Kapingamarangi English

adj. brilliant (used only with the color red)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. white biblical dove

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

bottom fishing

n. bluefin trevally

Scientific name: Caranx melampygus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

phrase I want to

maternal grandfather

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

paternal grandfather

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. basket made with coconut leaves with carrying handle

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

many waves

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

raise

n. mollusk sp.

Scientific name: Atactodea sp.,
Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. dumb

n. rabbitfish species

Scientific name: Siganus sp.,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

tooth brush

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

to gossip about someone

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

cough

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

n. sorcerer

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vi. to worry about

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. unable to stand (e.g. in high tide)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. unable to, not up to the task

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. continuous

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

trawling

vt. wind around

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. sister

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. to kindle (a fire or lantern)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

sweep

n. octopus ink

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

tired

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. intestines

wash someone

white sand

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

disgusting place

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

school of red snapper

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

set on fire

to cool off by a breeze

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. to measure out, allot

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. drive a school of fish

greedy

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

boundary of taro plot

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. accumulate goods

vt. get drunk

vt. keep conversing

vt. to try to formulate (e.g., an idea or plan)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

ai. swelling periodically

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. to dry out under sunshine (by hanging)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

it doesn’t matter which

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. lengthen

to accumulate school of fish by feeding them, to attract by baiting

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

welcoming feast

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. manta ray

Scientific name: Manta alfredi,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

Manta ray

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

v. hurry

n. bath house

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. lionfish in general; red lionfish

Scientific name: Pterois volitans,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

an islet of Kapinga Atoll (uninhabited)

Source: Buck 1950, Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

phrase good evening

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,

n. armpit hair

both

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

vt. carrying

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

swimming

boiled

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. olive-scribbled wrasse

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. tree

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

vi. heat up

plywood

n. shouting wood used for making houses on Kapinga atoll

Meek in spirit

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

long

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. red warrior ant

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

name of coral head in Kapinga lagoon

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. six-blotch hind

Scientific name: Cephalopholis sexmaculata,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

v. To meander or to look around

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. mimic octopus and similar species

Scientific name: Thaumoctopus mimicus

have fever

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

n. starfish

Example: Photo by NOAA Photo Library September 24, 2010 via Flickr License: CC BY 2.0

Scientific name: Asteroidea sp.,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

vt. weigh (on a scale); seek by divination

going any direction

first

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n flute, whistle

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

vi. urinate

n. rectum

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. zero

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. eyeball

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. tin roof

scraping soda can on table noise

clam shell, used for ornament or for scraping off burned outer shell of cooked breadfruit

Example: Photo by genjitsu / iNaturalist, License: CC-BY-NC via inaturalist.org

Scientific name: Asaphis violascens,
Source: Buck 1950, Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

vomit

n. three pointed fishing spear

n. ghost crab

Scientific name: Ocypodinae sp.,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. branching coral

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

famine

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

bleed

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

tongue

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. place name: heavily populated central islet

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

sister

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

youngest sister

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. long line for bottom fishing

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

floating