thrown away.

Scientific name: Tabernaemontana anguinea, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tree to 7 m, dbh 30 com (collection: Michael J. Balick #4870)

Example: This plant is used for spiritual purposes. When fruits are young, the children take the fruit, cut it open and take coconut leaf midribs, impaling the seeds on the midribs and painting themselves with the fruit.

Scientific name: Pittosporum aneityense, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. treelet, 1. 75 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4077)

Scientific name: Ixora aneityensis

n. epiphyte on trees, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4093)

Example: 1. Sickness blo namya. When a man accidentally has intercourse with a woman during her menstrual cycle, he can become sick. The leaves are squeezed, along with others, to produce an extraction. The dose and duration varies according to the degree of the symptoms. Further information about the preparation withheld.

Scientific name: Psilotum complanatum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

[intaʧi] n. notches carved into a tree, used as footholds for climbing tree to harvest coconut

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, April 2016.

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. tongs for removing food from fire

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, April 2016.

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tops of branches

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 89

n. a bed, a foundation, a plantation

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 89

Reef needlefish, Reef longtoms

Example: Photo by ANFC, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Strongylura incisa via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. tree to 15 m, dbh 20 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4914)

Example: Use the leaves to make compost to be placed at the bottom of the hole where taro is to be planted, cover with soil and grow the taro in that hole. Serves as a fertilizer.

Scientific name: Pittosporum campbellii, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

adj. afar

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 121

n. banyan tree (RPV #74)

Scientific name: Ficus glandifera, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a thistle

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of plantain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. small treelet, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3682)

Example: Can be used to stop pain from toothache. Break of the top growth of a branch and remove all leaves. Chew on the green stem at the site where there is a toothache. Keep the juice from chewing in your mouth for 2-5 minutes then spit the juice out. Leave the stem fibers in your mouth at the site of pain for about 20 minutes then remove. Then repeat 2 more times. This makes the tooth thinner so it breaks more easily.

Scientific name: Cyrtandra aneiteensis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. herb to 10 cm, sterile (collection: Michael J. Balick #4985)

Example: This plant is a very important food during a famine. People dig up the roots and roast these on the embers of a fire for 25 minutes, then check the root to get out the starchy material, and spit out the fiber. There is said to be little taste; this is a bland food that a person eats to survive. People on Aneityum have harvested it for a very long time so there is not as much of a supply left as in the past.

Speaker: Tony Keith

n. epiphyte on tree trunks, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4103)

Scientific name: Spiridens sp., Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. epiphytic liana climbing up main trunk of garcinia pseudoguttifera, growing in primary forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4014)

Scientific name: Freycinetia impavida, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree to 10 m, dbh 20 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4929)

Example: The wood is hard and used as a spade to dig holes for planting taro. Make spears for fishing out of the stems, either by sharpening them or putting wires on the end.

Scientific name: Xylosma guillauminii, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. terrestrial fern, growing in secondary forest along the river. Fronds dimorphic. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3644)

Example: This is a sacred plant, it will keep crops, such as foods, in good condition and protect people from famine and loss of crops. It grows wild along the river and people leave it there and also move the plants to the house along with Terminalia fruiticosa and other unspecified plants for use in protecting their crops. For example, when people go to the garden, they take their planting stick and place it near these plants for a while, and being near it will help protect the garden as a person then works with their planting stick to plant the garden.

Scientific name: Oceanopteris gibba, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a gathering of inmops or horse-chestnuts

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. lentils

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 162

n. herb, growing on roadside in open disturbed area. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3607)

Scientific name: Ischaemum muticum, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. wind-related term; no definition provided

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. herb. Swamp areas. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #8)

Example: 1. Cervical pain and to return it to normal size - Get a handful of Naurakiti and boil it in a pot of water. This can also be done by rubbing the handful of leaves together and squeezing out the juice into the boiling water but the leaves do not go inside. Sit in this for 2 hours or until cold for 1 a day for a week. 2. Medicine: leaf juice put on fresh cut to stop bleeding. Stomachache, headache – use 1 handful of leaves, squeeze these, put in cup, put in some water and drink it 1x day. 3. Women menstruation that will not stop, take 1 handful of leaves into a cup of water and drink 1x day for 3 days. 4. If a person’s joints are sore, take a handful of leaves, crush them and rub on the sore joints. Some people don’t like to use it internally as it can make some people sick, especially small children, but others say it is OK to use.

Scientific name: Ageratum conyzoides, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. a stem

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 97

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. tree, 8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4129)

Scientific name: Semecarpus, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. understory tree, 2-3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4050)

Scientific name: Schefflera neoebudica, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. small, sparsely branched tree (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3463)

Example: This is considered a sacred plant. People do not use this plant as it is considered "of the devil."

Scientific name: Delarbrea paradoxa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. a bone, a foot

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

adj. full of seeds, as the pawpaw apple

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

n. a species of poisonous tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

[neijaŋ] n. coconut

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. a chewing of wood, and spitting it on sick people, to cure them; also "naihon"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 99

n. fir; pine

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 150, 172

n. terrestrial fern, 30 cm tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3716)

Example: The leaves of this plant, along with other leaves, are used to make an unspecified traditional medicine.

Scientific name: Tapeinidium denhamii, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the name of a poisonous plant

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 99

n. the tow of flax

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 100

n. Yellowspotted trevally, Turrum

Example: Photo by Rick Stuart-Smith / Fishes of Australia, License: CC BY-A 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Carangoides fulvoguttatus via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. treelet, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3468)

Scientific name: Micromelum minutum, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. the pith

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 100

[netupni] n. June (lit. good sugar cane)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. tree to 8 m, dbh 20 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4867)

Example: Fruits are sweet and edible when ripe. This plant is an indicator of rich soil, a good place to plant one’s garden. The leaves of this species are mixed in with other leaves for an unspecified local medicine that helps to remove spiritual sickness

Scientific name: Ficus adenosperma, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[niŋeɣ] n. Mystery island (western, longer part)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. midnight; also "nijihgan nepig"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. herb to 1 m, flowers white with red bracts (collection: Michael J. Balick #4912)

Example: To treat high blood pressure. Take a half liter of water, mix a handful of roots in it, boil, drink one cup 3 times daily, warm, for three days. This is to treat high blood pressure when diagnosed in the clinic. The leaf is woven for grass skirts--dry in sun, weave into skirts.

Scientific name: Zingiber zerumbet, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[nijom huboʊ] n. round house; troka house, possibly named after Trochus niloticus

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. shrub to 1 m, dby 2 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4999)

Example: It is said that if you chew these leaves or boil them in water and drink the tea from these leaves it will spoil your teeth. There is assumed to be something bad for the teeth in this plant. Local name "Nijom" =tooth and "Kan" = break.

Scientific name: Psychotria milnei, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. seaweed

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 102

n. Bidens pilosa L.

Example: shoot -- cold maceration taken internally against cough

Scientific name: Bidens pilosa L., Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 440

n. wooden dish

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, Dec. 2018, Aneityum island.

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of seashell

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, Dec. 2018, Aneityum island.

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. blossoms on breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 103

n. sparsely branched tree, 2. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3628)

Example: This plant is used to make a grass skirt for women. There are two different methods decribed. In the first, collect the leaves, tear off 1/2 of the leaf and pleat the halves. Then dry these in the sun by hanging them from the midrib. After they are dry, weave them into a skirt. In the second, take one leaf at a time, tear the leaf down the center and throw away the midrib. The soft part is used in making the skirt by holding a piece of twine between your toes and under your armpit. Weave the length of the twine with the leaf. The let the pieces to dry in the sun for 2-3 days. The skirt can be thrown in the sea before drying to make the skirt white. Bark of inhao is usually used as twine. Retted strips of leaves, later sun dried, can be used to make pillows. When dogs or humans have fish poisoning this plant can help. Take 2 leaves and pound them (use 1 leaf for dogs) and mix with 1/4 cup of water. no further instructions given. (OR - Leaves to cure ciguatera, chew 1 leaf and swallow juice and spit out fiber. Or extract juice into a cup to drink 1x. Give juice + water in cup for dog that is sick.) There is also a belief that you can use the whole stem of this plant as a digging spade to plant sugarcane so the sugarcane is soft and sweet.

Scientific name: Dracaena sp., Speaker: Titiya Lalep

large tree, 13 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4052)

Example: 1. Considered to be a relative of textit{Morinda citrifolia}.

Scientific name: Neuburgia corynocarpa

n. Thumbprint emperor, blackspot emperor

Example: Photo by ANFC, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Lethrinus harak via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. shrub to 1 m, flowers green (collection: Michael J. Balick #4895)

Example: To make bush ropes, remove outer bark, use to tie things when other ropes are not available. This plant is sour and toxic if the fruits or leaves are eaten. Animals will not eat this plant. The elders teach us not to eat this plant.

Scientific name: Wikstroemia indica, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[nowanɣat] n. pandanus fruit (sg)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. plain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 172

n. fish; life

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

v.n. sail inside of reef

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 180

[rabaθ] n. Peregrine Falcon

Example: Photo by Teddy Llovet, License: CC BY-NC 2.0 see more on Flickr See how this bird is featured in the origin story of Aneityum chiefs at see more on Youtube

Scientific name: Falco peregrinus, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

adv. down here; also "sime"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 108

n. Blackfin barracuda

Example: Photo by Jan Messersmith, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Sphyraena qenie via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. Pickhandle barracuda

Example: Photo by Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Sphyraena jello via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. tough; a kind of coral

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 111