Kapingamarangi English

bottom fishing

n. white-edged lyretail; yellow-edged lyretail

Scientific name: Aetobatus narinari; Variola louti,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. mahi mahi or common dolphinfish

Scientific name: Coryphaena hippurus

n. prepared food; raw soft breadfruit mixed with water

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. scallop

n. octopi in general

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

vi. octopus

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

rough play, rough-and-tumble

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. dumb

Shiver

basket

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. rabbitfish species

Scientific name: Siganus sp.,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

bulging or hilly

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

ai. broad space

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. red snapper

Example: Photo by Florida Fish and Wildlife Center April 3, 2012 via Flickr License: CC BY-ND 2.0

Scientific name: Lutjanus vaigiensis,
Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

to gossip about someone

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. hard working man, especially a fisherman

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. pray

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. moorish idol

Scientific name: Zanclus cornutus

bosom/breast

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

phrase What’s your name?

vi. blood, to bleed

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

barb of a stingray used to pierce ears

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Peck

vt. to kindle (a fire or lantern)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

to appear unhealthy from overwork

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. ladder, stairway

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

thin cloth

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. young children

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

copra dried in the wind

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

v. wash self

wash hair

wash someone

disk-like sand particle

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

sand

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

phrase we roast a fish

level ground

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

bunch of drinking coconuts

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. midnight snapper; black and white snapper

Scientific name: Macolor macularis; Macolor niger,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

school of red snapper

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

loincloth; makeshift, to do or tie temporarily

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. cause to sink, accidentally or temporarily

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

first light of the moon or sun

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. to measure out, allot

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. always reluctant

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vi. be similar

vt. sink or submerge (purposefully)

vt. to feed workers

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

make the veins of the neck stick out (as when angry)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. rock back and forth

vi. pout

ai. swelling periodically

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

v. be very fast

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

to Mash

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

welcoming feast

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Wag (a tail)

v. hurry

noun bird nest

carving/scraping noise

adj. skinny

n. fish fin

n. flower of the Clerodendrum inerme

Example: Photo by Lauren Gutierrez February 4, 2012 via Flickr License: CC BY-ND 2.0

Scientific name: Clerodendrum inerme,
Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Bark

beard

sand

Source: Buck 1950, Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

Stick used for pushing the boat out

n. sea green wrasse; dragon wrasse

Scientific name: Novaculichthys macrolepidotus; Novaculichthys taeniourus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

roasted

n. flame

n. board

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. shouting wood used for making houses on Kapinga atoll

vi. run

Meek in spirit

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

tallest

have fever

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

n. mother

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

vt. throb

worm

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

insect

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

once upon a time, first time

phrase a double hook

fan

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n flute, whistle

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

n. egg

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

n. zero

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

sit down

n. paternal grandmother

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. gust of wind

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

noise of multiple claps

an islet of Kapinga Atoll (uninhabited)

Source: Buck 1950, Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. gold-lined sea bream

Scientific name: Gnathodentex aurolineatus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

low tide

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. black-banded snapper

Scientific name: Lutjanus semicinctus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

famine

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. double lined mackerel

Scientific name: Grammatorcynos bilineatus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

Skirt

personal name of a Kapinga man who lived in the first half of the 20th century.

Source: Buck 1950, Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

tongue

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

elder sister

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. mollusk sp.

Scientific name: Nerita picea,
Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,