Aneityum

v. bite, sing

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[akro te haŋaiŋ] v. share food together

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

v. go back into shore; go further up into the bush; go inland

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[apo akro] phr. I’m going to share this with this

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

[apuat pam] n. just dark now, black

Speaker: David Nasauman

[ak͡pok anʤap̚] phr. we go out into the sea

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. to fish (with a net)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. to go ashore

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 66

[dala nadimi] phr. five men (there are)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. cut nut (RPV #58)

Scientific name: Barringtonia procera, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. green peppers

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. wild kava (RPV #133)

Scientific name: Macropiper latifolium, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. "good" (domesticated) kava (RPV #133)

Scientific name: Macropiper latifolium, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. whitewood (RPV #38)

Scientific name: Endospermum medullosum, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. herb to 1 m, flowers blue. In transitional zone from pine forest to ’primary’ forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4982)

Example: This is used to treat Ciguatera disease when a person eats fish that is contaminated. Squeeze juice from a handful of leaves of this herb into a cup, add a small amount of water, and drink 1 cup once a day for 3 days, or continue until the person feels better. This illness is a problem on Aneityum with the reef fish. It is better to eat fish that are farther out to sea. This treatment is also used for dogs who eat contaminated fish. Make the same preparation and forcibly pour this in their mouth as they will not drink it willingly. Do this treatment once daily until the dog feels better. The dogs get this illness because they are fed the scraps, especially the bones of the fish, and this is thought to be where the disease is found. This is considered to be a dangerous illness and dogs who get it frequently die.

Scientific name: Stachytarpheta jamaicensis, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. type of seashell

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

Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. tree, 6-8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3218)

Example: 1. Take a handful of leaves, squeeze with the hands into 1/2 liter of water, drink when tired; said to open the "blood nerves" and to purify the blood and make the muscles of the male sexual organ strong. 2a. When a person is planting watermelons in the garden, as the vines grow, split them and perforate the vines with a sharpened stick. This practice is said to ensure that the watermelons will be as prolific as the seeds in Vitex. 2b. If you plant vines in your garden like cucumber, beans, melons, pierce the stem with a small sliver of this branch and it will make the vine have more fruit.

Scientific name: Vitex trifolia, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[indraʊ] n. pandanus leaf wrapping for the preparation of fish

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

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

n. an old coconut

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 85

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4070)

Example: 1. Branches of this plant are used to insulate and cover earth ovens.

Scientific name: Codiaeum variegatum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a convolvulus with blue or reddish flowers

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. vine climbing on Geissois denhamii (GMP #3522), growing in open (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3524)

Example: The word itougo means from a different country or place outside of Aneityum. The plant was introduced by the first missionaries who came to Port Patrick. Calendar plant – sea cost people see this flower in the forest and they know it is time to go into garden and harvest taro or make new gardens– see GMP 3263. This is also good firewood.

Scientific name: Operculina turpethum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. rudder for back of canoe

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flower or flowers (see def. for "elwa")

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 77

[intiʧ ɲaŋ] n. ear

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

[intohoɣ] n. shell (for making music)

Example: Photo by K. David Harrison, April 2016. see more on Youtube

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4782)

Scientific name: Euodia hortensis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree, 14 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3586)

Example: To make a fire, take a 1-2 cm diameter stick, sharpen it and rub it against a larger piece, ca. 6 cm in diameter. As a person rubs, the stick will start smoking and then start a fire, especially if there are a few small slivers of stem on the stick that can catch fire. People use other types of sticks to rub against the larger piece as well, and this will make a fire.

Scientific name: Aceratium oppositifolium, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. vine running many meters long over clay soil and grassy area on hillside where the triangular wooden signs are that used to be a landmark for ships coming to the island. Sterile. (collection: Michael J. Balick #5008)

Example: This plant is the focus of an important legend on Aneityum. When the missionary John Geddie and colleaguse first arrived on the island in July of 1848, the Chiefs welcomed them but some of the people did not like the idea. So these people sent a basket containing a peeled coconut and a fish (nopom) to the Chief in Umej to ask him to support the idea of getting rid of the missionary that the Chief of Analcahuat had welcomed. If the Chief of Umej were to eat the fish and coconut meat, it would mean that he agreed with the opposition. The Chief refused to eat the food in the basket and he told the people a parable involving this plant. A person cannot find the tip of the stem or the end of the root in the ground. So if they were to eliminate the missionary, his activity would continue because of God’s power. As it is with this plant, it will continue to grow and flourish if you cut it or try to dig up the root. So he sent a message about this plant to the people in Analcahuat who objected to the presence of the missionary stating this parable. Those people in Analcauhat held a secret meeting and they chose a powerful and strong person to kill the missionary. During the night the person went to the missionary’s house while he was in the toilet. Returning to the house, the missionary found the person in his doorway, and that person lifted his club to strike the missionary. But at that point the attacker’s hands suddenly had no power and the club fell from his hands, and he fell over. The missionary told him to get up, and not come back. After that experience, the people of Umej realized that God’s power was great and they could not go against it. The Chief took the peeled coconut that was sent him and covered it with the skin of another coconut and planted it instead of eating it. This coconut grew and the missionary’s work continued to grow on the island. So this vine played an important role in communicating the power of God to the people of Aneityum.

Speaker: Tony Keith

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. yellow (color)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adj. behind

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[kajheɣ vajuɣ] phr. Good bye.

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

[kuratehen] n. dog (female)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. tree to 5 m, fdby 35 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4979)

Example: The fruits are edible and ripen during November-December. The leaves can be boiled as a medicine. If a person has a hoarse voice, boil 4 or or a few more leaves in 1 liter of water. Cool the mixture and drink once daily until the voice returns to normal. The trunk of this tree is good for timber, as it is a very hard wood. But a productive tree is not cut for timber--only the wild mangos that have flowers and small fruits that do not ripen; these trees are cut for timber. This particular tree, "Mango Amgie" bears fruit with a great deal of fiber, so the name refers to the "mango that you drink." Amgie means "drink" in the Aneityum language. There is another variety of mango, "Mango Cig" that means the mango that you eat. It has a little fiber but good fleshy fruits. This species is introduced from outside of Aneityum.

Scientific name: Mangifera indica, Speaker: Tony Keith

adj. ripe; also "metto"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 93

n. Harlequin sweetlips, many-spotted sweetlips

Example: Photo by Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. tree, 14 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3710)

Example: The nut of this tree is edible. Crack open the fruit and eat the seed raw. It can also be used to plug holes in a canoe.

Scientific name: Canarium harveyi, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. lily. Cultivated grows in village. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #3)

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. Wrap leaf around fish to cook it on fire, tie with pandanus or any bush, vine. Also used to bake Cyrtosperma merkusii in same way as AAM 1 because it has thick watery leaves. 3. For a person who has been burned by the fire, cut the leaf and drip the sap on the burn to cool it – stops burning feeling. 4. If your joints – elbow, wrist, knee, ankle – feel so cold that they are painful, then heat the leaf on both sides and lay it on painful area. It will take the cold and pain away.

Scientific name: Furcraea gigantea, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. early morning; around 3 o’clock

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

n. chicken feathers

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4756)

Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. epiphytic fern on fallen log, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4097)

Example: 1. The name means "wood cover", alluding to the habit of this plant. It grows only on the bark of trees.

Scientific name: Davallia pusilla, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. the skin or rind of food

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. a table made of reeds, for drying arrowroot, etc.

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. a calm, a smooth sea

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

[narasɛn numu] n. skin (of a fish)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. shrub to 3 m tall, dbh 4 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4995)

Example: The flowers are cut and used in the house and the plant is grown as an ornamental around the house.

Scientific name: Euphorbia pulcherrima, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. current in the sea

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 140

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a tree full of sap

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. kind of fern (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4780)

Scientific name: Adiantum hispidulum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. the north-east-east wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a species of thorn

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 97

n. tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3505)

Example: 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. Both the green and ripe fruits are edible.

Scientific name: Ficus storckii, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. a small water-plant

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

n. terrestrial fern, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4094)

Example: 1. The name describes a sea bird, whose long legs are similar in shape to the stipe of this fern.

Scientific name: Tectaria crenata, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

adj. full of seeds, as the pawpaw apple

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

[nɛjsindiɛn] n. fish anus

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. a light wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 99

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.

Scientific name: Ricinus communis, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. shrub, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3724)

Scientific name: Acanthus ilicifolius, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. shrub. Uncultivated around the village disturbed areas. . (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #27)

Example: The fruits are edible when ripe--eating them turns the tongue purple. 1. To cure headaches - Someone other than the woman must prepare this. Break the top branch of netethae and remove leaves for use. Combine with the top leaves of the top branch of nelmaha. Chew the leaves and drink the juice. Do this when the sun is setting on the horizon. The woman gives the leftover fibers to the person who prepared the medicine and that person goes and throws the fibers in the direction of the setting sun. 2. Ancestors 4 top branches and chew and spit out remaining fiber will destroy the effects of a love potion that is too strong – meaning that the husband or wife will miss the other person too much so that they become mentally ill. 3. Edible fruits: eating them turns tongue black/purple.

Scientific name: Melastoma malabathricum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

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.

Scientific name: Cleidion javanicum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Bidens pilosa L.

Example: shoot -- cold maceration taken internally against cough

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 440

n. the orange tree (117); an orange, a lime, a lemon (102)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 102, 117

n. another name for "masoa"; arrowroot

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 103

n. the center rib of the coconut leaflet; wire

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 103

n. ladder fern, fishbone fern (RPV #221)

Scientific name: Nephrolepis cordifolia, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4793)

Scientific name: Ipomoea pes-caprae, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[nohopɣop] n. Glossy swiftlet

Example: Photo by Lip Kee, License: CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr

Scientific name: Collocalia esculenta, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

[nohos isaina] n. kind of banana (sp. from China)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. shrub to tree, 2. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3583)

Scientific name: Xylosma guillauminii, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. tree, 10-15 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3673)

Example: The wood from this species is used to make the main crossbar of a roof, and also for house posts. Considered a good firewood.

Scientific name: Weinmannia denhamii, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the north-north-west wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. large tree, 13 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4052)

Example: 1. Considered to be a relative of Morinda citrifolia.

Scientific name: Neuburgia corynocarpa, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. Striated surgeonfish

Example: Photo by Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Ctenochaetus striatus, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4794)

Scientific name: Rivina humilis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. plain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 172

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. corn

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 138

n. tree, 6 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3263)

Example: 1. A "calendar plant". When this flowers in the bush, and people are making their gardens in that area, it means the garden is ready to harvest. 2. Firewood, calendar, and message plant – for people who live up in the forest can see this coastal plant and when it flowers it is a good time to go fishing or to move to the coastal area for a few weeks to relax. July-August. Tide is low so everything is exposed so it is a good time to fish for there, 2 months. 3. Flowers have a nice nectar, sweet, kids drink.

Scientific name: Metrosideros collina, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. Polyscias samoensis

Example: leaf -- cold maceration taken internally against ciguatera

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 440

adv. downwards or westwards

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 108

adj. sour, applied to the water in coconuts

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 110

n. white sweet potato

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati