Aneityum

pro. you

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. moonlight

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

conj. and

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[amŋi kava] phr. drink kava

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adv. aforetime

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. to steer, as a boat or a ship

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v. wander, walk around

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adj. afar

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 121

v. drip, as a bucket filled with water drips

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[eroʊ] num. two

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

v. show

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. Barringtonia edulis

Example: not used in Aneityum

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 442

n. a place down, or westward

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tree. Growing in village garden. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #19)

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.

Scientific name: Sophora tomentosa, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. this collection is a seedling sprouting from a coconut fruit. the adult palm is growing in an agricultural field. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4950)

Example: The young seedlings are removed from the coconuts and fed to pigs. Children like to eat the apical meristems of the sprouts, peeling off the harder, outer leaves and eating the soft white part. The endosperm of the sprouted coconut is edible. The local name means "young seedling."

Scientific name: Cocos nucifera, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. Ribbontail stingray

Example: Photo by zsispeo, License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr

Scientific name: Taeniura lymma, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

[inhat auɪɲet] n. a drawing on stones

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

[inʤa anʤia] n. chicken blood (lit. blood chicken)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. vine, growing in disturbed forest. Fruits green. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3470)

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: Titiya Lalep

n. false star

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. shrub. Found in the village, Unames. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #31)

Example: 1. To cure when the anus falls out - Pound together 1 braches worth of inpalcapnesgin leaves and of both inloptiri (2-4 leaves, any age) , also take the inner bark of nekeaitimi and nakhe. Put this into your hand, or another leaf and give it to the person to use it. This should be applied to the anus whenever the anus comes out. USed to use a clam shell to extract the bark but not anymore.

Scientific name: Hibiscus rosasinensis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. rudder for back of canoe

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. treelet, 2 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4085)

Example: 1. The green leaves of this plant are used to cover fish, when cooking them in a fire.

Scientific name: Cordyline fruticosa, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

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. seed

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 182

[inwerinɣweɪ] n. board (sg)

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. Synedrella nodiflora

Example: leaf rubbed in hands for toothache

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 440

n. pungent scrub, island musk (RPV #101)

Scientific name: Evodia hortensis, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. banyan tree (RPV #74)

Scientific name: Ficus glandifera, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[kajheɣ] phr. Good bye.

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adj. ripe, as fruit; healed, as a wound; also "mah"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 92

n. low tide

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. arrowroot

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 92

n. sterile herb, juvenile form (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3438)

Example: This plant is used as a starchy food. To prepare it, grarte it into a dish, wash with water, the starch settles to the bottom, pour off the water, dry the starch in the sun and make it into a powder. The starch can be cooked with coconut milk and eaten.

Scientific name: Tacca leontopetaloides, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[naθi aθiat upni] phr. Good morning. (greeting in mid-morning, after 10 o’clock)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. dawn of day

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 141

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[nagag ~ naɣag] n. Sandpiper

Example: Photo by Frans Vandewalle, License: CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr

Scientific name: Tringa hypoleucos, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

[naha] n. plant for wrapping fish, lily plant that grows in coastal areas

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of sugarcane

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. a plant with red leaves

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

[nakro] v. chief shares a large amount of food with another district

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. epiphyte on tree trunks, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4103)

Scientific name: Spiridens sp., Speaker: Titiya Lalep

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 breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. shrub to 1. 5 m, flowers white. Red clay soil (collection: Michael J. Balick #4882)

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.

Scientific name: Scaevola neoebudica, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[nanin] n. goat

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

[napanaunuŋ eθa] phr. where are you going?

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. epiphytic fern on tree trunk, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4087)

Example: 1. The name refers to a crustacean and also to the spines of bamboo.

Scientific name: Prosaptia contigua, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. bamboo; a mountain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 97

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. tree, 12 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3641)

Example: 1. The wood of this tree is used to make temporary houses, for example, when making a garden by the river. 2. The wood can be sawn into timber. 3. People collect red leaf and put under tongue when want to talk about conflicted issues such as a dispute to make their argument stronger.

Scientific name: Elaeocarpus angustifolius, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. tree, 4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3271)

Example: Used as a leaf compost for planting taro, layered on the bottom of the hole and covering the taro as well.

Scientific name: Melicope triphylla, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tares

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 192

n. Skipjack tuna

Example: Photo by Krw130lm / Fishes of Australia, License: CC BY-A-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Katsuwonus pelamis via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. herb to 1 m, flowers yellow. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4892)

Example: If a person is coming to a "new" village, e.g. not their own, and they have a branch in their hand, it means that they are coming in peace and not trying to harm anyone else in the new village. Or if they are asking for something that might be found in the new village, they hold the branch of this species and pass it to a person from that village so they will accept you.

Scientific name: Sida cordifolia, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. tree to 10 m, dbh 75 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4988)

Example: The young aerial roots are cut from the stems of the tree and used as a local rope, to tie things, help construct temporary shelters, as well as to make string for a hunting bow. Flying foxes like to eat this fruit so in the night when the fruit is mature hunters come by this tree to hunt flying foxes as well as hunting birds during the day. Hunters use bows and arrows for birds, and throwing sticks (natou) made from any plant to hunt flying foxes.

Scientific name: Ficus kajewskii, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. Yellowspotted trevally, Turrum

Example: Photo by Rick Stuart-Smith / Fishes of Australia, License: CC BY-A 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Carangoides fulvoguttatus via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. tree to 3 m tall, 20 cm dbh (collection: Michael J. Balick #4869)

Example: To treat toothaches, take a handful of leaves, boil them in 1 cup of water, take the warm liquid and leaves and wash or rinse the affected area as needed until pain resolves. The wood is used for carving and is yellowish in color. The stems are used to secure the outrigger to a traditional canoe.

Scientific name: Murraya paniculata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tree fern, trunk 2-2. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3693)

Scientific name: Cyathea vieillardii, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[nesʤiŋ ʤin] n. October (lit. time to fertilize and plant the garden)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. Barringtonia asiatica L.

Example: inner bark: ground, added to dug pools in the sea as fish poison

Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 442

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4779)

Scientific name: Macaranga tanarius, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[niʧɛn asŋa] n. teeth (all)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. the holes in a coconut

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 102

n. branch (tender)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 130

n. wooden dish

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

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

Scientific name: Schizaea dichotoma, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. tree, 8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3627)

Scientific name: Polyalthia nitidissima, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. sparsely branched tree, 2. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3628)

Example: This plant is used to make a grass skirt for women. There are two different methods decribed. In the first, collect the leaves, tear off 1/2 of the leaf and pleat the halves. Then dry these in the sun by hanging them from the midrib. After they are dry, weave them into a skirt. In the second, take one leaf at a time, tear the leaf down the center and throw away the midrib. The soft part is used in making the skirt by holding a piece of twine between your toes and under your armpit. Weave the length of the twine with the leaf. The let the pieces to dry in the sun for 2-3 days. The skirt can be thrown in the sea before drying to make the skirt white. Bark of inhao is usually used as twine. Retted strips of leaves, later sun dried, can be used to make pillows. When dogs or humans have fish poisoning this plant can help. Take 2 leaves and pound them (use 1 leaf for dogs) and mix with 1/4 cup of water. no further instructions given. (OR - Leaves to cure ciguatera, chew 1 leaf and swallow juice and spit out fiber. Or extract juice into a cup to drink 1x. Give juice + water in cup for dog that is sick.) There is also a belief that you can use the whole stem of this plant as a digging spade to plant sugarcane so the sugarcane is soft and sweet.

Scientific name: Dracaena sp., Speaker: Titiya Lalep

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

Scientific name: Nephrolepis cordifolia, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. epiphytic liana on main trunk of Hernandia moerenhoutiana, growing in secondary forest above river. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3658)

Example: This plant has a secret, unspecified use.

Scientific name: Microsorum grossum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. grass. Found in disturbed area behind the village. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #12)

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. Main plant to thatch roof of local houses. 3. Collect the dry stems, tie together, use as a torch at night for walking or walking along the reef when fishing. 4. Take 1 cane and tie the leaves together and tie on a tree to indicate tabu – e.g. a citrus tree that will be ripe soon to tell people not to pick it. 5. To catch crabs just before sunset, burn the torch and shake the ashes on the rocks; come back an hour or so later and the crabs are attracted by the ashes and you can collect them. 6. Can also use to weave walls of house. 7. Women clean the leaves of the stem and use the hard part of the stem to strip pandanus leaf before weaving a basket. 8. Cut wild cane in half and sharpen the end, use this to cut the dried pandanus leaves into small strips. 9. Tie leaves into a knot and stick the knot on the kava stem; t is means that this kava goes “express” so the carrier goes to one border of a village and passes it to another person who knows it cannot stop in this village but goes to the next border and is passed on 10. This plant is a “message plant” to say “don’t stop,” referring to something being delivered.

Scientific name: Saccharum maximum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. a species of seaweed

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 103

n. bank (of a river)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 127

n. beach

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 127

n. the New Caledonian banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. grass

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. the morning

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 104

n. kind of fish (folk name)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. sail inside of reef

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 180

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. tree to 8 m, dbh 60 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4984)

Example: Peel the shell of the fruit and eat the inner part, or make jam from this part. Spit out the seeds. The branches of this tree are used for firewood.

Scientific name: Ceratonia siliqua, Speaker: Tony Keith

adv. near; inshore; near the shore

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 108

n. Sawtooth barracuda

Example: Photo by Stephanie W. Batzer, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Sphyraena putnamae via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. tomato

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adv. by land; on land

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 109

adj. made of branches

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 111

n. a sweet potato

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 111

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119