An example search has returned 100 entries
aheijid
v.n. go past
bookmarkauhorohos
v. to weed; to clear land
bookmarkinceslum
n. vegetables; herbs, as taro, bananas; every vegetable planted for food
bookmarkingidyinyat
n. sandalwood
bookmarkinhamesei
n. the name of a native plant
bookmarkinhau am̃a
n. shrub, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3560)
Example: In ancient times this plant was used as a fiber to make skirts and rope. Take the stems, remove the leaves, rett the stems in sea water for a few weeks, sun dry the stems and then weave into rope or skirts. This plant is not much used for this purpose at the present time. This plant is used to make a medicine with an unspecified use.
bookmarkinja
inlapnan
n. a plantation
bookmarkinma
n. a breadfruit tree
bookmarkinmadeded
n. kind of tree
bookmarkinmadidi
inmowad u pikad
n. vine to 5 m tall in trees, fruits maturing yellow-brown. Growing in agroforest/secondary forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #5009)
Example: People collect this vine and feed it to pigs. It also has an unspecified medicinal use. The vine of this plant forms a thick canopy so some people plant it around the house near trees that do not give much shade in order to reduce the intensity of the sun on the house and thus keep the temperature lower. The vine grows quickly into the trees.
bookmarkinm̃ap̃
n. tree, 12-14 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3611)
Example: 1. The nut of this tree is edible and very good. Boil it with skin on or bake it in the earth oven and then cut it in half and eat. 2. Leaves for top of house ridge. 3. Leaves for fertilizing the water taro in swamps.
bookmarkinp̃al apogen
intal milmat
n. kind of taro
bookmarkinteucjip
n. bush land where forest trees grow; also "intucjip"
bookmarkintijgarae
n. tree, 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3519)
Example: The stem of this plant is used for fence posts that lead to the sea, and it is resistant to salt water and lasts a long time. The wood is strong and good to make house posts. People use this wood on the coast as salt water does not bother this wood.
bookmarkintoutau
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.
bookmarkitac a nelgo waj
kidie ~ kithi
n. shrub, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3205)
Example: 1. Plant this tree at each of the four corners of a fence to keep your pigs in and protect against a type of bad luck. If a man sleeps with his wife who is having her period, and then the man goes to see the pig, the pig will suffer and not grow strong and not have many piglets. So the presence of this plant controls against bad luck that others can bring to your pig farm. 2. This is an ornamental plant grown around the home. Sticks of this plant are planted around the outside of the garden and grow to create a fence, to protect the crops and keep them healthy, as well as protect the crops from people that are not cleansed in the ritual way. 3. This species is also planted around the house to add color and is very decorative in general. 4. For fertilizer in taro holes for water taro. For baly(?) taro and water taro, lay these flat on the surface of the charcoal, then lay the food – taro, cassava – on this and cover with another layer, add hot stones and cook. 4. Pig food, goat food.
bookmarknaha
n. Crinum asiaticum L.
Example: subterranean part used as mouthwash for toothache (Crinum asiaticum)
bookmarknaledmot
naledpen
nalvimtinjap
n. a light wind; the beginning of a wind
bookmarknamaunirij
n. herb to 30 cm, fruits green. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4934)
Example: Take the leaves, squeeze out the juice in a cup of water, drink 3x daily for 3 days to treat dengue fever--use one handful of leaves in a cup of water and drink cool. The fruits are edible. Peel the outer part off and eat like a tomato.
bookmarknamlau
n. shrub, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3485)
Example: 1. The larger stems of this plant can be used to build houses, for rafters. 2. It is also a good source of firewood. 3. Ancestors, before go to chief’s canal and want to talk about a complicated issue – a person would cut a branch and bring it to the sea and tap the water surface and would say what he wants, ask that he would want that issue to be solved and that others would follow his ideas and then go back to the meeting place and take stick, keep wind at his back, moving stick in all directions and then he will convince the people of his ideas. This is done by the chief’s spokesman. Helps convince the opposition. Helps keep power in hands of parent(??) chief rather than subchiefs who might have other ideas.
bookmarknamou
nap̃at
n. terrestrial fern, growing in dwarf cloud-forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3268)
Example: For performing a weather magic ritual to produce fog, this plant is fermented along with another plant (nirid u numu) in a hole in a sacred stone (called "Naemoso") at a secret location on Aneityum.
bookmarknasjiralcau
natec
n. trees; palms; figs
bookmarknateg
n. tree, 3. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3489)
Example: The fruits of this species are edible. Take the ripe fruits, squeeze coconut milk into the ripe fruits and cook in an earth oven. The leaves are used to wrap small fish caught in a net for cooking in an earth oven. For clothing, strips of bark are peeled and the inner bark removed, and this is used as a strap around the waist, and leaves are tucked in front and back. This is traditional clothing when other clothing is not worn.
bookmarknau hos
n. a kind of bamboo (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #25)
Example: 1. To cure the sea snake (nispev) curse that causes missed periods. First the husband must combine 4 young leaves of incispev and 4 young leaves of nafanu and mash and squeeze the juice into a small bamboo (1-1.5 inch diameter) The nafanu is important because it is a plant that connects to the sea. Use wildcane leaves cover the bamboo closed. Go to the sick person and unwrap the snake from her. Start from the top and let the woman drink a small part of the potion then wash her with the mixture, making sure to wash head, elbows, knees, feet, and belly. Then take a leaf of naha and break it over the woman’s belly button to break the snake off. Smash the bamboo vessel to pieces. Leave the woman there until the wash dries on her. This takes one whole day and the ceremony in the evening so she can sleep and she must not eat. This ritual is performed by men. 2. To make house walls cut to length desired break stems into straps and weave ??. 3. Use stem to cook foods. 4. Container for carrying water. 5. Take tips and tie together and make a torch to go fishing on the reef, walk with the torch – this is a current practice in the East side. 6. Can cut a piece about 1’ long and sharpen edge and use to skin a green banana. 7. Traditional medicine – can use a small segment as a sort of container to carry the traditional medicine to the patient – for example when prepare a sea snake for remedy, or any medicine – to carry it. 8. Used as a container to preserve seeds such as corn, cucumber, beans and is covered with coconut fiber and put near (above?) the fire where it is dry, and the smoke from the fire will keep insects from attacking the seeds.
bookmarknauincai
n. tree
bookmark
nauyerop̃
n. tree, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3487)
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 – did not need matches (lefre(?) matches) because embers would stay for days and when make a fire add smaller branches to make a flame.
bookmarkneaig ahi
n. a white coconut
bookmarkneducai inhujid
n. kind of tree
bookmarknejomti
nekro
nekro
nenho
n. the name of a poisonous plant
bookmark
netehmu
n. kind of banana
bookmarknihivaeñ aeyec
n. tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3213)
Example: 1. When a person has a headache from being out in the sun too long, scrape the outer bark off of the stem of this tree, take scrapings of the inner bark, wrap with a leaf of breadfruit and put in a fire for 15-20 minutes. Not a hot fire, but only in the flame. Squeeze the water out of the bark when it is warm and rub all over the forehead and face to help the headache go away. 2. Use the stems of this tree as a stick to carry taro from the field, as the stick is strong but not too heavy. The taro is tied to each end to balance on a person’s shoulders. 3. Leaf used for wrapping local medicines. This is the best leaf and put it on the charcoal to heat it. 4. Good firewood.
bookmarknihivaeñ p̃ap̃
n. tree, 4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3517)
Example: 1. The leaves of the young plant are used to wrap food for cooking on a fire. 2. The wood is used for temporary houses, for making rafters that are said to last a long time. 3. The wood is strong and used to carve paddles for the canoe. 4. It is also grown and used for firewood. 5. Firewood, (6) use as local plate. 7. On west side of island, take old coconut, fill with water, put lead into hole on end, take out and give to baby to drink and it will help the baby talk.
bookmarknilcasau
n. the castor-oil plant
bookmarknocirasjau
large tree, 13 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4052)
Example: 1. Considered to be a relative of textit{Morinda citrifolia}.
bookmarknowahau
n. Black-spot surgeonfish
Example: Photo by zsispeo / Flickr.com, License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmark
nugnas iran
n. a bunch of taro
bookmark
nusjau
n. tree fern to 5 m tall, fronds 2. 5 m long (collection: Michael J. Balick #5014)
Example: Trunk of this plant is used to make food. Cut the stem in 2-3 foot pieces, peel the outer stem, put the peeled stems in an earth oven to cook for the afternoon through the night--about 12 hours. It will be ready the next day. Peel off any remaining fibrous tissue, slice the stems and eat. They are said to taste like sweet potato. The young fronds are boiled for 5 minutes and coconut milk is added, this mixture is then eaten. It is important to collect only the inrolled fronds that have not yet fully opened. The fronds are used to make temporary houses when camping in the bush. They are used to make a roof. To make a cassava grater, take 2-3 pieces of the frond stype, connect them together by piercing them on the sides with a piece of bamboo or any stick such that they are held together in parallel fashion, and use this to grate uncooked cassava to make lap-lap and to grate banana or any food that needs to be processed in this way. The thorny part of the stipe grates the food.
bookmarkpakauoc
adj. unripe
bookmarkpine
n. tree to 20 m, dbh 75 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4976). Loanword for introduced species.
Example: This tree was introduced as a source of timber and has been widely planted on this part of the island. The cone is used to throw on a fire as it is said that the smoke will keep away mosquitoes.
bookmarksuko
adv. downwards or westwards
bookmarkugnis
v.a. to take off sprouts of taro
bookmarkupumure
v.n. to fall, as unripe fruit
bookmarkworago
n. Lined surgeonfish
Example: Photo by Erik Schlogl / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkwudwud
n. kind of tree
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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