An example search has returned 100 entries
-akeki
v scrape out, spoon out
bookmark-aku
iaremha
n. herb, growing along open garden path. flowers yellow. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3084)
Example: This plant is used to treat diarrhea in a baby 1-6 months old. The mother takes 4, 1" pieces and chews them, spitting it into the baby’s mouth 2x daily, once in the morning and once in the afternoon until the diarrhea stops. Sometimes if the baby is sick from a spirit such as a yam, taro or sea spirit, the mother takes 2, 1" pieces of stem and 2, 1" pieces of Acalypha wilkesiana petiole (Plunkett et.al. #3081) and chews the two species together and spits on the affected baby, telling the spirit to "go away and leave the baby alone.
bookmarkkaepaepae kequahu
n. type of flowering plant (collection: Michael J. Balick #5108)
Example: When woman does not have period for 2-3 months and is pregnant, people say the lizard could eat the baby. To avoid this, boil a handful of stem shavings in 1/2 L water, for 6 minutes and give this drink to the woman twice a day for 5 days. Then the bleeding will stop. There are also dietary restrictions: no coconut, oil, salt, curry. The woman can also not swim in sea for 5 days. But the baby will be healthy if these instructions are followed.
bookmarkkapajiko
Dory snapper
Example: Photo by Andrew J. Green / Reef life Survey, License: CC-BY 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkkapuapou
Teal Emo Skink
Example: Photo by flecksy / iNaturalist, License: CC-BY-NC via inaturalist.org
bookmarkkarwase
n. type of flowering plant (collection: Michael J. Balick #5120)
Example: When parents go away to a feast or garden, children take a pile of soil 12 in. diameter, put this flower on top, surround wth some ashes and then hide in the house to wait to see if the dwarf spirit appears (Karwase Haruase). Sometimes the spirit will come and then scare the children. Ancestors used these spirits and games to teach children to stay together and not wander alone. As the dwarf spirit will take you.
bookmarkkawehae
kipori ia tasiapen
Elegant Phyllidia
Example: Photo by tonydiver / iNaturalist, License: CC-BY-NC via inaturalist.org
bookmarkkmtameta, tanpiteu
n. low-growing herb, growing in dense forest heavily impacted by cyclone. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3259)
Example: When a person has diarrhea with blood (dysentery) , this is the plant medicine used to treat it. Take leaves and squeeze juice into a cup of water and give this to the person who is ill. One teaspoon for young children and for an adult 1 full cup in the morning each day until fully cured.
bookmarkkuanarae
kuanihinihy
n. type of flowering plant (collection: Michael J. Balick #5034)
Example: Stems can be used as a broom when tied in bunch. When a young woman does not want to have children, she can chew these leaves for one week, spit out fibers and swallow the leaf residue. If she chews four branches of leaves per treatment, two times a day, for one week, she will stay barren for 5-6 years.
bookmarkkurapou
Humpnose big-eye bream
Example: Photo by Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkkwaniapwít
makhum
Humphead wrasse
Example: Photo by Anne Hoggett / Lizard Island Research Station, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknagaimafu
nahpao akwes
Yellowmargin triggerfish
Example: Photo by Mark Rosenstein / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknamwapen
Ringtail surgeonfish
Example: Photo by Erik Schlogl / iNaturalist.org, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknapoti sarapiran
Harry hotlips (female)
Example: Photo by ANFC, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarknarer
n. well branched tree, 8 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #4248)
Example: 1. The stems can be used as posts or rafters in traditional houses. If used as a rafter, it is used as mid-roof brace placed longitudinally on the roof, going from one end of the house to the other. This part of the roof is known as kuar kuo. 2. When in flower, taro is considered soon to be ready. When the fruit is falling, it is considered time to harvest the taro.
bookmarknasiapu-a-nasiapu
n. herb growing on roadside along coast road. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3168)
Example: This plant can be used to tell the sex of an as yet unborn baby. Two people hold the stem and tear it. If three threads from the corners of the stem come off, the baby will be a boy; if all 4 corners of the stem come off, the baby will be a girl. Two people start tearing the stem from both sides of the cut stem.
bookmarknatehi
natgamera
nawawa
neknapus
n. sparsely branched shrub, 3 m tall (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3081)
Example: The leaves of this plant are warmed over a fire and put warm on the legs of a person who is cold or has a headache, such as from a fever that comes with the flu. See 3076 for additional comments on this technique.
bookmarknekoko
nifar
nikuhma
nipina
n. type of flowering plant (collection: Michael J. Balick #5015)
Example: Take 1 double handful of leaves, mix with dry coconut, roast in fire -- cover w/ banana leaf, tie up roast in fire for 5-10 min, take it down to the sea and the boys who have been circumcised 2 weeks before wash the sore with it. Dries up sore faster and wash skin and adds a fragrance to it. To treat strong fever, take knife and squeeze stem and put shavings on a leaf take 1 handful and mix with water and fill up a cup and pout into 1 bottle -- in morning and afternoon and consume 1 liter/day repeat for second day fever will do down in a few days.
bookmark
penesu
Bleeker’s parrotfish
Example: Photo by ANFC, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkpepheer pitew
Lesson’s thicklip, stiped sweetlips
Example: Photo by Bernard Dupont, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkpepheer pitew
Two-striped sweetlips, giant sweetlips
Example: Photo by Ross D. Robertson / Shorefishes of the Neotropics, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarktrimian
n. liana growing in disturbed forest area along kwataren kastom road. (collection: Gregory M. Plunkett #3096)
Example: People use this plant to soften the hair, by taking the roots and stem, pounding them with a stone, and squeezing the juice into the hair--it is said to make it very soft.
bookmarktɨkurakák
warakou
ray (general)
Example: Photo by Anne Hoggett / Lizard Island Research Station, License: CC BY-SA 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkwipin napiran
Yellowtail Scad (female)
Example: Photo by ANFC, License: CC BY-NC 3.0 via Fishes of Australia
bookmarkThere are currently 3233 entries, 3212 audio files, and 1236 images.
All content copyright © Nafe (Kwamera) community. (2015)
Nafe (Kwamera) Talking Dictionary produced by Martial Wahe, K. David Harrison, and Jeremy Fahringer (2015-2020).
Botanical consultants: Michael J. Balick, Gregory M. Plunkett, Laurence Ramon, Tom A. Ranker, Sean Thackurdeen, and Calvin Heiman. Field data transcribed by Isabella Mandis.
Nafe language contributors include Martial Wahe, Jean Pascal Wahe, Chief Johnson Noar, Emmanuel Maasi, Marie Emmanuel Maasi and others as credited within the dictionary entries. Based in part on materials from Lindstrom, Lamont (1986) Kwamera Dictionary. Pacific Linguistics. Series C, No. 95. Canberra: Australian National University.
The Nafe-English Talking Dictionary was made possible by award no. 1555675 from National Science Foundation for
“Collaborative Research: Plant, Fungal and Linguistic Diversity of Tafea Province, Vanuatu.” This support is gratefully acknowledged.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
All rights reserved. Do not distribute or reproduce without permission.
how to cite:
K. David Harrison and Martial Wahe. 2015-2020.
Nafe (Kwamera) Talking Dictionary.
Swarthmore College.
http://www.talkingdictionary.org/kwamera
Interface and database design under the direction of Jeremy Fahringer and Swarthmore College ITS.
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