Aneityum

v. make

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. to weave, to plait

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. to come up, or come east

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[ama] num. four

Speaker: David Nasauman

[elajnej] n. after sundown, when the insects start to chirp

Speaker: David Nasauman

pre. far; long; applied to distance or time

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 77

v. to split wood

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 80

n. pineapple

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

det. some

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v.n. to sail

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 81

adj. outside

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. whitewood (RPV #38)

Scientific name: Endospermum medullosum, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tree, 4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4108)

Scientific name: Cupaniopsis leptobotrys, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the white wood of a tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 85

n. a bundle of wood for fire

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

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. the candle-nut tree; also "inhaig"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 85

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[inhat auɪɲet] n. a drawing on stones

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. vine, growing in coastal forest. Fruits purple. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3556)

Example: A man named Johnnie (Reuben’s grandfather) brought this vine to Aneityum to use it as a rope to tie objects. The ripe fruits are used to paint the face and hands and children make drawings from this dye.

Scientific name: Passiflora suberosa, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. epiphyte, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4104)

Example: 1. This plant is considered bad luck when hunting or fishing. When doing these activities, do not decorate your hair with them. 2. This plant is used to weave the sheath portion of "nambas". First the stems are retted, then the inner portion of the plant removed. Once removed, the sheath is woven with the blanched fiber. 3. This is considered the male version of this plant. See GMP #4105, Phlegmarius sp. for the female version.

Scientific name: Phlegmariurus phlegmaria, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. tree, 6 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3692)

Scientific name: Acacia spirorbis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. trees, 3-4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4133)

Scientific name: Caryota ophiopellis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[intohoɣ] n. shell (for making music)

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

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. herb to 50 cm tall, flowers yellow. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4947)

Example: To treat toothache, collect the uppermost young leaves, rub them in your hand, put mass of crushed leaves into the area of toothache to lessen the pain. Do this as needed until the pain goes away. Keep it in your mouth for 10 minutes then spit out, then add a new one, keep going as needed.

Scientific name: Synedrella nodiflora, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

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

[inʧatamaɪjn] n. rooster

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. a garden of bananas

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 92

n. arrowroot

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 92

adj. yes, good

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[maja ga oʔo] phr. yes or no (traditional)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

v. like

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adj. ripe, as arrowroot; also "murre"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 93

n. dawn of day

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 141

n. tree, 6 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3530)

Example: This plant grows in coastal areas, and is a good source of firewood. It can be used for house posts. The leaves are used as an unspecified medicine. There is a belief regarding the black and white sea snake, that represents a seawater spirit. Mix this with other unspecified leaves, mash together, squeeze into a bamboo tube and fill it. Give it to a woman to drink to keep the evil snake spirit away. The same preparation can be used to treat toothache, caused by the seawater spirit. "The spirit can trick you into going to fish every day."

Scientific name: Guettarda speciosa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4771)

Scientific name: Dianella ensifolia, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree, 8-10 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4017)

Example: 1. Aerial roots have a natural curve that allows them to be used as a clothing hanger. The outer bark is peeled and dried all day in the sun, before the roots are used. 2. Leaves are used to help remove fish bones lodged in one’s throat. When bones are stuck in one’s throat, then you apply young leaves to the outside of the throat. Apply once and leave until the bones are removed.

Scientific name: Myristica fatua, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. palm tree sp. (RPV #19)

Scientific name: Hydriastele cylindrocarpa, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. plantain

Speaker: David Nasauman

[naleθpeɲ] n. Barn Owl

Example: Photo by Matt Knoth, License: CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr

Scientific name: Tyto alba, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

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. terrestrial fern, growing in secondary forest along the river. Fronds dimorphic. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3644)

Example: This is a sacred plant, it will keep crops, such as foods, in good condition and protect people from famine and loss of crops. It grows wild along the river and people leave it there and also move the plants to the house along with Terminalia fruiticosa and other unspecified plants for use in protecting their crops. For example, when people go to the garden, they take their planting stick and place it near these plants for a while, and being near it will help protect the garden as a person then works with their planting stick to plant the garden.

Scientific name: Oceanopteris gibba, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

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

[nanaθ] n. shrub, 2-3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3455)

Example: Fertilizer, take fresh leaves and put in area where plant taro.

Scientific name: Psychotria milnei, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. tree to 10 m, dbh 30 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4900)

Example: Before there was soap, people took the young leaves and crushed them on a stone to make suds for washing clothes in the river. This tree has a very hard wood and can be used for house posts. The sap is reddish and the bark boiled in water until it is red, consumed 2-3 times daily (1 cup each time) until the person feels well. The condition treated is that when a menstruating woman has sex with a man, and he feels tired and lethargic, drinking this tonic makes him feel stronger.

Scientific name: Alphitonia zizyphoides, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tree to 5 m, dbh 10 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4889)

Example: The leaves are used to cover meat when baking it in a stone oven (inmawum). This will soften the meat and keep it moist. Used when other species of this genus are not available, for example if you are in the bush.

Scientific name: Polyscias cissodendron, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

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

Scientific name: Tarenna, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree, 12 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4128)

Example: 1. The wood of this tree can be used to make posts for traditional houses.

Scientific name: Alphitonia zizyphoides, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. lentils

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 162

n. the north-east-east wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

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.

Scientific name: Ficus scabra, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

[neθelat] n. basket for clothes; carrying infants; transporting plants

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. grass; weeds; thistle

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

[nehel] n. paddle (for a canoe)

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. epiphyte c. 1 m above forest floor, growing in secondary forest above river. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3650)

Example: The younger,soft leaves are used to wrap local foods, for example bananas. To prepare a type of "local cheese," made from fermented breadfruit and fermented banana, mix a bit of coconut milk and wrap these two fruits in the leaves and cook under ground. Not clear about the way the food is fermented.

Scientific name: Asplenium australasicum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Little spinefoot, scribbled rabbitfish

Example: Photo by Kathleen Kresner-Reyes / Fishbase, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Siganus spinus via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. tree to 5 m, dbh 12 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4917)

Example: Flowers are used to decorate the house and other areas as they are very fragrant. The leaves are used to cover taro cooked in an earth oven.

Scientific name: Gardenia tannaensis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. herb, growing in weedy area at end of airstrip runway. Flowers yellow. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3568)

Scientific name: Youngia japonica, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. coconuts used for sea fermentation

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. epiphyte on branch of Syzygium tree, growing in secondary forest along trail above river. dry fruits. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3661)

Scientific name: Phreatia hypsorrhynchos, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree to 8 m, dbh 20 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4867)

Example: Fruits are sweet and edible when ripe. This plant is an indicator of rich soil, a good place to plant one’s garden. The leaves of this species are mixed in with other leaves for an unspecified local medicine that helps to remove spiritual sickness

Scientific name: Ficus adenosperma, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of bush

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. moss

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 166

n. branch (tender)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 130

n. type of seashell

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

Speaker: Jack Keitadi

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

Scientific name: Schizaea dichotoma, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. Harry hotlips, blubberlip

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

Scientific name: Plectorhinchus gibbosus via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

[nitaʔto] v. to bake

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

[nitaʔto naretoʊ] n. an oven for baking bread; "nitato" to bake; "naruto" bread

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

[niʧep] n. mat for sitting

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. stem

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 188

n. tree, 3-4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3540)

Example: The straight trunk of this tree is used to make canoes. The black seed in the fruit is used to make necklaces. The inner bark is peeled and crushed in sea water and rubbed in the hair to make it curly. People do this treatment every day to make long hair curl like a rasta.

Scientific name: Hernandia nymphaeifolia, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Black-spot surgeonfish

Example: Photo by zsispeo / Flickr.com, License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Acanthurus bariene, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. Orangespot surgeonfish

Example: Photo by Ian Shaw / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Acanthurus olivaceus, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. vine, growing in open disturbed area. flowers white. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3589)

Example: 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

Scientific name: Jasminum didymum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the Norfolk Island pine

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 104

n. small tree, 4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3452)

Example: 1a. The stem of this plant is used to make a spear, as it is always straight and very strong. It is a small growing plant, just right for length of a spear. 1b. Make a spear for fishing, peel bark, heat stem, affix points to end. 2. Name is the name of a fish. 3. Rafters for roof.

Scientific name: Podocarpus neriifolius, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. a bunch of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 104

n. the morning

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 104

n. seed of the breadfruit

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. stem of coconut leaf

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 188

[oŋmraŋ] n. old (man)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

prep. down there

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. terrestrial orchid growing in cloud forest along ridge. Flowers white. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3281)

Scientific name: Pristiglottis montana

adj. ripe early in the season

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 109

n. sweet potatoes

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. Lined surgeonfish

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

Scientific name: Acanthurus lineatus via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

adj. beginning to be ripe, as fruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 112