Aneityum

adj. tempestuous at sea

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 48

v.n. go to sea

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v. to open, as leaf; to expand

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. to go seaward

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. to steer straight

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.a. to spread abroad; to go everywhere

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 73

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adj. bad, wicked; eheshas, very bad

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 81

n. landward

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

n. a tree for food; a fruit tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 85

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. terrestrial sedge, c. 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3496)

Example: Children pull out the young shoots of this plant and play with them as a spear to throw.

Scientific name: Gahnia aspera, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3547)

Example: This plant is for medicine to treat a spiritual condition related to the coral snake that is the seawater spirit. When a woman is pregnant, some times she gets sick, so use this leaf with 2-3 other unspecified leaves and mash them together, squeeze the juice into a small cup (bamboo), wave around the woman’s body, and then put a few drops onto her head and body, then she drinks the rest. This will help heal her sickness. This treatment can be used for men who have a toothache from eating too much fish--the seawater spirit of the coral snake makes the tooth hurt. It is used in the same way as for a pregnant woman. If the pain from the toothache is really from the seawater spirit, then this will cure it; if not, it will not help.

Scientific name: Sophora tomentosa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Blue-spotted large-eye bream

Example: Photo by Anne Hoggett / Lizard Island Research Station, License: CC BY 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Gymnocranius microdon via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. wind-related term; no definition provided. Possibly referring to "inhalav" ’child’.

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. Pink whipray

Example: Photo by zsispeo, License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 via Flickr

Scientific name: Himantura fai, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. epiphyte on dead log, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4105)

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 female version of this plant. See GMP #4104, Phlegmarius sp. for the male version.

Scientific name: Phlegmariurus squarrosus, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. shrub to 1 m, fruits green. Secondary forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4897)

Example: The leaves are used for compost in the taro patch. Dig a hole, line it with the leaves of this species, cove with earth and plant taro. The leaves of this species are used to cover earth ovens.

Scientific name: Codiaeum variegatum, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. treelet or shrub, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3204)

Example: To treat a headache, people traditionally would make a small cut ¼ inch long with a bamboo or piece of glass around the eyebrows where it is soft and then drip juice of the crushed leaves in the cut to take away the pain. Let the cut bleed first and then put the juice in it and it will stop the pain. The bleeding will stop the pain and the leaf juice will stop the bleeding – sometimes the pain will go away immediately and sometimes it takes a few minutes. So this technique is used to treat a very strong headache like a migraine.

Scientific name: Malvaviscus arboreus, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree to 8 m tall, dbh 1 m (collection: Michael J. Balick #4994)

Example: The flowers are used for decoration, in the yard or cut and brought into the house. The stem of this tree is good for firewood.

Scientific name: Bauhinia monandra, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. a brook that is dry in summer

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 131

n. rudder for back of canoe

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. broom

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. parasite in tree, flowers orange with reddish base. Growing in secondary forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #5000)

Example: This plant is said to have a type of magical use. Young men take one node of the stem of this plant and use it in an unspecified way to attract young women.

Scientific name: Amyema aneityensis, Speaker: Tony Keith

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.

Scientific name: Aceratium oppositifolium, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. whale

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

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.

Scientific name: Pueraria lobata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. mandrake

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 164

n. tree to 10 m tall, dbh 50 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4908)

Example: Wood used for timber.

Scientific name: Burckella, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[kanaθ] n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. a giant

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. half tide when rising

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 93

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. mid-day, noon

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

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

[naŋɛsɛŋa atŋa] n. walking sun symbol

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. Crinum asiaticum L.

Example: subterranean part used as mouthwash for toothache (Crinum asiaticum)

Speaker: Bradacs, Gesine, Jörg Heilmann, & Caroline S. Weckerle (2011). Medical plant use in Vanuatu: A compa

n. low-growing, creeping vine growing in grassy area just inland from coastal strand. Flowers purple. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3224)

Example: Long time ago used seeds to make necklaces, don’t last long.

Scientific name: Canavalia rosea, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. isle, island

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 160

n. plantain

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. herb to 1 m,flowers yellow. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4893)

Example: To make rope, cut the stems, tie together in a bundle and place in the sea. Cover the bundle with rocks for about a week, then take it out, wash it, dry in the sun until the fibers bleach white and use to make grass skirts. This is the process of retting. When the cyclone season is finished, the plant has flowers and fruits--in May through July--this means no danger of cyclones.

Scientific name: Urena lobata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. shrub, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3456)

Example: 1. The leaves of this plant are used as a fertilizer when a person plants taro "to help to feed the ground for next year." 2. Sapwood of this tree, and one more [GMP 3591], in old days take from west side and cross mountain to the east, and on red clay mountain, burn it to make spirits to give more sun instead of rain so that gardens will grow well.

Scientific name: Scaevola cylindrica, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree, 7 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3633)

Example: To cook Alocasia (wild taro), use the dry wood of this plant as firewood. The leaves of this plant are also used to line the earth oven on top of the food and on bottom of the food to insulate it from the high heat of cooking.

Scientific name: Canthium odoratum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

[nanin] n. goat

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

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. tree to 15 m, dbh 30-45 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4938)

Example: The wood is good for making paddles as well as to make canoes.

Scientific name: Adenanthera pavonina, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

[napwat] n. cloud

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. a calm, a smooth sea

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. epiphytic fern on decaying log, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4088)

Example: 1. Considered the same as Narijo. When it grow in good soil it takes the form of GMP 4087. In cold and rocky soil it this form.

Scientific name: Ctenopterella pacifica

n. the poison of the inhac

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. a crop; fruit which grows spontaneously

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a red coconut

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. corky stilt mangrove (RPV #94)

Scientific name: Rhizophora apiculata, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. prostrate creeping vine along coastlines. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #10)

Example: 1. To cure rubbush blood - Take a handfull f leaves of any age, pound it into a cupfull of water, squeeze the juice and drink when woman feels pain in head or inside the body or when the inside of the body is hot. Drink this once a day until the pain goes away. 2. To cure excessive bleeding after giving birth - boil naojapdak leaves (2-16) in seawater until leaves are soft and the water is brown. Sit on this water. 3. To close the cervix - boil 2 naojapdak leaves in water and bath in it. 4. Medicine: Smash leaves 1 handful, into cup and add a small amount of water to treat constipation—1 cup for children; 1.5 litres for adults. 5. Stomachache: same treatment, will clear bowel. 6. For leg sores, collect whole plant, put in water – a pool of water for 1 week, then use to dip sore as on leg into it for 10-15 minutes cure the sore.

Scientific name: Vigna marina, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. a small gray berry used as beads

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 98

n. stage of coconut

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. cliff

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 135

n. liana, growing along ridge in dense rainforest. Latex white (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4074)

Example: 1. The outer stem is used to make an ornament call "Intyecrec". When one returns from the bush, you make this to indicate your trip to the bush. Other plants are at times including in the dressing. Each have their own significance.

Scientific name: Alyxia stellata, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. a leaf

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 100

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. cane (sugar)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 133

n. tree 10 m tall, dbh 15 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4909)

Example: The stems of this plant make a good digging stick for planting kava. Kava planted with this digging stick will be stronger in effect.

Scientific name: Alstonia vitiensis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[niθin neaiɣ] n. coconut milk

Speaker: David Nasauman

[nirinɟat erefera ran] n. tail (of a fish)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. shrub, 1-1. 25 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3591)

Example: The fruits of this species are edible when ripe (black) and are very sweet. It grows in the white grass area in the open. It is "numba one" fruit. If a person eats a lot of these it turns their tongue reddish-purple.

Scientific name: Vaccinium macgillivrayi, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. small tree-fern, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3269)

Scientific name: Cyathea, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. coconut leaf

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[niseuɣ] n. walking stick, staff

Speaker: David Nasauman

[nitaʔtel (a nelʝo)] n. seat (for a canoe)

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. a bunch of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 103

[nohopɣop] n. Glossy swiftlet

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

Scientific name: Collocalia esculenta, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

[nohor] n. Woodford’s Rail

Example: Illustration by John Gerrard Keulemans / Wikimedia Commons, License: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons

Scientific name: Nesoclopeus woodfordi, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. corn

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 138

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. kind of palm

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. another name for masoa; arrowroot

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 105

n. a brook that is dry in dry weather

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 131

n. Carica papaya

Example: flower ovary taken internally against ciguatera

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 441

prep. up there

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. herb to 2 m, flowers white. Growing at edge of secondary forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4967)

Example: Peel the outer stem of this plant and weave two pieces of this together to make and armband to hold fragrant leaves for Kastom ceremony.

Scientific name: Donax canniformis, Speaker: Tony Keith

adv. seaward

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 107

[tanaŋ] det. many

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

adj. rotten, applied to fruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 111

prep. down

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi