Kapingamarangi English

adj. brilliant (used only with the color red)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. windy

n. bluefin trevally

Scientific name: Caranx melampygus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

phrase I want to

vi. defecate

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

v. dribble

save

n. mollusk sp.

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

rough play, rough-and-tumble

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Shiver

n. rabbitfish species

Scientific name: Siganus sp.,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. tooth brush

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Goodbye

n. spider lily

Example: Photo by angeliathatsme July 1, 2011 via Flickr License: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Scientific name: Crinum asiaticum,
Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. eldest child

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. shark sucker

Example: Photo by NOAA Photo Library September 12, 2013 via Flickr License: CC BY 2.0

Scientific name: Echeneis naucrates,
Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. box

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. never enough

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. constantly having to urinate

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. unceasingly, always

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. to grow poorly, unable to grow

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

trawling

n. scissors

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Peck

n. zenith

school of surgeon fish

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

tired

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. dragonfly

Example: Photo by Klaus Stiefel January 5, 2008 via Flickr License: CC BY-NC 2.0

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. whimbrel

Scientific name: Numenius phaeopus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

thin cloth

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

v. wash self

wash hair

wash someone

type of turtle

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

fish innards

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

white sand

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. soil

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

sand

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. coral pebbles

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

phrase we roast a fish

place having many depressions (e.g., corrugated surface)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. broad, open place

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

bunch of drinking coconuts

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. throwing net

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. outrigger float connecting stanchion

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

to feel about in the dark, to grope

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

chest

Speaker: Hawortson Heinrich

vt. to measure out, allot

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. drive a school of fish

vi. be similar

vt. to feed workers

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. get drunk

vi. pout

vt. keep conversing

vt. seat (someone)

vt. scream periodically

vt. always lying (someone) on a pillow

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. tidy, to keep clean

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. to approach circumspectly; gingerly

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

vt. to sear (e.g., meat)

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

v. be very fast

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

fish:white marlin

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Manta ray

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

carving/scraping noise

n. sennit

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

n. appendage; fin

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

Bark

n. hair not on the head

n. beard hair

n. mirror

n. board

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

v. speak

Run

escape

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

fast

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

long

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

vt. pick with a breadfruit picker

v. shake

name of coral head in Kapinga lagoon

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. club used for beating fish

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

adj. early (for an appt)

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. mother

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

an islet of Kapinga Atoll (uninhabited, reserved for use by fishermen only)

Source: Buck 1950, Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

eat

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

louse, egg

n. a knot that unties when pulled

v. crumple

n. paternal grandmother

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

an islet of Kapinga Atoll (uninhabited)

Source: Buck 1950, Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

bang bang

n. gold-lined sea bream

Scientific name: Gnathodentex aurolineatus,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

v. to pound

low tide

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

priest

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. ghost crab

Scientific name: Ocypodinae sp.,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

n. kawakawa tuna or mackerel tuna

Scientific name: Euthynnus affinis,
Speaker: Howartson Heinrich

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

n. place name: heavily populated central islet

Source: Lieber & Dikepa 1974,

sister-in-law

Speaker: Howartson Heinrich