An example search has returned 100 entries
achachadaliek
adj. tempestuous at sea
bookmarkehteleceinayi
n. full moon
bookmarkemilmat
adj. green, blue
bookmarketcei nohon
n. beat coconut fiber
bookmarkeucte
v. to begin to blossom
bookmarkidi
adj. stringy, watery, as taro; also "ede"
bookmarkimtiat
incacas
n. herb to 0. 75 m tall, flowers white (collection: Michael J. Balick #4953)
Example: The young leaves are edible; these should be collected, boiled for ca. 8 minutes and eaten with other foods such as cassava. This is one of the local leaves that is said to taste quite good when cooked and mixed with other foods. Both the ripe (red) and unripe (green) fruits are added to soup and other foods as a spice or eaten fresh. The fruit of this cultivar is very hot. The fruit is also fed to chickens who seem to love to eat it.
bookmarkinjañad
inma
n. a breadfruit tree
bookmarkinma
n. Artocarpus altilis
Example: shoot: Mix heated over fire and taken out during sunset. Healer clenches the package in his fist, then gently punches the patients left, then right knee, then his forehead and finally squeezes over his head, migraine and headache.
bookmarkinmauwad picad
n. a convolvulus with white flowers; also "inmauwad ahi"
bookmarkinmeranauunse
n. kind of breadfruit
bookmarkinmoijeuv an nofomot
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.
bookmarkinpakanhas
intak apnyin
n. the following day
bookmarkintal i Santo
n. kind of taro
bookmarkintal yag
n. kind of taro
bookmarkintesjao
intijganeno
n. shrub. Found in the village Unames. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #33)
Example: name = "stonefish ears" 1. To treat rashes - boil 4 leaves in water ad wait until it cools. Wash in this once a day until rash goes away. 2. Stonefish sting – very painful: 1 handful of leaves with squeezed coconut juice – coconut water – from green coconut. Mix the leaves and water and then make a cut in the wound to enlarge it and pour this juice into the wound. In 5-10 minutes the pain will stop, use 1x, very powerful. 3.If a person such as a mother touches the stonefish while preparing it for food, then does not wash hands, can infect a child – and the child will get sores. Take a small branch and boil it in the water and wash the baby with it to make pain go away. 4. Stonefish is a greatly appreciated food that must be prepared carefully by holding the fish by the mouth and not touching the body. Boil the fish to inactivate the poison and then prepare it as a normal fish for cooking. Poison is found in top spine of fish.
bookmarkintop̃asiej ura
n. stoloniferous herb, 15 cm tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3561)
Example: In the past the ancestors learned to cook the leaves of this species with fish in an earth over and then eat the leaves as well as the fish. Today, fish are wrapped with small leaves and then covered with lap-lap leaf (Polyscias) and cooked in an earth oven.
bookmarkinyapwit
n. kind of tree
bookmarkinyecelcoli
n. vine to 1 m, flowers purple. (kudzu plant). (collection: Michael J. Balick #4920)
Example: Roast the tuber of this vine on an open fire for 20-40 minutes, peel off the skin and eat like cassava or taro. Chew it and drink the "juice" while spitting out the fiber. It grows wild, season of harvesting is in May. Very tasty food for people, considered "numba wan" food for this island.
bookmarkinyihev
n. kind of tree
bookmarkinyje
n. tree to 15 m, dbh 20 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4914)
Example: Use the leaves to make compost to be placed at the bottom of the hole where taro is to be planted, cover with soil and grow the taro in that hole. Serves as a fertilizer.
bookmarkkaru uwaruwa
n. wind-related term; no definition provided
bookmarkkatamal
maprum
muri muri
nadeij
nahod
nahoij
n. kind of tree
bookmark
nametreyeñ
nam̃caca
n. vine climbing in understory, growing in rainforest along river. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4057)
Example: 1. This plant is named in relation to a winged fish. The leaves are rough and resemble the body the fish. 2. The leaves of this plant are used to wrap grated taro or manioc. After it is fastened with rope and boiled or baked.
bookmarknanad
nanedauyan
n. Pacific yellowtail emperor
Example: Photo by Jeffrey T. Williams / Smithsonian Institution, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknauincai
n. tree
bookmarknaupitcat
nauyerop̃ u inman
neaig cap
n. a red coconut
bookmarknecna
n. Fringelip mullet
Example: Photo by Jeffrey T. Williams / Smithsonian Institution, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkneduwudu
adj. full of seeds, as the pawpaw apple
bookmarknedwonomo
nefitan nedoon nedoon
n. kind of breadfruit
bookmark
nemek
n. yellow leaves for making petticoats
bookmarknepcev
n. shark
bookmarknepig sepahai
nesgan nevig
n. a fresh coconut
bookmarknetcetas
netethei
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.
bookmarkneusjai
n. a fern tree
bookmarkniau
n. kind of plant, grass, or fern
bookmarknidi yebeg
n. Humpback unicornfish
Example: Photo by Ross D. Robertson / Shorefishes of the Neotropics, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkniditau
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
bookmarknigie
n. shrub, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3537)
Example: This plant is an aphrodisiac. Eat with coconut meat to make the body strong. Take 1/2 handful of leaves and mix with coconut leaves, use as needed. Mostly men eat this combination. It is best to eat with dry coconut that has no water in it. Eat it any time you wish.
bookmarknijom̃kan
n. shrub, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3484)
Example: Name means smash tooth. 1. This is part of an unspecified mixture that can be used as a spell to give another person a toothache. 2. Toothache – chew leaves on the sore tooth and leave it there for a while and spit it out – it will break the tooth and you can take it out, leave on 20 minutes.
bookmarknikam
![1a. This plant is a "message plant." If a person goes to another village with a leaf of this species in their hand, then people know that someone is coming, and this is reflected in the local name. 1b. Message plant – if you pop by someone’s house and drop leaves there, people know someone has visited them. You can ask neighbors who came by. 2. The fruit is a source of a nut that children love to eat raw. 3. It is known in Bislama as "false mango" [kiyaman mango].](/media/aneityum/pix/GMP_3481_MJB_97-scaled.jpg)
n. tree, 8-10 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3481)
Example: 1a. This plant is a "message plant." If a person goes to another village with a leaf of this species in their hand, then people know that someone is coming, and this is reflected in the local name. 1b. Message plant – if you pop by someone’s house and drop leaves there, people know someone has visited them. You can ask neighbors who came by. 2. The fruit is a source of a nut that children love to eat raw. 3. It is known in Bislama as "false mango" [kiyaman mango].
bookmarknilpodon
n. herb. Growing along village path. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #2)
Example: 1. Take handful of young leaves from the middle of the branch and rub until soft. Squeeze the leaves into a cup to get the juice. This will help with a stomache ache for any woman, but especially women who have been fed a potion. 2. To stop baby crying - take 8 fresh leaves and squeeze into warm water. Medicine, wash the plant, take either the leaves or whole plant, 1 handful of leaves, boil in 1 liter water for a few minutes, let it cool, drink 1 cup 1x day for 3 days, flu, headache, stomachache. Considered a weed that likes to grow in cultivated areas.
bookmarknilupau
n. a species of seaweed
bookmarkniri
nirom̃gei
nisasin
n. ray of light in the morning
bookmarknitetan
n. a fern
bookmarknohwan nefara
n. kind of taro
bookmarknopugei
nowyeyang
n. shrub to 2 m tall, flowers pink (collection: Michael J. Balick #4955)
Example: The tubers of this variety are sweet, not bitter and are eaten after cooking. The young leaves are eaten after boiling in water until they are soft, either plain or cooked in soup. It is important to only harvest and prepare the young leaves in this way, as the older leaves will not get soft even after cooking. The young leaves are used to cover the top layer of the earth oven, on top of the stones that comprise the upper layer of the earth oven.
bookmarknuei
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 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.
bookmarknupyihet
n. new moon
bookmarknähäwanatschill
n. Macaranga dioca
Example: Inner bark: bathe in cold infusion, wounds. Mix heated over fire and taken out during sunset. Healer clenches the package in his fist, then gently punches the patients left, then right knee, then his forehead and finally squeezes over his head, migraine a
bookmarknälmaha
n. unidentified species
Example: Fresh leaves: special Kastom ceremony used to treat severe abdominal pain during pregnancy
bookmarktatalaha
n. kind of taro
bookmarktilcenayi
n. full moon
bookmarkubutpotet
adj. adjacent
bookmarkucsalad tiklai cai
v.a. to lop off small branches
bookmarkwamhau
n. kind of taro
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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