Aneityum

[aɣes noraŋitei] phr. sing a song

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[ahi] adj. white (color)

Speaker: David Nasauman

[amai neto] phr. chew sugarcane

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. forecast

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 152

v. walk

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. tide flowing a little, begun to flow

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 72

adj. green, blue

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 77

n. light winds

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 80

n. Barringtonia edulis

Example: not used in Aneityum

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 442

v. to grow again, as hair, feathers, plants; to come out, as teeth

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 81

n. a tree for food; a fruit tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 85

[inɣap] adj. red (?)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. red (color)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. herb, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3676)

Scientific name: Hedychium coronarium, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[inŋa] n. Purple Swamphen

Example: Photo by Bernard Spragg, License: Public domain via Flickr

Scientific name: Porphyrio porphyrio, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

[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

n. pendent epiphyte, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4037)

Scientific name: Phlegmariurus phlegmaria, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. epiphyte on fallen log on ground, growing in dense rain forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4012)

Scientific name: Phlegmariurus phlegmaria, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. old coconut leaves

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 87

n. Squaretail coralgrouper

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

Scientific name: Plectropomus areolatus via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. herb to 1. 5 m tall, sterile. Growing in weedy patch behind buildings on edge of trail. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4986)

Example: People use the leaves of this plant to wrap lap-lap for cooking on the earth oven or when boiling foods. The leaves can also be used as serving plates and to cover the stones on the earth oven.

Scientific name: Heliconia indica, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. false star

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. fog or mist

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. thunder

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tree to 15 m, dbh 50 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4918)

Example: The fruits of this tree are collected, mixed with ground coconut, boiled in water and the oil collected. The resulting oil is used medicinally, put on the skin for any condition to promote healing. Apply once a day until the condition resolves. Also can be used to treat head lice. Add the oil mixture to the hair, massage in, keep the hair dry for a day, then wash. Use once daily for 3 days.

Scientific name: Calophyllum inophyllum, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. rudder for back of canoe

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

[intisjaŋɣe] n. flower

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. well branched tree, 6 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3202)

Example: 1. Young shoots are peeled and made into grass skirts. Scrape the stem and take the green part off, tie strips together and put under stones in the sea for retting, let sit 5 days in sea, but check these on a daily basis. When the fiber becomes soft, that is the time to take it from under the stones, clean off the excess materials, and hang it in the sun to dry for 3 days--this will bleach it and give it a whitish color, at which point it can be woven into a skirt. 2. The fiber can be used to make a small rope that is tied with shells and used for custom dances. 3. When the stems of this tree are older, the wood is very hard and it can be used to make the main frame that is arched for a cyclone house. According to Reuben these houses are not made much anymore on Aneityum Island. 4. To cook the intestines of fish that are eaten, take several leaves and put them in a small pile, making a wrapping, then use a local fiber to tie this together and cook on charcoal for as long as needed to prepare the fish parts. 5. In this area, sometimes knowledge of the plants and flowering are used as a calendar to indicate the time for planting of specific crops. Reuben will provide more details on a future trip. 6a. This species is an important "message plant." If a person is not home and you are visiting from the East--e.g. an Eastern part of the Island--that person can leave a 12 inch piece of stick in front of the door of the house so that the inhabitant knows that an eastern visitor (from Anawonjei district) has come by your home. The reason that person has come to visit is to pass an important message to you--good or bad "luck". The bad luck message might be a death, and is not told directly to the person. The good luck message might be a birth, or conflict that has been resolved. These messages are communicated using sticks--each district has a different species of plant. Reuben’s is the hibiscus. 6b. Message plant for Eastern people. If someone dies, use this plant, clip it in front of hem, in front of home, they ask “who” and you can tell them. In Eastern culture you cannot tell them directly. 7. When a person is too drunk with kava, take a branch of this and brush him with it to help make the effects go away. 8. Traditional plates for food.

Scientific name: Hibiscus tiliaceus, 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. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[inwerinɣweɪ] n. board (sg)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. Pacific ironwood, horsetail tree (RPV #26)

Scientific name: Casuarina equisetifolia, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tree, 9 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4053)

Example: 1. Timber is often harvested and sold from this tree. 2. Flying foxes enjoy the fruits of this tree. Hunters gather nearby this species when the flying foxes are hunted.

Scientific name: Sideroxylon aneityense, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. sandalwood (RPV #110)

Scientific name: Santalum austrocaledonicum, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

[maja gaʔo] phr. yes or no

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[nadimi itij] phr. one man

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. shrub, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3492)

Example: 1. Used for firewood. Whole plant used to make a broom for sweeping by tying the small branches together. The very topmost leaves are used when planting kava, as a “superstition” you hold a lead between your big and second toes when tamping the earth down for a kava plant, to give power to earth so kava grows well. 2. This plant is used to make a local broom. Collect a number of branches, let them dry in the sun--the leaves will fall off--then tie the branches together with a piece of Pandanus leaf or any other vine that is handy.

Scientific name: Leucopogon cymbulae, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. a thistle

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

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. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. shrub to 2 m, coastal vegetation (collection: Michael J. Balick #4961)

Example: The stem of this plant is used for firewood. If a person has been drinking kava and the next morning feels hung over, they can take a handful of the leaves of this plant, crush them in cool water, and wash their face with this. This treatment will help the kava feeling to disappear.

Scientific name: Dendrolobium umbellatum, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. epiphytic liana climbing up main trunk of garcinia pseudoguttifera, growing in primary forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4014)

Scientific name: Freycinetia impavida, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4770)

Scientific name: Glochidion ramiflorum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

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. 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.

Scientific name: Glochidion ramiflorum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. shrub, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3490)

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.

Scientific name: Glochidion ramiflorum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of shellfish (f)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4764)

Scientific name: Tarenna, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. lentils

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 162

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. wind-related term; no definition provided

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. shrub to 2 m, dbh 3 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4862)

Example: The common name of this plant refers to the footprint of a chicken. Mix the dried leaves of this plant with pieces of coconut and feed to chickens. They are said to really like it. Plant the shrub near the place that chickens are kept. This feed will make the chickens produce more eggs and also increase the number of healthy chickens.

Scientific name: Acalypha, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. a mat of coconut leaf

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 99

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. Pacific kauri (RPV #13)

Scientific name: Agathis macrophylla, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. Group of fish including triggerfish, wrasses, chubs, mullets, jacks, and sweetlips

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. spiny holy mangrove (RPV #118)

Scientific name: Acanthus ilicifolius, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[nabejoʊ] n. waves (ocean)

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. tender shoots

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 100

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tree, 8-10 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4141)

Scientific name: Ficus obliqua, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. sap

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 182

n. tree, 8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3636)

Example: The green fruits are edible, as are the young leaf apices--cook these in water and eat them. The wood is used for temporary houses, for example, to provide shade in a garden. For planting taro, or any root crop, sharpen the end of a stick of this tree and use it for making holes, particuarly in river sand where some crops are planted. This tree grows near the river and is an indication that this land is good for agriculture. The wood from the tree is very good for firewood. Name means "who are you." Plant used as an indicator of a tabu place. Take a branch and put it where another person is building or gardening and there is a dispute over that area of land. When this plant is placed there the person who is using the land should stop working it.

Scientific name: Ficus adenosperma, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. hysteranthous geophyte in flowering stage, growing in primary rainforest. Flowers white tinged with pink. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3625)

Scientific name: Dipodium pictum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. vine climbing up a macaranga tree, growing in open disturbed area. Fruits green. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3588)

Example: 1. 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. However, it is not as strong as GMP #3589. 2. For men who want rasta in hair, take a few leaves and dry them, burn with some other plants to rub on the rasta and keeps it healthy, keep from splitting.

Scientific name: Geitonoplesium cymosum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Bidens pilosa L.

Example: shoot -- cold maceration taken internally against cough

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 440

n. kind of bush

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. moss

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 166

n. the Magellanic Clouds

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. breadfruit leaf

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. knots where rope is tying pieces of canoe together

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[niʧin neijaŋ] n. coconut shell

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

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

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

[nohos umangi] n. kind of banana (big, from somewhere else)

Speaker: David Nasauman

[nohos upene] n. kind of banana (lit. "good banana")

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. corn

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 138

n. kind of edible root

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. vine climbing up ficus wassa, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4016)

Example: 1. The vine is use to lash roof rafters to house posts. The vine is collected from the forest and coiled ina figure 8 pattern. It is then heated over a fire before fastening the rafter to the post. 1 minute of heat is sufficient, before one immediately uses the vine.

Scientific name: Smilax vitiensis, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

adj. angry

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adv. down yonder

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 108

v. cry

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. Stachytarpheta cayennesis

Example: Juice squeezed from leaves, wounds.

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 444

v.n. to fall, as unripe fruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 111

adj. beginning to be ripe, as fruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 112