whose?

evening

period just after sunset

fishing rod cord

day (24 hour period)

anaphoric pronoun

family spirit in animal form which helped the family by providing omens and making predictions; ghost; fairy

be haunted

root

road, path

belly of mammal, ventral area of fish; front of a person, palm of hand, sole of foot

outrigger float; left or outrigger side of canoe; fitted with an outrigger (of a raft); wife (jocular); think little of; despise

insect species, termite

infested with #ane (of a tree)

spit

to spit

measure in spans; span

blow, of wind

liver

to whom?

thatch

thatching needle

skipjack or bonito tuna

group or chain of islands

away from speaker; further; more than

household deity

the whole Ellice group

the whole world

sea current

gall, gall bladder

give off smoke

women

break an object, such as coconut, head, canoe

open; separate (as of a woman's legs)

wake (someone)

woman; wife; female of an animal

causative prefix with a range of meanings: 1. cause an action to occur or a state to result (#ako ‘learn’ : #faka-ako ‘teach’, #moe ‘sleep’ : #faka-moe ‘put to sleep’), 2. to act a role (#maatua ‘mother’ : #fakamaatua ‘parent’s sister’, #paalaŋi ‘European’ #faka-paalaŋi ‘act like a European’), cause to be like (#fonu ‘turtle’ : #faka-fonu ‘heap up food in the shape of a turtle’), 4. before statives to form transitive verbs (#huki ‘pierce’ : #ma-huki ‘pierced’, #faka-ma-huki ‘pierce a nut for drinking’)

towards evening

a boil; be big (of waves)

to punish

be repeatedly disobedient; do things wrong to amuse others

set free; preserve from danger, save

mocking action to taunt enemy

boiled #pulaka (swamp taro) mashed with lolo (coconut cream)

bathe in fresh water after a swim

tame

to obey; act of hearing

explain; translate

make clear (of glass or mirror); window

to spill

umbrella; make a shelter; offer gifts to another family to restore friendly relations

show respect

dangerous

humble; humility

afterwards, later on

to finish

large sweet dumpling

gather up fruit, shellfish, etc., put in bundles

assemble (of people)

to entreat

cause to hang; to hang

cause to hang, hang something up

to prepare

to delay

go (sg.)

bay

tree sp.: Ochrosia oppositifolia

shelf of thin sticks across house above head height for the storage of coconuts, etc.

stone; heart; seed

whetstone

where?

tree sp.: Calophyllum inophyllum

star; shine, of stars

how many?

to string (as flowers or shells on a necklace); braid

choose

election

twist; twist fiber on thigh to make cord; a thread; mix, of liquids; mix with other people

a somersault; do a somersault

flap (of a caught fish); flick with finger repeatedly (as when testing coconut for maturity); roll over and over sideways (of a person)

flick with finger repeatedly (as when testing coconut for maturity)

seven

seven (of coconuts and bonito)

break (a nut, head, canoe, etc.)

to hatch (of eggs), break the hymen and hence be first to have intercourse with a virgin

to swallow

roof of the mouth

a meeting; the body of people at a meeting

a discussion

sea turtle

egg; berry; fruit; bear fruit; prefixed to numerals one to nine indicates tenfold -- of all except humans, coconuts or bonito (e.g. #fua lua 'twenty')

testicle

testicle (#fua = egg, fruit)

to wash (hands, dishes, floor, etc., but not used of clothes)

turn (something) over; reveal a hidden object; translate; change into

feather, hair on arms, etc.

to wash (of one dish, etc.)

hair on head; fur

hairy

eyebrow

banana

to tear (including skin, as on thorn), scratch

worthy of punishment; wrong; be punished; punishment

scrape; rub hand over face

escape; be safe

singular indefinite article

lift; shift a house; replant; a stick kept in canoe to help lift

lift feet; walk lifting feet high; lift

opposite number in a visiting party; opponent in a fishing competition, in wrestling, etc, and in war, an hence enemy; be a partner for

pierce; test ground for turtle eggs with a stick; poke a stick through mats to hold them on ridge of house

to pierce; test ground for turtle eggs with a stick; poke a stick through mats to hold them on ridge of house; sticks so used

perform an action or series of actions producing many holes

perform an action or series of actions producing many holes

skirt-like garment (cloth worn by both sexes, wrapped around the lower half of the body and tucked in at the waist; formerly woven of pandanus)

nut which drifts ashore

downwards; bow down in prayer

exclamation of assent

end

conclusion; end; decision

sp. of worm found on the beach

electricity

bone

bony

to eat; score in a game

to eat in a hurry

fiber from coconut trunk

to swim

carry

lidded box

to bathe, take a bath or shower

branch of a tree

corners of the mouth

mouth of reef channel

a small turtle

different, be different

to, towards

to, towards

outrigger booms on canoe; three poles linking outrigger to hull

downwards, to the bottom

skin

seer; one who can foretell fishing prospects from weather signs

who?

sharp stick for husking coconuts

sit a child astride one’s hip; carry under the arm

louse

sail

tree, stick; plant; penis

fire plough; bed of fire plough

a small herb, Euphorbia atoto

forehead

ringworm

throw or toss underarm (as of a quoit); game in which a segment of coconut shell is tossed onto a mat; a shell segment so used

testicle; scrotum

step

step

take several steps

take several steps

apply heat to a stick to straighten it

press down with foot (as when firming soil)

warm leaves at a fire so they can be used as wrappings

go torch fishing for flying fish beyond the reef in canoe

wooden drum

under; below; the bottom

the earth

torch of two or three coconut leaves bound together, used in reef-fishing

a fly

hear; feel; think

plant sp, birdnest fern: Asplenium nidus

lip

to fly, jump, dive

driven away by wind

nit

five

seaweed; moss; lichen

to pour

pour out here and there; pour into several containers

hear; sense; feel pain or emotion; tell news; a bell; news; a canoe bringing news

ant

in, inside, inwards; one’s inner self, hence the heart as seat of the emotions; wish, agree, decide on; compose one’s mind

two

vomit

to vomit (of a fish); to slip a hook; to blow out smoke

raft of more than two floats (used for transport of loads or for fishing)

thin (emphatic)

thick

be broken (coconut, head, cup, canoe); be split

plaited

twisted (of string)

toppled over; spinning or flipping through the air (of an object); rolled over (of a log)

be broken (of dawn)

empty; low, of tide

torn

sick; a sick person

pierced

towards the speaker; to pass to the speaker; to come (plural)

light (not dark); becoma light

spilt (in one place)

spilt (in many places); pour forth (of tears)

breech cloth of plaited pandanus leaves; menstrual pad

shadow; shade; shelter; protection; power, authority; protect

early evening

evening (7 to 8 PM)

to chew

noble, honorable

to chew thoroughly

possessed of #mana; powerful; authority

soften food for baby by chewing; such food

magical power (of person, potion, etc.); thunder; Holy Spirit

stomach; feel pain

beat (of the heart); throb

thin

thin (of many)

smell (to give off an odor)

raw, half-cooked

face; eye; edge, point, blade; net mesh

hammerhead shark

gluttonous (#kai = ‘eat’); sharp (of blade or voice)

afraid

coarse-meshed

fine-meshed; star name

doorway

beautiful (of people)

East; east side of island; wind, blow (of wind)

feel faint

clever; experienced; right hand; fast

die; dead; death; funeral wake

old (of person, animal); mature, of fruit

old (of person, animal); mature, of fruit (plural referent)

deep (of water or holes); high (of cliffs, trees, etc., when speaker is at the top); low

a sneeze; to sneeze

food

sip

fat, and hence good to eat (of birds, fish, crabs, etc.

behind; the future; rear of a canoe, etc.;

ended; incomplete; cut off

mosquito

tooth; tusk of a pig

coconut tree, Cocos nucifera; mature coconut; copra

fruitful coconut tree

shrub sp.: Morinda citrifolia; fruit of #nonu

tangled (of a line)

a fathom; distance encompassed by outstretched arms

a wave; rough (of sea); raised part of canoe foredeck designed to prevent entry of waves

chew (but not swallow, as of sugarcane)

grunt, coo

rhythmic grunting (as of gong-beaters at a dance)

mouth; beak

house rafters

coconut husk; to husk (coconuts); to punch

sand, soil

six

famine

plural possessed, inalienable possession: his; hers; its

plural possessed, inalienable possession: your (sg.)

raw fish or fruit; eat fish raw

waste after coconut cream has been squeezed from grated nut

finished

your (plural possessor)

fence; fenced enclosure (for chickens, pigs); fish trap

castor oil fish: Ruvettus sp.

butterfly

to flutter

eye discharge (including dried secretion from lachrymal gland), foam (of waves, mouth or beer)

eye discharge (including dried secretion from lachrymal gland), foam (of waves, mouth or beer)

adhere; cling; be towed by a canoe

bent; crooked

bent; crooked (in more than one place or of more than one object)

near; come near; be on the point of; almost; entangled (as of foot or a bird in vines)

shellfish sp.: Natica albula, Nerita textilis, Neritina subconalis

adhesive

bemused (as from a blow on the head)

morning (6-8 a.m.)

rotten (of tree, house, canoe, fruit, etc)

tree sp.: Guettarda speciosa

spheroid

shellfish sp.: Pila conica

part of coconut husk at end with 'eyes'

gum or resin (from breadfruit, mango or #fetau 〈Calophyllum inophyllum〉 tree; whatever is used to caulk a canoe, including chewing gum

type of coral harvested for lime-making; whetstone

rotten (of dried coconuts, tree trunk, etc.)

impenetrable (of forest)

too close

shell trumpet (used to call important meetings)

hit; beat; chop; fell a tree; a large wedge used in splitting trees; build a canoe; drive fish; strike (of a clock)

kill; switch off

strum a stringed instrument

excrement

to flow

sea; tide

my (singular possessed)

fin; thorn; glans of penis

fin, thorn; glans of penis

rough surfaced

rough surfaced

tree species: Terminalia samoensis

taro, a cultivated plant, Colocasia esculenta

to bury

grave

fill a hole, cover excrement with soil

bag, pocket

man; person; human; male

to weep, cry; to sound (as an instrument); the sound of weeping or an instrument

spear, fishing spear

prohibited

period; season

friend

stage in boy’s life when #malo must be worn; a boy who has reached this stage

hanging

hanging

flower worn as an ear ornament

stage in child’s life when it is appropriate to wear #titi 〈pandanus leaf skirt〉, if female, or #malo 〈breech cloth〉, if male

a dart; a dart game; throw a dart

mast

rain

belly, stomach

body; person; champion (before a verb)

teredo; shellfish sp., monovalve

to walk

a chisel

instrument for dividing pandanus leaves into fine strips for weaving

divide pandanus leaves into fine strips

ready; peaceful, be in peace

peaceful, be in peace

pole to propel canoe at low tide

how many? (of humans)

pole a canoe

three

thirty

late

mangrove: Rhizophora mucronata

blood

behind; at or towards the back; a person’s back; upper side of coconut or pandanus trunk

late

divide up; share out

to point; write; letter; text

thread on string (as fish); stab; pierce

pounder

to pound

deaf

freshwater eel, freshwater crayfish

cook

land crab

shoot (of a plant); grow; happen; be exceeded (of numbers; #tekau tupu ‘more than twenty’)

God; pre-Christian wooden gods

grandparent

breast

artery, vein; sinew; tendon

pith of tree

push

fishing line

head of a tree

pillow

leathery turtle (which has shell of overlapping plates); the shell of this species

fish scales

a canoe load

fill vessel with liquid; fill with water (of a canoe)

paint