An example search has returned 100 entries
afwafwa
n. beat coconut fiber
bookmarkecetaig an moije
v.n. to go on to a reef with a canoe or boat
bookmarkelelehel
wind blowing
bookmarkelgai
v.n. expand as a leaf
bookmarkerijai
v.n. to rise up; to overflow as sea on land; to get ashore
bookmarkeriseris
v.a. to climb
bookmarketgei
v. to weed
bookmarketti
v. to split leaves
bookmarkincetceianalañ
incowos up̃utap̃
inewosneiak
n. herb to 1 m, flower bracts yellow. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4921)
Example: Introduced species, used for decoration. Planted near houses and roads. Use the flower for decorating hair.
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inmejcop
inmohoc onubidou
inmora
n. Foxface
Example: Photo by Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
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intak apnyin
n. the following day
bookmarkintesjao
intiklan cai
n. tops of branches
bookmarkintisiancai
n. blossom (open)
bookmarkinwaj
n. Hound needlefish, crocodile long-tom
Example: Photo by Philippe Bourjon / Fishbase, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkinyehec
n. mandrake
bookmarkinyipei
n. the flour, as of arrowroot
bookmarkinʧatamain
meto
adj. ripe; also "metto"
bookmarknahi ateuc
n. a plant with white flowers; a lily
bookmarknahojcei
naijema
n. cotton
bookmarknajañ
nakwai
n. kind of plant, grass, or fern
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nanad
n. shrub. Growing near the beach. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #4)
Example: 1. Dried branches from this plant can be used to roast vegetable crops that women eat if they have problems becoming pregnant. 2. Firewood, burns well. 3. Some people will eat the green fruit for protection against black magic. Eat 5 fruits for this. Eat it only once – will last for a year.
bookmarknarasitai
n. chaff
bookmarknared
n. vine climbing on trees, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4090)
Example: 1. The rachis of an old plant is braided as a rope to tie sugar cane, house posts, and fences. The rachis is used when green, and as it dries in form, it remains functional and lasts for a long time (10-12 years).
bookmarknataimu
n. Brassy trevally
Example: Photo by ANFC, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknauhoig yi amud
n. break of day
bookmarknauyerop
n. tree. Village home garden. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #9)
Example: 1. To cure spirit sickness of the niteitau. Use plants that also end with "au" : niditau, intoutau, naoyerop. Go to the top of the plant to get the soft leaves of the plants niditau, intoutau, naoyerop, also take the bark. The person making the medicine should be holding the these leaves with a piece of nelmaha. Nelmaha means go away. The sick person chews the leaves and bark and swallows the juice spitting out the fiber into the nelmaha the medicine maker is holding. The medicine person then takes the spit out fiber in the nalmaha leaf and throws it into the sea in front of the village. 2. Edible fruits, when ripe or green, does not taste when green, but sweet when ripe. 3a. Leaves (young) are edible, for example wrap around coconut meat and eat or cook with island cabbage and other leaves, boil and add coconut milk and eat. 3b. The young leaves are edible, after boiling for 5 minutes. A piece of coconut and a pinch of salt is wrapped in the leaves and eaten. The mature leaves are used to wrap food such as pig or cow meat and cooked in an earth oven. Tie this bundle with a piece of Pandanus fiber to secure it before putting in the earth oven. 4. During big feast, use this a lot – circumcison or wedding feast, harvest leaves and wrap around meat and bake on earth oven – sometimes we cut down a whole tree to gather leaves. 5. To make men’s custom belt – split stem, peel outer bark off to take inner bark and peel it, tear end to make strap that can be tied. Dry in sun but not direct sunlight. 6. Older large trunks were burned by ancestors to keep fire going – this was during the time when people did not have matches and did not need them as the embers of this tree would stay hot for days and when it was time to make a stronger fire, people would add smaller branches to make a flame appear.
bookmarknecsap
n. shrub, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3534)
Example: This tree has very hard wood. 1. Use the small stems to plant dry land or swamp taro, sharpening the end and pushing it into the ground to make a hole. 2. It also is useful for fence, posts for houses. 3. Small stems are also used to make a comb for the hair. 4. Plant pole for taro kava. 5. A branch is shaped and used to husk coconut. 6. The wood is hard and in ancient times people would take a forked piece and put string on one side of it, sharpen the other side and use with the string as a fish hook – need to keep rope tight until it is in the canoe. Do not give it slack – strong use AAM 17.
bookmarknedouyatmas
nehgan
n. a stock; a bunch, as of fruit; also "negan" or "nigan"
bookmarkneijiv
n. species of pine
bookmarknejeg
n. tree, growing in forest at edge of wide tidal stream (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3535)
Example: 1. The wood is strong and good to make house posts. People use these for this purpose on the coast as salt water does not bother this wood. 2. People eat fruit, split fruit in half, carefully scrape the inner part into a pot of water, keep over night – next day rinse, fry or cook with coconut milk and can add tinned tuna for example, very hard work.
bookmarknelnjen natimi
nepekhau
nepelvanwou
n. liana, on Polyscias cissodendron (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3457)
Example: 1. Macerate the young stems, remove the outer "skin" to release the odor of the stem and weave into a head garland for decoration. 2. People use it as a headdress. This is a male plant, ancestors used both male and female wrapped together for the headdress. Man would put this on head to attract a woman that he liked. Be careful when you are passing other women who will be attracted to the wearer – so the person can’t speak to them so he can focus on the one he is attracted to.
bookmarknepjen epjen
neudan tauoc nohos
n. the center sprout of the banana plant
bookmarknicvan neaig
n. kind of taro
bookmarkniditau
nigie
n. shrub, 1-2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3555)
Example: This plant is an aphrodisiac. Eat with coconut meat to make the body strong. Take 1/2 handful of leaves and mix with coconut leaves, use as needed. Mostly men eat this combination. It is best to eat with dry coconut that has no water in it. Eat it any time you wish.
bookmarknijcel
n. tree, 10-12 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4061)
Example: 1. When cooking "Naura" (freshwater prawns), the leaves are used to wrap them before they are roasted in a fire. 2. When making lap-lap (a traditional dish made of grated root crops), and the lap-lap leaf is unavailable (Heliconia sp.), use the large leaf of this species to wrap the taro.
bookmarknijkowai
n. Spanish flag, stripey
Example: Photo by Ian Shaw / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknijmanyahao
n. Yellow-Edged Moray
Example: Photo by Bernard Dupont, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknilidie
n. leaves to put food on
bookmarknimtinjap
n. wind
bookmarknitidae
nititan cei
nomodej wow
n. vine to 2 m, aerial tubers and lobed leaves. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4946)
Example: This is a root crop. It is harvested in April-June. The leaves turn yellow and indicate that the crop is ready to harvest. If planted in the old days the root would get much larger. It is a good cyclone disaster food. Grows wild now. Boil the tuber in fresh water, when it is cooked add a bit of sea water to give it a salty taste. Chew the starchy root and spit out the fiber. Another variety is like sweet potato and a person can eat the entire root without spitting out the fiber. Can mix with coconut milk as well to eat.
bookmarknomotan
n. Spangled emperor
Example: Photo by Richard Ling, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknouhap̃
n. shrub, 2. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3511)
Example: 1. Use the leaves to put in a hole where taro is being planted, as a sort of fertilizer--it rots easily and adds value to the soil. To protect a person from spirits if you are going to an unfamiliar place, take the young inflorescence and put behind your ear. This plant is a sort of "spiritual kava." 2. Flowers are put behind one ear, any side, to allow a person to pass through sacred places. For protection of the spirits especially if you are familiar with this place. On EAST SIDE, put one leaf under pillow before sleeping so that the lady spirit will not disturb the person. Only for men – spirit likes men, and wants to have sleep with them. If she gets pregnant, you must follow her to look after the kids in the spirit world so you leave this one (you die). 3. The small, straight stems of this plant are used as rafters to weave thatch. 4. Children make bows and arrows from the stems as well as spears for fishing.
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numnyac
n. a kind of bulbous root
bookmarknupnyineuc
n. another name for masoa; arrowroot
bookmarknupunyepec
nämdokai
nässa
se
adv. downward
bookmarktehtehin
n. an open blossom
bookmarkThere are currently 2431 entries, 1543 audio files, and 860 images.
All content copyright © Aneityum community. (2015)
Talking Dictionary produced by K. David Harrison, Gregory D. S. Anderson and Jeremy Fahringer. Botanical consultants: Michael J. Balick, Gregory M. Plunkett and Sean Thackurdeen. (2015-2018)
Aneityum language contributors include Kirk Keitadi, Tony Keith, Titiya Lalep, David Nasauman, Osiani Nerian, Ruben Nerian, Chris Nevehev, Romario Yaufati and others as credited within the dictionary entries. Based in part on materials from Inglis, John (1882) A Dictionary of the Aneityumese Language: In Two Parts. I. Aneityumese and English. II. English.
The Aneityum-English Talking Dictionary was made possible by award no. 1555675 from National Science Foundation for “Collaborative Research: Plant, Fungal and Linguistic Diversity of Tafea Province, Vanuatu.” This support is gratefully acknowledged.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
All rights reserved. Do not distribute or reproduce without permission.
how to cite:
K. David Harrison. 2015.
Aneityum Talking Dictionary.
Swarthmore College.
http://www.talkingdictionary.org/aneityum
Interface and database design under the direction of Jeremy Fahringer and Swarthmore College ITS.
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