Chapter 1.9 Acts of Impact, Force and Change of State

Malcolm Ross and Ross Clark and Meredith Osmond

1. Introduction¹⇫

The theme of this volume is material culture, and it is perhaps inevitable that a majority of the reconstructions in the preceding chapters are of nouns denoting objects—mostly utensils and some manufactured objects, especially buildings and seagoing vessels. A number of reconstructions are of verbs denoting actions performed with these utensils or on the materials of which objects are made. In many cases, however, the relevant verbs have meanings which transcend the subthemes of individual chapters, and so we have decided to bring them together here and to consider them in relation to each other in order to gain a better understanding of their meanings. This leads to a certain amount of repetition, but we have thought it more convenient for the reader to have much of the data assembled here than to have to pursue cross-references to earlier chapters. In the interests of space, however, we have generally not repeated here those verbs whose meanings fit neatly enough under the subtheme of another chapter, and we have sometimes reduced the cognate sets given as supporting evidence.

Some system of classification was necessary to give coherence to our work, and we started with a classification based on what we thought were sensible but somewhat ad hoc semantic classes. Interestingly, as work progressed and the glosses of cognate set members gave us pointers to the meanings of our reconstructions, so the meanings of the reconstructions themselves led us to reshape our classification and to recognise semantic divisions which were not part of our original classification. In this way, we believe we have gained some insight into the semantic classification of acts of impact, force and change of state used by POc speakers.

The final classification of reconstructions, with section numbers, is as follows:

FIXME: add ToC

Possibly the most interesting categories that emerged were ‘separate flesh from shell, skin from fruit, bark from tree, leaves from branch or midrib’ and ‘split into two or more sections’. Perhaps the first of these could be more quintessentially expressed as something like ‘separate one naturally occurring layer of an object from the rest’. In each case the conceptual focus seems to be on the separation itself, not the manner in which it is done. Because of this focus, we found ourselves impelled to combine different manners of separation—cutting, peeling, separating, splitting and tearing—into a single higher-order grouping, as they seem not to have been as important for classifiying actions in POc as they are in European languages.

The formal categories of POc verbs are particularly salient in this chapter. They are explained in greater detail in Chapter 2, §3.1.1. Many verbs can be reconstructed with both an intransitive and a transitive alternant. Two patterns commonly occur. They are illustrated by the first two reconstructions in §2.1. In the first pattern, the intransitive has two syllables and ends in a consonant (shown in brackets if it is not reflected in the supporting data), and the transitive alternant has an added *-i- e.g. POc *asa(q), *asaq-i- ‘grate, sharpen by grating or rubbing’. The hyphen on the transitive means that it was usually followed by an enclitic object pronoun. In the second pattern, represented by POc *kiri[-] ‘file, rasp, saw’, there is no final consonant, and the intransitive and transitive are identical, with two syllables. The hyphen in square brackets indicates that nothing follows the intransitive alternant, but that an enclitic object pronoun follows the transitive.

With verbs of the first pattern, we sometimes present the intransitive and transitive alternants separately with their supporting data if these form long lists, and sometimes together.

There is a third pattern represented in the reconstructions in this chapter. Here, the intransitive consists of a single-syllable ‘root’ with a reduplication of the initial consonant-vowel sequence, as in POc *toto(k) ‘cut, chop’ (§3.2), where the root is *tok. The transitive consists of the root with added *-i- as in POc *toki.

Sometimes, as explained in Chapter 2, §3.1.1, we are unable to determine from the cognate set what verb class a given intransitive verb belonged to. This means that the glosses of intransitive verb reconstructions are sometimes vague, because we do not know whether the actor or the undergoer was the subject.

Another alternation that occurs, but has nothing to do with transitivity, is between a reconstruction with an oral-grade initial consonant, like POc *kiri[-] ‘file, rasp, saw’, and one with a nasal-grade initial consonant, like POc *giri[-] ‘file, rasp’. Where such an alternation is reconstructed, the alternant reconstructions are labelled (1) and (2). The possible origins of this alternation are discussed in Chapter 2, §3.1.3.

A practical problem in the analysis for this chapter was that it is often necessary to reconstruct two or more formally similar verbs. There are some quite principled reasons for this, and some which are more ad hoc. The more principled explanations are that (i) a verb may have intransitive and transitive alternants, as noted above; (ii) verbs with similar meanings often contain the same PAn monosyllabic root, as described in Chapter 2, §3.1.3; (iii) as mentioned in the previous paragraph, verbs with corresponding oral-grade and nasal-grade consonants must sometimes be reconstructed. Once verbs with similar forms and meanings exist alongside each other, the conflation of two forms to make a new one is quite possible or phonaesthetic motives may lead to the creation of new but similar forms. In §2.2, appeal is made to a sporadic sound change which occurs in Oceanic languages in order to explain some of the similarities among verbs of scratching and scraping. It is probable, though, that phonaesthetic motives have also operated here as they appear to in English scratch, scrap, scrape, scrawl, scribble, scrimp.

2. Abrasion and friction⇫

The verbs in this section refer to continuously repeated contact between an implement and an object to affect the surface of that object in some way, either by removing some of the substance of the object itself (file, rasp, sharpen, grind, scratch, scrape, grate) or by removing another substance from its surface (rub, brush, sweep).

2.1. File, rasp, sharpen, grind⇫

The generic term for any kind of wearing down by friction was POc *asa(q), *asaq-i- (Ch. 4, §4.1.5). While it is possible to reconstruct several terms that refer just or primarily to the grating of foodstuffs, it has proven more difficult to reconstruct a term referring specifically to the sharpening of cutting edges. POc *kiri/*giri is our most likely contender.

PAn		*Sasaq	‘whet, sharpen’ (ACD)
POc		*asa(q), *asaq-i-	‘grate, sharpen by grating or rubbing’
POc		*i-asa(q)	‘grater; anything used to grate, grind’ (Lichtenberk 1994)
Adm	Loniu	yasa(y)	‘sharpen (a cutting edge)’
NNG	Manam	ara	‘grate, sharpen, rub’
NNG	Kairiru	yas	‘sharpen s.t.’
MM	Teop	aha	‘grate (tapioca +); scrub (floor +)’
MM	Teop	(i)aha	‘grater (for tapiok)’ (i- < POc *i- INS)
MM	Maringe	jaha, zaha	‘sharpen (knife, axe +); grate (tapioca, sweet potato)’
MM	Roviana	asa-i-	‘grind (very blunt axe +); grate (sweet potato, taro +)’
SES	Bugotu	(a)aha	‘grate, rub down (taro +) on a stone, sharpen by rubbing’
SES	Arosi	ata	‘scrape, rub, sharpen with rubbing’
NCV	Mota	asa	‘rub, wash with rubbing’
NCV	Raga	raha	‘grate, grind, sharpen’
SV	Kwamera	(ə)rəsi	‘grate, as coconut meat; scrape, as ash from a tuber; sand smooth, as wood of axe handle’
Mic	Carolinian	(m)asa	‘(knife, axe +) blade’
Mic	Ponapean	ete	‘sharpen, put an edge on s.t.’
Fij	Bauan	yaða-	‘grate, of taro, tapioca +; grind, of blade on stone’
Fij	Bauan	(i)yaða	‘grater, grindstone’ (i- < POc *i- INS)
Pn	Māori	aha-aha	‘saw-like instrument of shark teeth set in a wooden mounting’

PMP		*kirkir	[V] ‘file, rasp’ (Blust 1977a)
POc		*kiri[-]	‘file, rasp, saw’
NNG	Roinji	kiri-	‘bore (hole)’
NNG	Manam	kuiri-	‘bore (hole)’
PT	Iduna	kili-li	‘pumice stone’
PT	Motu	iri	[N] ‘saw’
PT	Motu	iri-ri	‘file’
Pn	Tongan	kili	‘saw, file’
Pn	Tokelauan	kili	[V] ‘file, rasp’

POc		*giri[-]	‘file, rasp’
NNG	Mangseng	kir	‘rub, file’
NNG	Mangseng	kir(oŋa)	[N] ‘file’ (-oŋa NOM)
SES	Gela	gi-giri	[N] ‘rasp; a saw’
SES	Lau	giri-giri	‘roughen, as a stick with notches, or in making a file’

cf. also:

NNG	Takia	riri	‘grate, pulverise by rubbing against s.t. rough; rasp’
PT	Motu	riri	‘grate (yams +)’

2.2. Scratch, scrape, grate⇫

Various activities are subsumed under this heading. They include the separation of coconut meat from the shell, the grating of foodstuffs (coconut meat, cassava etc.), the scraping of tubers to remove dirt and ash, and the scratching of a (non-food) surface, sometimes with the intention of leaving a mark. Distinguishing reflexes of some of our reconstructions has proved difficult because some are formally quite similar. Distinguishing which term was used for which activity is also problematic, since it would appear that often communities see these activities as essentially describable by the same term, in that they are using the same action of moving an implement, typically a cockle shell or similar bivalve, to and fro to affect the surface of an object. Sometimes the name of the shell suffices to describe the activity.

POc *karu(t), *karut-i- seems to have referred to scratching with fingernails or claws, and thus not to have been used of food preparation:

PAn		*karut	‘scrape, rasp’ (ACD)
POc		*karu(t), *karut-i-	‘scratch with fingernails or claws’
PWOc		*karo	‘scratch with fingernails or claws’
NNG	Kove	kaho	‘scratch oneself’
PT	Lala	(viʔa)ʔalo	‘scratch oneself’
PT	Motu	ɣa-ɣaro	‘scratch’
MM	Bali	ɣaro	‘scratch oneself’
SES	Tolo	karu-karu(ha)	‘thorny’
SES	Sa’a	karu	‘scratch with the fingernails; to clutch; to hollow out a log’
SES	Lau	ka-karu	‘scratch on the wall from outside to frighten’
NCV	Mota	kar, karu	‘scratch’
NCV	Nguna	karuti	[VT] ‘scratch’
Mic	Marshallese	kar	‘scratch, scrape’
Fij	Bauan	kadru	‘scratch’
Pn	Tongan	(v)aku	‘scratch, scrape, dig up’
Pn	Rarotongan	raku	‘scratch with fingernails or claws’
Pn	Tahitian	raʔu-raʔu	‘scratch’

Lichtenberk (1994) rightly comments on the formal similarity of terms used for scraping (data below) and on its phonaesthetic basis:

1)	POc *kara(s), *karas-i-	’peel or scrape (skin off tubers)
	POc *ko[r,R]a(s), *ko[r,R]as-i-	‘scrape out (coconut meat +); dregs of strained coconut scrapings’
2)	POc *kari(s), *karis-i-	‘scrape (tubers, coconuts)’
	PEOc *kori(s), *koris-i-	‘scrape (esp. coconuts), grate (esp. coconuts)’
3)	PEOc *kaRi	‘scraper; bivalve sp., used as a scraper’
	POc *koRi[-]	‘scraper; bivalve sp., used as a scraper; scrape with a shell’
4)	POc *kasi[-]	‘k.o. mussel, used as food scraper; scrape out or off’
	POc *kosi[-]	‘scrape, scratch (to mark s.t.)’

However, it is notable that the reconstructions above form pairs which can be accounted for by a sporadic sound change whereby /a/ becomes /o/ after /k/ in many Oceanic languages, perhaps especially in frequently used words. This change occurs independently in different places, presumably through velarisation of the vowel. Thus in Chapter 6, §3.7, we find POc *kapu(t) and POc *kopu, both reflecting PMP *kaput and referring to wrapping food for cooking, and in Chapter 6, §2.7, POc *kapit ‘tongs’ with Tongan and W. Futunan reflexes where the root is kofi rather than kafi. In certain Papuan Tip languages the POc pronoun *kamiu ‘you (PL)’ is reflected with /o/ for *a (Iduna omi, Dobu ʔomi, Duau, Suau komi, Misima komiu). This implies that each pair may represent only one POc form, as shown below. We incorporate Lichtenberk’s (1994: 280-281) insight that these verbs differ according to whether the object is stuff scraped off (e.g. coconut meat) or the object of scraping (e.g. coconut shell):

1. POc *karas, *karas-i- ‘peel or scrape off (stuff scraped off); itch’
2. POc *kari(s), *karis-i- ‘scrape (object of scraping)’
3. PEOc *kaRi[-] ‘scraper; bivalve sp., used as a scraper; scrape with a shell’
4. POc *kasi[-] ‘k.o. mussel, used as food scraper; scrape out or off (stuff scraped out or off); scratch’

We retain the pairs of forms below, because this interpretation is not conclusive: POc *kosi may reflect PAn *keskes.

PAn		*-ras	‘grate, scrape, scar’2
POc		*kora(s), *koras-i-	‘scrape out (coconut meat +); dregs of strained coconut scrapings’ (Lichtenberk 1994)
SES	Arosi	ʔora	‘scrape with a shell’
SES	Arosi	ʔorasi	‘dregs of strained coconut scrapings’
NCV	Mota	goras	‘scrape out, grate, the hard meat of coconut with cockle shell (vin-gar)’
Mic	Carolinian	xɨrɨ	‘scrape or grate’
Fij	Bauan	kora	‘refuse of scraped coconut’

POc		*gora(s), *goras-i-	‘scrape out (coconut meat +); dregs of strained coconut scrapings’
MM	Maringe	garosi	‘scrape, claw or scratch with one swipe’ (metathesis)
SES	Gela	gola, golahi	‘scrape, plane’ (l for expected r)
SES	Sa’a	korasi-	‘(rat +) scratch about’

POc		*kara(s), *karas-i-	‘peel or scrape skin off tubers’
Adm	Mussau	kalasi
MM	West Kara	kaias
MM	Tiang	kes	‘peel or scrape skin off tubers’
MM	Maringe	ka-krasi	‘scrape off potato or taro skin, using a shell’
SES	Arosi	karasi	‘scrape, bruise, take off skin’
SES	Kwaio	galā
SES	Kwaio	galasi-
SES	To’aba’ita	garasi	‘scrape (taro, sweet potato + to remove dirt after pulling it out of ground)’
SES	Sa’a	kara, karasi	‘scrape, grate’
SES	Sa’a	kara uhi	‘grate yams with a cockle shell’ (uhi ‘yam’)

cf. also:

PT	Dobu	kwakwara	‘scratch, scrape (as cleaning inside of cooking pot, removing old paint)’
MM	Maringe	kʰaraji	‘scrape, damaging the skin or surface’

PMP		*karis	‘scratch mark’ (ACD)
POc		*kari(s), *karis-i-	‘scrape (tubers, coconuts)’ (Lichtenberk 1994) ; ‘scratch a mark on s.t.’
NNG	Kove	karisi	‘scrape (one’s skin)’
NNG	Akolet	karis	‘scratch (one’s skin)’
NNG	Mindiri	kar-kari	‘scratch (one’s skin)’
PT	Motu	ari-	[V] ‘mark, indent (as bottom of canoe with stones)’
MM	Bulu	kari	‘scratch (one’s skin)’
MM	Maringe	kai-kari	[VT] ‘scrape off (e.g. mud from one’s feet), remove with scraping action, usually with implement like a piece of bamboo’
SES	Gela	kari	‘scrape off (dirt from a cut +); scrape out (white of coconut)’
SES	Gela	karisi-	‘peel off (skin of stem of plant or stick); circumcise’
SES	Tolo	karisi-	‘peel (with knife, shell +)’
SES	Arosi	kari-kari	‘scrape off small roots with waro shell’
Mic	Carolinian	xeri	‘scratch s.t., grate it’
Mic	Marshallese	kar	‘scratch, scrape’
Mic	Ponapean	rakih	‘scratch with the fingernails, to claw’
Fij	Wayan	(i)kari	‘grater’ (i- < POc *i- INS)
Fij	Bauan	kari-	‘scrape (coconut +)’
SV	Anejom̃	(a)ɣreθ	‘scrape’

PEOc		*kori(s), *koris-i	‘scrape (esp. coconuts), grate (esp. coconuts)’
SES	Gela	gori	‘shave the head’
SES	Tolo	kori-	‘scrape or grate coconut’
SES	To’aba’ita	kori	‘scrape (coconuts +)’
SES	Lau	gori	‘scrape with shell, scrape off and out, shave’
SES	Arosi	ʔoris-i	‘scrape’
NCV	Lewo	koli	‘scrape (e.g. coconut)’

Note that *kori(s) may have occurred in POc, but its WOc reflexes would be indistinguishable from those of *koRi below unless the final *-s were reflected. The only WOc reflex which may fulfil this criterion is Tangga (MM) koīs ‘grater made from a hemisphere of coconut shell’.

PEOc		*kaRi	‘scraper; bivalve sp., used as a scraper’ (Geraghty 1990)
SES	Gela	gali	‘species mollusc, pelecypod, Asaphis deflorata, eaten’
NCV	Mota	gar	‘cockle’
NCV	Mota	(vin)gar	‘cockle shell, used to cut yam vines and to scrape out meat from coconut’ (vin from viniu ‘skin, bark, husk, partic. of coconut’)
Fij	Bauan	kai	‘generic name of bivalve shellfish, Lamellibranchiata’

POc		*koRi[-]	‘scraper; bivalve sp., used as a scraper; scrape with a shell’
NNG	Manam	ʔori(ŋ)	‘scrape coconuts’
NNG	Manam	ʔori-ʔori	‘pearlshell, traditionally used to scrape coconuts; coconut grater, scraper’
NNG	Kove	ko-koli	‘scrape the exterior off food (trepang, taro)’
PT	Dobu	koli	‘scrape, as coconut, wood’
PT	Motu	ori	‘grate coconut, chew pandanus fruit’
MM	Vitu	kori	‘scratch (one’s skin)’
MM	Tabar	kori-kori	‘scrape (coconut)’
SES	Gela	goli	‘scrape coconut with a tue (fresh water shell)’
NCV	Nguna	koi	‘grate (coconut)’
Fij	Rotuman	ʔoi	‘scrape, grate’
Fij	Bauan	koi	‘scrape (breadfruit)’
Fij	Bauan	(i)koi	‘shellfish’ (i- < POc *i- INS)

PMP		*gasgas	‘scratch’ (ACD)
POc		*kasi[-]	‘k.o. mussel, used as food scraper; scratch, scrape out or off’ (Lichtenberk 1994)
Adm	Loniu	asi	‘scratch’
PT	Tawala	kahi	‘pearlshell’
PT	Muyuw	kas	‘scratch’
MM	Nakanai	kasi	‘scratch’
MM	Nakanai	(la)kasi	‘broken coconut shell; mussel or clam; mussel shell used as knife’
MM	Tolai	ka	‘scrape, grate or scratch, scrape out, as the flesh of a coconut’
MM	Simbo	kasi-kasi	‘scratch the soil as a bush turkey’
SES	Lau	kasi	‘adze, chop; knock a nut with a stone on another stone’
SES	Lau	ka-kasi	‘split open’
Fij	Rotuman	ʔasi	‘cockle; shell much used for scraping’
Pn	Samoan	ʔasi	‘edible mollusc (Area sp.); coconut scraper cockle (Vastieardium sp.)’
Pn	Tikopia	kasi	‘bivalve mollusc (Asaphis violascens Forskal), possibly other related bivalves also; shell traditionally used as cutting or scraping implement, as food scraper for coconut, breadfruit’

cf. also:

PT	Motu	ka-kasi	‘scratch, scrape’
MM	Maringe	ke-kesi	[VT] ‘scrape roasted potato, taro or yam skins’
SES	Lau	kesi	‘scrape off burnt outside after roasting taro; strike a match’

PAn		*keskes	‘scratch, scrape’ (ACD)
POc		*kosi[-]	‘scrape, scratch (to mark s.t.)’
SES	Gela	kohi	‘scrape’
Pn	Tongan	kohi	‘scratch with a sharp point’
Pn	Samoan	ʔosi	‘scratch’
Pn	East Uvean	kohi	‘cut lightly, scratch’

There are three other reconstructions which overlap semantically with those above. They are:

POc	*rasi[-]	‘grate, scrape (tubers, coconuts); scratch’
PEOc	*saqalo	‘scrape, clean by scraping; rub smooth’
PEOc	*paro(s), *paros-i-	‘chafe, of skin; scrape’

POc		*rasi[-]	‘grate, scrape (tubers, coconuts); scratch’
NNG	Manam	rasi(ʔ)	‘grate (cassava +)’
NNG	Takia	rasi	‘scrape (coconut)’
MM	Banoni	resi	‘scrape (coconut), coconut scraper’
MM	Kia	rahi	‘grate, scratch (coconut, cassava)’
MM	Maringe	(g)rahi	‘grate or scrape off (coconut or bark for making medicine +)’
NCV	Mota	ras, rasa	‘scrape, scratch, rub, with straight motions backwards and forwards; so, sharpen by rubbing backwards and forwards on a stone’
NCV	Raga	raha	‘grate, grind, sharpen’
NCV	Lonwolwol	rehe	‘rub, scrape, grate, grind’

Lichtenberk (Ch. 6, §5.2) reconstructs this verb as *(r,R)asik, but if the Raga and Lonwolwol items are indeed cognate, then the initial consonant is diambiguated and the verb was *rasi.

The two PEOc items below straddle the semantic divide between this section and the one below, in that they refer to actions in which rubbing is sufficient to remove substance from the surface of the object.

PEOc		*saqalo	‘scrape, clean by scraping; rub smooth’
SES	Arosi	taro(hi)	[VT] ‘brush off dirt, clean yam tubers; rub, massage’
Fij	Bauan	(i)sakaro	‘a shell, used for scraping coconuts’ (r for exp. l; i- < POc *i- INS)
Pn	Tongan	haʔalo	‘make clean and smooth by scraping’
Pn	Samoan	sālo	‘rub smooth with scraper’
Pn	Tikopia	sāro	‘scrape, grate up, scratch, sweep’
Pn	Emae	sāro	‘scrape pandanus leaves for making mats’
Pn	Māori	hāro	‘remove outer skin of flax leaves by scraping with a shell, to scutch’
Pn	Hawaiian	halo	‘rub, polish’

PEOc		*paro(s), *paros-i-	‘chafe (skin); scrape’
MM	Maringe	poroji	‘chafe away the skin, e.g. tightly bound pig’s feet’
SES	Lau	faro	‘scraper for grating yams’
NCV	Nguna	vāro	‘chafing of inner thighs’
NCV	Nguna	varosi	‘grind (e.g. meat)’
Fij	Wayan	varoki	[VT] ‘cut s.t. with a saw’
Fij	Bauan	varo	[v] ‘file, saw, or rasp’
Pn	Māori	faro, fa-faro	‘scrape’
Pn	Māori	faro-faro	‘scrape’

2.3. Rub⇫

Rubbing in Oceanic languages is roughly divisible into two semantic categories: rubbing in which abrasion is to the fore, as for example in making a fire, and rubbing for the purpose of making smooth. The generic term for abrasive rubbing was apparently POc *usuq, whilst *suka referred to friction to make a fire. The POc term for ‘rub smooth’ was *quju(r), *qujur-i-. Although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the reflexes of *usuq and *quju(r), they were clearly separate verbs in POc. POc *pulu evidently referred to rubbing in association with washing.

PMP		*usuq	‘rub, wipe’ (ACD)
POc		*usu(q,p), *usu(p)-i-	‘rub abrasively’
PT	Motu	udu-	‘rub a stick to make fire’
MM	Nakanai	huru	‘remove outside of shell by rubbing’
MM	Tolai	ū	[VT, VI] ‘wipe’
SES	Gela	uhu	‘rub, rub fire, scrape off skin by rubbing, cut design on forehead’
SES	Sa’a	usu	‘rub, scrape, grate’ (usu ʔei ‘a firestick’)
SES	Lau	usu, usufi-	‘rub, wipe, rub off’
Mic	Mokilese	it	‘start a fire using sticks’

POc		*suka, *suka-i-	‘make fire with fire-plough’
Adm	Lou	sok	‘rub a friction stick against wood to make fire’
MM	Nakanai	suka	‘the making of fire with the fire-plough; a fire-plough’
MM	Tolai	uk	‘bore through, bore into’
SES	Lau	su-sukai	‘bore’
SES	Lau	su-suka	‘a gimlet’
Fij	Rotuman	siʔa	‘make fire by friction’
Pn	Rennellese	sika	‘make fire by the fire-plough’
Pn	Samoan	siʔa	‘light a fire by friction; apparatus (fire-plough) as a whole; base wood of fire-plough’
Pn	Tikopia	sika	‘rub in groove, frictionate’

Note the unexplained fronting of the vowel in Central Pacific languages. For a similar example, see *supi ‘sharpen, shave, pare’ (§3.6).

POc		*quju(r), *qujur-i-	‘rub, make smooth by rubbing’
Adm	Titan	ucu(e)	‘rub, scrape, smooth’
NNG	Lukep	wuru	‘rub smooth (leaves when making mat)’
SES	Gela	ɣuduri-	‘rub, make smooth by rubbing’
SES	Lengo	ɣuji	‘rub, make smooth by rubbing’
SES	Longgu	ʔusuri-	‘rub, wipe (e.g. with a towel)’

PMP		*bulu	‘wash’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*pulu[-]	‘rub to make clean, wash’
SES	Lau	fulu, fulu-	‘clean, wipe, rub off dirt, wash away earth (of rain)’
SES	Tolo	vuli(a)	‘wash (hands, clothes +)’
Fij	Bauan	vulu-vulu	‘wash the hands’
Pn	Tongan	fu-fulu	‘wash’
Pn	Rennellese	hugu	‘anoint or rub, as with perfume or tumeric’
Pn	Tikopia	furu	‘cleanse, as by rubbing’

2.4. Brush, sweep⇫

Of the verbs reconstructed below, POc *salap refers to the action performed with a broom, in Melanesia often made by tying together a bunch of palm-leaf midribs; POc *sapu(r), *sapur-i- refers to brushing or wiping dirt or dust from something; and POc *tapi meant something similar to *sapu(r), but perhaps with focus on the movement involved. We do not have enough information about POc *saRo to pin down its meaning.

POc		*salap, *salap-i-	‘sweep, broom’
NNG	Yabem	salep	‘broom, originally the fruit stem of the nipa palm’
NNG	Gedaged	salai	‘inflorescence of coconut’
PT	Misima	hala	‘sweep’
SES	Lau	ta-tala	‘broom made from midribs of sago palm’
SES	Lau	talafi	‘sweep (s.t.)’
SES	’Are’are	tā-tara	‘sweep the house’
SES	Sa’a	tala	‘sweep the house with a bunch of leaves or grasses’
SES	Arosi	tara	‘rake, sweep, gather; a broom’
SES	Arosi	ta-tarahi	‘sweep (s.t.)’

POc		*sapu(r), *sapur-i-	‘brush (dirt +) off (s.t.)’ (where ‘s.t.’ is the object)
Adm	Titan	sapʷi	‘wipe, wipe off’
NNG	Mapos Buang	rvu	‘wipe, dry, clean’
PT	Muyuw	(katu)sap	‘brush dirt off’
PT	Misima	hapul	‘brush down (e.g. with coconut husk); brush; brush off’
PT	Motu	dahu	‘rub, wipe’
MM	Bulu	ravu	‘wipe’
MM	Nakanai	savul(a-taro-a)	‘brush away’
MM	Patpatar	sah	‘sweep’
MM	Tolai	avu(lar)	[VT] ‘brush or wipe off, as dust with the hand’
SES	Talise	savu(lano)	‘rub’
SES	Lau	tafu	‘brush off, brush against’
SES	Longgu	tavuri-	‘flick or brush something off’
Pn	Samoan	safu	‘broom’

POc		*tapi[-]	‘dust off, brush lightly’
PT	Motu	tahi-	‘dig out; (fowls +) scratch’
PT	Minaveha	tapi-	‘dust off (ashes from food +)’
MM	Sursurunga	tahi	‘sweep out, clean out’
MM	Tolai	tavi(e)	‘broom’
Fij	Wayan	tavi	‘be brushed lightly, swept’
Fij	Bauan	tavi	‘slap, pat, push with the hand’
Pn	Tongan	tafi	‘sweep’
Pn	Samoan	tafi	‘clear away, remove, brush off, rub off’
Pn	Tikopia	tafi	‘brush lightly, stroke, smear’
Pn	Māori	tahi	‘sweep’

POc		*saRo[-]	‘wipe, sweep’
PT	Motu	daro	‘sweep; adze a plank’
PT	Lala	dalo	‘sweep’
MM	Nakanai	saio	‘rub or wipe (excrement only)’
SES	Tolo	salo	‘broom, brush’ (salo-a ‘sweep’)

3. Cutting, peeling, separating, splitting and tearing⇫

Prior to the introduction of steel blades, cutting of timber would have been achieved by stone axe or adze (replaced with Tridacna shell blade when suitable stone was unobtainable), and of softer materials by sharpened shell or piece of bamboo, or a piece of obsidian or flint. In some languages, terms for the implement serve as a base for various cutting activities. For instance, Iduna, a Papuan Tip language, has dozens of cutting terms which are compounds with -tala- ‘chop, cut (of tree, boat), shave (of beard), peck (with beak)’ a reflex of POc *taRa(q) ‘adze’. They include:

PT	Iduna	-tala-kehi-	‘cut small (of wood, with a knife)’
PT	Iduna	-tala-kelikeli-	‘cut long grooves or scratches (with knife)’
PT	Iduna	-tala-kowa-	‘take a cutting’
PT	Iduna	-tala-kʷaili-	‘take leaf out (of coconut frond)’
PT	Iduna	-tala-kʷane-kʷwane-	‘cut one after another, chip at holding adze vertically’
PT	Iduna	-tala-lukuwe-	‘cut into’
PT	Iduna	-tala-muhu-muhu-	‘cut into tiny pieces (of wood)’
PT	Iduna	-tala-bwaʔe-bwaʔe-	‘chip round marks with sharp edge of knife’
PT	Iduna	-tala-dobo-	‘break with knife (of food, wood)’
PT	Iduna	-tala-done-	‘cut into’
PT	Iduna	-tala-golohi-	‘cut off, chop off (branches), (cause to) tear by cutting’

The evidence suggests that *taRa(q) ‘adze’ already had a corresponding verb *taRaq-i-, in POc.

PMP		*(t,T)aRaq	‘hew, plane’ (Blust 1972b)
POc		*taRa(q)	[N. V] ‘adze’
POc		*taRaq-i-	‘chop with adze’
NNG	Takia	tare	[VT] ‘cut, hew, as with an axe’
NNG	Manam	tara	‘cut down (branches)’
PT	Motu	tarai-	[V] ‘adze, chop, cut wood’
PT	Iduna	tala-	‘chop, cut (of tree, boat), shave (of beard), peck (with beak)’
PT	Dobu	tala	[VT] ‘fell a tree, cut out a canoe; lance flesh’
PT	Gapapaiwa	tara	‘cut, chop’ (used in many compounds to describe specific manner of cutting)
MM	Tabar	tara	‘chop’
MM	Minigir	(ta)tara	‘adze’
SES	Lau	ala	‘split across’
SES	Arosi	arai-	‘chop, cut, cut down a tree’
NCV	Mota	tara	‘hew, chop, cut’
NCV	Paamese	tāta	‘adze’
SV	Lenakel	(a)rai	‘cut’
SV	Anejom̃	(a)tai	‘slice, cut without raising knife’
Mic	Kiribati	ta-tā	[V] ‘adze’
Mic	Carolinian	sār	‘knife’
Fij	Bauan	tā	‘chop with knife or axe’
Pn	Tongan	tā	‘hit, strike, beat’
Pn	Tongan	tāʔi	‘chop, cut or carve (canoe +)’
Pn	Niuean	tā	‘strike, kill, adze’
Pn	Hawaiian	kā	‘hit, strike, hack, thrust’

The POc term for an obsidian blade was apparently *koto (Ch. 4, §4.1.3) and this is used as a verb in some languages. It is possible that the verb *koti (§3.1) is derived from this, but we cannot be sure.

POc		*koto[-]	‘obsidian head of spear, obsidian knife or blade; cut (across)’
NNG	Dami	oto	‘spear’
NNG	Lukep	koto	‘cut across grain’
NNG	Wab	kot	‘cut’
NNG	Sissano	ʔot	‘chop’
PT	Motu	oto	‘a slice or strip’
MM	Tigak	koto	‘cut off’
MM	Ramoaaina	koto	‘obsidian; used to make scars or to shave’
MM	Tolai	koto	‘piece of stone (obsidian) or shell used as a lance’
MM	Roviana	koto(a)	‘cut or trim hair, shrubs +’
SES	Kwaio	ʔoto	‘hit and perforate’
SES	Arosi	koto	[V] ‘spear’
SES	Arosi	oto	‘arrow without barbs’
NCV	Mota	koto	‘nip, snap’
NCV	Nguna	koto(vi)	‘break, cut (a long thing); separate, away’
NCV	Lonwolwol	kote, gote	‘across, through’

There are a large number of reconstructable POc terms for ‘cut’ (and many more in various smaller Oceanic groups). Some of these can be given a reasonably precise gloss, whilst others we gloss simply as ‘cut’ as their more exact use is lost to us.

3.1. Cut off, sever⇫

A number of verbs referring to cutting something off or severing it can be reconstructed. In some cases it is reasonably clear that they were distinguished by the kinds of object which were cut. In other cases it is difficult to reconstruct semantic distinctions. Reconstructable verbs are:

POc	*utu(s), *utus-i-	‘sever, separate’
POc	*kutu[-]	‘cut’
POc	*ma-utus, *motus	‘become, be broken off, severed’
POc	*muju	‘be clipped off’
POc	*mujuki-	‘clip off (protruding growth close to the surface)’
POc	*koti[-]	‘cut off (hair, taro tops +)’
POc	*paRi[-]	‘cut or lop off branches’
POc	*pʷuti[-]	‘cut off’
POc	*siba	‘cut, slice’
PEOc	*polos, *polos-i	‘cut across, sever’

POc *utu(s), *utus-i- appears to have been a generic verb of severing or separating. POc *ma-utus/*motus does not strictly belong here, as it is an inceptive or stative verb, not a verb of action. It is included because of its formal relationship with *utus and because there are certain formal problems associated with POc *utu(s), *kutu, *ma-utus and *muju. The first of these is that some of the reflexes attributed to *utu(s) may in fact reflect *kutu (this is true, e.g., of Mangseng and Gumawana utu).

PMP		*utus	‘break under tension, as a rope’ (ACD)
POc		*utu(s), *utus-i-	‘sever, separate’
Adm	Loniu	utu	‘split open, as coconut’
NNG	Kilenge	utu	‘cut (sticks)’
NNG	Mangseng	ut	‘cut leaves; cut to relieve pain’
PT	Gumawana	utu	‘cut off branches’
PT	Motu	utu	‘cut off, sever’
PT	Lala	uku	‘cut off, rub’
MM	Nakanai	utu	‘cut, as with a knife, cut off’
SES	Gela	utu-utu, utuhi	‘break, be severed, of a rope’
SES	Bugotu	utu-utu	‘clip, crop, cut short’
SES	Bugotu	utuhi	[VT] ‘sever, cut off, cut in two’
NCV	Mota	ut	‘cut or break across’
Fij	Rotuman	ufu	‘pull apart, pull in two, sever (lit. and fig.), esp. to break (string, rope, net +) or to divorce’

POc		*kutu[-]	‘cut’
NNG	Singorakai	kuta	‘cut’
NNG	Kis	(a)kuto	‘cut (meat +)’
MM	Vitu	ɣutu(valaɣi)	‘split (wood)’
MM	Sursurunga	kut(i)	‘cut, slice’
MM	Ramoaaina	kutu	‘cut, separate; cut off the retreat of a party in war’
SES	West Guadalcanal	kuti	‘cut (string)’

cf. also:

MM	Maringe	kusu	‘sever, cut off, break (rope-like object)’
Fij	Bauan	gutu, gutuv(a)	‘cut off, sever’

In the following set, the occurrence of stative perfective glosses like ‘torn’, together with the Nakanai form *ma-utu, points to a reconstruction derived by prefixing *ma- to *utus above: the function of *ma- was to derive neutral (inceptive and stative) intransitive verbs (Ch. 2, §3.1.2). The hypothesis that the form *ma-utus occurred is supported by the derived transitive Longgu, Sa’a mousi below, but the widespread presence of reflexes of *motus suggest that it occurred as an alternant in POc:

POc		*ma-utus, *motus	‘become, be broken off, severed’
Adm	Loniu	mot	[VI] ‘be broken, break’
PT	Motu	motu	‘break, as a string’ (not applicable to e.g. pottery, a spear)
MM	Nakanai	ma-utu	‘torn’
MM	Tolai	mutu	[VT] ‘cut out, as a canoe etc.; to cut up as timber; to cut down’
SES	Bugotu	(ka)moto	[ADJ] ‘cut off, broken off short’
SES	Lau	mū	[vI] ‘cease, be discontinued; separated, severed’
SES	Lau	moi	‘broken’
SES	Sa’a	mou	[VI] ‘be broken off’
NCV	Mota	mut	‘maimed in foot or hand’
NCV	Mota	mwot	‘cut, break, stop’
NCV	Raga	mosi	‘broken’
NCV	Lewo	musu	‘broken, cut off’
Pn	Tongan	motu	‘break, become separated’
Pn	Samoan	motu	‘severed’
Pn	Mangarevan	motu	‘be severed’
Pn	Tahitian	motu	‘be cut, severed’
Pn	Hawaiian	moku	‘sever, cut’

Note that the Malaita-Makira languages of SES have formed a new transitive verb *motus-i- ‘break off’ from the intransitive *ma-utus:

SES	Longgu	mousi-	‘cut, break, pull in two; cut clean away, cut right off’
SES	Sa’a	mousi	[VT] ‘break off’
SES	Arosi	mosi	‘break’
SES	Lau	mūsi	[VT] ‘tear, tear off, separate, sever, cut or break off’

Although the forms attributed to POc *muju ‘be terminated’ look remarkably similar to those attributed to *ma-utus, the differences in form and meaning are consistent enough to require a separate reconstruction:

POc		*muju	‘be clipped off’
POc		*mujuki-	‘clip off (protruding growth close to the surface)’
Adm	Lou	mut	‘cut’
SES	Lau	mu-mudu	‘a fragment, portion, crumb, scrap, chip’
SES	Arosi	modu	‘cut off the end’
Fij	Wayan	musuki-	‘cut s.t. short; cut or break s.t. off in the middle, curtail, interrupt’ (OBJ what is cut off)
Fij	Bauan	musu	‘be broken crosswise, be cut crosswise’
Fij	Bauan	musuk(a)	‘break crosswise, cut crosswise’
Pn	Tongan	mutu	‘cut off’
Pn	Samoan	mutu	‘cut off’
Pn	Mangarevan	mutu	‘cut off, interrupted, be silent’
Pn	Tahitian	mutu	‘cut off, ended’
Pn	Hawaiian	muku	‘cut off, ended’

cf. also:

Fij	Wayan	mudu	‘be cut off, amputated, severed, cut short’
Fij	Wayan	muduki-	[VT] ‘cut s.t. off, amputate; bring s.t. to an end’ (also muduvi, but in less common use)
Fij	Bauan	mudu	‘be cut off, ceased, ended, amputated’
Fij	Bauan	muduk(a)	[VT] ‘cut off, cause to cease’

POc		*koti[-]	‘cut off (hair, taro tops +)’
NNG	Manam	ʔoti(ŋ)	‘cut off taro tops for planting’
MM	Nakanai	koti	‘cut or shave off hair (with obsidian)’
MM	Siar	kot	‘cut’
MM	Nehan	kot	‘cut’
SES	Gela	goti	‘cut off, as taro head in planting’
SES	Bugotu	ɣotihi	‘break s.t. off’
SES	Arosi	ʔoi	‘cut off taro tops for planting; to scrape off or peel with a shell; break, as the point of a spear’
SES	Lau	ʔoi	‘break off’
SES	Kwaio	ʔoi	‘break’
SES	Sa’a	oʔi	‘break’ (maoʔi ‘broken in two’)
NCV	Kiai	koti(a)	‘cut’
SV	Lenakel	(a)kəs	‘cut (hair)’
Mic	Woleaian	xos	‘cut a tuber top’
Fij	Wayan	koti(vi)	‘clip, shear, cut s.t. short (hair, cloth +)’
Fij	Bauan	koti	‘clip, shear, cut off small things’ (esp. with a shell or sliver of bamboo)
Pn	Niuean	koti	‘pinch, snip’
Pn	Hawaiian	ʔoki	‘cut, clip’

POc		*paRi[-]	‘cut or lop off branches’ (ACD)
NNG	Mangseng	var	‘cut, clip’
MM	Nakanai	vali	‘cut, as wood or a leaf from a tree; remove all the limbs from a tree’
SES	’Are’are	hari	‘lop off branches, cut off a bunch of bananas, betel nuts’
SES	Sa’a	hali	‘lop off branches’
SES	Arosi	hari	‘tear, tear off, pull off a cluster of fruit’
Fij	Rotuman	fai	‘cut or chop down (tree or branch)’

POc		*pʷuti[-]	‘cut off’
NNG	Malai	(i)but	‘cut (meat +)’
NNG	Megiar	(i)futi	‘chop’
MM	Madak	pit	‘cut (meat +)’
MM	Halia	putu	‘chop’
MM	Babatana	puti	‘cut (string)’
SES	Gela	pusi	[VT] ‘cut off’
SES	West Guadalcanal	vusi	‘cut (string)’
SES	Longgu	pusi-pusi	‘cut (hair with scissors)’

PEOc		*polos, *polos-i	‘cut across, sever’ (ACD)
SES	Lau	folo	‘across; cross over; cut across, sever’
SES	Kwaio	folosi(a)	‘cut crosswise, across’
SES	Sa’a	holo, holosi	‘cross, divide; cut a piece off, sever a pig’s head’
SES	’Are’are	horosi(a)	‘cross’
SES	Arosi	horo, horosi	‘divide, sever, cut off’
NCV	Mota	wolos	‘cut across, cut, chop in lengths’

POc		*siba	‘cut, slice’
MM	Nakanai	sipa	‘cut, of hair; shred leaves for greens’
NCV	Mota	sipa	‘slice, pare (e.g. pumpkin, breadfruit)’
NCV	Raga	hiba	‘peel with knife’
Mic	Woleaian	tefa(li)	‘cut it, slice it’
Mic	Carolinian	tīp	‘piece, slice, chunk’
Mic	Ponapean	dipe	‘slice, as breadfruit or taro’

cf. also:

Fij	Wayan	ðebe(ti)	‘cut s.t. open (esp. soft or flexible things), cut s.t. off or up, slice s.t., dissect’
Fij	Bauan	ðebe(ta)	‘cut in thin slices (bread, cake); cut in two (cloth, rope, stem of bunch of bananas); circumcise, superincise (polite term)’

3.2. Cut into two or more pieces⇫

The reconstructions below are separated from those of splitting in §3.8 largely because their meaning entailed cutting rather than other modes of separation.

PAn		*tektek	‘hack off’ (Blust 1977a)
POc		*toto(k)	‘cut, chop’
NNG	Lukep	tota	‘cut’
NNG	Takia	tut-	‘pound, knock to bits, cut bush, cut off’
NNG	Mengen	toto	‘cut (meat)’
NNG	Bam	tuot	‘cut (meat +)’
PT	Iduna	toto(na)	‘cut (hair, grass-skirt, string, pandanus +)’
MM	Nakanai	toto	‘cut across’

POc		*toki	‘cut, chop’
NNG	Tuam	to-togi	‘cut (meat +)’
NNG	Manam	to-toki	‘cut down, cut off’
MM	Tolai	tok	‘cut a chip’
NCV	Nguna	tooki	‘axe’
Fij	Wayan	toki	‘cut small pieces out of s.t. with a hoeing or pecking movement (OBJ: what is cut)’
Pn	Tongan	toki	‘adze, axe’
Pn	Samoan	toʔi	‘adze, axe’
Pn	Māori	toki	‘adze, axe’

POc		*(p,pʷ)asi[-]	‘cut up, cut off, cut lengthwise’
Adm	Mussau	pasi	‘cut (meat +), split (wood)’
NNG	Takia	pasi	‘cut away tree branches’
MM	Torau	pa-pasi	‘chop’
SES	Bugotu	pahe	‘cut, cut off’
Fij	Wayan	vasi	[VT] ‘cut s.t. to a point; cut off the bark’
Fij	Bauan	vasi	‘split firewood’
Pn	Rennellese	hasi	‘pearlshell used as spoon; to cut with such’
Pn	Takuu	vasi	‘split, cut lengthwise’
Pn	Nukuria	hasi	‘cut off taro conn from stalk’

cf. also:

PT

Motu

vasiga

‘flint used as a knife’

PMP		*peka	‘separate, disconnect’ (ACD)
POc		*poka	‘divide, separate, cut up’; ‘cut up (Pig +)’ (PMM)
Adm	Drehet	pʷok	‘(glass, wood +) crack open, split open’
MM	Bulu	poka	‘cut (meat +)’
MM	Tolai	poka, poko	‘cut, cut up (Pig +)’
MM	Sursurunga	pok(oi)	‘cut up (pig +)’
MM	Tangga	pok	‘cut’ (e.g. pok suaak ‘cut down bamboo’; pok-pa ‘cut off’; pok-pukti ‘cut in half’; pok kalut ‘cut wood’)
MM	Nehan	pok	‘cut (meat +)’
SES	Gela	voka	‘divide, separate, divorce’
SES	Tolo	poha	[VT] ‘hammer, smash (with a stone)’

cf. also:

Fij	Wayan	boka(ti-)	‘split or cut s.t. in half with a blow; cut s.t. up in this way (e.g. coconut, breadfruit, wood)’
Mic	Carolinian	pax	[VI] ‘be cut, split’

The two items below, POc *taba(s), *taba(s)-i- ‘cut’ and POc *tapa(s), *tapas-i- ‘cut into, incise’, both appear to reflect PMP *tabas ‘chop down, cut away’. Although both are formally good reflexes of PMP *tabas (Ch. 2, §2.4), it is very rare to find two POc reflexes of a PMP item which differ from each other in the voicing of their medial consonant, and we are unable to explain this.

PMP		*tabas	‘chop down, cut away’3
POc		*taba(s), *taba(s)-i-	‘cut’
NNG	Adzera	rab-	‘chop, hew, cut down’
PT	Dobu	daba	‘cut’
MM	Tolai	taba	‘cut out of wood, carve as an image’
Mic	Kiribati	tapa	‘cut, split’
Mic	Ponapean	sap	‘cut into pieces’
Mic	Woleaian	tapa	‘cut (usually leaves)’
Pn	Rennellese	tapasi(a)	‘be cut, have a cut (as feet on coral)’
Pn	Rarotongan	tapaʔi	‘split, cleave lengthwise’
Pn	Tuamotuan	tapahi	‘cleave apart, sunder, cut’
Pn	Māori	tapahi	‘cut, chop’

POc		*tapa(s), *tapas-i-	‘cut into, incise’
NNG	Bing	tafa(hat)	‘break in the middle’
PT	Muyuw	tav	‘cut down the middle’
MM	Patpatar	tahe	‘split open (nuts with stone, knife +)’
MM	Teop	tava-tava	‘scar from decorative cuts, tattoo’
SES	Gela	tavahi	‘castrate’
SES	Lau	afa	‘cut, incise, mark, notch’
SES	Arosi	aha	‘cut, sever, score, notch’
NCV	Mota	tov	‘begin cutting a canoe into shape’
NCV	Raga	tava	‘cut’
Mic	Woleaian	tefa	[VT] ‘cut, slice’
Mic	Chuukese	safeti	‘peel or take the skin from a roasted breadfruit’
Fij	Bauan	tavā	‘(of flesh of living or dead body) make a long but superficial cut’ (Milner); [VT] ‘cut with a knife, as meat from a carcass’ (Capell)
Pn	Tongan	tafa	‘cut open, incise (boil, abscess)’
Pn	Samoan	tafa	‘lance, cut open (a boil); cut into portions, carve’

3.3. Shape by cutting⇫

The two verbs below refer to cutting wood or shell to shape it or carve it in the production of artefacts such as canoes or shell inlays in carvings.

The reconstruction of POc *sapʷi, as distinct from *sapi (§3.7), is justified by the semantic contrast between the two sets, and by unambiguous reflexes of POc *pʷ (Tawala, Dobu, Tolai, Bauro -p-, Port Sandwich vʷ).

POc		*sapʷi[-]	‘carve into shape,trim (with axe or adze), whittle’
Adm	Loniu	sah	[VT] ‘chop, carve, sharpen, whittle’
Adm	Loniu	sehi	[VT] ‘chip, carve, sharpen, whittle’
Adm	Loniu	sehi-sah	[VI] ‘carve, whittle’
NNG	Mangap	sap	‘chop, hew’
NNG	Adzera	saf-	‘cut’
NNG	Mapos Buang	sap	‘cut, slice, slash; to cut across the grain at an angle with an adze or knife’
PT	Tawala	hapi	‘chop, hew’
PT	Dobu	sapi	‘make rough cuts on log before shaping it for canoe planks’
PT	Muyuw	sav	‘cut bushes with a bush knife’
MM	Tolai	api	[VT] ‘dress wood by chipping it; to level’
SES	Bauro	tapi-	‘cut (wood)’
NCV	Port Sandwich	savʷi	‘carve, cut flat with axe, trim, sharpen’
NCV	Paamese	(mu)sahi	‘carve, cut into shape’
NCal	Nemi	tʰavi	‘chop, hew’

POc		*kala(s), *kalas-i-	‘shape s.t. by cutting, cut s.t. out’
MM	Tolai	kala	[VT] ‘cut out as a canoe’
SES	Tolo	kala	‘cut, as with a knife, chop’
SES	Longgu	kalasi-	‘whittle, cut off little bits of wood with a knife’
SES	Sa’a	kala	‘cut shell (for inlay, fish hook +)’
SES	Arosi	kara	‘cut, as pieces of nautilus shell for inlay’

3.4. Incise the skin, circumcise⇫

The two verbs below referred to cutting into parts of the human body. The PEOc term *tepe almost certainly referred to circumcision. If Motu se-sehai is cognate, then the term is of POc antiquity, but both its form and meaning become less clear.

POc		*tepa-i-	‘slice (flesh), circumcise’
PT	Motu	se-sehai	‘bore or pierce under the surface’
SES	Gela	teve	‘cut out a piece of flesh, flay’
NCV	Mota	teve	‘cut with a drawing motion’
NCV	Raga	teve(na)	‘penis’
NCV	Paamese	tehe	‘cut, slice; circumcise’
SV	Anejom̃	(a)thi(i)	‘cut s.t. off s.t. else’
Fij	Bauan	teve, tevek(a)	‘circumcise’
Pn	Tongan	tefe	‘circumcise’
Pn	Samoan	tefe	‘circumcise’
Pn	Tahitian	tehe	‘superincise, circumcise’

PEOc		*soni, *sonit-i-	‘incise, cut into’
SES	Arosi	toŋi	‘prick a boil’
Fij	Wayan	soni(ti)	‘cut s.t. open, make a small cut in (body part)’
Fij	Bauan	soni(ta)	‘make a small incision, as for piercing a boil’
Pn	Tongan	soni	‘make a small incision, lance’
Pn	Samoan	soni	‘chop, cut up’
Pn	Tahitian	ho-honi	‘nibble, bite’
Pn	Tuamotuan	honi	‘nibble, bite, scrape out with teeth’

3.5. Other cutting verbs⇫

The two verbs reconstructed below referred to cutting, but the glosses of their reflexes do not allow us to reach clear conclusions about the kinds of cutting they were used for.

PMP		*qiris	‘cut, slice’ (ACD)
POc		*qiri(s)	‘cut’
PT	Misima	il	‘strip (bark from wood, leaves from frond)’
MM	Vitu	ɣiri	‘cut (string +)’
MM	Vitu	ɣiri(via)	‘cut (string +)’
MM	Nakanai	hili(li)	‘strip off (leaves)’
SES	Gela	ɣiri	‘cut with sawing motion’
SES	Lau	ʔiri	‘chop, cut’
SES	Arosi	kiri	‘slice, cut open’

PMP		*keleŋ	‘cut into pieces’ (Blust 1989)
POc		*kolo(ŋ)	‘cut’
MM	Nakanai	olo, ololo	‘cut, scarify’ (common tattoo word)
SES	Longgu	olo(ʔia)	‘cut (string)’
SES	Lau	ʔolo(fita)	‘cut up (fruit +)’ (fita ‘split, divide’)
SES	’Are’are	oro(ia)	‘cut the head off’
SES	Sa’a	olo	[VT] ‘cut the ends off’ (olo pwau ‘cut hair’)
SES	Arosi	ʔoro	‘cut up, as for planting’

cf. also:

PT

Motu

koro

‘break off twigs or blaze trees to mark the road; to notch, carve’

3.6. Sharpen, pare, shave⇫

POc		*supi[-]	‘pare, shave, sharpen’
Adm	Mussau	supi	‘sharpen the point (of a stick +)’
NNG	Kove	supi-	‘sharpen (stick)’
NNG	Takia	sup	‘peeler, made by grinding a hole in a shell until the edge of the hole is razor sharp’
NNG	Takia	suwi-	‘chop, or chip away; pare, as in paring a piece of fruit with a knife’
NNG	Mapos Buang	ruv	‘sharpen, whittle, peel with knife’
PT	Motu	duhi	‘pare; prepare yams + for cooking’
PT	Dobu	sui	‘shave head, face’
MM	Nakanai	suvi	‘peel (taro)’
MM	Tabar	cip	‘peel’
MM	Tolai	ip	‘peel, as taro’
MM	Nehan	hui	‘peel’
SES	Lau	sufi	‘shave with a razor, cut hair’
SES	Kwaio	sufi	‘shave, cut hair’
SES	’Are’are	suhi-	‘shave the head, beard; scrape’
SES	Sa’a	suhi	‘shave’
NCV	Kiai	zivi	‘knife’
Fij	Wayan	suvi(ti)	‘cut s.t. into pieces, esp. food’
Fij	Bauan	suvi	‘cut in pieces, chiefly of yams and breadfruit, generally lengthwise, but also of other food’
Fij	Bauan	sivi	‘cut out with an adze’
Fij	Bauan	ðivi	‘cut or pare off, sharpen a stick or pencil’
Pn	Niuean	hifi	‘shave off hair, clip (s.t.)’
Pn	Tongan	hifi	‘cut up, carve, slice, pare, trim edges of wood’
Pn	Tikopia	sifi	‘make shavings, whittle’

For similar unexplained fronting of the vowel in Central Pacific languages see also POc *suka ’make fire with fire-plough (§2.3).

PAn		*tazim	‘sharpen’
POc		*tajim, *tajim-i-	‘sharpen to a point, trim (wood)’
Adm	Nauna	tic	‘sharpen’
NNG	Malalamai	taziŋ	‘sharpen (stick)’
NNG	Wogeo	taji	‘sharpen (stick)’
NNG	Kairiru	(ma)taj	‘sharp’
SV	Anejom̃	(a)tes	‘chip’
Mic	Woleaian	taim(i)	‘sharpen’
Mic	Marshallese	jem-jem	‘sharpen’
Mic	Carolinian	seimi	‘sharpen a blade or other object’
Fij	Bauan	tasi	‘scrape, shave, peel food (chiefly tapioca), before cooking’
Pn	Tikopia	tasi	‘cut, shave’
Pn	Tuamotuan	tāhi	‘scrape’
Pn	Māori	tahi	‘trim wood’

3.7. Separate flesh from shell, skin from fruit, bark from tree, leaves from branch or midrib⇫

This set of meanings is dealt with together because we often find Oceanic verbs with two or more meanings from this list. That is, POc seems to have verbs whose meaning was essentially ‘separate one layer or part of an object from another’, where the object was usually a plant, fruit or vegetable.

Not surprisingly, there is an overlap between these meanings and some of those of verbs in other sections of this chapter. For example, POc *kara(s), *karas-i- ‘peel or scrape skin off tubers’ (§2.2) and POc *supi ‘pare, shave, sharpen’ (§3.6) also refer to peeling.

We may divide the verbs in this subsection into three groups:

1. POc *kulit, *kulit-i- ‘skin’, derived from the noun *kulit in a way analogous to the English verb to skin;
2. the three formally similar verbs *isi, *sisi and *Risi(q);
3. verbs with meanings related to those in (2), namely:

POc	*sali	‘strip leaves from branch, frond’
PEOc	*sapi	‘strip (leaves); pluck (fruit, nuts)’
POc	*papak	‘peel bark’
POc	*kati	‘husk with the teeth’; PEOc *keti
POc	*(p,pʷ)ili	‘peel by hand (fruit, cooked food)’.

POc *tosi ‘score, split, pull apart lengthwise’ is included here because it denotes an act preparatory to the splitting of, e.g., pandanus leaves, an action denoted by reflexes of some of the verbs listed above.

PAn		*kulit	[N] ‘skin’; [v] ‘peel, remove skin of s.t.’
POc		*kulit, *kulit-i-	[N] ‘skin’; [V] ‘peel, remove skin of s.t., bark (a tree)’
NNG	Sengseng	kul	‘remove a bandage or shoes; come undone, of s.t. wrapped’
NNG	Manam	kuli	‘peel’
PT	Dobu	kuli-kuli	‘rash on skin’
MM	Tolai	kulit	[V] ‘peel off, remove bark, remove skin’
MM	Simbo	guli, guli-	[V] ‘skin, pare skin off’
SES	Gela	guli, guliti-	[V] ‘skin, bark (shin or a tree +); take the scab off a sore’
SES	Arosi	ʔuri	[V] ‘peel’
Fij	Bauan	kuli	[N] ‘skin, bark, peel’
Fij	Bauan	kulit-	‘peel cooked taro or food cooked in water; strip off the skin or bark of a tree’

The three items below have obvious formal and semantic similarities. The reconstructed forms and meanings are:

POc *isi[-]	‘scoop out (flesh from coconut +); peel off (skin, bark +)’
POc *sisi[-]	‘scoop out (flesh from coconut +); peel off (skin, bark +)’
POc *Risi(q)	‘remove by tearing, tear or peel off (bark +) in long narrow strips’

Blust (ACD) notes CMP cognates of POc *isi (Roti isi ‘peel onion +, scale fish’, Kei isi(n) (VT) ‘skin, peel off’), supporting the gloss ‘peel off (skin, bark +)’. PAn had a noun *isiʔ whose meanings included ‘flesh (of humans, animals, fruits, tubers); contents; blade of a knife; inhabitants’. It is possible that POc *isi, at least in its meaning ‘scoop out (flesh from coconut +)’ was derived from this noun. Thus *isi is fairly well supported by external evidence, as well as the Oceanic reflexes listed below. Since coconut flesh is grated straight out of the shell, the Molima and Nakanai reflexes are easily derived semantically from ‘scoop out (flesh from coconut +)’.

POc *Risi(q) is also supported by external (Philippine) cognates with meanings associated with tearing. POc *sisi and *isi are supported by CMP cognates. Since POc *isi and *sisi appear to be reconstructable with the same meaning, we suspect that the latter is simply derived from the former by reduplication. However, several of their reflexes have glosses associated with stripping bark from a tree, and we wonder whether there has been some conflation with reflexes of *Risi(q), which clearly meant ‘remove by tearing, tear or peel off (bark +) in long narrow strips’ (in SES languages, reflexes of *Risi(q) have undergone a meaning shift to ‘cut a piece off s.t.’).

Of the Polynesian reflexes, we have, on grounds of meaning, attributed Rennellese isi ‘scoop, scrape (coconut meat from shell)’ to POc *isi but Samoan isi etc to POc *Risi(q).

PCEMP		*isi	‘peel, strip off; scrape (coconut)’ (ACD)
POc		*isi[-]	‘scoop out (flesh from coconut +); peel off (skin, bark +)’
NNG	Mengen	isi	‘strip bark from tree or vine’
PT	Molima	isi, isi-	‘grate (on a grater), rub (s.t.)’
PT	Motu	idi	‘prise meat from coconut, press or squeeze with an implement’
MM	Nakanai	isi	‘scrape, grate (coconut); scrape wood smooth’
Pn	Rennellese	isi	‘scoop, scrape (coconut meat from shell)’

PCEMP		*sisi	‘peel off (skin, bark +)’4
POc		*sisi[-]	‘scoop out (flesh from coconut +); peel off (skin, bark +)’
NNG	Gedaged	sisi	‘pull up (off), peel off, husk, take off (one’s clothes)’
NNG	Kove	sisi	‘peel off bark or skin, strip leaves from frond, remove the midrib of a leaf’
NNG	Manam	sisi(ʔ)	[v] ‘peel, pare (sweet potatoes, bananas +), bark (tree)’
NNG	Numbami	sisi	‘peel with teeth’
PT	Dobu	sisi	‘scrape baked food’
MM	Maringe	hihi	‘pry apart, separate by prying (e.g. copra, tin can)’
SES	Gela	hihi	[VT] ‘scoop out the white flesh of a coconut; push out, prise out; open (tin +)’
NCV	Mota	sis	‘rub or knock off skin or bark, flay’
Fij	Rotuman	sisi	‘peel or strip off’
Fij	Bauan	ðiði	‘separate pulp from coconut’
Pn	Tongan	hihi	‘scoop out, gouge out (clams)’

PMP		*Risi[q]	‘tear, split, cut’ (Blust 1983–84a; ACD)
POc		*Risi(q)	‘remove by tearing, tear or peel off (bark +) in long narrow strips’
NNG	Mangap	ris	‘draw a line, engrave with an instrument’
MM	Maringe	ri-rihi	‘strip or tear off (making narrow strips), esp. stripping bark for making string’
SES	Lau	lisi, lisi-	‘cut short, cut fingernails’
SES	Arosi	risi	‘cut off, cut up (tobacco), shave’
SES	Sa’a	lisi	[VT] ‘cut off a piece or section’
Fij	Bauan	isi(a)	‘tear out in small pieces (of paper, leaf +); cut lengthwise, (as bamboo, hibiscus bark fibre); split into long narrow strips with the hands (pandanus leaves in mat making)’
Pn	Samoan	isi	‘split’
Pn	Niuean	īhi	‘split, divide, rip open’
Pn	Takuu	isi	‘remove skin or bark in long strips’
Pn	Nukuria	isi	‘peel off in long thin strips’
Pn	Māori	ihi	‘split, divide; separate; strip bark off a tree’
Pn	Hawaiian	ihi	‘strip, peel, as bark or fruit; tear off, remove’

POc *tosi was evidently used of the action of scoring something with a pointed instrument, e.g. as a preliminary to splitting (i.e. *Risi(q) above) pandanus leaves.

PAn		*testes	‘tear, tear up’ (Blust 1977a)
POc		*tosi[-]	‘score, split, pull apart lengthwise’
SES	Arosi	osi	‘cut, score’
SES	Lau	osi	‘pull to pieces, as a house’
Fij	Wayan	toði-	‘cut (e.g. pandanus leaves) into fine strips, trim, cut thorns off’
Fij	Bauan	toði(a)	‘remove thorns of voivoi pandanus leaves with a shell; split voivoi leaves in long narrow strips with a shell; plane board or plank away from oneself with a sharp blade or edge used endwise’
Pn	Emae	tosi(a)	‘split pandanus leaves for weaving’
Pn	Tongan	tohi	‘make mark or design on’
Pn	Samoan	tosi	‘score, scratch, mark; tear in strips without quite separating’
Pn	Tahitian	tohi	‘score, chisel’

cf. also:

MM

Maringe

tohi

‘peel off skin with a knife, as in peeling potato; cut back and forth with a knife, as in cutting bread’

POc		*sali[-]	‘strip leaves from branch, frond’
NNG	Lukep	sali	‘strip leaves from a branch or palm frond’
SES	Gela	sali	‘tear downwards’
SES	Arosi	tari	‘strip off’
SES	Sa’a	tari (sao)	‘split the sides of sago palm leaves (sao), leaving the rib for use as a bird arrow’
NCV	Paamese	salī	‘trim leaves from cane’

The contrast between PEOc *sapi and POc *sapʷi ‘carve into shape, trim (with axe or adze), whittle’, is referred to in §3.3. Note, however, that Gela sapi formally reflects *sapʷi rather than *sapi, and is included below on semantic grounds:

PEOc		*sapi[-]	‘strip (leaves); pluck (fruit, nuts)’
SES	Gela	sapi	‘pluck fruit from a bunch; strip off leaves’
SES	Lau	tāfi	‘lop off; take off midrib of sago palm leaf’
SES	’Are’are	tahi	‘strip off leaves; cut into slices’
SES	Sa’a	tahi	‘pluck hanging vines’
SES	Arosi	tahi	‘cut, cut off; strip off’
NCV	Mota	sav	‘pluck (hair, feathers)’
Fij	Wayan	savi	‘remove s.t. by a blow’

PMP		*bakbak	‘peel off, of skin; remove bark of tree’
POc		*papak	‘peel bark’
MM	Tolai	papak	‘peel off bark, skin (also applied to peeling off lime, paint +)’
SES	Gela	papa	‘chip, chips’

PMP		*gatgat	‘chew up’ (Blust 1977a)
POc		*kati[-]	‘husk with the teeth’
Adm	Titan	at	‘chew, bite’
NNG	Kaiwa	ati	‘bite’
MM	Tolai	kat	‘gnaw, pull the husk of a coconut or bete1nut with the teeth’
SES	Tolo	ɣeti(a)	‘bite off the husk of betel nut’
Mic	Woleaian	gei-gei	‘bite with teeth, husk coconut husks into smaller layers’
Fij	Boumā	ʔati[-]	‘bite’
Pn	Niuean	eti	‘bite off, as rind of sugarcane +’
Pn	Rennellese	ʔeti	‘husk a coconut’
Pn	Mangarevan	eti	‘tear with teeth’

The item above shows a sporadic change from POc *a to PEOc *e. This resembles the change found in some reflexes of POc *kali, *keli ‘dig’ (Ch. 5, §5.4), but in the latter case forms with both vowels must be reconstructed for POc.

POc		*(p,pʷ)ilit	‘peel by hand (fruit, cooked food)’
NNG	Mangap	pīli	[v] ‘husk (com, pitpit +)’
NNG	Kairiru	pil	‘peel skin off (cooked vegetable) by hand’ (PL OBJ)
NNG	Kairiru	pli	‘peel skin off (cooked vegetable) by hand’ (SG OBJ)
MM	Notsi	pili	‘peel (sweet potato +)’
NCV	Mota	wil	‘peel, turning the fruit over in peeling’
SV	Anejom̃	hujis	‘peel, skin’
SV	Sye	(a)vli	‘peel’
SV	Ura	(ala)vli	‘peel’
SV	Kwamera	(a)veri	‘peel’

3.8. Split into two or more sections⇫

There are a number of verbs of splitting, apparently distinguished by the exact nature of the action, which in turn is often dependent on the texture of the object being split. POc *(p,pʷ)olaq/*pʷalaq seems to have been the generic term for splitting or sometimes tearing something into two. It was evidently the verb used of splitting a log for firewood. POc *potak, *potak-i- was the verb used of splitting something, e.g. a coconut, open. POc *kakas, *[ka]kas-i- and *(p,pʷ)asi were perhaps more generic terms for ‘split’, but it is difficult to be sure of this from the available reflexes. Its Longgu and Bauan reflexes suggest that POc *pisak may have referred to splitting wood finely. POc *wakaq has few reflexes, but they refer to splitting or cutting up items less hard than wood. Reflexes of POc *Risi(q) (§3.7) sometimes also mean ‘split’, but this was not its primary meaning.

PMP		*belaq	‘split (s.t.); part of something split’ (ACD)
POc		*(p,pʷ)olaq, *(p,pʷ)ola(q)-i-	‘split (wood +)’
PT	Motu	pola(i)	[VT] ‘split a log into two or four pieces’
MM	Nakanai	(sulu)pola	‘split (wood)’
MM	Meramera	(val)pole	‘split (wood)’
MM	Nehan	polaka	‘split’
SES	Lau	fola	‘split, break in two, tear in two’
SES	Arosi	horo	‘divide, sever, cut off’
Fij	Bauan	kola, kola(a)	‘split wood with wedges, break open a seed pod’

cf. also:

Fij	Wayan	bola	‘be cut open, split down the middle (e.g. melon, shellfish); have a long incision made (in surgery)’
Fij	Bauan	bola(a)	‘cleave with an axe’

POc		*pʷalaq	‘split (wood +)’
NNG	Kove	(i)pala	‘split (wood +)’
NNG	Gitua	pala	‘chop’
NNG	Mangap	paala	[VT] ‘break, cut, split into two’
NNG	Lukep	pala	‘split’ (NB -rau-pala, -sis-pala, -tara-pala: different manners of splitting)
NNG	Gedaged	fale	‘split, cleave, chop open, divide’
NNG	Mengen	pale	[VT] ‘split into strips’
PT	Misima	pʷal	‘strip (sago or coconut leaves from main leaf stem)’
MM	Vitu	(ɣutu)valaɣ(i)	‘split (wood)’
MM	Bilur	parak	‘split (wood)’
MM	Bola	pala	‘cut (meat +)’
MM	Patpatar	paa-pal	‘cut grass’
SES	Longgu	pala-	‘cut cloth; cut straight across’
SES	Longgu	pala-pala(i)	‘straight line of cloth which has been cut’
SES	Sa’a	pʷā	‘break, crack; hatch’
Mic	Woleaian	fela	[VT] ‘cut, hew with an axe’
Mic	Carolinian	fala	[VT] ‘chop, split, cut wood or other relatively large objects with machete, axe or hand’
Mic	Carolinian	fal	[VI] ‘carve, do adze work’

The forms above suggest the following history. The POc form was (on MP evidence) *polaq. Initial *po- first became *pʷo- through spread of lip-rounding from vowel to consonant, then *pʷo- dissimilated to *pʷa-. Either each of these forms occurred in the speech of the POc community, or (less plausibly) independent parallel changes occurred in various daughter languages. Bauan bola also points to a POc doublet *bolaq (Ch. 2, §3.1.3).

PMP		*beTak	‘split, cleave’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*potak, *potak-i-	‘crack open, split open (nuts, coconuts +), make incision’
Adm	Loniu	pot	[VI] ‘be broken, be chopped down’
Adm	Titan	pot	[VI] ‘(wooden objects) be broken’
NNG	Malasanga	pota	‘split (wood)’
NNG	Manam	otaʔ	‘crack s.t. open (coconuts, canarium nuts +)’
MM	Notsi	pət	‘chop’
MM	Teop	potā	‘cut open (pig belly); split (open)’
MM	Varisi	pota	‘cut (string)’
SES	Bugotu	fota	‘break, smash up, be broken’
SES	Tolo	vota	‘separate (e.g. strings of rattan)’
SES	Sa’a	hoa	[VI] ‘make an incision in; remove and separate’
SES	Sa’a	hoai	[VT]
SES	Arosi	hoa	[VI] ‘divide, cleave asunder, separate’
SES	Arosi	hoai, hoari	[VT]
NCV	Mota	wota	‘knock, break by knocking’
SV	Anejom̃	(a)htak(wai)	‘split’

PMP		*beTak	‘split, cleave’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*botak, *botak-i-	‘crack open, split open (nuts, coconuts +), make incision’
PT	Motu	bota(i)	‘beat, thrash’
Fij	Wayan	bote(ki)	‘split or crack s.t. open’

cf. also:

SES	Gela	voti	‘break open (coconut +), split, split up’
Fij	Bauan	bete	‘break brittle things’

POc		*kakas, *[ka]kas-i-	‘split’
NNG	Malalamai	(i)kasa	‘split (wood)’
MM	Ramoaaina	kai	‘scrape; point; scratch; chop up small (taro, coconut)’
SES	Lau	kasi	‘adze, chop’
SES	Lau	kakasi	‘split open’
SES	’Are’are	kakā	‘tear, split wood’
SES	Sa’a	kaka	‘be tom, to be split’
SES	Sa’a	kakasi	[VT] ‘tear, split’
SES	Arosi	kaka, kakasi	‘split’

cf. also:

SES	Lau	kakari	‘split, chip’
Mic	Marshallese	kek	‘cracked, split’

PMP		*biseqak	‘split’ (ACD)
POc		*pisa(k), *pisak-i-	‘split’
PT	Dobu	pisa(ri)	‘smash’
SES	Longgu	vitaʔ(ai)	‘split (firewood, kindling)’
SES	Lau	fita	‘split, divide’
SES	’Are’are	hita	‘split, hit, struck’
SES	Sa’a	hite	[VI] ‘split; to hit, strike, arrive at’
SES	Arosi	hita	‘lightning; thunder; to split; to hit, strike’ (ma-hita ‘split, broken’)
Fij	Bauan	vida(a), vidak(a)	‘split, divide by hand’ (of thin compact objects)

For other possible reflexes of POc *pisa(k), *pisak-i- ‘split’, see §7 below.

PMP		*wakaq	‘split’ (ACD)
POc		*waka(q)	‘cut, split into sections, as yams for planting’
PT	Iduna	waʔa(na)	‘peel off completely (bark, skin)’
SES	’Are’are	waʔa	‘split, cut in sections; yam section’
SES	Sa’a	waʔa	‘be split, cut into sections; to split, divide fish; shred, cut up yams for planting’ (N ‘yam sets’)
SES	Arosi	waʔa	‘split’ (waka ‘sliced portion of yam for planting’)

3.9. Tear⇫

Verbs of tearing refer basically to forcible separation.

POc		*saRe(k)	‘become, be torn up, uprooted’
POc		*saRek-i-	[VT] ‘tear off, uproot’ (French-Wright 1983: *saRe ‘tear’)
NNG	Manam	sare	‘tear’
NNG	Manam	sereki	[VT] ‘tear, cut up’
PT	Motu	dare	‘tear’
MM	Tolai	are, re	‘clear away, as a house or fence’
NCV	Mota	sare	‘tear’
Mic	Kiribati	tae	‘stripped, extracted, drawn out, defeated, cracked’
Mic	Kiribati	taek(a)	‘detach by pulling, uproot’
Mic	Marshallese	car	‘torn off’
Mic	Ponapean	san-sara-	‘uprooted’
Mic	Ponapean	sarek	‘uproot, peel, pry’
Mic	Woleaian	tāri(ŋa)	[VT] ‘rip, tear’
Fij	Rotuman	sae	‘open out, separate’
Fij	Wayan	sei, seiti-	‘break (cut, tear) s.t. into two portions’
Fij	Bauan	se	‘rend, tear in two; split, cut or saw lengthwise’
Pn	Tongan	hae	‘tear’
Pn	Rennellese	sae	‘tear, strip, as bark’
Pn	Māori	hae	‘slit’
Pn	Hawaiian	hae	‘tear’

POc		*sir(i,e)	‘tear in two, tear into strips’
Adm	Lou	sir	‘tear’
NNG	Takia	sila-sile	‘tear in two’
PT	Misima	hil	‘cut into strips; tear into strips’
MM	Nakanai	sile	‘strip off bark; shred leaves; tear; cut (hair); pull down’
MM	Tolai	ir	‘split, of small things’
MM	Teop	siri	‘tear, rend’
MM	Tinputz	sī	‘tear clothes, leaves’
SES	Lau	siri	‘peel, as a sweet potato’
NCV	Mota	sur	‘shave, cut close’
NCV	Paamese	sili	‘shave’

POc		*sika	‘split, tear (in strips)’
PT	Dobu	siʔa	‘split, tear into strips’
MM	Patpatar	sik	‘strip (bark, skin)’
MM	Tangga	sia(n)	‘split down’
SES	Lau	seka	‘tear, rend’

cf. also:

SES

Arosi

sigo

‘tear, strip off’

4. Penetration with a pointed object⇫

4.1. Pierce⇫

The terms listed below entail formal and semantic overlaps to a seemingly embarassing degree. However, there is evidence that all these terms occurred in POc: *(su)suRi and *s(u,i)ri, for example, are supported by the existence of contrasting reflexes in Mussau, sui and suli. Reflexes of the first three are used to refer to sewing, but the POc verb which specifically referred to that activity was none of these, but *saqit (Ch.4, §3.2.1). POc *(su)suRi and POc *sua referred respectively to a bone needle (Ch.4, §3.2.1) and a spear (Ch. 8, §9), but are included here because of their verbal uses and their potential for confusion with the other terms.

POc	*(su)su(k)	‘anything used to pierce, prick; (V) pierce, prick, sew’; *suki- ‘pierce, prick, sew (mats)’
POc	*tuRi[-]	‘sew, thread, string together’
POc	*(su)suRi[-]	‘bone (needle); sew’
POc	*s(u,i)ri[-]	‘pierce, poke’ (Blust 1998b)
POc	*soka, *soka-i-	(V) ‘pierce; stab, poke hole in (s.t.)’
POc	*sua	(N, v) ‘spear (weapon retained in the hand)’

PMP		*cukcuk, *suksuk	‘skewer’ (ACD)
POc		*(su)su(k)	‘anything used to pierce, prick’; [V] ‘pierce, prick, sew’
NNG	Gitua	zuzu	‘sharpened stick used like cooking fork’
PT	Motu	dudu	‘prod with a stick’
MM	Nakanai	susu(tola)	‘pierce the footprint (kind of sorcery)’
SES	Gela	susu(ihu)	‘hole in septum in nose; nose stick; strengthening sticks through thatch of house ridge’ (ihu ‘nose’)
SES	Lau	susu	[v] ‘point, prick, impale, pierce, poke out with a stick, sting, darn’
NCV	Mota	sus	‘pierce, run through’
Fij	Rotuman	susu	‘sew, prick’

POc		*suki[-]	‘pierce, prick, sew (mats)’
Adm	Titan	sus, su-suwi	‘sew up, stitch, plait’
Adm	Mussau	sui	‘sew’
NNG	Bing	suk	‘throw (a spear)’
MM	Siar	suk	‘sew’
MM	Tolai	uk	‘thread (beads, tabu +)’
MM	Maringe	su-suki	‘sew with needle and thread’
SES	Bugotu	suki	‘pierce, impale, prick’
SES	Bugotu	su-suki	‘sew, thread (fish teeth, money beads +)’
SES	Longgu	suki(boro)	‘sew (hem)’
SES	Lau	sugi, sugi-	‘pierce’
SES	Arosi	su-suʔi	‘prick, pierce, sew’
NCV	Nguna	suki	‘pierce’
Fij	Bauan	ðuki(ta)	‘loosen ground with a stick’
Pn	Tongan	hū-hūki(a)	‘pricked in many places, having many small holes as if pricked’
Pn	Tongan	hūki(a)	‘pricked’
Pn	Samoan	suʔi	‘pierce, sew’
Pn	Tahitian	huʔi	‘pierce’

PAn		*CuSuR	‘string together (beads +)’ (ACD)
POc		*tuRi[-]	‘sew, thread, string together’
PT	Motu	turi	‘plait an armlet, sew, string fish together’
PT	Magori	turi	[V] ‘thread, sew’
PT	Lala	kuli(kuli)	‘sew (with thread)’
MM	Vitu	turi	‘sew’
MM	Tolai	tur, turu	‘pierce, as spear or arrow’
NCV	Uripiv	(o)turi	‘sew’
SV	Lenakel	til	‘sew, string, put on a string’
SV	Kwamera	(a)tiri	‘sew, weave, string beads, shuffle’
Fij	Bauan	tui	‘lift up with a string’
Fij	Bauan	tui-tui-(vaka)	‘string together’
Pn	Tongan	tui	‘put in, insert (hand into pocket +); thread (needle, beads +)’
Pn	Tahitian	tui	‘thread, string (pierced objects)’
Pn	Hawaiian	kui	‘string (pierced objects, as flowers in a lei, or fish); thread (beads)’

POc		*(su)suRi[-]	‘bone (needle); sew’
Adm	Mussau	sui	‘sew (mats), thatch’
MM	Roviana	susuri(na)	‘bone’
SES	Sa’a	suli(teru)	‘bone needle’ (suli ‘bone’)
SES	Arosi	suri(ao)	‘needle for sewing thatch’ (suri-suri ‘bone’, ao ‘sago palm’)
NCV	Mota	su-sur	‘sew, prick’

POc		*s(u,i)ri[-]	‘pierce, poke’ (Blust 1998b)
Adm	Mussau	suli	‘sew (mats), thatch’
Adm	Lou	sur	‘pierce’
NNG	Mangseng	sir	‘poke, puncture, drill’
PT	Misima	huli	‘point; poke (e.g. with spear) sand’
Mic	Chuukese	tir	‘be inserted, put in between’
Mic	Woleaian	tiri(-fegirī)	‘pierce with it’

PCEMP		*seka	‘pierce, stab’5
POc		*soka, *soka-i-	[VT] ‘pierce; stab, poke hole in (s.t.)’
Adm	Lou	sɔk(mat)	‘shoot’
Adm	Lou	sɔk(tep)	‘throw spear, sticks into ground’
NNG	Kove	soka-soka	‘sharpened stake set where a pig jumps’
NNG	Sio	soe	‘pierce; stab, poke hole in (s.t.)’
NNG	Takia	sue	‘pierce; stab, poke hole in (s.t.)’
NNG	Kairiru	uq	‘pierce; stab, poke hole in (s.t.)’
SJ	Tarpia	sok	‘pierce; stab, poke hole in (s.t.)’
PT	Misima	howa	‘spear, pierce’
MM	Notsi	coka	‘pierce; stab, poke hole in (s.t.)’
MM	Tabar	co-coka	‘shoot (fish)’
MM	Sursurunga	so(i)	[VT] ‘poke hole in (s.t.): spear, strike, hit; sow, plant, break ground’
MM	Tangga	sok	‘spear s.o.’
SV	Lenakel	suk	‘spear (generic: for war, fishing, hunting)’
Mic	Woleaian	toga-tog	‘stick s.t. into (a young coconut), pierce, stab’
Fij	Bauan	ðoka	‘pierce, usually with a spear; husk coconut’
Pn	Niuean	hoka	‘pierce, poke’
Pn	Samoan	soʔa	‘spike, transfix’
Pn	Rennellese	soka	‘pierce’
Pn	Māori	hoka	‘pierce’

POc		*sua	[N, v] ‘spear (weapon retained in the hand)’
NNG	Manam	sua(pu)	‘fish spear; (V) spear’
NNG	Mengen	sue	‘bone, needle’
SES	Gela	sua	‘spear without barbs’
SES	Longgu	sua	[N] ‘spear’
SES	Longgu	sua-	[VT] ‘pull out (spear, stick +)’
SES	Lau	sua	‘spear’
SES	Kwaio	sua	‘spear’
Fij	Bauan	sua(k)	‘stab; pierce with a spear (retaining hold of the weapon); husk a coconut’
Pn	Samoan	sua	‘thrust’

4.2. Drill, bore⇫

Drilling or boring was performed by rotating a harder implement, e.g. one with a shark’s tooth head, on softer material. Reflexes of drilling terms are occasionally used of igniting a fire by rotating one object against another. Five verbs of drilling and boring have been reconstructed:

POc	*puru(k), *puruk-i-	‘pierce, bore (hole)’
POc	_*buru[-]	‘pierce, bore (hole), drill’
PWOc	*bʷaR(i,e)[-]	‘pierce, bore (hole)’
POc (?)	*paRo[-]	‘drill through, pierce, perforate’
POc	*wiri(t)	‘twist, turn, revolve’ (see §8 for supporting evidence)

None of the first three reconstructions is particularly well supported by the evidence, and their formal similarity leaves us questioning whether there is a derivational relationship between them. However, the evidence does not at this stage allow us to combine them. They all refer to actions which entail turning an instrument in order to make a hole.

POc		*puru(k), *puruk-i-	‘pierce, bore (hole), drill’
PT	Motu	(a)uru	[ADV] ‘clean through’ (as compound in verbs; zero for expected h as reflex of POc *p)
MM	Tolai	vuru(e)	[VT] ‘turn, bore’
MM	Tolai	vur	[VT] ‘tattoo by boring pits in the skin, into which the sap of young coconuts or lime is injected; to bore pits into anything, esp. into taro as a private mark’
SES	Tolo	vuru-, vuruki-	‘pierce, make holes in’

POc		*buru[-]	‘pierce, bore (hole), drill’
NNG	Dami	borū	‘stab’
NNG	Mengen	bulo	‘pierce’
MM	Tangga	bur-bur	‘pump drill, using a shark’s tooth as the drill head; used for drilling turtle shell, dog’s teeth, thin shell breast ornaments +’
MM	Maringe	bi-biru	‘drill or dig out a small hole, such as preparing a coconut for drinking’
Mic	Carolinian	bʷura	‘bore holes in wood (esp. of insects)’
Mic	Carolinian	bʷuru-bʷur	‘make a fire by generating friction with a traditional drill’

cf. also:

PT	Tawala	buhu	‘bore’ (< PPT *busu)
PT	Motu	budu-	‘make a hole through the eye of a coconut; to bore a hole’ (< PPT *busu)
PT	Motu	(i)budu	‘brace (instrument for boring a hole)’

PWOc		*bʷaR(i,e)[-]	‘pierce, bore (hole)’
NNG	Bing	buod	‘drill a hole, gouge out a hole’ (-d for expected -r)
NNG	Patep	bʸeɣ	‘throw, thrust (spear +), pierce, shoot’
PT	Duau	bʷare	‘pierce, bore (hole)’
MM	Lihir	bual	‘pierce, bore (hole)’
MM	Tolai	bari	[VT] ‘bore’
MM	Ramoaaina	bari	‘bore (with gimlet +)’

The following item may be reconstructable only for PEOc. The two WOc items have phonological difficulties: Poeng paro has r for expected l, Simbo vala-vala final -a for o.

POc		*paRo[-]	‘drill through, pierce, perforate’ (ACD)
NNG	Mengen	paro	‘spear’ (r for expected l)
NNG	Mengen	paro-	(paro-pisi ‘shoot through’, paro-pite ‘pierce’, paro-punu ‘stab’, paro-tote ‘break by stabbing at’)
MM	Simbo	vala-vala	‘drill a hole; the bow by which the drill is rotated’
SES	Lau	fala	‘pierce lobe of ear’
SES	Gela	valo	‘pierce a hole in a porpoise tooth, so as to string it’
SES	Kwaio	falo-	‘drill a hole’
SES	Kwaio	falo-falo	[N] ‘drill’
SES	’Are’are	haro-	‘pierce, bore, drill’
SES	Arosi	hara	‘bore into (s.t.), twist a stick in making a hole’
SES	Arosi	haro (mao)	‘flint point of a drill’ (mao ‘turn round’)
Pn	Nukuoro	hao	‘drill through, burrow’
Pn	Nukuoro	hao(ŋ-)	‘bore hole in s.t.’
Pn	Māori	fao	‘perforate, chisel out’

5. Forceful impact⇫

5.1. Hit, beat, strike⇫

A number of terms for hitting are reconstructable, with meanings which vary particularly according to the manner of hitting, like English clout, slap, punch, pound, knock and so on:

POc	*punu(q), *punuq-i-	‘hit, strike, fight, kill’
POc	*qubu, *qubʷi-	‘hit with fist or with a weapon’
POc	*rapu(t), *raput-i-	‘hit with hand or stick, slash’
POc	*tutuk, *tuki[-]	‘pound, mash by pounding, hammer, crack by hammering’
POc	*putu(k) and *butu(k), *butuk-i-	‘repeatedly knock, pound, beat’
POc	*qatu(ŋ), *qatuŋ-i-	‘strike from above, pound’
POc	*babak, *baki[-]	‘strike one against another, knock’
POc	*tupu, *tupu-i-	‘knock against, knock over, stub (toe), stumble against’
POc	*pʷasa(r,R), *pʷasa(r,R)-i-	‘slap, hit’
PWOc	*sapu[-]	‘hit’
PCP	*sau, *sauti-	‘strike, beat, chop’
PCP	*(v,b)asu	‘a drum’; (V) ‘drum, thump’

The most general term for ‘hit’ in POc was *punuq, *punuq-i-, often used for striking another person, sometimes with the extended meaning of fighting and/or killing them. Reflexes of *qubu, *qubu-i- and POc *Ra(p,b)u(s), *Ra(p,b)us-i- appear in very similar contexts to those of *punuq, *punuq-i-, but there is some evidence that *qubu, *qubu-i- may have referred to striking with the fist or a weapon and better evidence that *Ra(p,b)u(s), *Ra(p,b)us-i- referred to striking hard with the hand or with a stick.

PAn		*buNuq	‘throw at, hit with a projectile’ (ACD)
PMP		*bunuq	‘throw at, hit, strike with a sharp object; kill; extinguish (a fire)’ (ACD)
POc		*punu(q), *punuq-i-	‘hit, strike, fight, kill’
Adm	Titan	(pa)un	‘fight, make war’
NNG	Mangseng	pun	‘shoot, spear, bite, fight, hit’
NNG	Mangseng	pun(pel)	‘fight each other’
NNG	Mengen	pune	‘kill by sorcery’
NNG	Mangap	pun	‘hit’
NNG	Takia	fini	‘hit her/hirn’
NNG	Manam	uŋ	‘fight’
NNG	Manam	um	[VT] ‘hit’
SJ	Sobei	fun	‘kill’
MM	Tigak	punuk	‘kill’
SES	Longgu	puni	‘beat, best (s.o.)’
SES	Kwaio	funu	‘fight (each other)’
NCV	Mota	pun	‘dash out by hand or foot, rub out, as fire or anything written on a slate’
NCV	Paamese	vinu	‘die (in large numbers)’
NCV	Paamese	vini(i)	‘kill’
NCV	Nguna	punu(e)	‘kill, extinguish, turn off [in compounds]’

POc		*qubu, *qubʷi-	‘hit with fist or with a weapon’
Adm	Nyindrou	ubʷiy	‘hit, beat’
Adm	Titan	upʷi	‘hit, strike, spank, punch’
Adm	Drehet	ʔupʷi(p)	‘hit’
Adm	Mussau	ubi	‘kill; fight’
PT	Iduna	ʔubu(na)	‘punch, hit with clenched fist’
MM	Vitu	ɣubi	‘kill’
MM	Vitu	(vari)ɣubi	‘fight’
MM	Bola	ubi	‘hit; kill’
MM	Bola	(va)ubi	‘fight’
MM	Nakanai	ubi	‘strike, beat, spear (fish), pierce, catch with claws’
MM	Nakanai	ub-ubi	‘shoot’
MM	Nakanai	(va)ubi	‘fight (each other) with spears; war’
MM	Sursurunga	ubi	‘hit; kill’
MM	Patpatar	ubu	‘hit; fight’
MM	Minigir	ubu	‘fight’
MM	Ramoaaina	urn	‘fight’
MM	Selau	ib	‘chop’
MM	Hahon	ibi	‘hit’
MM	Tinputz	ip	‘kill’

The morphological relationship between intransitive *qubu and transitive *qubʷi- does not conform to any of the patterns described in Chapter 2, §3.1.2. Transitive *qubʷi- appears to be derived from intransitive *qubu plus transitive suffix *-i-, but intransitive roots ending in a vowel other than *-a- did not take the transitive suffix, so the history of this pair remains unclear.

PMP		*ra(m)buk	‘knock, pound, beat’
POc		*rapu(t), *raput-i-	‘hit with hand or stick, slash’
NNG	Bariai	rau	‘kill’
NNG	Tuam	ravu	‘hit’
NNG	Lukep	rau	‘hit’
NNG	Mangap	(-po)rou	‘fight, struggle’
NNG	Kilenge	lau(e)	‘hit’
NNG	Numbami	lapa	‘hit’
PT	Gumawana	lau(i)	‘hit; strum a guitar’
PT	Iduna	lau(na)	‘hit, beat (with stick)’
PT	Iduna	lau(tafi)	‘cut grass using grass knife’ (PL SUBJ)
PT	Ubir	rabi-	‘hit’
PT	Tawala	lau(ni)	‘hit, shoot’
MM	Lavongai	rau(ŋ)	‘kill’
MM	Sursurunga	raps(i)	‘hit, spank, beat’
MM	Ramoaaina	rapu	‘hit (with a stick +)’
MM	Teop	ravu-ravu	‘pound, mash’
MM	Mono-Alu	lapu	‘kill’
MM	Teop	rapisi	‘knife; hit, beat, scourge’
MM	Tinputz	rapis	‘bush knife’
SES	Gela	labu(a)	‘hit; kill’
SES	Bugotu	ōabu	‘hit; kill’
SES	Bugotu	ōabusi	‘hit; kill’
SES	Talise	labu	‘hit’
SES	Talise	labusi-	‘kill’
SES	Longgu	rabusi-	‘hit hard with hand or stick’
SES	’Are’are	rapu	‘strike, hit’
SES	’Are’are	rapusi-	‘hit’
SES	Arosi	rabu	‘strike, knock, hit; knock in a nail’
SES	Arosi	rabusi-	‘hit’
NCV	Uripiv	revci	‘hit’
Fij	Nadrogā	ravusi-	‘hit, beat’
Fij	Wayan	ravu	‘be hit, beaten, struck with a blow from hand or instrument; be killed; hit, strike’
Fij	Wayan	ravuti-	‘hit, beat s.t.’
Pn	Tahitian	rapu	‘kneaded, mixed to a pulp; earth, dirt’
Pn	Māori	rapu	‘squeeze (in working food to a pulp)’

The mismatch in root-final consonants between PMP *ra(m)buk and POc *rapu(t) above suggests that their resemblance may be due to chance. The SES items reflect medial *-b- where reflexes in other language groups agree on *-p-, whilst the Guadalcanal-Gelic subgroup of SES reflects a form *(l,R)abu, *(l,R)abut-i-.

The items below, POc *tutuk, *tuki- and *putu(k)/*butu(k), *butuk-i- are onomatopoeic, with a basic reference to hammering, and are derivationally related.

PAn		*tuqtuq	[v] ‘hammer, pound, crush’ (ACD)
POc		*tutuk	‘pound, mash by pounding, hammer, crack by hammering’
Adm	Titan	tut	‘(rain) beat down’
Adm	Titan	tutu(wi)	‘beat, strike, hit’
NNG	Gitua	tutu	‘pound, beat, knock’
NNG	Mangap	tut	‘pound, hit’
NNG	Manam	tutuʔ	‘mash, crush’
NNG	Sengseng	tut	‘strike; beat out barkcloth’
NNG	Kove	tutu	‘beat, as a drum; pat a baby’s bottom (a device to make it stop crying)’
PT	Molima	tutu	[v] ‘tap, break open a nut, pound, strike’
PT	Muyuw	tut	‘crush betel nut’
PT	Minaveha	tutu	‘pound to crack, used of mapa nuts’
MM	Nakanai	tutu	‘tap, as a tattooing needle; strike, as with knuckles; to bump heads; produce a loud noise by hitting a buttress root’
MM	Tolai	tut	[V] ‘hammer, strike with a stone, pound up’
MM	Tolai	tu-tutuk	[N] ‘hammer’
MM	Roviana	tutu	‘large stick (used for mixing native puddings); small pestle (used for mixing betel nut + in a mortar)’
MM	Maringe	tutu	‘hit, pound (nuts +), hammer’
SES	Tolo	tutuku	‘pound with a stick-like object to soften, mash or crush (food, nuts, lime)’
SES	Gela	tutu	‘pound, crush (yams +)’
NCV	Mota	tut	‘beat with fist, thump; break off with blows of the fist’
NCV	Raga	tutui	‘hit’
Fij	Wayan	tatuki	‘make a sharp knocking sound; tap, bang, knock’

POc		*tuki-	[v] ‘pound’
Adm	Loniu	tuku(wɛy)	‘break ope n (coconut +)’
Adm	Lou	tuk	‘beat’
NNG	Sengseng	tuk	‘beat taro against a tree in order to soften it’
MM	Vitu	tuɣi	‘hit’
MM	Babatana	tuki	‘crack nuts with a stone and remove shells; kick, punch’
MM	Maringe	tuge	[V] ‘hammer, pound, esp. food in a bowl with a mallet’
MM	Maringe	tʰuge	‘lump of mashed food made by pounding ingredients in a bowl’
NCV	Kiai	tui	‘hit (with thrown stone)’
NCV	Nguna	tuki-	[V] ‘hammer, pound, hit with stone’
Mic	Marshallese	cuk-cuk	‘pound breadfruit or taro’
Mic	Mokilese	cuk	[V] ‘pound’
Fij	Bauan	tuki-	‘strike at, knock at, hammer, pinch’
Fij	Bauan	tuki(vatu)	‘variety of pudding or roasted breadfruit beaten quickly under water with a stone’ (vatu ‘stone, rock’)
Pn	Tongan	tuki	‘knock, hit, pound, hammer, punch’
Pn	Tuvalu	tuki	‘heavy wooden mallet, used for pounding both taro corns and pandanus leaves’

POc *putu(k) and *butu(k), morphological variants of the same verb (Ch. 2, §3.1.3), referred to the sound of repeated knocking, rather than the action of hammering.

PMP		*buTuk	‘knock, pound, beat’ (ACD)
POc		*putu(k)	‘repeatedly knock, pound, beat’
MM	Tinputz	vut-vuit	‘heartbeat’
SES	Arosi	(u)huʔi	‘crush’
Fij	Bauan	vutu	‘pound with pestle and mortar’
Fij	Bauan	(i)vutu	‘pestle for pounding’
Mic	Marshallese	lwūc	‘mallet, hammer’
Mic	Marshallese	(pen)-lwūc	‘pound with mallet’ (penpen (V) ‘tap’)

POc		*butu(k), *butuk-i-	‘repeatedly knock, pound, beat’
PT	Iduna	(-lu)butu-butu	‘knock (at door)’
PT	Dobu	(sa)butu	‘smash sago pith prior to extracting the sago from it’
MM	Nakanai	butu, butu-butu	[V] ‘sound a slitgong, especially to beat it loudly and call out at the same time’
SES	Longgu	butu-butu	‘(heart) beat; do things to show that you are looking for a fight (e.g. stamping feet, to prepare to punch someone)’
Fij	Wayan	butu	‘be assaulted and knocked about by a number of people, be beaten up by a group’
Fij	Wayan	butuki-	‘stamp or tread on s.t., trample s.t.’

The verbs reconstructed below denote a variety of kinds of hitting:

POc		*qatu(ŋ), *qatuŋ-i-	‘strike from above, pound’ (ACD: *qatu)
NNG	Kove	watu	‘break a nut by hitting it with a stone’ (watu ŋani patu)
NNG	Malalamai	atu	‘hit’
PT	Tawala	yatu	‘sago chopper, adze for chopping sago’
PT	Kilivila	katu-	‘strike (from above)’
PT	Motu	atu	‘press pottery into shape (using wooden beater on stone); to tattoo’
PT	Motu	(he)atu	‘fight (each other)’
MM	Nehan	tuŋ	‘fight’
MM	Nehan	(weli)atuŋ	‘fight (one another)’
MM	Halia	yatuŋ	‘kill’
MM	Halia	(he)atuŋ	‘fight (each other)’
MM	Banoni	cum	‘hit’
MM	Maringe	aknu	‘hit, beat’
SES	Lau	sau(kata)	‘pound in a mortar’
SES	Baegu	sauŋi-	‘kill’
SES	’Are’are	rauni-	‘kill’
SES	Sa’a	sau	‘kill, pound (taro), ram, (wind) blow strong; pound (taro and canarium nuts at a feast)’
SES	Arosi	sau	‘strike down; crush food in a bowl with a pole or coconut frond’
NCV	Mota	atu	‘give single strokes in drumming while the other performer is using both drum sticks’
NCV	Nguna	atuŋi	‘hit with stick or club; kill’
SV	Lenakel	əru	‘hit, strike’
Mic	Woleaian	siu-siu	‘pound (breadfruit +)’
Mic	Mokilese	wossou	‘pound soaking breadfruit in preparation for making mar’

PMP		*pakpak	‘clap, slap, beat the wings’
POc		*baba(k)	‘strike one against another, knock’
PT	Motu	papa	‘burst, of blossom; hatch, of eggs’
SES	Arosi	bā	‘strike one upon another, as firewood in breaking it’
SES	Arosi	bwabwa	‘knock off e.g. bark of tree, shell of nut’
Pn	Tongan	pā	‘touch, hit, knock against; collide with; slap (esp. on the head); burst, explode’
Pn	Niuean	pā	‘slap, strike, touch; clap’
Pn	Tahitian	pā	‘hit, of wind’
Pn	Hawaiian	pā	‘touch’

POc		*baki-	[VT] ‘strike one against another, knock, clap’
Mic	Ponapean	pak	‘be smashed, as of fallen ripe fruit’
Mic	Carolinian	paxu	[VT] ‘cut s.t., sever, prune, amputate, split in half’
Pn	Pukapukan	paki	‘clap hands, strike’
Pn	Tahitian	paʔi	‘slap, pat, touch’
Pn	Hawaiian	paʔi	‘slap’

PMP		*tu(m)buk	‘pound’6
POc		*tupu(k), *tupu(k)-i-	‘knock against, knock over, stub (toe), stumble against’
Adm	Drehet	tupʷi(yi)	‘push; knock over; set loose, adrift’
NNG	Mangseng	tup	‘stub, hit’
PT	Gumawana	tupu(we)	‘knock someone down with force’
MM	Nakanai	tubu	‘stick to; hit with spear; hit a mark’
NCV	Mota	tipa	‘knock, strike downwards, beat one stone on another, knock roughly’
NCV	Lonwolwol	tebʷi-	‘kick, kick against, stumble over’
NCV	Nguna	tipʷa(e)	‘hit with fist, fight, be against’
NCV	Nguna	timʷa-timʷa	‘knock’
SV	Kwamera	(ɨ)rupʷi	‘clap, applaud, pat’

A number of Eastern Oceanic items reflect a PEOc form *tipʷa, and it is just possible that this is descended from a separate POc etymon.

POc		*pʷasa(r,R), *pʷasa(r,R)-i-	‘slap, hit’
Adm	Mussau	posala	‘hit’
MM	Sursurunga	posar, posri	‘slap, clap, hit with the open palm’
MM	Patpatar	pasar	‘slap; beat drum’
MM	Minigir	pasari	‘hit’
MM	Nehan	posar	‘hit lightly’
MM	Solos	pasan	‘hit’
NCV	Mota	wosa	‘slap, smack, clap’
NCV	Tamambo	voja(i)	‘strike, slap’
NCV	Port Sandwich	voč(i)	‘strike with the hand, slap’
NCV	Nguna	wosa(e)-	‘clap (hands or flat objects)’
Fij	Wayan	voða	‘slap s.t. with the open hand or hands together’

PMP		*sa(m)puk	‘collide, bump into’ (ACD: PWMP)
POc		*sapu(k), *sapu(k)-i-	‘hit’
PT	Gumawana	sap(i)	‘slap’
MM	West Kara	saup	‘fight’
MM	Nalik	sop	‘kill’
MM	Notsi	cap	‘kill; fight’
MM	Tabar	copu(i)	‘dehusk (coconut)’

PCP		*sau, *sauti-	‘strike, beat, chop’
Fij	Rotuman	jau	‘beat, strike’ (see Geraghty 1986)
Fij	Wayan	sauti-	‘crack or break s.t. open; cut off or trim vegetation’
Fij	Bauan	sau	‘cut reeds, bamboo and some other things; break, as a coconut for drinking’
Pn	Tongan	hau	‘strike, beat, chop’
Pn	Rennellese	sau	‘strike, beat, slash, as weeds with a stick’
Pn	Tongarevan	sau	‘cut with knife, slice, carve meat’
Pn	Hawaiian	hau	‘strike, beat, chop’

The final item is reconstructable only for PCP and appears to be derived from a noun:

PCP		*(v,b)asu	‘a drum’; [V] ‘drum, thump’
Fij	Bauan	vaðu	‘punch with the fist’
Pn	Niuean	pahu	‘drum’
Pn	Tongan	pahu	‘thump’
Pn	Rarotongan	paʔu	‘drum formed from a hollowed block and covered with sharkskin’
Pn	Tahitian	pahu	‘drum; thumping blow’
Pn	Hawaiian	pahu	‘drum’
Pn	Māori	pahu(u)	‘wooden gong’

5.2. Break, smash, shatter⇫

The first two reconstructions below, POc *pʷosa(k), *pʷosak-i- and POc *pʷara(s), *pʷaras-i-, refer to the breaking of brittle objects, among them the shell of an egg when a chick hatches. It is possible that these were intransitive verbs in POc and that their subject was the breaking object, e.g., the egg. POc *(p,pʷ)oga(q) (VI) ‘burst open, split open’ and POc *momo(k) ‘break into small pieces’ similarly seem to have been intransitive, and the latter may also have been used to refer to potsherds, crumbs, and so on.

The remaining verbs in this subsection all appear to have been used transitively, with an agent subject and a patient object. It is possible that the forms without final *-i- were used intransitively with the patient (rather than the agent) as their subject. That is, they meant ‘break spontaneously’ or ‘be broken’, belonging to the neutral verb class (Ch. 2, §3.1.1).

POc	*pita(k), *pitak-i-	‘break, split’
POc	*piti(k), *pitik-i-	‘(crack)’
POc	*pu(q)a(R), *pu(q)aR-i-	‘break (s.t. hard), smash’
PEOc	*pora(k), *porak-i-	‘break, damage’
POc	*rabo(k)	‘break, smash’

PMP		*pesak	‘break into several large pieces; hatch’ (Blust 1986)
POc		*pʷosa(k)	[VI] ‘break, shatter, crack open; (egg) hatch’
POc		*pʷosak-i-	[VT] ‘break, shatter, crack open’
MM	Teop	(va)bō-bōha	‘hatch (egg)’
MM	Mono-Alu	posai	‘break (egg +)’
MM	Maringe	boha	‘crack (spherical or bulbous object such as ground round sweet potato mounds)’
SES	Gela	boha	[VT] ‘burst; break, smash s.t. brittle, as a shell or china’
SES	Gela	ta-boha	[PASS] ‘broken, smashed, burst’
SES	Bugotu	poha	‘burst, of boil; to crack, be cracked; to break, of day or surf’
SES	Longgu	(ma)bota	‘be smashed (usually of something that is hollow)’
SES	Lau	(a)bota	‘break, as an egg when chicken hatches out; broken’
SES	Lau	bo-bota	‘break one thing on another’
SES	Sa’a	pota, pota-pota	‘break by knocking one thing against another’
SES	Arosi	bota	‘break by knocking on s.t. else’
NCV	Mota	(ta)wosa	‘coming open, apart (e.g. hatching egg)’
NCV	Raga	voha	‘break or crack canarium nut with stone’
NCV	Port Sandwich	poe	‘explode’
SV	Lenakel	ho	‘hit, strike’
SV	Anejom̃	(a)wod	‘hit, strike’

POc		*pʷara(s), *pʷaras-i-	‘(egg) hatch; hatch out (chick), break (coconut +)’
PT	Sudest	vʷara	‘hatch, break (egg, coconut)’
MM	Nakanai	(tutu)pola	‘(egg) hatch, be broken’
MM	Nakanai	(vali)pola	‘hatch out (chick)’
MM	Sursurunga	puras	‘hatch’
SES	Arosi	(haʔa)horas(i)	‘distend’

PMP		*beŋkaq	‘split in two’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*(p,pʷ)oga(q)	[VI] ‘burst open, split open’
Adm	Drehet	pʷok	‘crack, split open (s.t. hard)’
NNG	Mangap	pok	‘burst forth into the open, appear, come into view, break’
NNG	Takia	puk	‘erupt, break through, break with noise, burst open, crack’
MM	Sursurunga	pu-puk	‘break open a mumu’
MM	Sursurunga	puki	‘broken through, as when shoots have appeared in the garden’
MM	Patpatar	puk	‘break off stem end from a leaf’
MM	Ramoaaina	puek	‘burst’
SES	Gela	poga	‘burst, as a boil; rend, split, as a sail; split, of large seeds; grow’
SES	Gela	voga	‘be split, rent, as a sail by the wind; to split, crack, rend, as glass or wood or cloth; to be cracked, of glass’
SES	Gela	vaga	‘split, from the heat of the sun’
SES	Longgu	poga	‘burst, explode, erupt’
SES	Lau	foga	‘split, rend, burst; to be split, rent, burst’
SES	Kwaio	foga	‘cracked, split’
SES	Arosi	hoga	‘come apart’
SES	Sa’a	hoka	‘burst open, come apart’
SES	Sa’a	hokai, hokasi	[VT] ‘burst, split open’

PMP		*mekmek	‘broken to bits’ (ACD)
POc		*momo(k)	‘break into small pieces’
NNG	Mangap	mumu	‘break into small pieces, crumble’
PT	Motu	momo	‘rubbish; the placenta’
SES	Sa’a	momo	‘sweepings, rubbish’
SES	Arosi	momo	‘a bit of food fallen’
Fij	Bauan	momo	‘break into small pieces’
Pn	Tongan	momo	‘a little bit, crumb, fragment’
Pn	Samoan	momo	‘broken remnants’

PMP		*bitak	‘break, split’
POc		*pita(k), *pitak-i-	‘break, split’
NNG	Lukep	pit	‘break’
NNG	Mangap	pit(ŋana)	‘knock, tap, snap off, break off’
NNG	Mangseng	(mo)pit	‘chipped, broken’
NNG	Mengen	pite	‘squeeze, press (s.t. to break it)’
NNG	Takia	fite	[VT] ‘break up, break open, split’
NNG	Takia	(gi)fte	‘split, as result of sharp blow’
MM	Patpatar	pit	‘break away a part; slice open belly of pig to remove bowels’
SES	Longgu	vitaʔ(ai)	‘split (firewood, kindling)’

POc		*piti(k), *pitik-i-	‘crack’
PT	Gumawana	visi	‘break, crack (pots +)’
PT	Misima	vihi	‘be cracked’
Fij	Wayan	viti	‘(rigid object) be broken off, snapped’
Fij	Wayan	vitiki-	‘break s.t. off (OBJ: what is broken off)’

POc		*pu(q)a(R), *pu(q)aR-i-	‘break (s.t. hard), smash’
PT	Iduna	fua	‘crush’
PT	Motu	huari	‘smash, as pottery’
MM	Tolai	puar	‘break (cup, glass +)’
Fij	Bauan	(ma)voa	‘be injured, wounded, hurt, damaged, ruined, smashed’
Pn	Tongan	foa	‘break stone, cup, coconut; be knocked on head’
Pn	Samoan	foa	‘break rock or shell’
Pn	Rennellese	hoa	‘crack, split, smash; break (as egg, nut)’
Pn	Tikopia	foa	‘thump, strike heavily, break open by striking’
Pn	Hawaiian	hoa	‘strike with stick or club’

PEOc		*pora(k), *porak-i-	‘break, damage’
MM	Simbo	poraki	[VT,VI] ‘break; breaking’
SES	Tolo	vora(na)	‘cut, scratch, sore, wound’
SES	Lau	fora	‘split’
NCV	Mota	wora	‘divide, cleave asunder, split’
NCV	Raga	bora	‘divide, split’
Fij	Wayan	voro	[VI] ‘break, crack, fracture, be broken’
Fij	Wayan	voroki	[VT] ‘break or crack s.t. brittle’
Fij	Bauan	vorok(a)	‘break, smash (brittle things, e.g. glass, stone, bone)’

cf. also:

MM

Tolai

(vata)bora

[VT] ‘break, of brittle things’

PMP		*ra(m)bek	‘strike, break’ (cf. *rabuk ‘knock, pound’) (ACD)
POc		*rabo(k)	‘break, smash’
SES	Gela	rabo	‘break, smash’
SES	Arosi	rabo(asi)	[VT] ‘explode’
SES	Arosi	rabo(a)	‘(china +) broken’

6. Removal of object from source by hand⇫

6.1. Pluck, pick⇫

The verbs reconstructed in this subsection fall into two formal and semantic sets, according to the PAn roots they reflect. Thus the first set reflects the PAn root *-buC ‘weed, pull, pluck out’ (Ch. 2, §3.1.3):

POc	*pupu(t), *puti	‘pick (fruit +), pluck (feathers +)’
POc	*sapu(t), *saput-i-	‘pull out, pull up, pluck (fruit, nuts)’
POc	*tapu(t), *taput-i	‘strip (crops), pull off’

PPn *lohu ‘fruit-plucking pole, hook something with a pole’ (Biggs and Clark 1993), probably also reflects PAn *-buC via an otherwise unattested POc **loput.

The second set also seems to reflect a single PAn root, namely *-pak ‘break, crack, split’, although their POc meanings both refer to plucking leaves off a branch by hand. POc *paki has only Fijian and Polynesian reflexes, but is reconstructed for POc on the basis of the reconstructable PAn root:

POc	*sapaki	‘pluck off, break off (leaves) with the hand’
POc	*paki	‘pluck, break off (leaves) with the hand’

PAn		*buCbuC	‘pull up (weeds +), pluck (feathers +)’ (ACD)
POc		*pupu(t)	‘pick (fruit +), pluck (feathers +)’
PT	Motu	huhu-	‘break off bananas singly’
PT	Dobu	(lo)pupu	‘pluck feathers from a bird’
PT	Gapapaiwa	pu(i)	‘pluck feathers from a bird’
PT	Tubetube	pupu	‘pull off (leaves from tree +)’
PT	Sudest	vu	‘pick; harvest a fruit’
SES	Lau	fufu	‘pick fruit’
SES	Arosi	huhu	‘pluck fruit’
SES	Sa’a	huhu	‘pluck, pick off’
Fij	Bauan	vuvu	‘root up entirely’
Pn	Niuean	fufu	‘strip off (leaves, bark +)’

POc		*puti-	‘pick, pluck (feathers), pull out (weeds +)’
NNG	Numbami	uti	‘pluck, pull out, dig out’
NNG	Sengseng	put	‘pluck’
PT	Gapapaiwa	pu(i)	‘pluck (chicken +)’
PT	Lala	buku	‘pluck’ (b for expected p)
MM	Patpatar	hut	‘pluck (feathers)’
MM	Tolai	vut	‘weed, pluck as feathers of a fowl’
MM	Ramoaaina	ut	‘clean away the fibre from coconut; pluck (chicken feathers)’
SES	Bugotu	vuti	‘pluck out by roots’
SES	Lau	fusi	‘pluck leaves, flowers, fruit; twitch off fruit with a pole’
SES	Lau	fu-fusi	‘pluck’
SES	Sa’a	hu-husi	‘pluck, pick off’
NCV	Mota	vut	‘dig, heaving up the soil as with digging stick’
NCV	Port Sandwich	püči	‘pluck’
NCV	Paamese	huti	‘peel fruit; shell egg; pluck feathers from chicken or bird’
Mic	Marshallese	wic	‘pull out of ground, uproot’
Mic	Ponapean	us	‘pull out, pluck’
Fij	Wayan	vuti	[VI] ‘be plucked, picked’; [VT] ‘pick or pluck things, do the picking or plucking’
Fij	Bauan	vuti-	‘pluck hair or feathers; pull up weeds’
Pn	Tongan	fusi	‘pull or tug; pull or haul in; pull up or hoist (a flag); pull up or weigh (an anchor); pluck’
Pn	Tongan	fu-fusi	‘pull roughly or forcibly or too hard or without due care; overstretch’
Pn	Samoan	futi	‘pull off (weeds, hair +); pluck (hen +)’
Pn	Samoan	fu-futi	‘play a fish (in reeling it in)’

POc *puti- above bears a close formal resemblance to POc *pʷuti[-] ‘cut off’ (§3.1), but we reconstruct them separately on the basis of (i) the difference in initial correspondence sets (cf. Ch. 2, §2.1) and (ii) the consistently different sets of meanings.

PAn		*-buC	‘weed, pull, pluck out’ (Blust 1988: 86-87)
POc		*sapu(t), *saput-i-	‘pull out, pull up, pluck (fruit, nuts)’
PT	Molima	sabu	‘pull up taro or grass’
SES	Arosi	tahu	‘take by force’
NCV	Raga	havusi	‘pluck, as a fowl’
NCV	Tamambo	sabuti	‘pluck, pull out (plant, tooth +)’
Fij	Wayan	ðavu	‘(tooth, root +) be pulled out, extracted, removed from a fixed position’
Fij	Wayan	ðavuti-	‘pull s.t. out, remove s.t.’
Fij	Bauan	ðavu	‘pull up, eradicate’
Fij	Bauan	ðavut(a)	[VT] ‘pull up, eradicate’
Pn	Tongan	hafu(le)	‘strip the dry leaves from sugarcane, pandanus, banana and plantain plants’

cf. also:

MM

Roviana

zapu

‘pull coconuts from a tree’

PAn		*-buC	‘weed, pull, pluck out’ (Blust 1988: 86-87)
POc		*tapu(t), *taput-i	‘strip (crops), pull off’ (French-Wright 1983: *tapu)
NNG	Lukep	tau(rai)	‘pick’ (-rai < POc *-(r,R)aki)
PT	Bwaidoga	tavu(na)	‘harvest bananas’
PT	Motu	tapusi	‘pull strongly, with jerk of a string, and possibly break it’
MM	Nakanai	tavu	‘grasp, capture’
MM	Simbo	tapu	‘pull off, as husk off canarium nut’
SES	Arosi	ahu	‘(coconut +) fall; strip completely (garden of food); gather fruit’
Fij	Bauan	tavu	‘knock down and beat’

PEOc *tau(s,t), *tau(s,t)-i- below appears to represent an irregular development of the etymon above, with loss of medial *-p-.

PEOc		*tau(s,t), *tau(s,t)-i-	‘pluck (fruit, leaves)’ (French-Wright 1983)
SES	Gela	tou	‘knock off fruit with a stick’
Fij	Bauan	tau	‘be plucked (fruit, leaves)’
Fij	Bauan	tauc(a)	‘pluck some fruits, esp. papaya and mango’

PAn		*-pak	‘break, crack, split’ (Blust 1988: 135-136)
POc		*sapaki	‘pluck off, break off (leaves) with the hand’ (French-Wright 1983)
NNG	Manam	sapaʔ	‘pluck off’
MM	East Kara	səpak	‘cut, gather; sago leaves for roofing’
MM	Patpatar	sapak	‘cut meat of animal into edible portions; break’
MM	Sursurunga	sapki	‘pull apart; pick (leaves, not fruit)’
MM	Tolai	apak	‘break off leaves from a tree, as for cooking or ornament’
Mic	Woleaian	tepagi	‘cut Oeaves)’

cf. also:

Mic

Ponapean

sapak

‘harvest (bananas)’

PAn		*-pak	‘break, crack, split’ (Blust 1988: 135-136)
POc		*paki	‘pluck, break off (leaves) with the hand’
Fij	Rotuman	haʔi	‘pluck (feathers), pull out’
Pn	Tongan	faki	‘pick, pluck, esp. banana, coconut’
Pn	Samoan	faʔi	‘break off, snap off, pick’
Pn	Tikopia	faki	‘gather (breadfruit +)’

cf. also:

NNG	Sengseng	pak	‘collect bedpoles by breaking off long straight branches or trunks’
PT	Motu	baki	‘break, of bread, sago +’
Pn	Tongan	paki	‘break or break off, esp. with the hand; pick or pluck’

6.2. Break off, snap off⇫

POc		*pati[-]	‘break, snap s.t. off’
Adm	Loniu	hat	‘break up (firewood), pick or break off (corn, but not fruit)’
SES	Arosi	hai(maromoromo)	‘broken to bits’ (maromoromo ‘broken into small fragments’)
Pn	Niuean	fati	‘break off, snap’
Pn	Samoan	fati	‘break’
Pn	Tokelauan	fati	‘break, snap off’
Pn	Tahitian	fati	‘(to be) broken off’
Pn	Hawaiian	haki	‘broken’

PMP		*lepak	‘break, crack off’ (Blust 1989)
POc		*lopa(k)	‘break’
MM	Maringe	lopa	‘break off, cut piece of reed or sugarcane’
SES	Arosi	roha	‘break s.t. brittle’

6.3. Pinch, nip⇫

PMP		*kinit	‘pinch, nip, pluck’ (ACD)
POc		*kinit, *kinit-i-	‘pinch off with fingers, nip with fingernails’
Adm	Mussau	kiniti	‘pinch’
NNG	Mengen	kini-	‘pluck, pull up, fold’
NNG	Lukep	kin	‘pick by pinching (greens, betel pepper)’
NNG	Mangap	kin	‘pluck off’
NNG	Takia	kitini	‘pinch’ (metathesis)
PT	Motu	kini	‘nip with fingernails’
MM	Sursurunga	kinit, kinti	‘pinch’
MM	Simbo	kiniti	[VT] ‘pinch’
SES	Gela	ɣini	‘pinch’
SES	Longgu	ini-	‘pull off, pick the betel nut leaf’
SES	Lau	ʔini	‘pinch’
SES	Lau	ʔini(fi)	[VT] ‘pinch, pick or pluck, e.g. betel leaf’
SES	Arosi	ʔini	[VT] ‘pinch, nip, hold with fingers’
NCV	Mota	ginit	‘pinch, nip off’
NCV	Paamese	initi	‘pinch, pluck guitar strings; pick bush vegetables’
NCV	Tamambo	hiniti	‘pinch, nip’
Mic	Ponapean	kinih	‘pinch’
Mic	Marshallese	kinjiy	‘pinch with fingernails’
Mic	Ulithian	xilisi-	‘pluck it, pick it’
Fij	Wayan	kini	‘(leaves) be pinched off with the fingers’
Fij	Wayan	kiniti-	‘pinch s.t., pick leaves off by pinching them’
Fij	Bauan	kini	‘pinch with the nails’
Pn	Samoan	ʔini	‘pinch with nails, nip’
Pn	Māori	kini	‘nip, pinch’

POc		*ginit, *ginit-i-	‘pinch off with fingers, nip with fingernails’
PT	Gumawana	ginisi	‘pinch s.o.’
SES	Lau	gini-gini	‘pinch off with the nails’

6.4. Unhook, hook⇫

PEOc		*suqi[-]	‘take s.t. down (from a hook or branch)’
SES	Gela	hui	‘take down from or off, as off a peg on the wall; to unclothe’
SES	Bugotu	hui	‘take down, let down; cease’
Fij	Rotuman	sui	‘unloose, undo, untie, unbind; disentangle; take off clothes’
Pn	Tongan	huʔi	‘detach, take off, slip off; pick by the bunch’
Pn	Samoan	ui	‘take down, take off (s.t. hanging); free from restriction or taboo’
Pn	Anutan	ūi	‘gather pandanus fruit or betel nut’
Pn	Nukuoro	ui	‘pick pandanus’

The verb below appears to be derived from a noun PMP/POc *kawit ‘hook’. This noun bears a remarkable resemblance to PMP/POc *kawil ‘hook, fish hook’ (Ch. 8, §4), and we take it that the latter may well represent an irregular offshoot of the former at some time in the distant past.

PMP		*kawit	‘hook’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*kawit, *kawit-i-	‘hook, to catch hold of; fruit crook’ (French-Wright 1983)
NNG	Manam	ʔaut	‘pluck fruit with a fruit crook’
MM	Tolai	kait	‘catch, as clothes on thoms’
SES	Gela	kauti	‘drag off fruit with a hook’
SES	Sa’a	i-kau	‘hooked stick for fruit-picking’
SES	Arosi	kau	‘catch and hold, as a shirt in a nail; a crook for pulling down fruit’
SES	Arosi	ʔawi	‘hook’
NCV	Mota	kaut	‘catch hold and pluck, twitch’
NCV	Mota	i-kau	‘the cleft bamboo used to twitch off almonds, breadfruit +’
Mic	Kosraean	kai	‘catch with a hook’
Fij	Wayan	kau	‘fishhook (generic term)’
Fij	Wayan	kauti-	‘hook s.t., catch s.t. on a hook’

POc		*gawit, *gawit-i-	‘hook, to catch hold of; fruit crook’
NNG	Lukep	gaot	‘pick (breadfruit)’
PT	Dobu	geuta	‘hook fruit, fruit hook’
SES	Lau	gau	‘pluck fruit with a bamboo or crook’

7. Wringing and squeezing⇫

POc evidently had a substantial number of verbs used of squeezing or wringing something to extract liquid. The substance to which this probably applied with the greatest frequency was grated coconut which had been soaked in water, from which coconut ‘cream’ is extracted by squeezing. The last two items listed here referred to squeezing something by holding it tight. There are several formal overlaps among the items in this section, and these are discussed below.

POc	*(p,pʷ)i(p,pʷ)i(t), *(p,pʷ)iti-	‘press, wring, squeeze s.t. (e.g. in order to extract liquid)’
POc	*popo(s), *pos-i-	‘squeeze, press out’
PNNG	*(p,pʷ)isa(k), *(p,pʷ)isak-i-	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
POc	*poRo(s), *poRos-i	‘squeeze out, wring out (liquid)’
POc	*momo(s)	‘squeeze’
POc	*losi(t)	‘squeeze, wring’
PEOc	*gugu(m), *gumi-	‘grasp in fist, clench fist’
POc	*gumu(t), *gumut-i-	‘hold tight’

PMP		*pitpit	‘clamp, jam, pinch’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*(p,pʷ)i(p,pʷ)i(t)	‘press, wring, squeeze s.t. (e.g. in order to extract liquid)’
NNG	Kove	vivi	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Mengen	viv(pele-)	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Mengen	(kam)vivi-	‘squeeze (out liquid, i.e. coconut), squeeze (in the hand)’
NNG	Numbami	pipi-	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Gedaged	pipi	‘squeeze (out), express, crush, pinch, strangle, compress’
NNG	Manam	pipi	‘squeeze in order to extract the contents, wring out’
PT	Minaveha	pipi	‘squeeze s.t.’
PT	Misima	pi	‘squeeze; wring out (clothes)’
MM	Ramoaaina	wi-wi(ŋ)	‘squeeze, wring clothes; strain juice through cloth’
SV	Lenakel	(a)vət	‘squeeze’

cf. also:

PT	Gumawana	bibi	‘squeeze (boil +)’
PT	Gumawana	(vata)bibi	‘squeeze up against something’
SES	Arosi	bibi	‘crush, squeeze, crowd’

POc		*(p,pʷ)iti-	‘press, wring, squeeze s.t. (e.g. in order to extract liquid)’
Adm	Lou	pit	‘squeeze juice out’
Adm	Drehet	peh	‘squeeze’
NNG	Kis	pti-ti	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Ali	wic	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Mengen	pite	‘press, exert pressure, squeeze, press (s.t. to break it)’
MM	Tolai	pi-pit(e)	‘wring the milk out of grated coconuts through a fibre, squeeze, wring clothes (-e < POc *-aki)’
Mic	Woleaian	fiy(ā)	‘squeeze’
SV	Sye	(a)vsi	‘squeeze (liquid from)’
SV	Anejom̃	(i)vidi(ñ)	‘squeeze (liquid from)’

PMP		*pespes	‘squeeze, press out’ (ACD: PWMP)
POc		*popo(s)	‘squeeze, wring (coconuts to extract cream +)’
Adm	Mussau	poso-, poposo	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Patpatar	pupus(ane)	‘squeeze with wringing motion; squeeze with hands, as of fruit’
MM	Siar	pupus	‘squeeze grease from coconut’

POc		*posi-	‘squeeze, wring (coconuts to extract cream +)’
PT	Kilivila	poli	‘squeeze, wring’
MM	East Kara	pas	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Kandas	pus	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Nehan	pos	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Teop	posi	‘wring, squeeze’
MM	Teop	(i)posi	‘coconut strainer’ (i- < POc *i- INS)
MM	Maringe	poji	‘squeeze, wring liquid, as in making coconut milk or medicine’
SES	Bugotu	poji	‘wring, squeeze, twist’
SES	Gela	poi-posi	‘squeeze and wring out coconut shavings’
SES	Gela	podi	‘squeeze, as in shaking hands’
SES	Gela	poi-podi	‘sieve or strainer of coconut fibre’
Pn	Tongan	fohi	‘remove skin, rind; peel’
Pn	West Futunan	foi-	‘peel or skin (s.t.); peel where the skin is ready to come off (not e.g. taro)’

Blust (ACD) has also reconstructed PMP *pe(R)cit and *becit, both ‘squeeze, squirt out’, from which the items attributed to *pos-i- could, on the face of it, alternatively be derived. However, if PMP *pe(R)cit or *becit were the source of the Oceanic forms, we would expect the POc pair **posi(t), **posit-i-, and the latter is reflected nowhere. Instead, we can reconstruct the pair *popo(s) and *posi-, and it is accordingly more likely that the set above is derived from the latter.

Also reconstructable is PNNG *(p,pʷ)isa(k), *(p,pʷ)isak-i- ‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’. It seems probable that this is a reflex of POc *pisa(k), *pisak-i- ‘split’ (§3.8) which has undergone a change in meaning (essentially from ‘split a coconut to obtain its flesh’ to ‘squeeze the coconut flesh to obtain its sap’). The partial formal similarity of this item to those above may have abetted this shift.

PNNG		*(p,pʷ)isa(k), *(p,pʷ)isak-i-	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Gitua	pisa	‘squeeze’
NNG	Kilenge	pise	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Atui	pis	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Mangap	pīzi	‘wring, squeeze’
NNG	Lukep	pisi	‘squeeze with hands’
NNG	Bing	pis-is	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Manam	pisa	‘squeeze, wring’
NNG	Manam	pisaki	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NNG	Kairiru	fis	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’

cf. also:

NNG	Mangap	bi-bīzi	‘squeeze, be tight, tighten’
NNG	Mangap	(-par)bi-bīzi	‘squeeze oneself into, crowd together into’

PAn		*peRes	‘squeeze out’ (Blust 1972b)
POc		*poRo(s)	‘squeeze out, wring out (liquid)’
NNG	Gitua	poro	‘wring’
NNG	Kove	poho	‘squeeze, wring out; add coconut cream to food; make sago’
NNG	Kairiru	fuor	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Nakanai	volo	‘work sago flour, squeeze the water out’
MM	Ramoaaina	pur	‘squeeze coconut milk onto food’
MM	Maringe	foro	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
NCV	Mota	woro	‘squeeze, wring out juice of herbs, liquor of fruits, over food and things prepared for charms; add coconut sauce to loko (pudding of grated yam)’

POc		*poRos-i-	‘squeeze out, wring out (liquid)’
NNG	Kairiru	furasi	‘wring, squeeze (e.g. in the preparation of coconut cream)’
MM	Tigak	pagosi	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Tabar	poroc(an)	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Siar	poros	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’

It seems likely that in some languages reflexes of POc *poRo(s) ‘squeeze out, wring out (liquid) and POc *piro[-] ’twist together’ or PEOc *pilo(s), *pilos-i- ‘make a cord by twisting fibres on the thigh’ have been conflated. Thus the items below have meanings usually associated with reflexes of *poRo(s) but their forms reflect *piro or *pilo(s), *pilos-i-:

PT	Iduna	vilo-	‘twist, wring (of clothes)’
SES	Kwaio	filo, filo-	‘squeeze, wring’
SES	’Are’are	hirosi	‘wring, twist, roll’
Fij	Wayan	vilo	‘be squeezed and strained through a cloth, as in preparing kava or coconut cream; be wrung out, dried by wringing with the hands’
Fij	Wayan	viloði-	‘squeeze and strain s.t.; wring out wet clothes’

Note that the reflexes of *poRos-i- above are all WOc, whilst those of *pilos-i- are EOc. This distribution suggests that conflation occurred in PEOc, with reflexes of POc *piro[-] ‘twist together’ and POc *poRo(s) ’squeeze out, wring out (liquid) becoming conflated both formally and semantically, giving rise to pilos-i- in place of *poRos-i-.

PMP		*mesmes	‘squeeze’ (Blust 1983–84a)
POc		*momo(s)	‘squeeze’
SES	Sa’a	momo	‘squeeze, press on each side’
SES	Arosi	momo	‘clasp in hand and squeeze’

PMP		*le(c,s)it	‘squeeze out, squirt out’ (ACD)
POc		*losi(t)	‘squeeze, wring’
MM	Roviana	(li)lohi-	‘wring out (wet garment +)’
SES	Gela	luhi-	‘squeeze’
SES	Gela	(loi)losi	‘sponge’
SES	Talise	losi-	‘squeeze’
SES	Longgu	losi-	‘squeeze s.t., wring s.t. out; squeeze milk out of scraped coconut meat immersed in water’
SES	To’aba’ita	losi	‘wring (clothes, grated coconut +) to extract liquid’
SES	Lau	losi	‘wring, squeeze’
SES	Sa’a	(loi)lōsi	‘squeeze, strain out coconut cream from hero (scraped coconut) with unu (fibrous spathe of a coconut frond)’
SES	Arosi	rosi	‘wring, twist, squeeze (coconut fibre in straining coconut scrapings +)’
Fij	Bauan	lose	‘squeeze, wring (chiefly of kava)’

The derivational relationship between the pair of verbs below, PEOc *gugu(m), *gum-i- ‘grasp in fist, clench fist’, evidently still subsists in some Pn languages. Although PEOc *gugu(m) is to our knowledge only reflected in Pn languages, this relationship persists and must go back to PEOc and probably to POc. There is an obvious historical relationship between this pair and Dempwolff’s reconstruction of PMP *gemgem ‘make a fist’, but the reconstructable POc/PEOc vowel is ‘wrong’: *u for expected *o.

PMP		*gemgem	‘make a fist’ (Dempwolff 1938)
PEOc		*gugu(m)	‘grasp in fist, clench fist’
Pn	Tongan	kuku	‘grasp, grip, clutch, hold on to; embrace, cuddle’
Pn	Samoan	ʔuʔu	‘take hold of, grasp’

PEOc		*gumi-	‘grasp in fist, clench fist’
Fij	Wayan	gumi-	‘grasp s.t. in the hand or claw, hold s.t. tightly in the hand’
Fij	Bauan	gumi-	‘clench the fist’
NCV	Raga	ᵑgu-ᵑgum	‘clench fist’
NCV	Tangoa	ku-kumi	‘take in the hand’
NCV	Lonwolwol	gum	‘hold by a grip around’
NCV	Paamese	kumi	‘squeeze, wrestle’
NCal	Nemi	komʷi	‘knead’
Pn	Tongan	kuumi(a)	‘clench, grasp in fist’ (durational of kuku)
Pn	Samoan	ʔu-umi(a)	(passive of ʔuʔu ‘hold, grip, clutch’)
Pn	Tahitian	ʔu-ʔumi	‘squeeze, wring’

The vowel is also ‘wrong’ (except perhaps in the Arosi reflex) in the pair below, which, despite its formal and semantic similarity to the pair above, seems to have a different PMP origin. Similarity has apparently ensured that no language reflects both forms of each pair. Indeed, I suspect that some forms above are historical conflations of reflexes of PEOc *gumi- and *gumu (from POc *gumu(t)).

PMP		*kemes	‘take in the hand, clasp, grasp’ (ACD)
POc		*gumu(t), *gumut-i-	‘hold tight’
NNG	Yabem	gamuʔ	‘knead’
SES	Arosi	gomo	‘squeeze, hold tight, clutch’
Pn	Tahitian	ʔumu	‘express, wring out’
Pn	Māori	kumu-, kumuti-	‘clench, close (as hand), carry in the hand; hold breath’

8. Twisting, plaiting, braiding⇫

The verbs in this section have to do with twisting, plaiting and braiding in general, and more specifically with twisting or rolling fibres to make various kinds of string or cord. The reflexes of some of these verbs overlap in their semantics with those in §7. Other verbs are used of plaiting and weaving to make artefacts such as mats and baskets. They are the following, presented in Chapter 4, §3.2:

POc	*patu(R), *patuR-i-	‘tie, plait, weave (mats, baskets +)’
POc	*aña	‘woven, braided’
POc	*paus, *paus-i-	‘weave, plait’
POc	*tiki[-] (V)	‘plait (mat +)’ (ACD)
POc	*pai	‘weave’

PMP		*piri(c,t)	‘twist, plait’ (Blust 1970)
POc		*piri[-]	‘plait a cord, twist, wrap around’7
Adm	Mussau	iri	‘tie, bind by wrapping around’
NNG	Gedaged	piȴi	‘weave (mats, sails +), (V) braid, knot (the strands of grass-skirts)’
PT	Kilivila	vili	‘tum; make grass-skirts; be twisted’
PT	Molima	vili	‘make a skirt, roll a cigarette, put a headdress round the head’
PT	Motu	hiri	‘fasten by twisting round and round; tie up (a parcel, bundle), twisting string all round it; kill (Pig) for visitors’
MM	Tolai	pir	‘plait (basket, mat +)’
MM	Nakanai	viri	‘twist, wind up, wind around’
MM	Simbo	viri	‘plait, make a basket’
SES	Sa’a	hiri	[v] ‘lap with string, bind spears or arrows’
SES	Arosi	hiri	‘twist, twine round, (snake) coil, wind (a line) round’
NCV	Mota	vir	‘twist, wring, squeeze with a twist, plait’
NCV	Tamambo	viri	‘twist, plait, braid; coconut milk’
SV	Sye	(e)vi	‘weave (basket)’
NCal	Nemi	fili	‘braid’
Mic	Ponapean	pir	‘tum, spin, twist’
Mic	Kosraean	pɨr(aki)	[V] ‘braid, plait’
Fij	Rotuman	hiri	‘plait three strands of sennit, hair +, and the “tail” of a basket or floor-mat made of coconut-leaf, this tail itself being called a hiri’
Fij	Bauan	viri	‘lash (fence, raft +)’
Pn	Samoan	fili	‘plait, braid (sennit, hair +)’

cf. also:

PT	Gumawana	(ki)pili	‘twist s.t., unscrew a lid’
MM	Tolai	pir	‘plait (basket, mat +)’

PEOc		*piri-piri	‘twine round and round; thing made by braiding’8
SES	Sa’a	hiri-hiri	‘plaited spear’
SES	Arosi	hiri-hiri	‘twist, twine round, (snake) coil, wind a line round; a thread for tying a hook to a line’
Pn	Samoan	fili-fili	‘chain’
Pn	Hawaiian	hili-hili	[V] ‘braid, plait, string’

cf. also:

Mic

Woleaian

piri-pir

‘tie, twist, fold, lash (as in twisting ropes)’

Reduplication was regularly used to form intransitive verbs from verbs which were implicitly transitive (Ch 2, §3.1.2).

The two terms below have undoubtedly been conflated in some languages, but the data justify separate reconstructions. With regard to the origin of PEOc *pilo(s), *pilos-i, see the discussion associated with POc *poRo(s), *poRos-i- above (§7).

POc		*piro[-]	‘twist together’ (Bethwyn Evans pers.comm.)
PT	Gapapaiwa	(tura)viro(a)	‘twist’
PT	Molima	vilo-	‘twist’
PT	Iduna	vilo-	‘twist, wring (of clothes)’
SES	Lau	firo, firo-	‘twist together’
SES	Kwaio	filo, filo-	‘squeeze, wring’
SES	Arosi	hiro	‘revolve, spin’
NCV	Mota	viro	‘turn, go round, change, turn out of the way’
Fij	Bauan	viro-viro-	‘(timber) cross-grained’
Pn	Tongan	fio	[VI] ‘mix, mingle’
Pn	Nukuoro	hilo-	‘mix, braid strands of sennit’
Pn	Rarotongan	iro-	‘mix together, mix up, blend’

cf. also:

PT	Gapapaiwa	piro	‘tangle; braid’
SES	Arosi	piro	‘plait the edge of a bag’
Mic	Marshallese	piro	‘twins; double; grown together; joined; two pandanus keys joined together’

PEOc		*pilo(s), *pilos-i	‘make a cord by rolling fibres on the thigh’ (Bethwyn Evans pers.comm.)
SES	Lau	filo	‘twist together (strands)’
SES	Lau	filosi-	‘twist round’
SES	Kwaio	filosi	‘twist, wring’
SES	’Are’are	hirosi	‘wring, twist, roll’
SES	Arosi	hirosi	‘revolve, spin’
NCV	Port Sandwich	vlösi	‘roll on one’s thigh’
NCV	Paamese	vilesi	[VT] ‘turn around, turn over’
Fij	Wayan	vilo	‘be squeezed and strained through a cloth, as in preparing kava or coconut cream; be wrung out, dried by wringing with the hands’
Fij	Wayan	viloði-	‘squeeze and strain s.t. ; wring out wet clothes’
Fij	Bauan	vulo	‘twist a thread on the knee’
Pn	Tongan	filo, filohi	‘thread; spin, make thread, string, rope’
Pn	Niuean	filo	‘twist (as a rope); string, thread, reel of cotton’
Pn	Takuu	filo	‘roll rope on thigh’
Pn	Mangarevan	hiro	‘make threads by rolling filaments on the thigh’
Pn	Hawaiian	hilo	‘twist, braid, spin; twisted, braided’

cf. also:

NNG	Mengen	bulosi	‘bore’
MM	Nakanai	pulo	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
MM	Meramera	pule	‘squeeze (grated coconut +)’
SES	Sa’a	pulo	‘turn over, twist’
SES	Lau	bulo-bulo	‘twist’
Pn	Ifira-Mele	polōsi(a)	‘twist’

An unrelated PPn term has been reconstructed for the same process, *amo ‘prepare fibres for string-making (by rubbing between hands or on thigh); prepared fibre’ (Biggs & Clark 1993)

POc		*loqi	‘make thread by rolling fibres on the thigh’ (Chowning 1991: *loi ‘thread made …’)
MM	Nakanai	loi	‘rub between the hands’
MM	Tolai	loe	[V] ‘twist, coil’
MM	Tolai	lo-loi	[V] ‘roll or coil (strips of shell money)’
SES	Kwaio	loi	‘weave a net, knit’
NCV	Nguna	lo-lo	‘thread’
Pn	Māori	roi(roki)	‘secured, tied up; knot, bind’

PWOc		*mʷali[-]	‘braid large ropes (for use with canoes +)’ (Chowning 1991)
NNG	Lukep	mol-	‘twist into a loop’
NNG	Manam	moli	‘plait’
PT	Sudest	mʷana(basi)	‘twist (s.t.)’
MM	Nakanai	mali	‘plait (mat)’

POc		*piji(r), *pijir-i-	‘braid, twist together’
NNG	Takia	pide	‘braid’
NNG	Mangseng	pit	‘twist off, pick off’
NNG	Mapos Buang	bij	‘squeeze’
MM	Patpatar	hidi	‘plait’
MM	Nduke	piduri-	‘squeeze’
SES	Bugotu	pijiri	‘plait with three or four strands’
SES	Gela	pidiri	‘intertwine the strands of a rope; a fishing line’
Mic	Kiribati	bira	‘braid’
Mic	Marshallese	pitʷ	‘twist sennit’
Mic	Mokilese	pit	[VT] ‘wind (rope)’
Mic	Woleaian	fitī	‘tie, bind, tangle, spiral, wrap’

POc		*bo(q)u(k), *bo(q)uk-i-	‘feel with fingers, lay hand on, squeeze’
MM	Nduke	bou(a)	‘squeeze’
Fij	Wayan	bō, bōki-	‘feel or squeeze with the fingers, lay hold firmly on s.t.’
Fij	Bauan	bō, bōk(a)	‘seize, squeeze, lay hands firmly on’
Fij	Bauan	bōbōk(a)	‘seize or squeeze (s.t.)’
Fij	Rotuman	hō	‘squeeze, wring’
Pn	Tongan	pōpō	‘wipe after urinating (women)’
Pn	Samoan	pōpō	‘pat’
Pn	Māori	pōpō	‘pat with hand, soothe’

PWOc		*b(u,o)go	‘twist, wring’
NNG	Mangap	bōgo (sua)	‘twist talk, accuse falsely, give false testimony’
NNG	Mengen	bugo	‘twisted up (e.g. rope)’
MM	Ririo	pugo	‘squeeze’
MM	Babatana	pugo	‘squeeze’
MM	Sisiqa	pogo	‘squeeze’

cf. also:

MM

Nakanai

vugo

‘(hair) snarled or tangled; tie (a knot)’

The two terms below, POc *kili(s), *kilis-i- ‘twist, bore, rotate’ and POc *wiri(t) ‘twist, turn, revolve’, are verbs of rotating, whose reflexes vary among twisting, drilling and braiding.

POc		*kili(s), *kilis-i-	‘twist, bore, rotate’
NNG	Mangap	kir	‘bore, drill a hole into something hard’
NNG	Roinji	kiri-	‘bore (hole)’
NNG	Manam	kuiri	‘bore (hole)’
NNG	Mapos Buang	kiri(n)	‘turn, bore, rotate, open (a tap +)’
MM	Ramoaaina	kili	‘twist up the strands of a string; spin, as a top or a cord; go around’ (in compound verbs ‘around’)
NCV	Lonwolwol	kilh(e)	‘turn, turn around’
NCV	Lonwolwol	kilih	‘be twisted, turned, sprained’

cf. also:

Fij	Nadrogā	gili-	‘braid’
Fij	Bauan	gili	‘twist or rub in the hands’

The term below bears a formal and semantic resemblance to POc *piri ‘twist’ (§8) but is distinct from it:

PMP		*wirit	‘twist’ (ACD)
POc		*wiri(t)	‘twist, turn, revolve’
Fij	Bauan	wiri	‘turn, revolve’
Pn	Tongan	vili	‘drill, bore’
Pn	Samoan	vili	‘(of thread, top, coin +) spin; drill; revolve, rotate’
Pn	Māori	wiri	‘bore, twist; gimlet, auger’

9. Bending and folding⇫

POc		*loku(t), *lokut-i-	‘bend, fold’
Adm	Lou	liɔt	‘bend, joint’
PT	Motu	loku	‘double up, fold, roll up’
MM	Sursurunga	lukus, luksi	‘bend (a limb or finger)’
SES	Gela	logu	‘bend, fold double, as bamboo tongs’
SES	Longgu	loʔu-	[VT] ‘bend’
SES	Longgu	loʔu-loʔu	[VI] ‘bend back and forth’
SES	Arosi	roʔu(ni)	‘bend, fold; curl up legs’
SES	Sa’a	loku	‘bend, be doubled back, to curl’
Fij	Rotuman	loʔu	‘bend at an angle, fold, crease’
Fij	Wayan	lokuði-	‘bent; twist, fold s.t.’
Fij	Bauan	loku	‘bent, folded’
Pn	Niuean	lo-loku	‘bend’
Pn	Samoan	loʔu	‘be bent, curved’
Pn	Māori	roku	‘bend; to be weighed down’

The seeming PMP ancestor of this form is PMP *lekuʔ ‘bend, fold, folding part of the body’ (ACD), but this source is called into question by the root-final POc *-t reflected in the Lou, Sursurunga and Wayan items above.

10. Fastening and lashing together⇫

Terms for materials used for cordage or string are reconstructed in Chapter 4, §3.2. As well as the verbs listed below, reflexes of POc *patu(R), *patuR-i- ‘tie, plait, weave (mats, baskets +)’ (Ch. 4, §3.1.1) and POc verb *saqi(t) ‘sew’ (Ch. 4, §3.2.1) are also used for tying. This was evidently one of the POc meanings of the former, but probably not of the latter. Other verbs for various kinds of tying are listed below. POc *buku ‘tie (a knot); fasten’ was probably a generic term for tying, whilst POc *pʷita ‘tie by encircling’, POc *paqu(s), *paqus-i- ‘bind, lash; construct (canoe +) by tying together’, and POc *pisi ‘bind up, tie up, wind round, wrap’ had more specialised meanings. There is insufficient information about POc *kiti ‘tie, bind’ to attribute a more specific meaning to it.

The first POc verb reconstructed below is identical to POc *buku ‘node …’ (Ch. 4, §3.2), a noun which referred among other things to knots. It is possible that the verbs listed below under *buku are independent developments from the POc noun. However, since many POc roots seem to have functioned as both noun and verb, we reconstruct the verb here.

The second verb, *bukuti, is odd, in that it implies a PMP root **bukut, but the reconstructable PMP form is *buku (Ch. 4, §3.2) without final *-t. We assume that *-t- was inserted by analogy with other transitive verbs.

POc		*buku	‘tie (a knot); fasten’
NNG	Lukep	buk	‘tie (a knot)’
NNG	Mangap	mbuk	‘tie (a knot)’
NNG	Roinji	buɣu	‘tie’
NNG	Hote	puk	‘fasten; dress’
MM	Roviana	puku	[V] ‘tie or knot’
Mic	Woleaian	ɸugo-ɸugo	[V] ‘knot, tie’
Fij	Bauan	buku	‘tie a knot, fasten two things together’

POc		*bukuti	[VT] ‘tie (a knot); fasten’
MM	Ririo	pukici	‘tie’
MM	Babatana	pukiti	‘tie’
Mic	Marshallese	pʷiwciy	[VT] ‘knot’
Mic	Woleaian	ɸugosii	[VT] ‘knot’
Mic	Chuukese	pʷukeey	[VT] ‘knot’
Fij	Bauan	bukuti	[VT] ‘knot’

The verb POc *pʷita ‘tie by encircling’ was evidently used of tying a cord around, e.g., a limb (see also Ch. 8, § 13):

POc		*pʷita, *pʷita-i-	‘tie by encircling, ensnare’
NNG	Lukep	wit	‘tie by encircling’
NNG	Lukep	wit(kala)	‘tie together’
NNG	Lukep	pit	‘snare, trap; to trap’
NNG	Mangap	mbit	‘tie up with rope, fasten’
NNG	Mangap	(na)pit-pit	‘snare, trap for rats, pigs, bandicoot’ (na- indicates a borrowing from Kilenge)
NNG	Mengen	(sam)pite	‘tie securely, tighten’
NNG	Mengen	(bago)pita	‘fasten (to help it to float)’
NNG	Takia	pite(lak)	‘tie on (as grass-skirt)’
MM	Sursurunga	puti	‘tie together’
MM	Ramoaaina	pita	‘hang up in the house; tie to the end of anything’
MM	Ramoaaina	pit	‘tie’
MM	Ramoaaina	pit-pit	‘line, snare’
MM	Ramoaaina	piti	[V] ‘snare’
SES	Gela	piti-	‘tie’
SES	West Guadalcanal	piti	‘tie’
SES	Longgu	piti-	‘trap an animal’s leg; tie s.t. around ankle or wrist’
Pn	Tokelauan	fi-fita	‘(garments) be too tight’
Pn	Māori	ɸita	‘firm, secure, fast’

POc *paqu(s), *paqus-i- was apparently used of tying together larger objects, like the parts of a canoe.

PCEMP		*paqu(s)	‘tie, bind’9
POc		*paqu(s), *paqus-i-	‘bind, lash; construct (canoe +) by tying together’
Adm	Loniu	husi	‘tie, fasten’
Adm	Lou	po	‘tie with a rope’
NNG	Manam	wauri	‘tie’
NNG	Lukep	pau	‘tie’
NNG	Takia	fou	‘tie, bind; construct (a canoe)’
NNG	Mengen	pau(e)	‘fasten’
NNG	Hote	vak	‘hold, bind, fasten, give’
NNG	Mapos Buang	vaku	‘tie, fasten; carry; on a pole between two people’
SJ	Sobei	fau	‘tie’
MM	Roviana	pusi	‘bind’ (also the name of a vine used for this purpose)
SES	Lau	foo	‘bind’
SES	Arosi	hoʔosi	[VT] ‘bind, fasten, tie’
SES	Sa’a	hoʔosi	[VT] ‘bind’
NCV	Raga	vauhi-	‘bind, tie’
Mic	Kiribati	bou	‘construct (canoe, house)’
Mic	Marshallese	yawyəw	[VI] ‘bind with sennit; lash’
Mic	Marshallese	yawitʷ	[VT] ‘bind with sennit; lash’
Mic	Woleaian	fø̄fø	[VI] ‘tie, bind’
Mic	Woleaian	fø̄t(agiy)	[VT] ‘anchor, tie’
Fij	Bauan	vauð(a)	‘tie’
Pn	Samoan	fau	‘make, construct (wooden objects, canoes +)’
Pn	Tongan	faʔu	‘tie’
Pn	Rennellese	haʔu	‘tie, lash’

It is just possible that the item above is in fact identical to POc *paus, *paus-i- ‘weave, plait’ (Ch. 4, §3.1.1). Unfortunately, we have found no language in which reflexes of the two items are in contrast. On the other hand, we find widely scattered reflexes with two separate sets of glosses, ‘weave, plait’ and ‘bind, lash, fasten’, and it seems judicious to keep them apart.

POc		*pisi[-]	‘bind up, tie up, wind round, wrap’
MM	Bali	vizi	‘tie’
MM	Minigir	visi	‘tie’
MM	Mono-Alu	pi-pisi	‘tie (parcel +)’
NCV	Mota	viv	‘bind round’
NCV	Mota	vi-vis	‘wind round, bind; to tie’
NCV	Port Sandwich	pisi	‘bind up leg, to tie up, around’
NCV	Nguna	vi-visi(ki)	‘wrap around; wrap (cut finger +) with (cloth +)’
Mic	Mortlockese	fiti	‘wrap’
Mic	Satawalese	fiti	‘tie (lei +)’
Fij	Bauan	viði	‘bind, coil, roll up’
Pn	Tongan	fihi	‘tangled, intricate, complicated, problematical’
Pn	Tongan	fi-fihi	‘badly tangled’
Pn	Samoan	fisi	‘entwine’

The item below, POc *kiti ‘tie, bind’, is reconstructed at POc level because it is fairly clear that there was a PAn root *-kit. This, according to the theory of PAn monosyllabic roots outlined in Ch. 2, §3.1.3, would have resulted in a PMP **kit-kit ‘tie, fasten’ (as yet not directly attested), and this in its turn would have given rise to POc **kiki(t) and *kit-i-, of which only the latter is attested:

PAn		*-kit	‘join along the length’ (Blust 1988: 111-112)
POc		*kiti[-]	‘tie, bind’
NNG	Yabem	kiʔ	‘tie’
MM	Nakanai	kisi	‘fasten; tie; tie up’
MM	Solos	kit	‘tie’
MM	Teop	kisi	‘fasten, tie, bundle’
MM	Taiof	kic-kic	‘tie’

11. Applying heat and burning⇫

POc had a number of verbs expressing the various ways in which heat can be applied. The reflexes of some of these, like POc *mʷaRi ‘roast, burn’ (Ch. 6, §3.2), are used almost exclusively in the context of cooking, and are therefore presented in Chapter 6. The reflexes of others, like POc *tunu ‘roast, burn’ (Ch. 6, §3.2), POc *raraŋ, *raraŋ-i- ‘warm s.t./s.o.’ (Ch. 4, §3.1.1), and POc *sunu ‘singe’ (Ch. 6, §3.6), are used both for cooking and for other kinds of heat application, and so are given here with reduced cognate sets. Two further terms, POc *soko(t), *sokot-i- ‘burn (grass +)’ and POc *tutu(ŋ), *tuŋi ‘light, set fire to’, were used for burning but apparently did not apply to cookery.

PAn		*CuNuh	‘roast food over a fire’ (ACD)
POc		*tunu	‘roast on embers or in fire; burn (s.t.); make decorative cicatrices by burning the skin’
Adm	Wuvulu	unu	‘cook, roast’
NNG	Gedaged	tun(i)	‘cause to burn, light (a fire so it burns well), set fire’
NNG	Sengseng	tun	‘burn; burn shells or limestone to make lime; burn cicatrices; set fire to’
PT	Motu	tunu-	‘bake pottery’
MM	Tolai	tun	‘burn, cook, roast, broil’
MM	Roviana	tunu	‘burn scars on the arm (as is often done by young boys)’
SES	Bugotu	tunu	‘a mark, blot, cicatrice caused by burning’
SES	Sa’a	ūnu-unu	‘burn in the fire, roast flesh on the embers; raise cicatrices on the body by burning’
NCV	Mota	tun	‘roast on or over embers’
NCal	Nemi	cini	‘burn, grill in fire’
Mic	Kiribati	tin-tin	‘grill or roast on open fire’
Fij	Bauan	tunu	‘warm food up again’
Pn	Tongan	tunu	‘cook on open fire’

PAn		*da(n)daŋ	‘heat s.t. or warm oneself by fire’ (Dempwolff 1938) 10
POc		*raraŋ, *raŋ-i-	‘heat s.t. or warm oneself by fire’ (see ChA, §3.1.1)
NNG	Manam	raraŋ	‘warm up (food that has become cold), warm up again’
PT	Molima	lala	‘wilt pandanus leaves over a fire in order to soften them for mat making’
MM	Nakanai	lala	‘wilt pandanus leaves over a fire in order to soften them for mat making’
SES	Sa’a	ra-raŋi	‘warm oneself at the fire’
NCV	Raga	ra-raŋi	‘roast on embers’
SV	Kwamera	(a)rəŋi	‘singe, burn (hair off pig), warm, dry by fire’
Mic	Mokilese	rɔŋ-rɔŋ	‘warm oneself’
Mic	Marshallese	raŋ-raŋ	‘warm oneself by the fire’
Fij	Bauan	ra-raŋ-	‘warm oneself at a fire; of pain, smart slightly’
Pn	Pukapukan	lala	‘bleach pandanus leaves by passing them over a fire’
Pn	Hawaiian	lala	‘warm up, cook over fire; warm oneself by a fire’

POc		*sunu	‘singe’
Adm	Loniu	sun
Adm	Nyindrou	sun	‘burn or cook (over fire); roast’
PT	Kilivila	sulu-sulu	‘cook’
MM	Nakanai	sulu-lu
Mic	Marshallese	tʷini-y
Fij	Rotuman	su-sunu	‘burn, scorch’
Fij	Wayan	cunu	‘be burnt or branded by a smouldering stick or firebrand’
Pn	Tongan	hunu

PMP		*zeket	‘burn (fields +)’ (ACD)
POc		*soko(t), *sokot-i-	‘burn (grass, rubbish +)’
Adm	Lou	sakot	‘burn on’
MM	Bulu	roɣo	‘(fire) burn’
MM	Lihir	so	‘(fire) burn’
MM	Lihir	sakt	‘burn (grass)’
MM	Barok	soŋot	‘burn (grass); bake (on fire)’
MM	Tangga	sok	‘(fire) burn’
MM	Nehan	suk	[ADJ] ‘burnt’; [V] ‘singe’

cf. also:

SES

Arosi

togo

‘make up a fire, set more wood on’

PMP		*tutuŋ	‘set on fire, burn’ (Dempwolff 1938) 11
POc		*tutu(ŋ)	‘light, set fire to’ (Blust 1972b)
NNG	Mengen	to	[VI] ‘burn’
Fij	Wayan	tutu	‘be alight, lit, started, going’
Fij	Bauan	tutu	‘light a lamp, set fire to a thing’
Pn	Tongan	tutu	‘set on fire or burn up’
Pn	Samoan	tutu	‘light (lamp, fire +)’

POc		*tuŋi	‘light, set fire to’
Adm	Drehet	suŋ	‘burn’
NNG	Bing	tuŋ	‘burn’
NNG	Mengen	toŋe	[VT] ‘burn’
Fij	Wayan	tuni	‘light (fire, lamp +)’
Pn	Tongan	tuŋi(a)	‘set fire to’
Pn	Samoan	tuŋi(a)	‘be set alight’
Pn	Māori	tuŋi	‘set light to’
SES	Kwaio	sūŋi-	‘burn (s.t.)’
SES	Arosi	suŋi-	‘burn (s.t.)’

Notes⇫