Aneityum

[aθ tasvi] v. break strong things (like a branch, etc.)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. taro; yams

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 54

v. to spit on leaves; to chew leaves for sickness

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 56

v. go up; go east

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adj. black

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 61

v.a. to ascend, to go up

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

v.n. sail without making headway

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 180

v. shut (something)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[deseiʧ nadimi] phr. three men (there are)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. spring

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 188

v. to teaze, as cotton; also "ehyeiyihi"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 76

[eseʧ] num. three

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

v. to split wood

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 80

v. to sharpen the point of a reed like a spear

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 80

n. pineapple

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adj. soft, as an infant’s foot, or new leaves.

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 82

n. dried colored grass

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. type of seashell

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

Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. a bundle of wood for fire

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

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. Ocellated eagle ray

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

Scientific name: Aetobatus ocellatus, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

[inhuʤum] n. Aneityum island

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[inʤa] n. blood

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

[iɲe taθwaɪn anholwas] n. crown of leaves of a particular plant; "tadwain" to put around head; "anholwas" name of particular plant

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

Speaker: Osiani 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. a breadfruit tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. Tabernaemontana padacaqui

Example: leaf used for for wounds; cold maceration taken internally against "skin cancer" (severe wounds?). Stalk, chewed, influences sex of an embryo in favor of a girl.

Scientific name: Tabernaemontana padacaqui, Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 440

n. the pandanus leaf

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 170

[inmoho] n. moon

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. false star

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 113

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. Tahitian chestnut (RPV #47)

Scientific name: Inocarpus fagifer, Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[inpak] n. clouds that divide like a banyan tree

Speaker: David Nasauman

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. flower

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a crop, but not the first ripe

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 89

n. herb, growing on roadside in open disturbed area. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3605)

Example: 1a. This is an invasive weed that was brought to Aneityum by aircraft. Name means "aircraft mess". 1b. Means “planes waste” refers to white trails as this has lots of white seeds that fly.

Scientific name: Crassocephalum crepidioides, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

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. Aneityum

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. Oriental sweetlips

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

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

n. well branched tree, 8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3461)

Example: The fruit of this species are poisonous. In ancient times the ancestors used the "fork" (branch growing out of main stem) of this wood to catch lobsters between the two parts of the stem.

Scientific name: Ochrosia elliptica, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

adv. (already?)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. Vittaria lineata

Example: Frond: cold maceration taken internally against ciguatera

Scientific name: Vittaria lineata, Speaker: Bradacs 2011, p. 443

n. mid-day, noon

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. giant

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. coconut spathes

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 136

n. kind of plant, grass, or fern

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 120

n. kind of turtle

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. vine to 3-4 m, aerial tubers brown (collection: Michael J. Balick #4872)

Example: Normally these fruits are considered poisonous. But, people have learned to peel off the skin of the fruits, put the peeled fruits in a conical basked and place a bamboo tube that is dripping water over it to wash the basket of fruits for 3-5 days. This is said to leach out the poison and the end result is similar in consistency to cheese. Wrap this up with leaves and put it in an earth oven to cook. This plant is eaten as a "starvation food" only, consumed in times of drought and famine.

Scientific name: Dioscorea bulbifera, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. the name of a species of creeper

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

n. low-growing vine, growing next to airstrip just beyond coastal vegetation. Flowers purple. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3544)

Example: To trap fish, the vine of this plant is rolled in large quantity and put on the reef in a circle at high tide in order to corral and trap the fish. At low tide the fish are then speared and harvested. Placement of the circle depends on the rocks and the reef. Children fold the large leaves and bite parts of the leaf to make designs as a craft object. This is a "message plant." If a person wants to build a house or garden in a specfic place, put a piece of the vine on a stick near the area to tell others that they should not build a garden or house hear this area--this is a Tabu message. There are a few other unspecified leaves added to the stick, not only this one.

Scientific name: Canavalia rosea, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. a plant with red leaves

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

[nakajaŋ a nijman] n. palm of hand

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. the beginning of cold wind

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 95

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. herb to 3 m tall, fruits black. Secondary forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4905)

Example: Leaves used to wrap around cassava that is being baked in the earth oven.

Scientific name: Joinvillea plicata, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[nawʊnoan] n. neck

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. the skin or rind of food

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

n. terrestrial fern, growing in dwarf cloud-forest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3268)

Example: For performing a weather magic ritual to produce fog, this plant is fermented along with another plant (nirid u numu) in a hole in a sacred stone (called "Naemoso") at a secret location on Aneityum.

Scientific name: Trichomanes, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. shrub to 1 m, flowers greenish-white. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4932)

Example: The roots are used to treat toothache. Take the roots, strip off the outer bark and chew the root. Stops pain from the toothache. Use 3x daily until the pain is gone.

Scientific name: Breynia disticha, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

[ɲataʊ] n. shell (big)

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

Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. dawn of day

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 141

n. north-north-east wind, between "natoga" and "natoga matahau an jap"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 168

n. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. tree. Village home garden. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #9)

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 – this was during the time when people did not have matches and did not need them as the embers of this tree would stay hot for days and when it was time to make a stronger fire, people would add smaller branches to make a flame appear.

Scientific name: Ficus aspera, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. tree to 5 m, dbh 10 cm (collection: Michael J. Balick #4901)

Scientific name: Plerandra tannae, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4783)

Scientific name: Acalypha grandis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4791)

Scientific name: Acalypha wilkesiana, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

[nenes] n. fiber for kava

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

[nepiŋ upni] phr. Good night. (greeting after sundown, last time to walk on the beach)

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. tree to 5 m, flowers white. Growing in secondary forest with metroxylon palms and other large trees. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4954)

Example: The pear shaped fruits are eaten when ripe. Peel off the outer skin, eat inner part and discard the seed. The leaves are used to protect food as it is being cooked on an earth oven. To prepare the oven, pile hot stones, then put a layer of leaves on the stones, and then place hot stones on top of the leaves. To make a hot oven, the stones are lined in a pit, a fire lit, more stones placed on firewood and the top layer of stones gets very hot. Then, remove the stones from the top of the wood, and cook food o the bottom layer of stones, add a layer of leaves, place the food on top of this, then cover with a layer of leaves and then pile the rest of the hot stones on top of the leaves.

Speaker: Tony Keith

n. tree, 3-4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3687)

Scientific name: Meryta neo-ebudica, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the castor-oil plant

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 102

n. tree, 3-4 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3510)

Example: The leaves of the young plant are used to wrap food for cooking on a fire. The wood is used for temporary houses, for making rafters that are said to last a long time.

Scientific name: Macaranga dioica, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. a species of orchid (there are three on the island)

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 102

n. wooden dish

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. terrestrial fern, growing along ridge in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4121)

Example: 1. The name means "fish gill". When one acquires a culture-bound illness, caused by possesion of the sea devil, this plant is used to prepare a remedy. Further information about the illness and remedy withheld.

Scientific name: Schizaea dichotoma, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

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

Scientific name: Polyalthia nitidissima, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

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

n. epiphytic fern, growing in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4043)

Scientific name: Microsorum grossum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

inter. what

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. a sago palm

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

[nohopɣop] n. Glossy swiftlet

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

Scientific name: Collocalia esculenta, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. the flying-fox banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. cliff

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 135

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. vine, growing up trees in primary forest at edge of river. flower white. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3675)

Example: This vine is collected, rolled in a figure 8 and put on a fire to soften it and used to tie posts. It is tied when warm, because when it cools it is very strong, "like wire." It does not burn on the fire, only become soft. It is said to be excellent for the construction of cyclone houses, it shrinks after heating to make a very strong rope.

Scientific name: Melodinus neoebudicus, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. the early morning

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 104

n. fern to 0. 75 m, sori brown. Growing in pine forest. (collection: Michael J. Balick #4983)

Example: Join two of the inrolled fronds together at the part where the frond is opening (the tip that is curled) such that the leaves are held together by their unfolding growing tips. Place this along the path that is frequented by a wild pig (they travel along paths) and when the pig passes these two leaves, and is chased by a hunter’s dogs, these leaves in this formation are said to sap some of the pig’s energy and thus allow the dogs to catch up with it. This was explained to Tony by another person who mentioned it as a sort of magical power possessed by this type of fern.

Scientific name: Blechnopsis orientalis, Speaker: Tony Keith

n. pig

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a small red berry used as beads

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 107

adj. adjacent

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 121