An example search has returned 100 entries
algaunyi
v.n. to cross over or above, as over a fence, or tree in a path, or on stones through a river
bookmarkalwa
v. to bud; to put forth leaves
bookmarkared numta
v. to plant taro
bookmarkehtele cei nai
n. full moon
bookmarketjo itac
v.n. to fall behind; to come late
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incejev ataheñ
inhai
n. kind of taro
bookmarkinhau amai
n. moderately branched treelet, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3203)
Example: 1a. This type of hibiscus has young leaves that are reddish in color and it is an edible type. The stems are eaten during April-July. Harvest the stems, beat them and cut off the outer bark. Collect inner bark, slicing it off the stem and wrapping it in a banana type leaf with coconut milk added. Bake all night at least 8 hours, then it is eaten. Said to taste like a root vegetable. Used during the dry season when there are not many crops available. 1b. Take young shoot of the tree then pound the base to separate the base of the bark from the stem but leave it on the stem, say pound 4-5 inches around the base, then come back 3-4 months and the rest of the bark would be thicker. Then cut where it was pounded, cut stem in 1.5-foot pieces, bake on an earth oven, leaves on bottom layer (on top of charcoal) then sticks, then leaves on top, then hot stones, and then more leaves. Bake for 1.5 hours, then remove a stick at a time and use shell to scrape away outer bark, cut into 6 inch pieces, put on log, pound to make softer, put in lap lap leaves leaf wrapping, add coconut milk, put in stone oven, cook for one hour then open lap lap leaves and eat. 2. This variety is for this purpose just like Pohnpei. 3. This variety is not used for grass skirt.
bookmarkinhen owuh
inhetisjopoig
n. kind of breadfruit
bookmarkinma
n. a breadfruit tree
bookmarkinmauwad ahi
n. a convolvulus with white flowers; also "inmauwad picad"
bookmarkinmoijeuv adpoig
inmoijeuv ahcil
n. false star
bookmarkinridjai
n. kind of plant, grass, or fern
bookmarkinrigen natmas
n. kind of banana
bookmarkinrowod
n. shrub. Found along village pathways and in gardens. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #15)
Example: 2. To cure headaches casued by bad spirit - Take one top from Nelmaha and one from inrowod (white stripe variety) Combine and chew these then spit them out and apply to the sick persons forehead.
bookmarkinteucjip
n. bush land where forest trees grow; also "intucjip"
bookmarkintijgejei
n. Whitespotted surgeonfish
Example: Photo by Jeffrey T. Williams / Smithsonian Institution, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkintop pa
n. shrub to 2 m tall, dbh 2 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4996)
Example: This is an ornamental plant, grown around the home. People crush the leaves to enjoy the fragrance released. When bathing, grate coconut meat and crush the leaves of this plant and rub all over the body, before bathing and afterwards your body will smell very nice. To repel mosquitoes, crush these leaves and put them in the house.
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inyat
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.
bookmarkkowei
n. herb to 0. 75 m, fruits brown. Growing in cultivated area near village. (collection: Michael J. Balick #5012)
Example: Children use this fruit as a rattle. When parents go to the gardens or fields with their children, they collect the pods for the children to use as a rattle and amuse themselves. Unspecified medicinal use.
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naha
n. Crinum asiaticum; variation asiaticum L.
Example: from leaves taken internally as a laxative to treat ciguatera and against asthma
bookmarknahar
n. species of pine
bookmarknaherumaig
n. mimosa (plant)
bookmarknaijema
n. flax
bookmarknakautefa
n. kind of tree
bookmarknanad op̃a
n. tree, 4-5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3542)
Example: Some people use the dried leaves of this plant when there is no tobacco. Roll the leaves and smoke them. This is a good plant to lay under as a shade along the coast. Good firewood. The leaves are used with other leaves as part of a ceremony to calm the sea.* Burn leaves in a special place and toss ashes in the sea – sea will be calm.* When you are paddling to another island. Carry them with you and toss in sea as you go. Also goes with fasting and cleansing when traveling in this way.
bookmarknapojev
n. sparsely branched tree, 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3493)
Example: The leaves of this plant are used in cooking, particuarly with the earth oven. Use a fire to heat stones, then when the fire burns down and the stones are hot, pile these leaves on top of the hot stones and then place the food being cooked--taro, fish, pig, cassava, banana or other foods--on top of the leaves. Then pile more of these leaves on top of the food and then place additional hot stones on top of that pile of leaves. While the food is cooking--each type of food takes a different amount of time--the leaves give off a very nice smell and help flavor the food.
bookmarknaraki
n. a calm, a smooth sea
bookmarknarasincai
n. bark
bookmarknarayag
n. tree. Growing in village garden. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #20)
Example: 1. To cure toothache when pregnant - Take the inner bark from Intejed and boil it in a pot of seawater (about 1 liter) along with 2 leaves from each of inpounatmas, narayag, nahayag, and nelmaha. Boil until juice is visibly leaving the plants. Put this water into your mouth and hold it there for 2-3 minutes. Do this this with one cup in the morning, 1 cup in the afternoon, and 1 cup in the evening. 2. Plant used to check with fish has ciguatera, in same way as other collection – GMP #4768. Stick white – OK to eat. Stick black or brown – not good.
bookmarknaurakiti
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.
bookmarknaurakiti
n. kind of plant, grass, or fern
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.
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nefelelicai acen
n. hemlock
bookmarknehno
n. a species of poisonous tree
bookmarknejev
nelkasau
n. shrub to 4 m, fruits green (collection: Michael J. Balick #4987)
Example: This leaf is used as the upper layer of leaves on the earth oven. If the leaves of #4986 are in short supply, people cover the first layer of stones in the earth oven with these. The stems of this plant are used as tinder to light fires. The seeds are poisonous.
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neri
n. kind of plant, grass, or fern
bookmarknerin
n. a leaf
bookmarknetcetas
n. well branched tree, 15 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4084)
Example: 1. The name means "explosion". Further information about the plant withheld.
bookmarkneteng
n. Barringtonia asiatica L.
Example: inner bark: ground, added to dug pools in the sea as fish poison
bookmarknigired
n. tree, 4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3623)
Example: People use the leaf of this plant to layer on the bottom of the earth oven, and then pile food such as manioc or taro on it, then pile leaves of this species on top of that. This will help insulate the food from the high heat of the earth oven and allow it to cook better. Used especailly in feasts like weddings. Women usually collect this leaf and is used to cover very large earth ovens.
bookmarknikam
![1a. This plant is a "message plant." If a person goes to another village with a leaf of this species in their hand, then people know that someone is coming, and this is reflected in the local name. 1b. Message plant – if you pop by someone’s house and drop leaves there, people know someone has visited them. You can ask neighbors who came by. 2. The fruit is a source of a nut that children love to eat raw. 3. It is known in Bislama as "false mango" [kiyaman mango].](/media/aneityum/pix/GMP_3481_MJB_97-scaled.jpg)
n. tree, 8-10 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3481)
Example: 1a. This plant is a "message plant." If a person goes to another village with a leaf of this species in their hand, then people know that someone is coming, and this is reflected in the local name. 1b. Message plant – if you pop by someone’s house and drop leaves there, people know someone has visited them. You can ask neighbors who came by. 2. The fruit is a source of a nut that children love to eat raw. 3. It is known in Bislama as "false mango" [kiyaman mango].
bookmarknilec
n. epiphyte. Growing on tree in village area. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #1)
Example: Makes period normal again. Take three young leaves from the very tops of the plant and pound and squeeze out the juice from the leaves. Mix with small amount of water to help juice come out. Drink this 3 times a day for 3 days. Pig food – feed the leaves to the pigs. Leaves used to wrap around Cyrtosperma merkusii to cook for several days—this taro needs a lot of cooking. So this leaf is particularly used for that purpose because it is very watery. Will keep the taro from becoming too burned or dry – it will cook soft after a few days – keep tasting it until the calcium oxalate sensation is gone. Check it 3 times – cook, open, taste and it should be good. Wrap fish and put directly on charcoal fire. – also cover top rocks in earth oven.
bookmarknilidie
n. leaves to put food on
bookmarknirak
nisiug
n. a tree, the leaves of which have no center rib
bookmarknohoaig wai
n. the duck (constellation), the Southern Cross
bookmarknohun
n. stem
bookmarknohwan aruman
n. kind of taro
bookmarknohwan nuputu
n. kind of taro
bookmark
nom̃o
nuei
n. vine climbing into the canopy on Sarcomelicope, growing in primary rainforest. Fruits green. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3620)
Example: This plant is used for local rope. Coil it in a figure 8, heat on a fire, when it is soft, use it for tying poles on a house. It is very strong when cool and dry.
bookmarknuhujcei
n. liana, climbing on fallen tree (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3500)
Example: 1. When the stems of this plant are older, and it is a vine, is used to tie thatch on roof rafters as it bends well. 2. Burned leaves and rubbed on fishing line and spear to increase catch – used with other unspecified leaves, that are forageable. When you are fishing and if you set a basket or mat it means danger and you have to return to shore – the spirit is telling you that it is enough fishing.
bookmarknälmaha
n. Ficus septica var. cauliflora
bookmarkpejadi
v.n. get off the reef
bookmarktatau
n. Bigeye barracuda
Example: Photo by Philippe Guillaume, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarktedtedwaleg
n. kind of plant, grass, or fern
bookmarkucsalad tiklai cai
v.a. to lop off small branches
bookmarkupreupre
n. tough; a kind of coral
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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