Aneityum

v. go up; go east

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v.n. to cross over or above, as over a fence, or tree in a path, or on stones through a river

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 58

v. drink

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. black (color)

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

v. respect

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

[et at̚pu an] phr. he is hiding

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adj. happy

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. shrub to treelet, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3265)

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

n. small tree, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4021)

Scientific name: Astronidium aneityense, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. breadfruit (gen.), breadfruit tree

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. Steephead parrotfish

Example: Photo by charlie20 / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Chlorurus microrhinos, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. traditional broom

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. today

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 88

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. kind of banana

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

n. unbranched treelet, 1. 25 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3526)

Example: People use the leaves for cooking any ground up food that is cooked on a fire such as manioc or bananas, roasted or boiled in water. Fish can be cooked this way. The roots of this plant can be cooked in an earth oven. These need to be cooked for 2 days or 2 nights, lke a yam. The plant has large roots that are good to eat. Chew like a piece of surgarcane, the taste is sweet like honey. Swallow the juice and spit out the fiber. The roots, once cooked, can be stored for 6 months. In ancient times they were eaten during times when there was no food. This food is said to be able to sustain a person for one day, if eaten in the morning, the person not be hungry until sunset. Today, people eat this plant at festivals, as it is no longer a famine food.

Scientific name: Cordyline fruticosa, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. the name of a plant with a white flower; a lily

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 88

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. kind of shellfish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

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. water; fresh water

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 89

n. tree to 15 m, 15 cm dbh (collection: Michael J. Balick #4931)

Example: Use the wood of this tree for firewood.

Scientific name: Arytera neoebudensis, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. mandrake

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 164

adv. a long time ago

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 91

[kanaθ] n. kind of breadfruit

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of bird

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. coconut crab

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

adj. smooth, applied to sugarcane-leaf thatch

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 107

v. like

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

adj. ripe; also "metto"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 93

n. kind of fish

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

[nadimi ditij] phr. one man (there is)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. a blossom; the spathe of a coconut used as light; also "nafaketa"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

[naɣai milmat] n. before sun comes up, just light enough to see green toward the east looking down from a hill, "green place"

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. early morning; around 3 o’clock

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 94

n. kind of tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 117

n. kind of plantain

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. feathers

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. chicken feathers

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of sugarcane; also "inhelegaij"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. small treelet, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3682)

Example: Can be used to stop pain from toothache. Break of the top growth of a branch and remove all leaves. Chew on the green stem at the site where there is a toothache. Keep the juice from chewing in your mouth for 2-5 minutes then spit the juice out. Leave the stem fibers in your mouth at the site of pain for about 20 minutes then remove. Then repeat 2 more times. This makes the tooth thinner so it breaks more easily.

Scientific name: Cyrtandra aneiteensis, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of shellfish (m)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. kind of flowering plant (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4756)

Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. twining vine, growing on grassed along roadside in open disturbed area. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3608)

Scientific name: Cardiospermum halicacabum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

[nawʊnalak] n. calf muscle

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

[nawʊn nɛθoʊn] n. leg

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. grass. Found along intra village path. (collection: Ashley A McGuigan #35)

Example: 1. Bath for babies to make them healthy and walk faster, mix with plants WAKAS (AAB 34), NITIDEI (GMP 3658 or 4043), and a grass NATUTAHUT (MJB 4945). Put all in a kettle filled of water and wash them with it – use 1 handful of each leaf.

Scientific name: Digitaria sp., Speaker: Wina Nasauman

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

Scientific name: Tarenna, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. kind of crab

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. a gathering of inmops or horse-chestnuts

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 96

[nareram ʊleiʊ] n. kind of banana (fat)

Speaker: David Nasauman

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. epiphytic orchid, growing in dense rainforest. Flowers orange. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4113)

Example: 1. Children often take the leaves of this plant and blow across the surface of a taut leaf to make a whistle sound. Older folks say this blowing invited rain.

Scientific name: Liparis condylobulbon, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. hedge

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 156

n. tree, 3. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3489)

Example: The fruits of this species are edible. Take the ripe fruits, squeeze coconut milk into the ripe fruits and cook in an earth oven. The leaves are used to wrap small fish caught in a net for cooking in an earth oven. For clothing, strips of bark are peeled and the inner bark removed, and this is used as a strap around the waist, and leaves are tucked in front and back. This is traditional clothing when other clothing is not worn.

Scientific name: Ficus granatum, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

v. to fish (with a net)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. shrub to 2 m, flowers greenish white turning to brown (collection: Michael J. Balick #4886)

Example: In taller forest, this plant is higher so can use it to make a spear. Sharpen the end or use wires as the tip. Unspecified medicinal use.

Scientific name: Phyllanthus myrianthus, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. a species of thorn

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 97

n. a green coconut

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 118

[neɣeɣ] n. crab

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. tree, 5-6 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3449)

Example: 1. Wood used for roof rafters. 2. Leaves of this plant can be used to cover an earth oven while baking food. 3. Name means bird footprint.

Scientific name: Plerandra actinostigma, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. Bluespot mullet

Example: Photo by Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Moolgarda seheli via FishBase, Speaker: Chris Nevehev

n. fir; pine

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 150, 172

[nelgoʊ waj] n. toy float, lit. "flying ship", "fast ship"

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. shrub, 1 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3724)

Scientific name: Acanthus ilicifolius, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. Anchor tuskfish, Orange-dotted tuskfish

Example: Photo by Mark Rosenstein, iNaturalist: CC BY-A-NC-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

Scientific name: Choerodon anchorago via FishBase, Speaker: Jack Keitadi

n. scandent shrub, growing in dense rainforest. Fruits purple-red. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4117)

Scientific name: Medinilla cauliflora, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

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. liana, on Polyscias cissodendron (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3457)

Example: 1. Macerate the young stems, remove the outer "skin" to release the odor of the stem and weave into a head garland for decoration. 2. People use it as a headdress. This is a male plant, ancestors used both male and female wrapped together for the headdress. Man would put this on head to attract a woman that he liked. Be careful when you are passing other women who will be attracted to the wearer – so the person can’t speak to them so he can focus on the one he is attracted to.

Scientific name: Alyxia stellata, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. night

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 114

n. hard outer shell of crab

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. lithophyte, growing on rock in dense rainforest. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4038)

Scientific name: Antrophyum plantagineum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

n. shrub, 1. 5 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3604)

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.

Scientific name: Melastoma malabathricum, Speaker: Wina Nasauman

[niʧɛn jaoʊ] n. butt

Speaker: Ruben Nerian

n. citron; lemon; lime tree

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 135, 162,163

[nipʧin ɲelas] n. crab

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

Speaker: Osiani Nerian

n. kind of seashell

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

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

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. fruit; also "nohwan"

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 103

[nohos umangi] n. kind of banana (big, from somewhere else)

Speaker: David Nasauman

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. seed (general term)

Speaker: Romario Yaufati

n. Convict surgeonfish, convict tang

Example: Photo by Philippe Bourjon / Fishbase, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia

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

n. vine to 2 m, flowers white (collection: Michael J. Balick #4939)

Example: Use this to make rope. Cut the vine, heat over a low fire, when it is still warm, tie posts of the house--the heat makes the cord very strong and tying it while in that condition makes it really strong.

Scientific name: Melodinus neoebudicus, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. vine climbing into the canopy on Sarcomelicope, growing in primary rainforest. Fruits green. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3620)

Example: This plant is used for local rope. Coil it in a figure 8, heat on a fire, when it is soft, use it for tying poles on a house. It is very strong when cool and dry.

Scientific name: Melodinus neoebudicus, Speaker: Titiya Lalep

n. vine to 5 m, flower yellow (collection: Michael J. Balick #4937)

Example: In the old days, the hooks of this plant were used as a kind of small fishing hook. Heat the hook over a fire to make it strong, tie a rope to it and use it to catch fish. Take inner bark--1 handful and boil in a full pot of water and wash the body 1x daily to treat scabies. Can work in as soon as 2 days. It cures the sores very fast.

Scientific name: Durandea pentagyna, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. leaves for an oven

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 105

[nupʧin hoθaiŋ] n. star in the west

Speaker: David Nasauman

[ovan] adj. strong

Speaker: Kirk Keitadi

n. a second growth, as grass that springs up after being burned

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 107

n. kind of taro

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 119

n. herb 1 m tall, flowers pink (collection: Michael J. Balick #4923)

Example: Collect the yellow leaves, the mature ones, roll it between one’s hands, squeezing it, and dry it in the sun for a day and hang it in the kitchen near the place where fires are made, and within a week it will turn black. It is ready to be smoked--roll paper around it and smoke it. Take 6-10 leaves, roll them up and squeeze them into a bucket of water mixing the juice with the water until it turns somewhat green. Use this water to wash crops such as legumes and other garden plants to kill insects that might be attacking them.

Scientific name: Nicotiana tabacum, Speaker: Natu Kenneth

n. garden

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 153

v.n. to sprout

Speaker: Inglis 1882, p. 111