Aneityum

n. beat coconut fiber

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 127

pro. you

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[akro te haŋaiŋ] v. share food together

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

v. to bud; to put forth leaves

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 59

conj. and

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[amŋi kava] phr. drink kava

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v.n. to come

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[araheθ] n. round

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

v.n. to go ashore

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 66

v. to seek food, as taro; to gather, to reap

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 74

v. to fish (by torchlight)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adj. stringy, watery, as taro; also "ede"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 81

n. a place down, or westward

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

n. whitewood (RPV #38)

Scientific name: Endospermum medullosum, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. small tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4021)

Scientific name: Astronidium aneityense, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[inhat auɪɲet] n. a drawing on stones

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. kind of sugarcane; also "nalgaij"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. type of seashell

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

Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. a rainbow

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

[inja] n. Red Jungle Fowl, all chickens

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

Scientific name: Gallus gallus, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

[inʤupki upni] phr. Good afternoon. (greeting around noon time, 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock, afternoon)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. vine to 1 m, flowers greenish (collection: Michael J. Balick #4904)

Example: This is an introduced species. Use ripe fruits to produce a kind of ink for writing.

Scientific name: Passiflora suberosa, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. belt

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. native petticoat

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 86

n. a bolt of pandanus leaf

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 86

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. tree to 4 m tall, dbh 6 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4941)

Example: Edible fruits, very well liked.

Scientific name: Eugenia rariflora, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. tree. Growing in village garden. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #22)

Example: 1. Timber for houses, hard wood. 2. Fruits have a highly desirable nut that is edible when fresh after cracking the fruit. 3. Medicine – 5 young tips, boiled in 3 cups of water, and steam eyes when have conjunctivitis. 1x. 3. Calendar plant – When the leaves turn red and are ready to fall off from the tree – the lobsters are ready to be harvested – best time to harvest lobsters. Firm tasty meat. This was a traditional population management so that lobsters were not harvested year around but only during this season, Oct–Nov, for a month or 1.5 months.

Scientific name: Terminalia catappa, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. grass to 3 m, flowers brown. Growing in degraded secondary forest along trail. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4969)

Example: The stem of this plant is used to make walls of houses. Collect the stem and remove the leaves, and then take one of the bush vines (any of them) and tie the stems into bundles for making house walls or fences for chicken pens. Children make a whistle from a hollow piece of stem from this plant.

Scientific name: Miscanthus sinensis, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. a flower

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 89

n. herb. Grows on the coast. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #18)

Example: 1. For painful urination - The first way to prepare this it to take four big leaves and pound them with some water to get out the juices and squeeze this into a cup and drink. This can also be given to babies and children. The second way is to take two small leaf tops and two that are slightly larger tops. Chew these leaves and try to swallow all of it, if you can’t swallow the leaves then spit out the fibers and only drink the juice. 2. Calendar plant – when it flowers, turtle has fat in them, hang turtle to dry, fat melts, and can collect and eat it. Past practice – not eaten now. 3. Young parts of leaves can be cooked as a cabbage with coconut milk. 4. Wrap fish, especially those from the sea, with this leaf – first take lap lap leaf, then layer with this leaf, then wrap fish tie with pandanus for cooking on charcoals. Also with reef fish can wrap and cook directly on charcoal. Then eat leaf with the fish. 5. Medicine – top unrolled leaf tips, – new baby put this in his mouth and then take it out again – believe that it will make the baby talkative – 1x only when 1-2 days old. Put tip on tongue – shut mouth for a few seconds then pull it out. 6. Tips of leaves for diarrhea – remove old leaves, take 1 tip for baby, adults 2-3 tips, chew it, swallow juice and spit out fiber. 1x day, 3 days.

Scientific name: Wollastonia biflora, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. creeping and decumbent vine, growing at edge of strand (near airstrip terminal). (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3575)

Scientific name: Stictocardia campanulata, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. tree, 10 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3645)

Example: The ripe fruits of this plant are edible and said to be delicious as well as smell very good. When the fruits turn brown and soft you can open it and there will be a shell like an upsidedown turtle shell. You can eat the fruit out. As the fruit smells good, people put a basket of ripe fruits in their homes to give it a good smell. The unripe fruits can be eaten, but only when cooked in an earth oven so it is not sticky. The tree can be used for sawn timber. Can be used for building house, specifically the house posts. Number one timber.

Scientific name: Burckella obovata, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. herb, growing along the river at the edge of secondary forest. Stems pale green. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3642)

Example: As a local toothbrush, take two pieces of stems, bend them and use to brush teeth with water. This plant acts like sandpaper to clean the teeth. Can also be used to brush pots.

Scientific name: Equisetum debile, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. a plant from which an intoxicating drink is prepared

Scientific name: Piper methysticum, Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 91

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[kuretemain] n. dog (male)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. arrowroot

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 92

[nadimi deroʊ] phr. two men (there are)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of turtle

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. flax

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 151

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. tree to 30 m, dbh 75 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4911)

Example: Stems of this tree are used to make canoes as they are always straight. Tree can also be used to for timber and as firewood.

Scientific name: Serianthes ebudarum, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of plantain (strong one)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. shrub, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3684)

Example: People on Anietyum carve a kava bowl from the wood of this species, that is unique to this island. It is oblong in shape and has a handle on each side.

Scientific name: Glochidion ramiflorum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. herb to 3 m tall, fruits black. Secondary forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4905)

Example: Leaves used to wrap around cassava that is being baked in the earth oven.

Scientific name: Joinvillea plicata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. a small whirlwind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. current in the sea

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 140

n. a crop; fruit which grows spontaneously

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. the north-east wind; also "nathau an jap"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. near morning

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 166

n. bamboo; a mountain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 97

n. treelet, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3622)

Example: People use the leaf of this plant to tie over grated banana, taro or other foods for cooking in an earth oven or boiling in a pot. The root of this species is edible. Cook it for 2-3 nights in an earth oven and then chew and squeeze the juice into your mouth, spitting out the fiber.

Scientific name: Cordyline fruticosa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. shrub to 2. 5 m tall, 1 cm dbh (collection: Michael J. Balick #4856)

Example: When a person gets burned by a fire, take the leaves, squeeze sap on the burn, and then rub a handful of leaves on the burn; use a larger amount of leaves if the person has a larger burn. Apply it directly after the person is burned. This treatment will stop the burn from blistering. Use once. When a 1 month to 2 year old baby has redness or sores on their tongue and cannot eat properly, and saliva is coming out from their mouth, take the sap of the crushed leaves in a spoon and give it to the baby. Take one teaspoon for a 1-5 month old child and a tablespoon for a 6-24 month old. Give the baby once a day for 2 days. This treatment cleanses out the reddish sores. If a person has a sore that is persistent and stays red and sore for a week or more, take 4 apices of this plant, chew and spit on the sore to help it heal. Use 1x in the morning, and next day in the afternoon. Use 2x only. If a person is walking in the bush and concerned about evil spirits, put a small branch behind the ear to be safe. To treat hot chest pain, dizziness, shortage of breath, and if a person has a hot pain that does not go away after taking panadol (aspirin), take 8 leaves and squeeze into a glass of water until it turns reddish, drink 1x a day for 3 days; this is said to make the pain go away.

Scientific name: Acalypha grandis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

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

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 99

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. Metrosideros collina (RPV #81)

Scientific name: Metrosideros collina, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of bush

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[nepiŋ upni] phr. Good night. (greeting after sundown, last time to walk on the beach)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. grass to 70 cm tall, sterile. Cultivated at the side of a field. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4958)

Example: The leaves and stems are boiled in water to make tea. The base of the leaves (the whitish part) is used to cook foods that have a strong odor, such as goat or shark. The base is sliced and put in the soup and this helps to keep the smell of the goat or shark from infusing through the rest of the food and making it less palatable. In some areas of Aneityum, such as in cassava fields, there is a fungus that kills the crops. This species is interplanted with the crops to kill that fungus and protect the crop plants.

Scientific name: Cymbopogon citratus, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3507)

Example: The young leaves and fruits are edible; the fruits are eaten ripe. This species is used for firewood as well as house posts, but they don’t last as long as other types of wood so they are used in temporary structures. A sacred plant on Aneityum. Name means linkage between this world and the spirit world. Agriculture – you find this tree ?? it means that the land is fertile. Birds eat fruits; people burn the tree to release ash and fertilizer and grow their taro around it – it will give more food. Message plant – if someone puts a long brown on your door or in your garden, it means “why are you here?” Implies that you should go back to where you belong. You don’t belong in this place. For example instead of quarreling over land dispute, put the branch and it means that you should leave this place.

Scientific name: Ficus adenosperma, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. tree fern, trunk 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4102)

Example: 1. There are kinds of this plant. This is considered the white one. See GMP #4100, Cyathea sp., which is considered the black one.

Scientific name: Cyathea, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. shrub, 1-1. 25 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3591)

Example: The fruits of this species are edible when ripe (black) and are very sweet. It grows in the white grass area in the open. It is "numba one" fruit. If a person eats a lot of these it turns their tongue reddish-purple.

Scientific name: Vaccinium macgillivrayi, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. shrub, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3484)

Example: Name means smash tooth. 1. This is part of an unspecified mixture that can be used as a spell to give another person a toothache. 2. Toothache – chew leaves on the sore tooth and leave it there for a while and spit it out – it will break the tooth and you can take it out, leave on 20 minutes.

Scientific name: Phyllanthus fimbriatitepalus, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. herb to 70 cm, florets yellow (collection: Michael J. Balick #4998)

Example: To treat a headache, especially from the flu, boil a handful of leaves in 1 liter of water for a few minutes, let cool and drink 1 cup of liquid per day . Also can treat this type of headache by using the plant in a steam bath, by boiling 4 handfuls of leaves in a pot of water, covering the head with a towel and breathing in the steam from the pot.

Scientific name: Bidens pilosa, Speaker: Tony Keith

[ninɛhɛn nʊmʊ] n. fish scales

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of shell

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[nipat] n. horn

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

[nitaʔto] v. to bake

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

[niʧep] n. mat for sitting

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

[nohos itoʊga] n. kind of banana

n. ripe bananas

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[nohos u natmas] n. kind of banana

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. fan

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4749)

Scientific name: Dysoxylum bijugum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[nowoɣ] n. red clouds after sunset

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. shrub to 2 m tall, flowers pink (collection: Michael J. Balick #4955)

Example: The tubers of this variety are sweet, not bitter and are eaten after cooking. The young leaves are eaten after boiling in water until they are soft, either plain or cooked in soup. It is important to only harvest and prepare the young leaves in this way, as the older leaves will not get soft even after cooking. The young leaves are used to cover the top layer of the earth oven, on top of the stones that comprise the upper layer of the earth oven.

Scientific name: Manihot esculenta, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. vine, growing in open disturbed area. Flowers white. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3589)

Example: To build a cyclone house, take the vine of this species to tie pieces of the house. To prepare the vine for use as rope, collect many feet of it, put it in a fire, roll it in a figure 8, wait until it softens and then use for tying. This vine is hard and needs to be heated to a high temperature in the fire to make it soft; the person preparing this must use gloves to tie it to the posts and rafters while it is still warm. When it cools, it is very strong. Rope made from this vine will last a long time--perhaps 10-15 years. It can also be used to make a regular house.

Scientific name: Jasminum didymum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Humpback red snapper, paddletail

Example: Photo by Jeffrey T. Williams / Smithsonian Institution, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Lutjanus gibbus via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. fallen tree, 15 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3609)

Example: The leaves of this palm are used for thatch. Split trunks for house walls. Middle fiber of pinnae for broom. Seed is carved – handcrafts.

Scientific name: Metroxylon warburgii, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the south-south-west wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

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. terrestrial orchid growing in cloud forest along ridge. Flowers white. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3281)

Scientific name: Pristiglottis montana

adj. rich; good, as applied to fruits

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 110

v. to fish (with a rod)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati