Aneityum

[aθ tasvi] v. break strong things (like a branch, etc.)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. to plant weeds; to make a wilderness or a waste

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 56

v. walk fast; share greetings

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

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

adv. aforetime

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. forecast

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. reed work in the opening of a fence

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v. cover up

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. to weed; to clear land

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 70

n. Lattice soldierfish, violet soldierfish

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

Scientific name: Myripristis violacea via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

v. to fish (by torchlight)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. cloth (related to nelmai)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 99

n. a place up or eastward

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

n. a place down, or westward

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

n. pandanus leaf

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 170

[inɣaɣen] n. kava (traditional)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. tree, 4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3573)

Example: 1. This plant is used as firewood, but also the heartwood is sold. 2. In 2016, the first grade wood was 2500 VT per kilo, the second grade wood was 2000 VT per kilo. 3. The ancestors used to take the oil or wood chips from this tree and bathe with it to keep away evil spirits of the forest. It is currently planted on Aneityum for commerce. Scrape bark of sandalwood into coconut oil in same wat as GMP 3513 (gardenia) boil and take out the bark. 4. The leaves can be fed to pigs to make them strong and heavy.

Scientific name: Santalum austrocaledonicum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3547)

Example: This plant is for medicine to treat a spiritual condition related to the coral snake that is the seawater spirit. When a woman is pregnant, some times she gets sick, so use this leaf with 2-3 other unspecified leaves and mash them together, squeeze the juice into a small cup (bamboo), wave around the woman’s body, and then put a few drops onto her head and body, then she drinks the rest. This will help heal her sickness. This treatment can be used for men who have a toothache from eating too much fish--the seawater spirit of the coral snake makes the tooth hurt. It is used in the same way as for a pregnant woman. If the pain from the toothache is really from the seawater spirit, then this will cure it; if not, it will not help.

Scientific name: Sophora tomentosa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. herb to 1 m, flowers white (collection: Michael J. Balick #4868)

Example: Red fruit is used to feed chickens.

Scientific name: Rivina humilis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. twig, branch

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

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.

Scientific name: Alpinia purpurata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[inhapli kuri] n. puppy (lit. small dog)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. Ribbontail stingray

Example: Photo by zsispeo, License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr

Scientific name: Taeniura lymma, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. calabash

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 132

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[inhuleɣ] n. Yellow-throated White-eye

Example: Illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans / Wikimedia Commons, License: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Scientific name: Zosterops metcalfii, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

[inman] n. bird, general name

Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a horse-chestnut tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. high tide

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. rose

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 179

n. tree, 7-8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3635)

Example: The wood from this tree is used for house posts. Used to heal bad spirits, headaches, fever, or any other kind of illness that modern medicine cannot fix. Must be taken and performed in the evening before the sun sets. Take four leaves from the top of the intoutau, netethae, nelmaha, inrowod plants. Combine them with 1/4 cup of water and squeeze the juice out of the leaves and pour into a piece of bamboo. Give the mixture to the sick person to drink. The woman must drink half of the mixture and use the other half of the mixture to wash their body with. The woman then has to stay away from other people except for those who helped wash her. Then you must smash the bamboo that contained the mixture where the sun sets.

Scientific name: Aceratium oppositifolium, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

v. to chip off small branches

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 90

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: David Nasauman

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

Speaker: David Nasauman

[nadimi desiiʧ] phr. three men (there are)

Speaker: David Nasauman

[naɣai milmat] n. before sun comes up, just light enough to see green toward the east looking down from a hill, "green place"

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. vine to 3-4 m, aerial tubers brown (collection: Michael J. Balick #4872)

Example: Normally these fruits are considered poisonous. But, people have learned to peel off the skin of the fruits, put the peeled fruits in a conical basked and place a bamboo tube that is dripping water over it to wash the basket of fruits for 3-5 days. This is said to leach out the poison and the end result is similar in consistency to cheese. Wrap this up with leaves and put it in an earth oven to cook. This plant is eaten as a "starvation food" only, consumed in times of drought and famine.

Scientific name: Dioscorea bulbifera, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tree, 7 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3646)

Example: The ripe fruits of this species smell very nice and people eat the inside part, which tastes similar to a banana. When fruit is ripe the outside is yellow and the inside is purple. The wood can be used for poles to make house rafters. When kids go fishing for shrimps they use the fruit to catch the shrimp by throwing the shrimp into the water which attracts the shrimp.

Scientific name: Garcinia pseudoguttifera, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

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 tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. fern. Growing in a village back path. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #29)

Example: 1. To cure when the anus falls out - Pound together 1 braches worth of inpalcapnesgin leaves and of both inloptiri (2-4 leaves, any age), also take the inner bark of nekeaitimi and nakhe. Put this into your hand, or another leaf and give it to the person to use it. This should be applied to the anus whenever the anus comes out. USed to use a clam shell to extract the bark but not anymore.

Scientific name: Ptisana smithii, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[nakro] v. share

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. tree, 4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3533)

Example: People must not drink kava close to this tree. If you have any leaves of this plant with you when you drink kava you will not feel its effect.

Scientific name: Dendrolobium umbellatum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of plantain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. herb to 1 m, flowers yellow. Growing at edge of cultivated field. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4956)

Scientific name: Triumfetta procumbens, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. shrub, 1. 5-2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3606)

Example: A type of roselle that is a weed growing in swampy areas.

Scientific name: Hibiscus sabdariffa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. shrub, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3553)

Example: 1. A stimulant plant. If a person is going to their garden early in the morning before the sun come up, break 2 top young leaves and chew and swallow the liquid, spitting out the fiber. This makes the person able to work harder and not feel tired while in the fields. It was noted that "a person can do the work of many people if they chew this." 2. The leaves are used for fertilizer for taro--put a bunch of leaves in a hole were taro is to be planted as a compost/antibiotic. This practice is said to kill all of the bad organisms such as bacttively impact the health of the taro plant. 3. This one collected from coastal area, ?? one collected in forest area. People take 4 leaves, chew leaves, swallow juice, gives energy to work hard the entire day. For fishing, take lots of ripe fruits and put in pocket, you will be able to catch a lot of fish. It brings good fortune when fishing. Roots – take one root, wash where a woman is giving birth to a newborn baby, give a drop of the juice from the root to clear the mucus in the throat.

Scientific name: Scaevola taccada, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

[narasɛn] n. skin (general)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. shrub to 3 m, flowers yellow with red outer coverings (appearing red when closed) (collection: Michael J. Balick #4957)

Example: This plant is used to fertilize fields, especially by growing it in fields that have been used for other crops for a very long time. The seeds can be cooked when dry and hard, boiled in water, or eaten directly without preparation when green and soft.

Scientific name: Cajanus cajun, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. fence-forming shrub, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3206)

Example: 1a. Cultivated in gardens. Cook seeds of this species or eat them raw before they are fully ripened. The green pods can also be cooked in a fire and eaten. 1b. Cultivated plant for its edible seeds, can be prepared in a pot of bamboo. OR could take branches w/ seeds and put directly on the earth oven for cooking. 2. Planting this species adds nitrogen to the soil--grow it on soil that is said to be "tired."

Scientific name: Cajanus cajan, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. Brassy trevally

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

Scientific name: Caranx papuensis via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. near morning

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 166

n. the north-east-east wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. firmament (astronomical)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. herb, growing among stones and rocks at edge of river in primary forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3674)

Example: People say it can remove the power of a love potion.

Scientific name: Hemigraphis reptans, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. shrub to 2 m, flowers white. Red clay soil (collection: Michael J. Balick #4887)

Example: The stem makes a good digging stick to plant taro. Also branches of this tree are cut to tie the canoe to the outrigger. Used for the small sticks that sit at the base of the larger sticks that hold the outrigger (see photos).

Scientific name: Halfordia kendack, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4783)

Scientific name: Acalypha grandis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. stinging; the fruit of the kaleteug

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

[nɛθoʊn] n. foot, leg

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. grass; weeds; thistle

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

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.

Scientific name: Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. giant fern (RPV #223)

Scientific name: Angiopteris evecta, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. Metrosideros collina (RPV #81)

Scientific name: Metrosideros collina, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. small tree. Found in the village, but not cultivated. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #17)

Example: 1. Ancestors used this plant to make fish line – cut young branches, remove outer bark and tie together, put in salt water or fresh water for a week, it is now strong, dry in sun, take fibers and twist them together to make a very long fishing line. 2. Leaves are used to feed pigs. 3. Take inner bark, scrape it and put on boils. Attach with any leaf and it takes out the boil. 4. Trunk for temporary bush house.

Scientific name: Pipturus argenteus, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. shrub to 2 m, flowers blue-purple. Red clay soil (collection: Michael J. Balick #4878)

Example: A stem of this shrub is sharpened and used to dig a hole for planting kava. When a person plants kava in a hole made from this stick, there is the belief that it will make kava root stems strong and large. The fruits are edible when ripe and said to be sweet.

Scientific name: Vaccinium macgillivrayi, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[nijom araheθ] n. lit. "round house"

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

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. terrestrial fern growing in rain forest on the mountain slope. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3284)

Scientific name: Schizaea dichotoma, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a tree, the leaves of which have no center rib

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 103

n. Cordyline fruticosa L.

Example: Leaf: chew (leprosy in mouth). Whole plant: planted for several Kastom purposes; many important Kastom-bound uses as magical or ornamental plant throughout Melanesia.

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 442

n. kind of banana

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. large epiphyte on dead tree, growing in open forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3478)

Example: The wood of this plant is very hard and can be used for house posts. Because the wood is somewhat heavy, younger stems can be sharpened at one end and the pole can be used to plant dryland taro, to make holes for the tubers. For planting swamp taro, the leaves can be used to line the pit that the taro is planted in; it is a local fertilizer for the taro, and as it rots the soil becomes soft while the taro is growing. The flowers are placed behind one’s ear to enjoy the fragrance or can also be used to make a floral necklace (Intañ).

Scientific name: Fagraea berteroana, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Ageratum conyzoides L.

Example: juice squeezed from leaves; wounds

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 440

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

Scientific name: Dysoxylum bijugum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree, 8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3626)

Scientific name: Arytera neoebudensis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. a bunch of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 104

n. kind of palm

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. liana, growing at edge of forest. Fruit. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3475)

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.

Scientific name: Durandea pentagyna, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

[nʊmʊ] n. fish (gen.)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. epiphyte on tree trunk, growing in rain forest on the mountain slope. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3290)

Scientific name: Procris pedunculata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. Grewia inmac

Example: Leaf: infusion taken internally against pain

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 442

[ritastas ara] phr. they are talking

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[talpos] adj. very big

Speaker: David Nasauman

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. first quarter of the moon

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 109

n. Sida rhombifolia L.

Example: Leaf: infusion taken internally against diarrhea

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 442

n. front of canoe

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adj. beginning to be ripe, as fruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 112