Chapter 4.4 Aquatic invertebrates

Andrew Pawley

1. Introduction⇫

This chapter deals with invertebrates that are aquatic or semi-aquatic, such as crustaceans, molluscs, echinoderms, sea-worms, jellyfish and corals.¹ It addresses the following questions: (1) What terms for aquatic invertebrates can be attributed to Proto Oceanic (POc) and other high-order interstages of Oceanic? (2) What uses were made of these animals? (3) How does the number of taxa reconstructable for POc compare with the number attested in well-described contemporary languages?

The marine invertebrate fauna of the tropical southwest and central Pacific is fairly uniform, so that when Oceanic speakers first dispersed across this region some 3000 years ago they generally encountered familiar creatures. It must be added that not every island or island group has the full range of habitats: fringing coral reefs, mangrove forests, estuarine mudflats, seagrass flats, etc.

Molluscs, crustaceans and echinoderms gathered in and around the intertidal zone form one of the most reliable protein food sources of coastal Oceanic communities. The bulk of foraging for invertebrates in this zone is done by women while in most societies diving for lobsters and deep water molluscs is mainly men’s work. Mollusc shells were traditionally made into a variety of tools and ornaments. Archaeological discoveries underline the longstanding importance of water invertebrates to speakers of Oceanic languages. Living sites and middens left by bearers of the Lapita culture contain extensive remains of molluscs and crustaceans and artefacts made from mollusc shells (see §4.1).

Linguistic evidence that foraging on the reef for invertebrates was important to Proto Oceanic speakers is found in two widespread cognate sets noted by Clark (1991). Clark’s POc reconstructions are given below, with a few additional cognates.² The first is a verb.

POc		*paŋoda	‘gather seafood on the reef’ (Clark 1991)
PT	Gapapaiwa	vanota	‘net prawns’
PT	Motu	haoda	‘to fish’
MM	Teop	vagana	(1) ‘gather marine organisms on the reef’; (2) ‘to fish, go fishing’
SES	Bugotu	vaŋoda	‘hunt for shellfish on the reef’3
SES	Gela	vaŋoda	[V] ‘collect food on the reef.’; [N] ‘shellfish, crustaceans and echinoderms gathered on the reef’
SES	Sa’a	haŋoda	‘Haliotis, abalone’
NCV	Mota	vaŋona	‘catch fish with a line, get shell-fish, etc. for a relish’
NCV	Nguna	(pa)vaŋoda	‘look for shellfish, gather shells, fish for seafish’
NCV	Southeast Ambrym	pœŋor	‘to fish’
NCV	Namakir	(ba)vaŋot	‘forage on reef’
NCV	Lonwolwol	foŋōr	‘look for fish’
NCV	Uripiv	(e)vaŋor	‘forage on the reef’
SV	Anejom̃	(a)haŋec	‘forage on reef’
Mic	Marshallese	yaŋʷeɹ	‘go fishing’
Fij	Rotuman	haŋota	[v] ‘to fish.’; [N] ‘fishing excursion, shoal of fish’
Pn	Tongan	fāŋota	‘to fish, or to search for shell-fish or any kind of fiŋota’
Pn	Niuean	faŋota	‘gather shellfish on the reef’
Pn	Rennellese	hāŋota	‘to fish or gather shells, especially by women on the reef’
Pn	Ifira-Mele	fāŋota	‘gather shellfish etc. on the reef’

The second reconstruction, *p⟨in⟩aŋoda, is a nominalisation of the verb using the infix *⟨in⟩, which in POc typically derived a noun denoting the thing acted on or produced by the action of the verb. It is likely that *piŋoda was present in POc as a fast speech variant: reflexes of *p⟨in⟩aŋoda show loss of the second syllable in all Polynesian languages and in some North and Central Vanuatu and Papuan Tip languages.

POc		*p⟨in⟩aŋoda, *piŋoda	‘seafood gathered on the reef, edible sea invertebrates’ (Clark 1991)
PT	Molima	igoda	‘collect shellfish’
PT	Kilivila	vigoda	‘shell (clams, snails)’
PT	Dobu	igoda	[v] ‘gather shellfish’; [N] ‘shellfish’
MM	Tolai	vinaŋonoi	‘generic name for sea shells’ (final syllable irregular)
NCV	Nguna	vinaŋoda	‘shell, shellfish’
Pn	Tongan	fiŋota	‘sea creature of any kind other than vertebrates: shell-fish, crustaceans, cuttle-fish, jellyfish, eels, sea-snakes, sea-slugs, starfish, etc. and even sea-weeds’
Pn	Niuean	fiŋota	(1) ‘shellfish’; (2) ‘gather shellfish’ (McEwen); ‘an edible sea crab’ (Sperlich)
Pn	Samoan	fīŋota	‘general term for edible molluscs and invertebrate sea animals’
Pn	Takuu	fīnota	‘various kinds of shell-fish and seafoods gathered by women’

2. Classification of marine invertebrates⇫

2.1. Zoological classification⇫

In the discussion that follows cognate sets presented will be grouped under standard zoological categories. Zoology offers a complex phylogenetic taxonomy of invertebrates based on current views of their evolutionary relationships and morphological characters. The invertebrate family tree distinguishes more than 20 levels of grouping from kingdom down to species. Here we need only note those distinctions which will be useful in organising the material from Oceanic languages.

phylum	class	(sub)order	tribe
ARTHROPODA
	Crustacea
		Decapoda
			Palinura and Astacura: crayfish, lobsters, slipper lobsters
			Anomura: hermit crabs, coconut crabs, mangrove lobster, etc.
			Brachyura: true crabs
		Natantia: true prawns and shrimps
		Stomatopoda: Mantis shrimps, etc.
		Thoracia: barnacles
		shrimp-like animals
MOLLUSCA
		Gastropoda: univalves or snail-like shellfish
		Bivalvia (Pelecypoda): bivalves or clam-like shellfish
		Cephalopoda: octopus, squid, nautilus
		Amphineura: chitons
ECHINODERMATA
	Echinoidea: sea eggs (sea urchins)
	Asteroidea: starfish
	Ophiuroidea: brittle starfish
	Holothuroidea: sea cucumbers (bêche de mer, trepang, holothurians)
	Crinoidea: sea lilies and feather stars
CNIDARIA (COELENTERATA)
	Anthozoa: corals, anemones
	Scyphozoa: true jellyfish
	Hydrozoa: fire corals, hydroids, siphonophores
	Ctenophora: comb jellyfish
WORM-LIKE: annelids, nemerteans, acanthoceaphalans
PORIPHERA: sponges

2.2. Oceanic folk taxonomies of aquatic invertebrates⇫

In order to get an idea of the likely size and taxonomic structure of the POc lexicon for aquatic invertebrates one must look at contemporary languages whose speakers exploit a marine and shore environment fairly similar to that inhabited by POc speakers. Unfortunately there are very few systematic studies in this domain. There is a fairly detailed account of aquatic invertebrate taxonomy in Wayan, a dialect of the Western Fijian language (Pawley 1994, Pawley and Sayaba 2003) spoken on two small islands on the western margin of Fiji. Wayan speakers distinguish by name more than 240 marine invertebrate taxa.⁴ Almost 150 of these names apply to molluscs, about 48 to crustaceans, about 31 to echinoderms, about 12 to coelenterates and about five to marine worms.

Folk classifications of animals have many fewer levels than those recognised by zoologists. Berlin (1992) has discussed at length the organising principles underlying folk taxonomies of animals and plants (see chapter 8 for more detail). As folk taxonomies go, the Wayan classification of aquatic animals is among the more complex. Some domains have a depth of six contrasting levels - two levels more than Berlin’s model recognises as the known maximum for folk taxonomies of wild animals.

Table 4.1 shows the contrasts between some first-order categories of invertebrates that occur in the Wayan Fijian taxonomy. These fall under no higher category other than manumanu, which refers to all creatures.

In many respects Wayan higher-order taxa differ markedly from those found in zoological classifications. For instance, there is no echinoderm category: sea cucumbers, sea urchins, starfish and brittle starfish are each assigned to separate primary taxa. There is no category corresponding to crustaceans. There is a general name for sea cucumbers but no overt taxon uniting the various sea urchin taxa (these animals represent a covert category, which Wayans readily identify by a descriptive phrase such as manumanu laulau ni ðakau ‘spiky animals of the reef’). Unsurprisingly, octopus and squid form a primary taxon apart from other molluscs. There is a generic for gastropods (ðiði) but no generic for all bivalves. Instead there are generics for burrowing bivalves (tavē) and all kinds of oysters (ðiva). Wayan also has a category, manumanu gwāgwā, that refers to edible decapods, subsuming ura, seka, tubā, uŋa and tolā. However, this is a ‘collective’ category rather than a true superordinate taxon: one does not point to an animal and identify it as a manumanu gwāgwā.

Table 4.1 Some high-order aquatic invertebrate taxa in Wayan

1.	manumanu	‘animals, creatures’
2.	ura	prawns & lobsters
	seka	aquatic crabs
	tubā	land crabs
	uŋa	hermit crabs, coconut crabs
	ðiði	gastropods
	tavē	burrowing bivalves
	ðiva	oysters
	sulua	octopus & squid
	drī	sea cucumbers
	[covert]	sea urchins
	ikali ni ikō	starfish
	sulua vadravadra	brittle starfish
	baya ni waitaði	sea worms
	bōsuðu	sea slugs
	drālevu	sea hares
	dromani	anemones
	lase	hard corals
	sam	jellyfish

Systematic descriptions of other Oceanic taxonomies are admittedly few but the available evidence suggests that the size and taxonomic structure of the Wayan terminology are fairly typical of Oceanic-speaking maritime communities.⁵ It is reasonable to assume that the POc taxonomy was roughly of the same order.

3. Crustaceans⇫

From the limited evidence available it seems that Oceanic languages spoken by coastal communities typically distinguish some 40-50 crustacean taxa, of which between 20 and 40 taxa are crabs.

3.1. Order Decapoda: crabs, lobsters, prawns⇫

The crustaceans named and taken for food and bait in Oceanic societies are almost exclusively decapods. There is a well established PMP generic for prawns and crayfish, which is continued in POc.

PAn		*qudaŋ	‘shrimp, lobster’ (Blust 2002)
POc		*quraŋ	‘generic for prawns and shrimps, crayfish and lobsters’
NNG	Manam	uro	‘crayfish’
PT	Dobu	ʔula(boʔa)	‘lobster, medium sized’
PT	Motu	ura	‘crayfish’
MM	Nalik	uraŋ	‘crayfish’
SES	Gela	ura	‘generic for crayfish, Panulirus spp.’
SES	’Are’are	ura	‘shrimp, crayfish, prawn’
SES	Arosi	ura	‘a small prawn’
SES	Sa’a	ura	‘crayfish, prawn’
NCV	Mota	ura	‘crayfish’
NCV	Raga	ura	‘generic for crayfish’
NCV	Namakir	ʔira	‘crayfish, shrimp’
NCV	Sakao	uraŋ	‘crayfish’
Mic	Kiribati	ura	‘lobster’
NCal	Nemi	kula	‘prawn’
Fij	Bauan	ura	‘generic for prawns and crayfish’
Fij	Wayan	ura	‘generic for prawns and shrimps, and in extended sense also for lobsters (urau)’
PPn		*qura	‘crayfish’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	ʔuo	‘generic for crayfish and prawns’
Pn	Samoan	ula	‘crayfish’
Pn	Samoan	ula-tai	‘a saltwater shrimp’
Pn	Samoan	ula-a-vai	‘a freshwater shrimp’

3.2. Palinura: spiny lobsters⇫

The Palinura are represented in Oceania by two major families: (1) Palinuridae, spiny or rock lobsters and (2) Scyllaridae, slipper or shovel-nosed lobsters. (The terms ‘lobster’ and ‘crayfish’ are used interchangeably by many English speakers and the gloss ‘crayfish’ is commonly found in the dictionaries and wordlists.)

3.2.1. Palinuridae, spiny lobsters⇫

Lobsters are prized food in the Oceanic world. Among the spiny lobsters the commonest species is Palinurus pencillatus, the common spiny lobster. Palinurus versicolor is a larger, more colourful relative. These are distinguished as specifics in Wayan.

In contemporary languages reflexes of the POc generic *quraŋ (see §3.1) are typically applied to spiny lobsters (Palinurus spp.) as opposed to the very distinctive slipper lobsters (Scyllaridae). It is likely that this was also the case in POc.

3.2.2. Scyllaridae, slipper (or shovel-nosed) lobsters⇫

Slipper lobsters are a family of clawless decapods with a very distinctive appearance, having a broad flat carapace and enlarged antennae projecting forward from the head as wide plates. Species of this family are found in warm waters throughout Oceania. A term for slipper lobster can be tentatively reconstructed for POc but the comparisons are phonologically problematic.

POc		*[pa]paba	‘Parribacus sp. (Scyllaridae), slipper lobster’
PT	Misima	sapapa	‘k.o. saltwater lobster, lacking long feelers’ (*p > s irregular)
MM	Tolai	papaba	‘crayfish sp.’
SES	Gela	mapa	‘slipper lobster’ (perhaps dissimilation: *p > m, for †*v)
NCV	Mwotlap	na-vam	‘slipper lobster, Parribacus caledonicus’
NCV	Mota	vavapa	‘kind of crawfish’
NCV	Uripiv	ne-vep	‘slipper lobster, Parribacus caledonicus’
NCV	Naman	ne-vev	‘slipper lobster, Parribacus caledonicus’
NCV	Unua	nepep	‘slipper lobster, Parribacus caledonicus’
NCV	South Efate	pepep	‘slipper lobster, Parribacus caledonicus’
NCal	Iaai	(wa)hep	‘slipper lobster’ (*p > h, for †*v)

There is a well attested term in PCP which shows some resemblance to the above. However, the correspondence of PPn *t to Fijian ð indicates a PCP palatal (which Blust (1978b) writes *c and Geraghty 1986 as *j).

PCP		*jabajaba	‘Parribacus sp. (Scyllaridae), slipper lobster’
Fij	Wayan	ðabaðaba	‘Parribacus sp., similar to Moreton Bay Bug’
PPn		*tapatapa	‘Moreton Bay Bug’ (pollex)
Pn	East Futunan	tapatapa	‘Moreton Bay Bug’
Pn	Kapingamarangi	tapatapa	‘Parribacus antartica, sand lobster’
Pn	Nukuoro	tapatapa	‘slipper lobster’
Pn	Tikopia	tapatapa	‘large edible prawn (unidentified), up to 20 cm’

cf. also:

NNG	Gedaged	sabai	‘shrimp, prawn, freshwater crayfish’ (sabai dumadum ‘small marine crayfish, up to 12 inches long’)
SV	Kwamera	təpatəpa	‘slipper lobster, Parribacus caledonicus’ (probably a loan from Polynesian)

Another set of resemblant forms, represented in certain MM languages of New Georgia and Santa Isabel and in one SES language, shows a superficial resemblance to the Central Pacific forms but the sound correspondences do not match and point instead to an earlier form such as *pepete or *tepe-tepe).

MM	Roviana	pepete	‘a crustacean resembling Ibacus ciliatus’
MM	Marovo	pepete	‘shovel-nosed lobster’
MM	Nduke	epete	‘shovel-nosed lobster, Thenus or Ibacus sp.’
MM	Maringe	pʰapate	‘edible saltwater crustacean, crayfish-like’
SES	Ghari	tepe-tepe	‘small crayfish of reef’ (metathesis?)

3.3. Suborder Natantia: true prawns and shrimps⇫

In many Oceanic languages reflexes of *guraŋ serve as the general name for prawns and shrimps and this was evidently the case in POc. However, a second term, *luRa, has reflexes in certain Micronesian and Fijian languages.

PROc		*luRa	‘small shrimp’ (Geraghty 1990: PEOc)
Mic	Ponapean	lūr	‘a small shrimp’
Mic	Mokilese	lūr	‘a small shrimp’
Fij	(many dialects)	lua	‘a small shrimp’

cf. also:

NNG

Sengseng

e-lus

‘freshwater shrimp’

3.4. Suborder Anomura: hermit crabs, mud lobsters, half-crabs⇫

The Anomura, which include hermit and coconut crabs, are not true crabs but form a suborder that is sister to true crabs (Brachyura). They have a long abdomen and appear to have only three pairs of walking legs, the last pair usually being hidden inside the gill chamber under the carapace. The Anomura are an extremely varied group and no Oceanic language has a name for the group as a whole.

3.4.1. Paguroidea: Coenobitidae (hermit and coconut crabs), and Diogenidae and Paguridae (sea-dwelling hermit crabs)⇫

This group includes the familiar hermit crabs which carry a gastropod shell to protect their long soft abdomen. The coenobitids are terrestrial hermit crabs which have the left claw larger than or equal to the right. The coenobitids include the large coconut crab (or robber crab). The pagurids have a larger right claw. The sea-dwelling hermit crabs of the families Diogenidae and Paguridae are considerably larger than land-dwelling hermit crabs, growing up to 7 to 10 cm in length.

3.4.2. Birgus latro, coconut crab⇫

There is a strongly supported reconstruction for the coconut crab, Birgus latro, which climbs coconut trees to sever coconuts and is widely believed by Oceanic comunities to be able to open coconuts. This very large crab is considered a delicacy and has been hunted to extinction on some smaller islands.

PMP		*qayuyu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’ (Blust 2002)
POc		*qayuyu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’ (Blust 1972b)
Yap	Yapese	ʔayūy	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Adm	Mussau	aiu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Adm	Titan	kasusu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Adm	Wuvulu	aruru	(Blust 1996b: 20)
PT	Dobu	ʔayuyu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
SES	Tolo	ui	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
SES	Lau	kasukasu	(*q > k irregular)
SES	Sa’a	esusu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
SES	Arosi	asusu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
SES	Bauro	aū	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
NCV	Lonwolwol	au	‘small sand crab that runs into the sea at one’s approach’
NCV	South Efate	as	(*y > s/*u is regular; John Lynch, pers. comm.)
NCal	Iaai	eu	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Fij	Rotuman	aruru	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
PPn		*qūqū	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	ʔūʔū	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Pn	East Futunan	ʔūʔū	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Pn	Tikopia	ū	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Pn	Kapingamarangi	ū	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’

POc *qayuyu was replaced in PMic by *afafi (Bender et al. 2003:12).

3.4.3. Hermit crabs⇫

A number of Oceanic languages distinguish several kinds of hermit crabs by name. The distinguishing criteria include size, habitat (sea vs land) and growth stage. For example, for Niuean Sperlich (1997) records four taxa of hermit crab: āo ‘hermit crab, Dardanus sp.’, pulou ‘a hermit crab’, uŋa-mea ‘a land dwelling hermit crab’ and uŋa-uŋa ‘a sea dwelling hermit crab’. Hermit crabs are widely used as bait.

Three uninominal terms for hermit crabs are attributable to POc: *qumʷaŋ, *koba and *kato(q)u. It is unlikely that these terms were full synonyms. Unfortunately, the glosses provided for the reflexes in our sources are typically general and do not allow a semantic distinction to be made between the three POc terms.

*qumʷaŋ continues a PAn etymon. In Oceanic languages a reflex of this form commonly stands as a generic for typical hermit crabs, in contrast to coconut crabs. However, in several Oceanic languages reflexes have an extended sense that includes coconut crabs.

PAn		*qumaŋ	‘hermit crab’ (Blust 1980b)
POc		*qumʷaŋ	(1) ‘generic for hermit crabs’; (2) ‘generic for hermit and coconut crabs’ (?)
NNG	Gedaged	(wa)gum	‘hermit crab’
NNG	Manam	guma	‘hermit crab’
NNG	Numbami	gubaŋa	‘hermit crab’
NNG	Takia	gum	‘hermit crab’
PT	Dobu	gumana	‘hermit crab’
PT	Molima	gumana	‘hermit crab’
PT	Gapapaiwa	gumaɣa	‘hermit crab’
PT	Misima	go-gaman	‘hermit crab’
MM	Tolai	quman	‘hermit crab, Paguridae sp.’
MM	Tabar	guma	‘hermit crab’
NCV	Paamese	o-umo	‘crab (generic)’
SV	Anejom̃	n-umwan	‘k.o. small hermit-crab’ (-n unexplained)
NCal	Pije	kumʷa	‘Coenobita sp.’
Fij	Bauan	uŋa	‘hermit crab’
Fij	Wayan	uŋa	(1) ‘hermit crab’; (2) ‘generic for hermit and coconut crabs’
Fij	Wayan	uŋa tolou	‘generic for hermit crabs’
Fij	Wayan	uŋa vule	‘coconut crab’
PPn		*quŋa	‘generic for hermit crab’ (pollex gives ‘hermit crab sp.’)
Pn	Tongan	ʔuŋa	‘large hermit crab’
Pn	Niuean	uŋa	‘coconut crab, Birgus latro’
Pn	Niuean	uŋa-mea	‘land-dwelling hermit crab’
Pn	Niuean	uŋa-uŋa	‘sea-dwelling hermit crab’
Pn	Samoan	uŋa	‘name given to hermit crabs in general’
Pn	Tikopia	uŋa	‘hermit crab’
Pn	Rennellese	ʔuŋa	‘hermit crab, Coenobita sp.’
Pn	Rennellese	ʔuŋa mouku	‘forest-dwelling hermit crabs’
Pn	Rennellese	ʔuŋa pūŋou	‘sea-dwelling hermit crab carrying the puŋou parasite’

A second term, *koba, is less widely attested but reflexes are found in the Admiralties, Meso-Melanesian (in Northwest Solomonic) and Southeast Solomonic.

POc		*koba	‘hermit crab’
Adm	Penchal	(kai)kop	‘hermit crab’
MM	Marovo	koba	‘generic for hermit crabs’
MM	Nduke	koba	‘generic for hermit crabs’
SES	Gela	koba	‘generic for hermit crabs’
SES	Ghari	koba, ko-koba	‘hermit crab’
SES	Tolo	ko-koba	‘hermit crab’

A third term has reflexes in Mussau, Southeast Solomonic and North-Central Vanuatu.

POc		*kato(q)u	‘hermit crab’
Adm	Mussau	kitou	‘hermit crab’
SES	Arosi	kawou, kou	‘hermit crab, Coenobita spp.’
SES	Bauro	gou	‘hermit crab’
PNCV		*kato(q)u	‘hermit crab’ (Clark 2009 gives *katou)
NCV	Mota	gatou	‘hermit crab’
NCV	Raga	gatou	‘hermit crab’
NCV	Tamambo	hatou	‘hermit crab’
NCV	Nguna	katou	‘hermit crab’
NCV	Namakir	katoʔ	‘hermit crab’

3.4.4. Other Anomura: Thalassina, mud lobsters, and Porcellanidae, porcelain crabs (half-crabs)⇫

There are only two species of Thalassina, the distinctive ‘mud lobster’ of the Indo-Pacific region, a nocturnal animal that digs a deep and intricate network of burrows in mangrove mudflats. It typically grows up to 16-20 cm long. Thalassina are found as far east as Fiji and Samoa. The meat is bland and this animal is not a prized source of food but it is trapped for its edible claws in parts of Fiji. In the few dictionaries that provide names for the mud lobster each language has its own generic, e.g. Gedaged gumei, Nduke zona, Roviana zoa, Bauan Fijian manā, Western Fijian tolā, No POc reconstruction is possible.

Porcelain crabs (or half-crabs) are small, usually 1-2 cm wide. They are common on rocky beaches and shorelines. Names for porcelain crabs are seldom given in Oceanic dictionaries and no widespread cognate set has been found.

3.5. Brachyura: true crabs⇫

True crabs are the dominant decapods on marine coasts. In true crabs (tribe Brachyura) the front pair of legs are clawed and the abdomen is reduced, flattened and folded underneath the carapace. Eggs are attached to the pleopods of the female’s abdomen. Of the many crab species only a minority are of economic value to Oceanic communities.

Oceanic speaking communities exploiting reefs and mangrove swamps typically distinguish between 20 and 30 crab taxa, excluding crabs of the tribe Anomura. For example, dictionaries of Arosi, Wayan Fijian and Niuean, list about 30, 33 and 22 taxa, respectively, excluding the Anomura. There is little doubt that POc would have had a similar array. However, only seven secure POc terms for Brachyura crabs have been reconstructed: *kape, *kaRaka, *kaRu(i)ki, *kuka, *rakum(u), *qalimaŋo, *tubaRa.

3.5.1. Portunidae, mangrove and swimming crabs⇫

Oceania has many species of portunids, belonging to the genera Portunus, Thalamita and Charybdis. Most are large crabs, much valued as food. The English folk names ‘mud crab’, ‘mangrove crab’ or ‘black crab’ are often applied to Scylla serrata, a large round crab which may exceed 20 cm in width and which burrows in muddy shallow tidal waters of estuaries and mangrove swamps. POc continues a PMP term, *qalimaŋaw, that probably denoted several portunids of the genus Scylla. Wolff’s dictionary of Cebuano describes alimaŋu as ‘edible crab of tidal swamps, round in shape, up to 10 inches in diameter, black on back, white front, large meaty claws’, unmistakeably a large Scylla sp.

PMP		*qalimaŋaw	‘mangrove crab’ (Blust 1980b)
POc		*qalimaŋo	‘large mangrove crab, Scylla serrata (Portunidae) and probably other portunids’
NNG	Kove	alimaŋo	‘mangrove crab’
PT	Molima	kalimana	‘mangrove crab’
PT	Dobu	kalimana	‘large black crab’
PT	Dobu	ʔalimana	‘large black crab’
PT	Kilivila	keimagu	‘large mud crab’
MM	Teop	animano	‘k.o. swamp crab’
SES	Lau	alimaŋo	‘largest sp. of crab, found on outer reef, black’
SES	’Are’are	alimano	‘big crab living in mangrove swamps’
SES	Arosi	arimaŋo	‘very large crab with paddles, found in mangrove swamps’
SES	To’aba’ita	alimaŋo	‘mangrove crab’
Mic	Ponapean	elimoŋ	‘mangrove crab’
Mic	Carolinian	alimoŋ	‘large sea crab with red-orange shell’
Mic	Puluwatese	yelimoŋ	‘a seacrab smaller than mangrove crab’
Mic	Chuukese	ɔ̄nimɔŋ	‘mangrove crab’
Fij	Rotuman	ʔɔimɔnu	‘k.o. crab’
Pn	Samoan	(paʔa)limaŋo	‘large edible mud crab, Scylla sp.’ (paʔa ‘generic for crabs’)

3.5.2. Cardisoma spp. and other large land crabs⇫

The large land crabs, Cardisoma spp., are an important food source in many Oceanic communities and there are often several terms referring to their growth stages and spawning behaviour. For example, Foale (1998) reports that in West Gela (central Solomons) females of the abundant land crab Cardisoma hirtipes migrate to the beach at certain phases in the lunar cycle in the wet season, from October to December, releasing zoea larvae from their egg mass (lami). This is known as the sau lami (wash eggs). Three weeks before doing this they migrate to the sea to immerse themselves, an event known as the sapa toga (thousands go seawards). This is the preferred time to take them because they are fatter. In Fiji, Wayans refer to the mass migration of Cardisoma hirtipes as vui.

POc		*tubaRa	‘probably generic for large land crabs, Cardisoma spp.’ (cf. Geraghty 1990)
PT	Motu	dubara	‘small land-crab’
MM	Tolai	tubara	‘land-crab’
SES	Gela	tumbala	‘Cardisoma carnifex, white land crab’
SES	’Are’are	opara	‘k.o. crab’
NCV	Mota	tipara	‘k.o. land crab’
SV	Sye	tupo	‘a large land crab’
SV	Kwamera	tupʷa	‘k.o. landcrab’
Fij	Rotuman	fupa	‘land crab’
Fij	Wayan	tubā	‘generic for large land crabs, esp. Cardisoma’
PPn		*tupa	‘landcrab’ (pollex)
Pn	Samoan	tupa	‘land crab sp. with large claws’
Pn	Tongan	tupa	‘k.o. land crab’
Pn	Tikopia	tupa	‘large land crab, keenly sought for food’
Pn	Rarotongan	tupa	‘Cardisoma cardifax, edible land crab’

cf. also:

MM	Nduke	tubavu	‘Cardisoma sp., probably Cardisoma hirtipes’
SES	Ghari	tubā	‘a species of land crab’ (for †tubala)

POc *rakum(u) is a well attested form which probably referred to a crab of some importance. Some witnesses (e.g. Kove, Bugotu, Namakir, Woleaian) support attributing final *u to this etymon; others are equivocal. Most sources give uninformative glosses for reflexes of *rakum(u) but in Mangap (North New Guinea), Roviana (Meso-Melanesian), Puluwatese and Ponapean (Micronesian), and SE Ambrym (North and Central Vanuatu) these refer to a land crab. In several languages the reflex has become a term for crabs in general.

POc		*rakum(u)	‘k.o. large crab, probably a land crab’
Adm	Lou	roum	‘k.o. crab’
NNG	Manam	rakum	‘k.o. big, red crab’
NNG	Mangap	rukum	‘general name for crabs’
PT	Dobu	lakua	‘generic for crabs’ (loss of *m irregular)
PT	Kilivila	lakum	‘small mud crab’
PT	Muyuw	lakum	‘crab’
PT	Gapapaiwa	rakum	‘k.o. crab’
MM	Tabar	raku	‘crab’
MM	Roviana	garumu	‘Cardisoma carnifex, white land crab’ (metath.)
SES	Bugotu	ragomu	‘a crab’
NCV	Southeast Ambrym	oum	‘land crab’
NCV	Namakir	rakumʷ	‘land crab’
NCV	Neve’ei	nu-rukʰum	‘a crab’
SV	Sye	a-roɣum	‘k.o. crab’
SV	Anejom̃	n-raɣ	‘k.o. crab’
Mic	Ponapean	rokumʷ	‘sp. of small land crab’
Mic	Puluwatese	rɔ̄kum	‘large land crab’
Mic	Puluwatese	rɔ̄kum(ihœt)	‘common black sea crabs’
Mic	Woleaian	ẓaxumʷu	‘crab (generic)’

cf. also:

NNG

Kove

laumu

‘k.o. crab, said to be western dialect for sand crab, called karoki in eastern dialect’

3.5.3. Grapsidae, (1) shore crabs, (2) burrowing crabs of mud flats⇫

The most commonly seen shore crabs are the grapsids, which forage among rocks and coral rubble in the intertidal zone. The carapace is squarish, with very convex edges. The last pair of legs are not flattened but are adapted for climbing over rocks. There are several genera, including Grapsus, Sesarma, Metopograpsus, and Leptograpsus. Oceanic languages typically distinguish several grapsid taxa. For example, Wayan distinguishes two main taxa within the Grapsidae: mangrove crabs (Sesarma spp., Metopograpsus spp.), which are kuka, and shore (or rock) crabs (Grapsus spp.), which are galau, as well as dividing the generics kuka and galau into further subtaxa.

3.5.4. Sesarma spp., mangrove grapsids⇫

Judging by its reflexes in EOc languages POc *kuka referred chiefly to grapsids of the genus Sesarma, which live in mangrove forest mudflats. In Tolai (MM), Arosi and To’aba’ita (SES) and Lonwolwol (NCV) the reflex has become a generic term for crabs.

POc		*kuka	‘mudcrab, including Sesarma sp. or spp., living in mangrove forest and mudflats’
MM	Tolai	kuka	‘generic for crabs’
MM	Maringe	kokʰa	‘hermit crab’
MM	Sursurunga	kuk	‘crab’
SES	Arosi	kuka	‘generic term for crabs, excluding the Anomura and possibly portunids’
SES	To’aba’ita	ʔuʔa	‘general term for a variety of crabs, excluding hermit crabs and cocout crabs’ (syn. ŋuda)
SES	Lau	ūa	‘a crab’
SES	Lau	uā fou	‘large sea crab’
SES	Lau	uā sū	‘very large reef crab’
SES	’Are’are	ʔuʔa	‘k.o. mud crab’
SES	’Are’are	ʔuʔa(puru)	‘a land crab’
NCV	Port Sandwich	na-xux	‘crab’
NCV	Lonwolwol	(lo)kuk	‘crab (generic)’
Fij	Bauan	kuka	‘small red and black crab, found in mangrove swamp’
Fij	Wayan	kuka	‘crabs of mangrove swamps, red claws, black carapace, Sesarma and Metopograpsus spp.’
PPn		*kuka	‘mangrove crab, Sesarma sp. or spp.’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	kuka	‘k.o. crab’
Pn	Samoan	ʔuʔa	‘common mangrove crab, Sesarma sp.’

Reflexes of POc *kape typically refer to a kind of reef crab (Roviana, Gela, Rotuman). In Raga the reflex has become a generic term for crabs and in Arosi and Mota it appears to serve as a generic for a subclass.

POc		*kape	‘crab taxon, probably a rock crab (Grapsidae)’
Adm	Lou	kah	‘shell of crab or bivalve mollusc’
NNG	Sengseng	kahe	‘crab’
NNG	Mengen	kape	‘crab’
NNG	Adzera	wafi	‘crab’
NNG	Middle Watut	kʷafi	‘crab’ (Holzknecht 1989)
MM	Roviana	gave	‘Metasesarma rousseauxii’
SES	Gela	gave	‘reef crab’
SES	Ghari	gave raqasi	‘shore crab, Grapsus sp.’
SES	To’aba’ita	ʔafe	‘flat crab, ? Percnon planissimum’
SES	’Are’are	ʔahe	‘a sea crab’
SES	Arosi	ʔahe	‘first element, serving as generic classifier in names of several different species’
SES	Arosi	ʔahe-haruta	‘a large sea crab’
SES	Arosi	ʔahe-roma	‘a red crab’
SES	Arosi	ʔahe-toʔo	‘a small land crab’
SES	Sa’a	ʔahe	‘a crab’
NCV	Mota	gave	‘several spp. of crab’
NCV	Raga	gave	‘generic for marine and land crabs’
NCV	Paamese	œh	‘kind of crab found on rocks’
NCV	Nguna	kāve	‘sp. of rock crab, black’
NCV	Uripiv	na-aw	‘various kinds of shore crabs’
SV	Sye	n-ev(lah)	‘a crab’
Fij	Rotuman	ʔᴂhe	‘k.o. reef crab, reddish with very flat back’

3.5.5. Ocypodidae long-stalked crabs (ghost crabs fiddler crabs soldier crabs)⇫

The Ocypodidae are a very distinctive group of small crabs, with eyes on stalks, common on sandy beaches, mudflats and mangrove forests. There are several genera: Ocypoda spp., ghost crabs, Uca spp., fiddler crabs, and Macropthalama spp., sentinel or soldier crabs. Oceanic languages typically distinguish more than one kind by name. Wayan has a generic for ghost crabs, koke, and two specifics for subtaxa. It has a separate generic, tōlō, for fiddler and sentinel crabs.

There is a well-supported POc term for ghost crabs, which continues a PMP etymon, *kaRuki. WOc and Micronesian witnesses point to POc *kaRuki. However, Geraghty (1990: 62) reconstructs *kaRuiki to account for the agreement between Chamorro haguiki (doublet haguhi) and the Central Pacific forms. For both POc and PCP it seems preferable to posit doublets, which perhaps were careful and fast speech variants. Polynesian and Rotuman reflexes of PCP *kauiki show reanalysis of unstressed intervocalic *u as *w, with subsequent change of *w > v in some languages.

PMP		*kaRuki	‘sand crab, Ocypoda sp.’ (cf. Blust 1983-84a)
POc		*kaRuki	‘ghost crab, Ocypoda sp., small white crab found on sandy beaches’ (cf. Geraghty 1990)
NNG	Hote	kaluk	‘crab’
NNG	Manam	garuku	‘k.o. little crab’
NNG	Kove	karoki	‘middle-sized crab found in holes on beaches’
NNG	Bukawa	galuʔ	‘crab’
NNG	Mangap	kerek	‘crab type, small, used as bait’
MM	Vitu	karoki	‘crab’
Mic	Kiribati	kauki	‘ghost crab’
Mic	Marshallese	karuk	‘white sand crab’
Mic	Kosraean	kuluk	‘sand crab’
PCP		*kauki, *kawiki	‘ghost crab, Ocypoda sp.’
Fij	Rotuman	ʔaviʔi	‘sand crab’
Fij	Bauan	kauke	‘ghost crab, Ocypoda sp.’
Fij	Wayan	koke	‘ghost crab, Ocypoda spp.’
PPn		*kawiki	‘ghost crab, Ocypoda sp.’
Pn	Tongan	keviki	‘small light-coloured sand crab’
Pn	Samoan	ʔaviʔi	‘ghost crab, Ocypoda sp.’
Pn	Tikopia	kaviki	‘ghost crab, Ocypoda sp.’
Pn	Hawaiian	ʔohiki	‘sand crab, probably Ocypoda sp.’
Pn	Hawaiian	ʔohiki-ʔan-moana	‘ocean crab, possibly Planes or Pachygrapsus sp.’

There is another form partially resembling *kaRu(i)ki that is attributable at least to PEOc, showing *-pe instead of *-ki in the final syllable. This has reflexes in Southeast Solomonic and North and Central Vanuatu languages and in at least one Micronesian language.

PEOc		*kaRuve	‘k.o. beach crab, probably Ocypoda sp., ghost crab’
SES	Ghari	galuve	‘small land crab’
SES	Arosi	karuhe	‘burrowing sand crab’
NCV	Mota	ɣarwe	‘a ghost crab’
NCV	Mwotlap	na-ɣjʊw	‘ghost crab’
NCV	Nguna	kāpʷe	‘ghost crab’
NCV	Port Sandwich	xauv	‘beach crab’
NCV	Lonwolwol	kawiu	‘ghost crab’
Mic	Woleaian	xaẓipe	‘beach crab’

cf. also:

NNG

Mutu

garuru

‘ghost crab, Ocypoda sp.’; ‘soldier crab, Mictyris sp.’

No language is known to have reflexes of both *kaRu(i)ki and *kaRuve.

The following PEOc reconstruction is not very secure, resting on agreements between two Central Pacific languages and one Southeast Solomons language.

PEOc		*kakaka	‘small shore crab, possibly Ocypoda sp’ (Geraghty 1990)
SES	To’aba’ita	kākaka	‘Ocypoda sp., ghost crab’
Fij	Rotuman	kaʔ-kaʔa	‘small beach crab, one claw much bigger than the other, spreads its claws when approached’
Fij	Western Fijian dialects	kakaka	‘k.o. land crab, possibly Sesarma sp.’ (Geraghty 1990)

cf. also:

PT	Misima	kakalisu	‘ghost crab’ (final -su unexplained)
MM	Marovo	kaka(rita)	‘mangrove crab, Scylla serrata’
MM	Marovo	kaka(bacha)	‘small, hairy sea crab, poisonous’

3.5.6. Crabs of uncertain family and families lacking reconstructed names⇫

For some reconstructed crab names no secure family identification can be made. Geraghty (1990:61) reconstructs PEOc *kaRaka ‘k.o. crab’. Extra-Oceanic cognates occur in Palauan kesako ‘k.o. land crab’ and Chamorro hagahat ‘rock crab’ and these comparisons point to POc *kaRaka.

PMP		*kaRakap	‘probably rock crab’ (ACD)
POc		*kaRaka	‘k.o. crab, possibly rock crab.’ (cf. Geraghty 1990)
NNG	Takia	karag	‘crab’
NNG	Gedaged	kaɬag	‘k.o. crab’
Fij	Bauan	gaka	‘mangrove crab’
Pn	Niuean	keka	‘small sea crab sp.’
Pn	Tongan	kaka(fatu)	‘k.o. crab’ (fatu ‘rock’)

cf. also:

Mic

Kiribati

kakawa

‘k.o. small crustacean’

The following reconstruction is tentative.

POc		*(g,k)alau	‘k.o. shore crab, possibly a grapsid sp.’
NNG	Gedaged	kalau	‘small crab found under rocks’
Fij	Wayan	galan	‘grapsid crabs of the shore’

cf. also:

NNG

Riwo

kulau

‘k.o. crab’

3.5.7. Xanthoidea⇫

The Xanthoidea comprises several families, including Xanthidae, Menippidae and Trapeziidae. Xanthidae are the typical crabs of coral reefs, emerging at night. There are many species, quite variable in form but the carapace is usually broad in front, narrow at the rear. Some species are poisonous. The menippids and trapezids are similar in appearance to the xanthids. Wayan distinguishes at least three different xanthoids: motodī (some Xanthidae and Menippidae), vulau (some Xanthidae and Trapeziidae) and galau ni waitaði (probably Libia tesselata). No POc terms are reconstructable for this group.

3.6. Generic terms for crabs⇫

Many Oceanic languages have a uninomial that refers to crabs in general or at least to a large subclass of crabs, e.g. Molima kakaʔu, Maringe kʰakau ‘crabs in general’, To’aba’ita ŋuda (syn. ʔuʔa) ‘general term for crabs except hermit crabs and coconut crabs’. Dictionaries of many Polynesian languages (including Samoan, East Uvean, East Futunan, Pukapuan and Tikopia) describe a reflex of PPn *paka as ‘a general term for crabs’ or similar. However, one must view such glosses with some caution, unless it is clear that the authors have carefully investigated whether all groups of crabs fall under this rubric.

Often the generic for crabs also serves as the name of a particular crab taxon that is an important food source - a kind of polysemy that is common in folk taxonomies worldwide. For example, in Bauan Fijian the name gari, specifically applied to large mud crabs of the genus Scylla, is extended to embrace all typical crabs (tribe Brachyura) other than large land crabs (Cardisoma spp.). The same is true of the Wayan term, seka. However, Wayans do not regard hermit crabs, coconut crabs and Thalassina (all of which are members of the tribe Anomura) as seka.

While it is likely that POc had a general term covering some or all crabs we can do little more than point to three candidates. The strongest of the candidates is probably *kuka.

As noted in §3.5.4, reflexes of POc *kuka, which probably referred chiefly to grapsid crabs that live in mangrove swamps, esp. those of the genus Sesarma, serve as a general term for crabs, or at least typical crabs (i.e. other than Anomura) in certain languages belonging to three different subgroups: Tolai (MM), Arosi and To’aba’ita (SES), and Lonwolwol (NCV). Reflexes of *kuka may occur more widely as a generic - relatively few dictionaries and wordlists provide precise statements about which crab names serve as generics.

Reflexes of POc *rakum(u) (§3.5.2) occur as a general name for crabs in at least one North New Guinea language, Mangap, one Papuan Tip language, Dobuan, and one Micronesian language, Woleaian.

A term for another grapsid group, POc *kape (§3.5.4), has become a generic covering both true crabs and hermit crabs in most or all NCV languages (François, pers. comm.). In Mota and Uripiv (both NCV) the reflex of *kape appears to serve as a generic for a variety of rock or shore crabs. There are signs that the Arosi reflex of *kape was once a generic for a range of sea and land crabs because this form now appears only as the first element in several Arosi compounds.

3.7. Other crustaceans⇫

3.7.1. Mantis shrimps (order Stomatopoda)⇫

The mantis shrimps, Stomatopoda, are a distinctive group represented by Squilla spp. and other genera. The fierce, predatory mantis shrimps are prominent denizens of the intertidal zone. They burrow in sand or hide in crevices and ambush prey. Few sources give names for these creatures. Among the handful of terms that have been noted, e.g. Gedaged kalompit, Nduke hahaka. Wayan vidividi, no widespread cognate set has been found.

3.7.2. Barnacles (class Cirripedia, order Thoracia)⇫

Barnacles are shrimp-like crustaceans that superficially resemble externally shelled molluscs. They attach themselves by the head to a surface and grow a shelly wall of protective plates. There is a Proto Cristobal-Malaitan form that may have referred to barnacles. This form has possible cognates in two Meso-Melanesian languages of the western Solomons.

Proto Malaita-Makira		*sisira	‘a barnacle or kind of small mollusc’
SES	’Are’are	sisire	‘k.o. small shellfish that clings to mangrove roots’
SES	Arosi	sisire, sire-sire	‘barnacle’
SES	Lau	sisile	(1) ‘barnacles’; (2) ‘very small molluscs (generic)’
SES	Sa’a	sisile	‘k.o. shellfish’

cf. also:

MM	Roviana	zere	‘barnacle’
MM	Maringe	sisira	‘seashell, a cowry, Cypraea tigris’

PCP		*jove	‘k.o. shellfish or barnacle’ (cf. Geraghty 1986)
Fij	Bauan	sove	‘barnacle’
PPn		*tofe	‘k.o. bivalve’
Pn	Tongan	tofe	‘pearl oyster’
Pn	Niuean	tofe	‘k.o. edible cockle, white’
Pn	East Futunan	tofe	‘k.o. shellfish’
Pn	Samoan	tofe	‘Perna sp.’
Pn	Rennellese	tohe	‘small white bivalve or barnacle, as on floating logs; edible’ (tohetohea ‘thickly crusted with tohe’)

3.8. Growth stages and sexes of crustaceans⇫

Oceanic communities often have distinct names for various growth stages and sexes of important crabs, particularly the larger land crabs and coconut crabs. However, no widespread cognate sets of this sort have been found.

3.9. Body parts of crustaceans⇫

Oceanic languages have names for various parts of crustaceans, e.g. Niuean tuke ‘thorax of a crab’, ami ‘crab roe’, afo uŋa ‘breeding cord of a female coconut crab’, nifo ‘nippers of land crab, etc.’ One secure reconstruction can be made.

PEOc		*Rami	‘crustacean roe’ (Geraghty 1990)
SES	Gela	lami	‘spawn of crabs’
SES	Arosi	rami	‘eggs of crabs or crayfish’
NCV	Mota	rame(ai)	‘eggs of crayfish, crabs, etc.’
NCV	Mota	rame	‘cover with eggs’
NCV	Raga	ami(ni)	‘crustacean eggs’
NCV	Uripiv	ni-ami(n)	‘crab’s eggs’
PPn		*ami	‘crustacean roe’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	ami	‘crab and lobster roe’
Pn	Samoan	ami	‘roe of crabs and other crustaceans’
Pn	Tokelauan	ami	‘roe of crustaceans’

4. Molluscs⇫

4.1. Molluscs as a resource in Oceanic communities⇫

Molluscs are very important sources of protein food in Oceanic-speaking coastal communities. A survey of the Milne Bay coral reef systems recorded 945 species of molluscs living in reef habitats (Kinch 1999b, Wells and Kinch 2003). That figure excludes the many species that occupy mangrove and mudflat habitats, which were not surveyed. While the Milne Bay region has one of the richest marine faunas in the Pacific, it exemplifies the abundance of mollusc resources available to communities living close to coral reef systems.

Unfortunately, few good ethnographic descriptions exist of shellfishing in Oceanic communities. Languages for which there are near exhaustive lists of mollusc terms distinguish upwards of 100 taxa. Cemuhi of New Caledonia has around 133 terms for molluscs (Rivierre 1994) and Paici, another New Caledonian language, has around 100 (Rivierre 1983), Wayan (Western Fijian) distinguishes more than 140 mollusc taxa, including 105 gastropod, 35 bivalve and four chiton taxa (Pawley and Sayaba 2003). Fox’s (1978) dictionary of Arosi gives 104 names for kinds of molluscs. Sources for a number of other languages give impressive totals that are unlikely to be exhaustive. Fox (1974:93) reports that the Lau of NE Malaita name some 75 kinds of shells. Churchward’s Tongan dictionary lists 63 names for kinds of shellfish. Waterhouse lists some 60 names for shelled mollusc taxa for Roviana and White (1988) gives 53 such names for Maringe (Cheke Holo).

One of the few good ethnographic accounts is a description of shellfishing at Nukakau Island, West New Britain, by Swadling and Chowning (1981). For the people of Nukakau, who speak Kove, shellfish are “especially important when fishing is poor and the weather too rough for fishing parties to go out” (p. 159). The three species that are most collected are three bivalves: Geloina coaxans (Kove tue), which are gathered in mangrove forests, Andara granosa (Kove masilau), gathered from estuarine mudflats, and Andara antiquata (Kove uleule), taken from weed-covered coral reef flats. The shells of the first of these are also used as cutting and scraping tools.

The importance of shellfish to speakers of Proto Oceanic and its immediate descendants is shown by the large quantities of gastropod and bivalve shells, and artefacts made from shell, that are found in Lapita sites (Gifford & Shutler 1956, Kirch 1997, Spriggs 1997a, Swadling 1977, 1996) and other archaeological sites associated with Oceanic languages. Gifford and Shutler (1956) identified at least 74 species of molluscs occurring in Lapita sites in New Caledonia. Swadling (1977) reports 54 mollusc species from the Taurama sequence in Central Province, Papua New Guinea, beginning around 2000 BP. Tools made from shells included one-piece fishhooks, adzes made from Tridacna valves and food scrapers from various shell families. Kirch writes that shell valuables in Lapita sites included “rings, disks, beads and worked rectangular sections made from various species of marine shell, especially large cone shells (Conus leopardus, Conus litteratus) Spondylus oysters, Tridacna clam shells and Trochus shells” (Kirch 1997:236).

4.2. Class Gastropoda: univalves⇫

The larger Pacific islands and island groups have extensive and varied communities of gastropods. On the reefs the following families are prominent: Aciidae, Conidae, Strombidae, Trochidae, Turbinidae. On rocky shores and in mangrove swamps the Neritidae and Cerithidae predominate.

POc reconstructions have been made for only a minority of families. A total of seven POc terms for gastropods are reconstructed here: *buli(q), *buRua, *lala(k), *qaliliŋ, *Raŋa, *sisiq, *tapuRi. This is probably less than ten percent of the number of gastropod taxa named in POc.

4.2.1. Strombidae, strombs, spiders, conches⇫

Strombids are the well-known conch and spider shells, which live in sandy and rocky reef areas. The strombids are an important food source in Oceanic coastal communities. There is a widely-reflected reconstruction for the spider conch, Lambis lambis. It is likely that this term served as a generic for a range of spider shell taxa, as its reflex does in some daughter languages.

PMP		*Raŋa, *Raŋak, *Raŋar	‘the spider conch, Lambis lambis’ (Blust 1989)
POc		*Raŋa	‘Lambis spp., esp. spider conch, Lambis lambis’
NNG	Mangap	ra	‘spider shell’
PT	Iduna	laga	‘Lambis scorpius, Strombus sinuatus’
MM	Tabar	raŋ	‘Lambis truncata sebae’
SES	Arosi	raŋa	‘spider shell, with long spines’
NCV	Uripiv	ni-raŋ	‘Lambis sp.’
Mic	Kiribati	ne-aŋ	‘spider shell, Lambis sp.’
Mic	Puluwatese	(le)yaŋ	‘spider shell’
Mic	Woleaian	(re)yaŋa	‘k.o. sea shell’
Mic	Ponapean	lāŋ	‘spider shell’
Fij	Bauan	yaŋa	‘generic name for some varieties of shellfish: Pterocera and Lambis sp.’
Fij	Wayan	eŋa	(1) ‘Lambis truncata’; (2) ‘generic for Strombidae’

cf. also:

MM

Maringe

cega

‘spider conch incl. Lambis sp.’

4.2.2. Turbinidae, turbans⇫

The turbans are herbivorous grazers common on intertidal and subtidal reefs, well-known for the operculum or ‘cat’s eye’ which the animal uses to close off the entrance to its shell. Turbans are an important food resource. Wayan has a generic for turbans, kerekere, as well as names for several subtaxa, and this pattern appears to be typical of Oceanic languages.

4.2.3. Turbo petholatus⇫

For the tapestry turban, Turbopetholatus, there is a well-attested POc reconstruction, *qaliliŋ, which continues a PMP etymon. This term may have served as a generic for the genus.

PMP		*qaliliŋ	‘cat’s eye shell’ (some reflexes indicate initial *w)6
POc		*qaliliŋ	‘Turbo petholatus, tapestry turban; possibly generic for several or all Turbo spp.’
MM	Tolai	kaliliŋ	‘k.o. shell fish’
SES	Gela	lili	‘Turbo spp. (generic)’
SES	Lau	salili	‘Turbo petholatus’
SES	To’aba’ita	thalili	‘sp. of turban shell, possibly tapestry turban, Turbo petholatus’
SES	’Are’are	rariri	‘k.o. small shellfish, with cat’s eye’
NCV	Tamambo	(h)alili	‘cat’s eye shell’
NCV	Southeast Ambrym	lili	‘operculum of green snail’
NCV	Namakir	ʔalil	‘cat’s eye shell’
PPn		*qalili	‘cat’s eye shell, Turbo sp.’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	ʔelili	‘a shellfish with cat’s eye’
Pn	Niuatoputapu	ʔelili	‘Turbo sp.’
Pn	Rennellese	ʔaŋiŋi	‘turban shells, Turbo petholatus, used for spoons’
Pn	Samoan	alili	‘a mollusc, Turbo sp.’
Pn	Tikopia	alili	‘greensnail; Turbo spp. incl. Turbo marmoratus, Turbo argyrostomus, Turbo setosus’

4.2.4. Other Turbo taxa⇫

Usually a number of turban shell taxa are named, sometimes by a compound using a reflex of *mata ‘eye’, with reference to the operculum. The second element of PEOc *mata-buku is probably *buku ‘knot, lump, protruberance’.

PEOc		*mata-buku	‘Turbo spp.’
SES	Lengo	mata-puku	‘Turbinidae’
Fij	Wayan	mata-buku	‘Turbo spp., possibly including Turbo chrysostoma, Turbo argyrostomus, Turbo necnivosus’

cf. also:

MM	Maringe	pʰupuku	‘Trochus incrassatus’
SV	Anejom̃	na-pek	‘Turbo marmoratus’

4.2.5. Cymatiidae, tritons⇫

The tritons are a family of many species, which eat echinoderms and molluscs. The large shell of Charonia tritonis, Triton’s trumpet, is widely used as a trumpet for ceremonial purposes or to summon people to meetings. There is a widely-reflected POc reconstruction for triton shells, which continues a PMP etymon.

PMP		*tabuRiq	‘conch shell trumpet’ (dbl. *tabuRi) (Blust 1989)
POc		*tapuRiq	(1) ‘generic for conch shells, esp. triton’s trumpet, Charonia tritonis and allied spp.; possibly extended to some Cassis (helmet) shells’; (2) ‘trumpet of Charonia shell’
Adm	Mussau	taue	‘triton shell’
NNG	Kove	taule	‘triton’s trumpet, used for sending messages’
NNG	Gedaged	tauɬ	‘triton shell’
NNG	Manam	tauru	‘conch; used as a wind instrument’
NNG	Mangap	twiiri	‘trumpet shell, Triton’
PT	Kilivila	tauya	‘triton shell; trumpet of this’
MM	Nalik	tafuru	‘triton shell’
MM	Sursurunga	taur	‘triton shell, blown to send messages’
MM	Patpatar	tahur	‘triton shell’
MM	Vitu	tavure	‘triton shell’
SES	Gela	tavuli	‘triton shell; helmet shell, Cassis cornutus: a trumpet’
SES	Arosi	ahuri	‘conch shell, triton; trumpet of this, blown only on solemn occasions, e.g. at a death’
SES	Arosi	ahuri (poru)	‘k.o. Cassis shell’
SES	Sa’a	ehuri	‘conch shell, blown as a summons’
TM	Buma	teveliko	‘triton shell’ (François 2011b)
NCV	Mota	tawe	‘conch shell’
NCV	Mwotlap	na-tʊ	‘conch shell’
NCV	Lonwolwol	taviu	‘conch shell (and sound)’
NCV	Nguna	tavui	‘triton shell’
SV	Sye	n-tovu	‘triton shell’
SV	Anejom̃	n-tohou	‘triton shell’
Mic	Kiribati	tau	‘triton conch’
Mic	Woleaian	tawii	‘conch shell; trumpet’
Fij	Bauan	davui	‘Triton’s trumpet; used as a trumpet, chiefly on canoes’
Fij	Wayan	tavui	‘Triton’s trumpet and allied spp.; trumpet of this’

4.2.6. Neritidae, nerites, and allied families of Neritacea⇫

Typical nerites have globular shells with flattened base. They are vegetarians, living under rocks or in crevices close to the high tide mark. The nerite family contains marine, freshwater and terrestrial species. The wide range and abundance of nerites, and their importance as food, may explain why the generic for this family has come to be used as a generic for a wider range of gastropods in a number of Oceanic languages, including Takia, Roviana, Bauan, Wayan and Samoan.

PMP		*sisi[q]	‘edible snail’ (doublets *sisuq, *susuq) (Blust 1980b)
POc		*sisiq	(1) ‘various small, snail-like gastropods of nerite family’; (2) ‘probably generic for a wider class of edible gastropods’
NNG	Takia	sise(i)	‘generic term for all varieties of sea shells’
PT	Molima	sisi(ʔalo)	‘a brown bivalve, small and edible, found in tidal flats’
MM	Nakanai	e-sisi	‘k.o. shellfish’
MM	Teop	hihi	‘Nerita albicilla’
MM	Roviana	sise	‘general name for a number of small shells’
MM	Marovo	sise	‘small marine gastropod’
MM	Marovo	sise (kavo)	‘freshwater gastropod’
SES	To’aba’ita	sisi-	‘first element in several compounds for kinds of shellfish’
SES	’Are’are	sisi	‘a big sea shell’
SES	’Are’are	sisi-	‘first element in compounds for kinds of gastropods’
SES	Arosi	sisi(apiro)	‘limpet’
SES	Lau	sisi(afufu)	‘mollusc sp.’
SES	Gela	hihi(vuhi)	‘freshwater snail sp., Neritina brevispina’
NCV	Mwotlap	nɛ-sɛs	‘Nerita plicata, generic for molluscs’
NCV	Ambae	hihe	‘Nerita sp.’
NCV	Southeast Ambrym	ses	‘shellfish of family Neritidae’
NCV	Tamambo	sise	‘shellfish sp.’
NCV	Nguna	sisa	‘snail including nerites’
NCV	Raga	hiha	‘seasnail, winkle’
NCV	South Efate	ses	‘nerite’
NCal	Cèmuhî	ti	‘generic term for gastropods’
NCal	Fwâi	tʰik	‘trochus, but used generically for gastropods’
NCal	Nemi	tʰik	‘trochus, but used generically for gastropods’
Fij	Rotuman	sisi	‘edible shell-fish, the periwinkle’
Fij	Bauan	siði	(1) ‘Trochus spp.’; (2) ‘first element in various compounds naming kinds of gastropods and a few bivalves’
Fij	Wayan	ðiði	‘generic for gastropods’
PPn		*sisi	‘a univalve mollusc’ (pollex)
Pn	Niuatoputapu	hihi	‘Nerita spp.’
Pn	Niuean	hihi-	‘first element in compound names for some gastropods’
Pn	Samoan	sisi	‘name given to small snails in general’ (Milner 1966) ; ‘freshwater molluscs’ (Pratt 1862)
Pn	East Futunan	sisi	‘small shellfish spp., Neritidae and Naeticidae’
Pn	Tikopia	sisi	‘a range of marine and land snails incl. Melampus spp. and Nerita spp.’
Pn	Rennellese	sisi	‘edible Nerita shells’

cf. also:

NNG	Yabem	usu	‘sea snails (general term)’
PT	Motu	dudu	‘name of a shellfish’ (u for †i)

Some WOc and NCV languages reflect *siseq or *sisaq rather than *sisiq. These departures can be explained in terms of dissimilatory change in which the final, unstressed vowel is lowered. Dissimilation of the final vowel, *sisiq > sisu > susu, also explains Motu dudu for expected *didi.

4.2.7. Cypraeidae (cowries) and Ovulidae (egg and spindle cowries)⇫

Many species of cowries are present. The white or egg cowrie (Ovula ovum) is used in some societies as a decoration associated with chiefs and chiefly property. In Fiji, for example, these shells are hung from the ridge-pole of a chief’s house and in the western Solomons they are used as prow ornaments on war canoes. Oceanic languages generally classify cowries and ovulids together under a single generic with subtaxa distinguished by binomials. There is a well-attested POc reconstruction which continues a PMP etymon.

PMP		*buliq	‘cowrie shell’ (Blust 1980b; ACD)
POc		*buli(q)	‘generic for cowries’
NNG	Takia	bul	‘k.o. shellfish: Ovula ovum, white egg cowrie’
PT	Kilivila	bune-buna	‘cowrie’
PT	Molima	buli	‘cat’s eye (operculum of shell)’
MM	Tabar	buri-buri	‘big cowrie shell’
MM	Maringe	buli	‘cowrie shell’
SES	Gela	buli	‘generic for cowries’
SES	To’aba’ita	bull	‘egg cowrie, Ovula ovum’
SES	Lau	buli	‘white cowrie, Ovula ovum’
SES	Sa’a	puli	‘cowrie shell, used as sinkers for nets’
NCV	Mwotlap	(nʊ-wʊ)pʷʊl	‘cowrie shell, not edible; Cypraeidae spp.’
NCV	Nguna	pule	‘cowries’
Mic	Ponapean	pʷili	‘cowrie shell’
Mic	Puluwatese	pʷiliy	‘cowry shell; to scrape, as breadfruit’
Fij	Bauan	buli	‘cowrie shell’
Fij	Wayan	buli-buli	‘cowrie shell: generic term for Cypraeidae and Ovulidae’
PPn		*pule	‘cowrie’
Pn	Samoan	pule	‘cowrie’
Pn	Niuean	pule	‘cowrie, Cyprea sp.’ (pule tea ‘white cowry, Ovula ovum’)

4.2.8. Trochidae, top shells⇫

The Trochidae are a family of shallow water dwellers, represented by many species, with conical shells and flat or convex circular base. Some are a valued food resource. Oceanic peoples traditionally made ornaments, such as arm and wrist bracelets, from trochus shell. Oceanic languages usually have a generic term for the family and several binomials naming subtaxa. There is a good chance that the term lalai, which entered Tok Pisin from Tolai, has spread from Tok Pisin into many vernacular languages of Papua New Guinea and the Solomons.

PMP		*lalak	‘trochus shell’ (Blust 2002)
POc		*lala(k)	(1) ‘Trochus spp., including Trochus niloticus and possibly Trochus stellatus’; (2) ‘rings or armlets made of this’
NNG	Wogeo	lala	‘pearl shell’
MM	Tolai	lalai	‘Trochus spp., armlet made from trochus shells’
MM	Maringe	glala	‘Trochus niloticus’
SES	Gela	lala	‘Trochus niloticus’
SES	Longgu	lala	‘Trochus niloticus’
NCV	Mota	lala	‘top shell; bracelet made of this’
NCV	Raga	lala	‘Trochus stellatus: shell armlet, ring’
NCV	Tamambo	lala	‘trochus’
NCV	Uripiv	na-lel	‘trochus shell’

cf. also: the following, all possibly borrowed from Tok Pisin lalai

Adm	Mussau	lailai	‘pearlshell’
NNG	Kove	lalai	‘pearlshell’
MM	Bali	lailai	‘pearlshell’

4.2.9. Conidae, cone shells⇫

The Conidae are all conical in shape, usually with long narrow aperture and smooth outer lip. Species vary greatly in length, ranging from 6 mm to 230 mm. The Conidae are carnivores and inflict a venom with a radular dart on the proboscis. The larger shells are much used for making bracelets and rings. There is a term attributable to PEOc whose SES reflexes generally refer both to the shell itself and to bracelets and other ornaments made of cone or trochus shell.

PEOc		*lako	(1) ‘cone or trochus shell’; (2) ‘various ornaments made from this’
SES	Gela	lago	‘cone shells made into ornaments’
SES	Arosi	raʔo	‘trochus shell; various ornaments made from this; canoe decorated with inlaid shell pieces’
SES	’Are’are	raʔo	‘cone shell used as ornament on belt or arm; tied on canoes as protection’
SES	Lau	lao	‘generic for Conus spp.; ornaments of Conus, canoe decorated with Conus’
SES	Sa’a	laʔo	‘cone shell, trochus; forehead ornament of this or tridacna; armlets; shell inlaid on sides of canoes’
Mic	Puluwatese	la-	‘possessive classifier for bracelets’
Mic	Puluwatese	lœlœlœ	‘use s.t. as a bracelet’
Mic	Woleaian	raxa	‘bracelet, wrist ornament’

PSES *kome evidently referred to a particular kind of armlet, made from *lako shell. A partially or fully reduplicated form, *ko-kome or *komekome, may have been a general name for cone shells in PSES. However, given that *kome referred to a valuable trade good, this term may well have spread by borrowing among languages of the central and eastern Solomons.

PSES		*kome	‘armlets made from cone or trochus shell’
PSES		*ko-kome, *kome-kome	‘generic for cone shells’
MM	Maringe	kome-kome	‘Conidae family (generic)’
MM	Maringe	kʰome	‘cone shell, Conus leopardus, used to make armlets’
SES	Arosi	kome	‘white shell armlet of raʔo trochus’
SES	Lau	kome	‘Conus’
SES	Sa’a	ko-kome	‘round white armlet of trochus (laʔo)’
SES	To’aba’ita	kome	‘armlet, shell of Conus sp.’
SES	Kwaio	kome	‘cone shell arm ring’
SES	Kwaio	kō-kome	‘cone shells (generic)’

4.2.10. Muricidae, murexes⇫

_Murex_es have large shells, sculptured with knobs and ridges, spines and spinal cords. They are carnivores which live in the subtidal zone especially on sandy mudflats. Numerous species occur in the tropical Pacific.

POc		*buRua	‘Murex sp.’ (Geraghty 1990)
PT	Bwaidoga	(hewahewa)bulu	‘Murex ramosus’
MM	Tolai	burua, bura-burua	‘Murex palmarosae’
Fij	Wayan	bua	‘Murex spp.’

cf. also:

NNG	Kove	vuru	‘cone shells and ornaments made from these’
MM	Nakanai	e-buru	‘cone-shaped shellfish’

4.2.11. Gastropod families lacking POc names⇫

For many groups of gastropods present in the tropical Pacific region no reconstructions have been made to POc level, even though names for these groups are present in contemporary languages. For example, POc names are missing for limpets (Patellidae), key-hole limpets (Fissurellidae), ceriths (Cerithidae), cones (Conidae), dog-whelks (Nassaridae), mud-whelks (Potomididae), helmet shells (Cassidae), tun shells (Tonnidae), miters (Mitridae), augers (Terebridae), turrids (Turridae) and drupes (Thaidinae).

4.2.12. Generic terms for gastropods⇫

For a small minority of Oceanic languages the sources give a term that applies to gastropods in general or to a wide range of gastropods. The fact that reflexes of POc *sisiq have this semantic range in a North New Guinea language (Takia sisef), and in the Fijian languages (Wayan ðiði, Bauan siði) might suggest that *sisiq also had a similar range in POc. However, comparison of the larger sample of cognates listed in §4.2.8 suggests that it is at least as likely that POc *sisiq was a more restricted generic, referring to various small gastropod families and that more than once it independently became a term for edible gastropods in general. See ch. 8 for further discussion. Marovo (Meso-Melanesian) has a generic, chuko, that embraces most small to medium-sized gastropods but excludes nerites and turbans (Hviding 2005:67).

4.3. Class Bivalvia: clams, cockles, oysters, etc.⇫

There are ten pretty secure POc reconstructions for kinds of bivalves: *japi, *kaRi, *kasi *kuku, *kima, *sapulu(q), *tiRom, *tu(qu)asi, *tu(q)e-tu(q)e and *(w,y)aro.

4.3.1. Tridacninae, giant clams⇫

Giant clams are a small but economically important group that includes the largest externally shelled molluscs. The largest species (Tridacna gigas) grows up to a metre long. Traditionally regarded as a separate family, this group has recently been reclassified as a subfamily Tridacninae of Cardiidae. Giant clams are prized food, consumed at ceremonial feasts. In some societies edge-ground adze blades and shell rings were made from the heavy shells. Typically Oceanic languages have a generic referring to all Tridacna, with several binomials distinguishing subtaxa. Thus Arosi ʔima is the generic and there are eight binomials (including one pair of synonyms) denoting subtaxa. Wayan has vāsua as the generic and has three subtaxa: (vasua) cavucavu, Tridacna gigas, the largest kind, which is easily removed, and is symbolic of women because they marry away from home; kativatu, Tridacna maxima, is hard to remove and is symbolic of men, who stay with their father’s clan; and vosavosa, the fluted clam, Tridacna squamosa.

There is a well-attested POc generic for giant clams, *kima, with a PMP antecedent.

PMP		*kima	‘giant clam, Tridacna spp.’ (Blust 2002)
POc		*kima	‘giant clam, Tridacna spp., include. Tridacna gigas’
PT	Molima	ʔimaʔima	‘a shell which is used as a scraper’
PT	Wedau	kimei	‘clam shell’
PT	Tawala	kima	‘clam shell’
MM	Tabar	kima	‘clam’
SES	Gela	gima	‘Tridacna gigas’
SES	Sa’a	ʔime	‘giant clam variety’
SES	To’aba’ita	ʔima	‘generic for giant clams’
SES	Longgu	ʔima	‘large clam’
NCV	Mota	gima	‘giant clam variety’
Mic	Kiribati	kima	‘tridacna’

Reflexes of *kima are absent from Central Pacific, where it was evidently replaced by *(b,v)āsua. This was the PCP reflex of a PEOc term for a large but unidentified shellfish species. Reflexes show unexplained variation in the initial consonant.

PEOc		*(b,v)asua	‘large shellfish, perhaps a bivalve’
SES	Gela	(pau)pasua	‘Murex spp.’
SES	Arosi	(han) wasua	‘oyster’ (initial w- unexpected)
NCV	Uripiv	na-basow	‘scallop, Pallium sp., and Spondylus rubicundus’
PCP		*(b,v)āsua	‘giant clam, Tridacna spp.’
Fij	Wayan	vāsua	‘generic for Tridacna spp.’
Fij	Bauan	vāsua	‘giant clam, Tridacna spp.’
PPn		*(p,f)āsua	‘Tridacna clam sp.’
Pn	Samoan	fāisua	‘Tridacna sp., giant clam’ (-i- irregular)
Pn	Rennellese	hāsua	‘general term for Tridacna spp.’
Pn	Emae	fāsua	‘Tridacna sp., giant clam’
Pn	Ifira-Mele	vasu-vāsua	‘k.o. edible bivalve’
PEPn-Northern Outlier		*pāsua	‘Tridacna sp. or spp.’
Pn	Sikaiana	pāsua	‘clam’
Pn	Tokelauan	pāua	‘poisonous shellfish attached under shelving coral’
Pn	Nukuoro	pāsua	‘Tridacna maxima’
Pn	Tahitian	pāhua	‘Tridacna elongata’
Pn	Rarotongan	paʔua	‘clam, oyster’
Pn	Marquesan	pahua	‘oyster sp.’

cf. also:

Pn

Tongan

vāsua

‘clam’ (borrowed from Fijian)

The Gela and Arosi comparisons are problematic but they provide evidence, consistent with some Eastern Polynesian witnesses, that PCP *(b,v)asua derived from a pre Central Pacific form that referred to a group of bivalves other than the Tridacninae.

4.3.2. Asaphis spp. (Psammobidae) and cockles (Cardiidae)⇫

There is a well-supported POc form, *kasi, which referred to to the action of grating or scraping, to scrapers made from the valves of circular bivalves, such as Asaphis (Psammobidae) and cockles (Cardiidae spp.) and to the shellfish themselves, which are good eating. The vernacular term ‘cockle’ is used loosely in many sources, referring not just to shells of the Cardiidae family but also to other small to medium-sized rounded bivalves with radial or concentric striae, including Psammobidae and Tellinidae.

POc		*kasi	[v] ‘to scrape; scraper or grater made from robust circular bivalve shell, such as Asaphis and cockles’; [N] ‘shellfish taxon, esp. Asaphis spp.’ (cf. vol.1, pp.162, 238-240)
PT	Tawala	kahi	‘pearl shell’
MM	Nakanai	kasi	‘mussel or clam; mussel shell used as knife’
Fij	Rotuman	ʔɔsi	‘cockle, shell much used for scraping’
PPn		*kasi	‘shellfish, Asaphis spp.’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	kahi	‘name of a mussel’
Pn	Niuatoputapu	kahi	‘Asaphis violascens’
Pn	Samoan	ʔasi	‘a mussel, Area sp.’
Pn	Nukuoro	kasi	‘Asaphis dichotoma’
Pn	Tikopia	kasi	‘bivalve mollusc, Asaphis violascens, and possibly other related bivalves; shell used as cutting or scraping implement’
Pn	Rarotongan	kaʔi	‘Asaphis violascens’
Pn	Māori	kahi	‘Amphidesma australe and certain other bivalves’

cf. also:

Mic

Carolinian

xātil

‘very small clams (thumb sized) used in soups’

The next term, POc *kaRi, may have referred to cockles or may have been a more general term for a wider range of small to medium-sized bivalves.

POc		*kaRi	‘bivalve sp. or spp., possibly cockle, used as a scraper’ (Geraghty 1990; cf. vol.1, p.162)
NNG	Manam	ʔoriʔori	‘pearl shell, traditionally used to scrape coconuts; coconut grater, scraper’
SES	Gela	gali	‘species of mollusc, Asaphis sp. (eaten)’
SES	To’aba’ita	ʔali	‘bivalve sp., used as scraper and spoon’
SES	Sa’a	ali	‘cockle’
NCV	Mota	ɣar	(1) ‘cockle’; (2) ‘to scrape’
NCV	Raga	gari	‘cockle shell; used as a scraper’
Fij	Bauan	kai	‘generic name of bivalve shellfish’
Fij	Bauan	kai-koso	‘generic for several bivalves’

PPn *pipi appears to have applied to various circular bivalves including Asaphis sp. or spp. Its reflexes are of interest because in several cases (Kapingamarangi, Pukapukan, Rennellese and Tikopia) they have become a generic for bivalves.

PPn		*pipi	‘probably general name for small or medium-sized circular bivalves, including cockles, Asaphis spp.’
Pn	Tongan	pipi	‘shellfish sp.’
Pn	Samoan	pipi	(1) ‘kind of cockle, Asaphis sp.’; (2) ‘shell scraper for barkcloth’
Pn	Tokelauan	pipi	(1) ‘Asaphis sp.’; (2) ‘scraper of this’
Pn	Tuvalu	pipi	‘Asaphis sp., Nerita spp.’
Pn	Rennellese	pipi	‘circular bivalves’
Pn	Kapingamarangi	pipi	(1) ‘Asaphis sp.’; (2) ‘general term for small clams’
Pn	Tikopia	pipi	‘bivalve of many spp.’
Pn	Pukapukan	pipi	‘general name for clams’
Pn	Māori	pipi	‘Paphies australis, Chione stutchburyi’

4.3.3. Mytilidae, mussels⇫

Mussels occur in dense colonies on rocky shores, attaching themselves to surfaces by byssus threads. They fall into several subfamilies. Mytilus spp. predominate in cold waters but in tropical waters they are replaced by species of the subfamilies Modiolinae and Lithophaginae. Commonly Oceanic languages distinguish two or more mussel taxa by name, e.g. Wayan has a generic term boro, with two subtaxa: boro boro, probably Modiolus plumescens, and drivi ’small mussels with black shell, possibly Lithophaga sp.

Blust (1972:10) relates POc *kuku(r) ‘? mussel sp.’ to PAn *kuDkuD ‘rasp, file’, noting reflexes such as Tagalog kudkod, Toba Batak hurhur ‘grated’, Ngadju Dayak kukur ‘rasp, grater’. It is likely that POc *kuku(r) was polysemous, referring both to food scrapers of various kinds of shells and to mussels, which were used as scrapers.

POc		*kuku(r)	‘mussel sp. or spp., used as food grater or scraper’ (see vol.1, p. 161)
Adm	Lou	kuki	‘shell used to scrape coconut’
NNG	Takia	kuk	‘shellfish: Anadara sp., cockle shell’
NNG	Kove	kuku	‘little black horse mussel’
SES	Gela	ɣuɣu	‘mollusc sp.’
SES	Arosi	kuku	‘a small bivalve, Area sp.’
NCV	Lonwolwol	huhu	‘a sharpened shell, for scraping’
Fij	Bauan	kuku	‘generic for mussels, incl. Modiola spp.’
PPn		*kuku	‘mussel sp. (Mytilidae)’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	kuku	‘pink-fleshed mussel’
Pn	Niuean	kuku	‘a small black mussel’
Pn	Samoan	ʔuʔu	‘mussel, Modiola sp.’
Pn	East Futunan	kuku	‘mussel sp. (Mytilidae)’
Pn	Rarotongan	kuku	‘mussel sp., Mytilus edulis’
Pn	Rennellese	kuku	‘Tellina discus’

4.3.4. Ostreidae, rock oysters⇫

The English folk category ‘oyster’ refers to several families of bivalves, including Ostreidae (typical oysters), Isognomonidae (mangrove oysters), Malleidae (hammer oysters), Pteridae (pearl and wing oysters) and Spondylidae (thorny oysters), the latter being more closely related to scallops than to the other ‘oyster’ families. Wayan Fijian has a generic term, ðiva, with a similarly broad range of reference.

POc *tiRom continues a PAn term for oyster. The range of the POc term probably included both typical oysters (Ostreidae), which attach themselves by cementing one valve to rocks or wood, and tree oysters (Isognominidae), found mainly among mangrove roots or under rocks in the intertidal zone. Only a few species of Isognomonidae occur in the Pacific Islands.

PMP		*tiRem	‘oyster (Ostreidae)’ (Blust 2002; Dempwolff 1938)
POc		*tiRom	‘oyster (Ostreidae, Isognomonidae)’
Adm	Lenkau	tireŋ	‘k.o. shell’
NNG	Kove	tiro	‘Crassostrea commercialis, oyster found on stones and mangroves’
NNG	Kove	tiromu	‘oyster (edible)’ (borrowed from Bali?)
NNG	Mangap	tir	‘freshwater shellfish type’
PT	Motu	siro	‘oyster’
MM	Nakanai	tiro	‘mangrove oyster’
SES	Gela	tilo	‘k.o. bivalve, in mangroves and borer in ships’
SES	’Are’are	iro	‘k.o. oyster living on roots of mangroves’
SES	Arosi	iro	‘small gastropod’
SES	Kwaio	ilo	‘oyster’
NCal	Pije	diam	‘oyster’
NCal	Nemi	jiem	‘oyster’
Fij	Bauan	dio	‘rock oyster’
Fij	Wayan	tio	‘generic for rock oysters (Ostreidae)’
PPn		*tio	‘oyster sp.’ (POLLEX)
Pn	Tongan	sio	‘rock oyster’
Pn	East Futunan	tio	‘rock oyster’
Pn	Samoan	tio	‘mollusc, Vermetus sp.; iridescent fish lure made from its shell’
Pn	Tokelauan	tio	‘gastropod, Vermetus sp. (Vermitidae)’

4.3.5. Pteridae, pearl and wing oysters, and Malleidae, hammer oysters⇫

The family Pteridae includes pearl and wing oysters, which live on rocky ocean floors. They have moderate to large shells with one valve more inflated, with pearly interior. The Malleidae, hammer oysters, have ears drawn out into elongate wings. The common hammer oyster, Malleus malleus, anchors to the bottom in shallow reef waters.

The gold-lip pearl shell, Pinctada maxima, and the black-lip pearl, Pinctada margaritifera, were traditionally important as a trade item and source of ornaments, especially the breastplate crescent made from the lip of this shell and worn by men. Although they are widely distributed species Swadling (1994) reports that the environmental conditions for dense concentrations of gold- and black-lip pearl shells occur only in a few parts of Papua New Guinea (Manus Province, Ramoaaina Islands, Arawe Islands, Brooker and Moturina in the Calvados chain, eastern Milne Bay Province, and the Torres Strait Islands). Pearl oysters are absent from the more southerly subtropical parts of Polynesia, and in some other parts of Polynesia, including Tonga and Samoa, occur in locations that were not easily accessible to divers. The importance of pearl shell ornaments as trade valuables no doubt led to borrowing of the names for these in some regions. However, the fact that reflexes of *japi, showing regular sound shifts, are found from New Guinea to Polynesia is strong evidence of the POc antiquity of this term.

POc		*japi	(1) ‘bivalve taxon, probably Pinctada maxima, gold-lipped pearl shell’; (2) ‘ornament made from this’ (see vol. 1, p. 104)
NNG	Manam	javi	‘pearl shell spoon’
MM	Roviana	davi	‘pearl shell’
MM	Marovo	davi	‘goldlip pearl, Pinctada maxima’
SES	Bugotu	davi	‘gold-lip pearl shell’
SES	Gela	davi	‘gold-lip pearl; crescent ornament made from this’
SES	’Are’are	tahi	‘pearl shell; ornament made of same worn by chiefs’
SES	Arosi	dahi	‘gold-lipped pearl shell’
SES	Sa’a	dahi	‘gold-lipped pearl; crescent breast ornament worn by men, cut from this shell’
PCP		*jiva	‘pearl oyster, including Pinctada spp.’ (metathesis)
Fij	Bauan	ðiva	(1) ‘pearl and wing oysters (Pinctada spp. and Avicula spp.), hammer oyster (Malleus sp.)’; (2) ‘breastplate of pearl shell in frame of whale’s tooth ivory’
Fij	Bauan	ðiva-ðiva	‘small oyster, Pinctada matensis’
Fij	Wayan	ðiva	(1) ‘pearl and winged oysters, including blacklip pearl, Pinctada margaritifera, and giant wing oyster’; (2) ‘generic for all kinds of oysters’
Pn	Tongan	sifa	‘pearl shell breastplate’
Pn	Niuean	tifa	‘mother of pearl shell and ornament’
Pn	Tikopia	tifa	‘large pearl shell, formerly worn by men of rank as a breast ornament. Types include Pinctada margaritifera, Pinctada maxima, Isognomon isognomum, Isognomon perna and Pinna sp.’
Pn	Rarotongan	tiʔa	‘pearl shell breastplate’

cf. also:

PT

Hula

ravivi

‘clamshell’

The next two sets probably belong to the same etymon, w/y crossover occurs in certain other forms. The Gela reflex is compatible with either set because word-initial *w is lost in Gela.

POc		*(y)aro(q)	‘black-lipped pearl, Pinctada maxima’ (possibly generic for Pinctada spp.)
NNG	Bing	yar-yar	‘blacklip pearl oyster shell, Pinctada maxima’
NNG	Gedaged	jaɬ	‘goldlip pearl’
NNG	Mangap	yar-yar	‘saltwater shellfish, very colourful’
PT	Motu	laro	‘small pearl shellfish; shell used for cutting and paring’ (l- a sporadic accretion in Motu)
MM	Roviana	aro(moi)	‘k.o. large oyster’
MM	Nduke	aro(moi)	‘large oyster found on reef, Pycnodonata hyotis (= Ostrea hyotis)’
SES	Lengo	aro	‘oyster’

PEOc		*waro(q)	‘probably black-lipped pearl, Pinctada maxima, possibly generic for Pinctada spp.’
SES	Gela	aro	‘black-lip pearl, Pinctada margaritifera’
SES	Arosi	waro	‘black-lip pearl’ (waro-anakaoea, scallop, Pecten sp.’)
SES	To’aba’ita	kʷaro	‘pearl oyster, Pinctada margaritifera’
SES	To’aba’ita	kʷaro(mēmena)	‘pearl oyster sp., dark yellow tinge, probably Pinctada maxima, black-lip pearl’
Fij	Wayan	waro	‘pen shell, Pinna sp.’

4.3.6. Pinnidae, pen shells⇫

The Pinnidae or pen shells have large fragile shells. They live buried in soft sand anchored by a silk byssus. The following reconstruction is tentatively associated with the genus Pinna because of the Gela and Fijian reflexes. In Cristobal-Malaita languages the reflex refers to black mussels, from which bonito hooks are made.

POc		*sapulu(q)	‘bivalve mollusc, possibly Pinna sp.’
NNG	Kove	ravulu	‘k.o. razor shell’
SES	Gela	havulu	‘k.o. mollusc, Pinna sp.’
SES	Bugotu	havulu	‘scallop’ (Ivens: gloss dubious)
SES	’Are’are	tahuri	‘a black mussel’
SES	Arosi	tahuru	‘black mussel sp., used to make bonito hooks’
SES	Sa’a	tehulu	‘black mussel, used to make bonito hooks’
SES	To’aba’ita	fulu	‘shellfish with black shell’
Fij	Bauan	savulu	‘a shellfish, Pinna squamosa’

4.3.7. Lucinidae and allied families⇫

Lucinoidea (Lucinidae and three other families) are often the dominant bivalves in shallow sea grass bed habitats, esp. species of Codakia, Ctena, Lucina, Lucinisca, Loripes and Anodonta, and are an important food source. The Lucinidae have certain unusual anatomical features including a foot, used for burrowing, that can be extended 4 to 6 times the length of the animal. There is no secure POc reconstruction for this family but the following is a candidate.

POc		*tu(q)e, *tu(q)e-tu(q)e	‘k.o. bivalve, possibly Lucinidae and allied families’
NNG	Kove	tue	‘Geloina coaxans, a cockle-like clam of mangrove forest (Corbiculidae)’
NNG	Kove	tue-tue	‘Codakia tigerina (Lucinidae), Quidnipagus palatum (Tellinidae)’
SES	Gela	tue	‘Batissa sp., possibly Batissa unioniformis, a commonly harvested small bivalve used as a scraper’
SES	Gela	tue-lovo	‘Pecten sp.’
SES	Gela	tue-koraga	‘freshwater bivalve’
SES	Gela	tue-kunukunu	‘very long Batissa sp.’
SES	Gela	tue-tue	(1) ‘Tellina spp.’; (1) ‘young tue’
SES	Ghari	tue	‘black freshwater oyster’
SES	Ghari	tue-tue	‘small white edible shellfish’
SES	Lengo	tue	‘mangrove shell’
SES	Lengo	tu-tue	‘sea shell’
SES	Tolo	tue-tue	‘small freshwater shellfish’
Pn	Tongan	tuʔe	‘k.o. shellfish with long sharp projections’
Pn	Māori	tua-tua	‘bivalve, Amphidesma subtriangulata’ (syn. of kahi-tua, kai-tua)

4.3.8. Reconstructions for bivalves of uncertain family⇫

Some etyma have reflexes that are so semantically diverse or so vaguely glossed in the sources that the reconstructed name cannot be associated with a particular family. For POc *sisira ‘a barnacle or k.o. small mollusc’ see §3.6. The following reconstruction is very tentative, because the putative cognates are few and because the semantic agreement is weak.

POc		*tape	‘k.o. bivalve’
NNG	Bilibil	tave	‘giant clam, Tridacna gigas’
MM	Teop	dave	‘Polinices tumidua (in white sand)’
Fij	Wayan	tavē	(1) ‘tellins, sanguins’; (2) ‘generic for a large class of bivalves, excluding oysters and giant clams’

The following term may have applied to a kind of pearl shell, with a shift of referent in Bugotu and Maringe arising from the use of pieces of nautilus shell for inlaying in woodwork.

PWOc		*bio	‘k.o. mollusc or pearl shell’
NNG	Yabem	bi	‘pearl shell’
NNG	Gitua	bio-bio	‘pearl shell’
NNG	Tami	biu	‘pearl shell’
MM	Nakanai	beo	‘pearl shell’
MM	Tabar	bio	‘k.o. shellfish, Strombidae’
MM	Bola	bio	‘pearl shell’
MM	Maringe	bio	‘nautilus shell, used for inlaying in woodwork’
SES	Bugotu	bio	‘nautilus’ (possibly borrowed from Maringe)

The following cognate set appears to be restricted to Meso-Melanesian.

PMM		*game	‘k.o. mollusc’
MM	Vitu	game	‘k.o. shellfish: Trochus niloticus’
MM	Tabar	gam	‘a shellfish’ (possibly from Tok Pisin gam ‘baler shell, large cowry shells’)
MM	Tangga	gem	‘a bivalve, possibly a small Toigans’

cf. also:

Adm	Mussau	kame-kame	‘bait’
NNG	Manam	gam	‘squid’

The following term may have referred both to a bivalve shellfish and to spoons or graters made from its shell. Only a single WOc reflex has been noted. The Niuatoputapu reflex points to PPn *tuquahi, with glottal stop, whereas the Tongan reflex points to *tuahi. Those Polynesian forms that refer only to coconut grater may have spread by borrowing.

POc		*tu(qu)asi	‘bivalve taxon, probably ark or cockle shell; possibly also grater or spoon made from this’
NNG	Mangap	tuai	‘shellfish type, shell used for scraping root vegetables’
PCP		*tu(qu)aði	‘bivalve taxon, probably ark or cockle shell; possibly also grater or spoon made; from this’
Fij	Bauan	tuasa	‘a bivalve, probably Area sp.’ (final -a irregular)
Fij	Wayan	tuaði	‘ark shell, Anadara sp. (Arcidae)’
Pn	Tongan	tuahi	‘k.o. shellfish’
Pn	Niuatoputapu	tuʔuasi	‘a cockle, Laevicardium biradiata (Cardiidae)’
Pn	Samoan	tuai	‘coconut grater’
Pn	Rennellese	tuai	‘spoon or grater, formerly made of shell’ (for †tuʔuai)
Pn	Rarotongan	tuai	‘coconut grater’

4.3.9. Bivalve families lacking definite POc reconstructions⇫

There are several prominent families of bivalves for which no definite POc names can be reconstructed. These include scallops (Pectinidae), thorny oysters (Spondylidae), jewelboxes (Chamidae), tellins (Tellinidae), sanguins (Garidae), wedge shells (Donacidae), venus shells (Veneridae), and olives (Olividae).

4.3.10. Generic term for bivalves⇫

Some contemporary languages have a generic covering all or most bivalves. This is often a polysemous term, which also refers to an important specific taxon. For example, the Bauan generic kai is also the term for cockles, Wayan tavē is also the term for tellins and sanguins. In several Polynesian languages reflexes of PPn *pipi, probably originally referring chiefly to cockles, has become a generic for a wide range of bivalves (§4.3.2).

4.4. Polyplacophora: chitons⇫

Chitons are flattened, slug-like molluscs, most species covered with eight shingle-like plates. They feed on algae. Chitons are usually represented in Oceanic languages by a uninomial generic (e.g. Gedaged dabag) and some languages also have several binomials naming specific kinds. There is a well-supported PEOc reconstruction but there are no certain cognates in WOc.

PEOc		*tadruku	‘generic for chitons’
SES	Gela	tadugu	‘generic for chitons’ (Foale)
Fij	Bauan	tadruku	‘chiton’
Fij	Wayan	tadruku	‘chiton’

cf. also:

MM

Marovo

tatadu

‘generic for chitons’

In PPn *mama replaced *tadruku as the generic for chitons. PPn *mama is probably cognate with Southeast Solomonic *mama, referring to a kind of anemone or jellyfish (see §6.3).

PPn		*mama	‘chiton’
Pn	Tongan	mama	‘seaslug’
Pn	Niuean	mama	‘various slug-like molluscs on reef, probably chiton family’
Pn	Tikopia	mama	‘chiton’
Pn	Marquesan	mama	‘Chiton magnificus’

4.5. A term for shellfish in general⇫

Did POc speakers have a name for shellfish (shelled molluscs) in general? As noted in section 1, POc had a broad collective term, *pinaŋoda, denoting ‘marine invertebrates, sea animals other than fish gathered on the reef’. In a few languages the reflex has become a general term for bivalves and gastropods, sometimes also including sea urchins, e.g. Samoan fiŋota ‘generic for shelled molluscs and other invertebrates’, Tokelauan fiŋota ‘bivalves, gastropods and sea urchins’.

A term specifically denoting all and only shellfish is present in some Oceanic languages. For example, Foale (1998) reports that Gela (SES) vaŋuda is normally used as generic for molluscs but can be extended to include crustaceans and echinoderms. Lau (SES) has a noncognate form with similar function: karoŋo (1) ‘shelled mollusc, marine or land’; (2) ‘any invertebrate collected on reef at low tide: shellfish, crabs, squids’, as does Niuean fua ‘shellfish and echinoderms’. Motu (PT) has bisisi ‘general name for all shellfish’ and Takia (NNG) has sisei ‘generic for all varieties of shells’. Akimichi and Sakiyama (1991) report that Penchal (Adm) mʷel has two senses: (1) ‘shellfish’; (2)‘shellfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers’ and that in nearby Lenkau the cognate term mʷe also has two senses: (1) ‘shellfish’ and (2) ‘shellfish, cephalopods and sea urchins and sea cucumbers’. We can conclude that POc may well have had a general term for shellfish. However, in the absence of a widespread cognate set no reconstruction can be made.

4.6. Cephalopoda: octopus, squid, nautilus⇫

The cephalopods include (1) the octopus and argonaut group, with eight tentacles; (2) the squid and spirula group, with ten, and (3) the chambered nautilus, which inhabits the deep sea and is rarely encountered alive. Groups (1) and (2) are valued food sources.

4.6.1. Octopus⇫

Several species of octopus occur in the Pacific, two common ones being Octopus cyanea, the day octopus or common reef octopus, and the smaller Octopus ornatus, the night octopus. Some Oceanic languages name several different taxa by size, shape and habits. There is a widely-reflected generic going back to PAn.

PAn		*kuRita	‘octopus’ (Blust 2002)
POc		*kuRita	‘generic for octopus’
Adm	Titan	kwit	‘generic for octopus’
Adm	Mussau	uita	‘generic for octopus’
NNG	Gedaged	uɬit	‘generic for octopus’
PT	Kilivila	kuita	‘generic for octopus’
PT	Motu	urita	‘generic for octopus’
MM	Tabar	urita	‘generic for octopus’
MM	Sursurunga	kurit	‘generic for octopus’
MM	Tolai	urita	‘generic for octopus’
MM	Teop	orita	‘generic for octopus’
SES	Tolo	hulita	‘generic for octopus’
SES	Arosi	ʔuria	‘a small octopus, squid’
NCV	Southeast Ambrym	uit	‘octopus, squid’
NCV	Raga	guita	‘octopus; generic for cephalopods’
NCal	Jawe	ciia	‘octopus’
Mic	Woleaian	xiusa	‘generic for octopus’
Fij	Bauan	kuita	‘octopus; generic for cephalophods’

4.6.2. Squid and cuttlefish⇫

Squids have 10 arms and a thin, plastic-like internal shell, which in the cuttlefish (Sepia spp.) takes the form of a flat rigid bone. Several squid and cuttlefish species occur in Pacific shallow waters, ranging in size from just a few cm to quite large.

POc had at least two terms for squid/cuttlefish taxa: *nusa (with doublet *nus) and *mʷanagi (with doublet *mʷamʷagi).

*nusa and *nus seem to have referred to small squid and small cuttlefish. Blust (1986) reconstructs PMP *nus ‘squid, cuttlefish’, based on forms such as Malay nus ‘generic for cephalopods’ and Roti nus ‘octopus, squid’, with a doublet *kanuqus. *nusa is reflected by the following:

POc		*nusa	‘small reef squid (Loligo spp.) and smaller cuttlefish (Sepia spp.)’
Adm	Mussau	nusa	‘small squid’
NNG	Bariai	gusa	‘squid’
NNG	Gedaged	nui	‘squid’
NNG	Manam	nuri	‘squid’
PT	Motu	nuse	‘small octopus’ (-s- irregular)
MM	Nakanai	luso	‘cuttlefish’
MM	Bulu	guta	‘squid’
MM	Maringe	nuho	‘cuttlefish’
SES	Gela	nuho	‘generic for reef squids, Sepioteuthis spp.’
SES	To’aba’ita	nuta	‘cuttlefish sp., relatively small’
SES	Arosi	nuto, nito	‘octopus, squid, smaller than monagi’
SES	Lau	nuto	‘squid’
SV	Anejom̃	niθ	‘generic for squids’
NCal	Fwâi	nit	‘squid’
Mic	Puluwatese	ŋiit	‘cuttlefish’ (ŋ for *n irregular)

cf. also:

MM

Tolai

(mara)nua

‘octopus sp.’

POc *nus has reflexes in Admiralties, North New Guinea and Central Pacific.

POc		*nus	‘squid’
Adm	Titan	ñu	‘squid’
NNG	Mangap	nus	‘smaller squid type’
Fij	Rotuman	nu	‘squid’
Fij	Bauan	(kuita) nū	‘squid’
Fij	Wayan	(sulua) nū	‘squid’ (sulua ‘octopus’)
PPn		*ŋū	‘squid’ (POLLEX; ŋ for †*w)
Pn	Tongan	ŋū(feke)	‘squid, cuttlefish’ (feke ‘octopus’)
Pn	Nukuoro	ŋū	‘squid’
Pn	Māori	ŋū	‘squid, Sepia apama’

*mʷanagi (dbl. *mʷamʷagi) possibly referred to larger cuttlefish. This term has reflexes in WOc and in SES.

POc		*mʷanagi, *mʷamʷagi	‘larger cuttlefish, Sepia sp. or spp.’
Adm	Lenkau	moman	‘cuttlefish’
Adm	Penchal	mʷamʷak	‘large red squid’
Adm	Titan	mʷuamʷak	‘cuttlefish’
NNG	Rauto	wonek	‘squid’
NNG	Akolet	e-vuñek	‘squid’
PT	Kilivila	mʷanagia	‘cuttlefish shell’
PT	Motu	managi	‘large octopus with shell’
MM	Tolai	managa	‘squid’ (*i > a by assmilation)
MM	Tolai	munaga	‘cuttlefish’
SES	Gela	managi	‘Sepia spp., cuttlefish’
SES	’Are’are	manaki	‘cuttlefish’
SES	To’aba’ita	wāwaki	‘spp. of large cuttlefish’
SES	Arosi	monagi	‘cuttlefish, larger than nuto’
NCV	Vera’a	mʷanak	‘cuttlefish, Sepia sp.’

cf. also:

NNG	Kove	mokave	‘octopus’
NNG	Apalik	oyuk	‘squid’

4.7. Parts of molluscs⇫

Oceanic languages usually have names for various parts of molluscs including beak, tentacles, suckers of octopus, mantle, foot, proboscis, gonads, innards of shellfish, shell, valve and hinge of bivalves, etc. Only a few part names are reconstructable to the level of POc.

PEOc		*buRu	‘octopus ink, sepia’ (Geraghty 1990)
SES	Arosi	buru	‘cuttlefish ink’
SES	Sa’a	bulu	‘octopus ink’
Fij	Bauan	bū(loa)	‘octopus ink’ (loa ‘black’)
Fij	Wayan	bū(lō)	‘octopus ink; ink sac of octopus; poisonous fluid ejected by certain fish’ (lō ‘black’)

PMP		*gaway	‘octopus tentacles’ (Zorc 1994)
POc		*kawe	‘tentacle of a cephalopod’
PT	Motu	gave	‘tentacles of octopus’
SES	Ghari	gae	‘tentacles’ (loss of *v irregular)
SES	Sa’a	ka-kave(na)	‘tentacle’
SV	Anejom̃	n-ɣeve	‘tentacles of a cephalopod’
Fij	Bauan	kawe	‘leg of a crab’
PPn		*kawe	‘tentacle of a cephalopod’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	kave	‘tentacle of cuttlefish’
Pn	East Futunan	kave(ʔi)	‘tentacle’
Pn	Samoan	ʔave	‘tentacle of an octopus’
Pn	Hawaiian	ʔawe	‘tentacle of squid, etc.’

POc		*mata	‘the operculum or trapdoor of certain gastropod spp.’ (cf. POc *mata ‘eye, opening, most important part or focal point of a thing’)
NNG	Gedaged	mala(n)	‘operculum’
NNG	Mengen	(mangasi) mata(na)	‘operculum of turban shell’
MM	Tolai	mata	‘operculum’
SES	Lau	mā	‘operculum of a univalve’
NCV	Port Sandwich	mara(n)	‘operculum’
Fij	Wayan	mata	‘operculum’

4.8. Artefacts made from shell⇫

As indicated in §4.1, POc speakers made a variety of artefacts from shell. Reconstructed terms include a number which refer both to the shell and animal and to the artefact made from the shell: *japi ‘crescent breast ornament made from pearl shell, probably worn by high status men’ (§4.3.5), *lala(k) ‘rings or armlets of trochus shell’ (§4.2.8), *tapuRiq ‘trumpet, of triton shell’ (§4.2.5), *buli(q) ‘cowry shell sinkers’ (§4.2.7), *kaRi, *kasi, and *kuku(r) ‘cutting and scraping instruments of bivalve shells’ (§4.3.2, §4.3.5). A few terms for artefacts sometimes or usually made from shell can be reconstructed, e.g. *kiRam ‘adze or axe (generic but applied to edge-ground axes made of tridacna shell), *kawil ‘fish-hook’, and *sabi-sabi ’shell disk used as ear-ring (in Massim made of Chama pacifica) (see vol.1,104).

5. Echinodermata: sea urchins, sea cucumbers, starfish, etc.⇫

The echinoderms include sea urchins (sea-eggs), sea cucumbers, starfish, brittle stars, feather stars and sand dollars. All possess tube feet and have a body pattern structured in fives. However, the various groups are very diverse in form.

5.1. Echinoidea: sea urchins⇫

Sea urchins are represented in Oceania by numerous genera and species. These include long-spined echinoderms (esp. Echinothrix and Diadema spp.), short-spined rock-boring urchins (Echinometra spp.) and slate pencil urchins, Heterocentrus mammilatus. Some sea urchins are eaten. It is seems that few Oceanic languages have a folk generic covering all sea urchins. In Wayan echinoderms are recognised as a covert taxon, sometimes referred to by a phrase meaning ‘spiky animals of the reef’.

5.1.1. Echinometra spp., rock-boring urchins⇫

There is a POc reconstruction for short-spined rock-boring urchins, Echinometra spp., and possibly also Tripneustes spp.

POc		*saRawaki	‘k.o. sea urchin, probably Echinometra sp. or spp.’
NNG	Takia	sarwag	‘sea urchin’
NNG	Mangap	sarwok	‘sea urchin type’
SES	Arosi	tawaʔi	‘k.o. echinus’
Fij	Bauan	ðāwaki	‘k.o. sea urchin with short spikes’
Fij	Wayan	ðāwaki	‘k.o. sea urchin with brittle shell and with short spines, possibly Tripneustes sp.’
PPn		*sāwaki	‘sea urchin with short spines’ (pollex)
Pn	Samoan	sāvaʔi	‘k.o. sea urchin’
Pn	Rennellese	sābaki	‘sea urchin, Echinometra sp.’
Pn	Hawaiian	hawaʔe	‘Tripneustes gratilla, round black short-spined urchin’

cf. also:

PT

Molima

salawaʔeʔe

‘a purple crab’

5.1.2. Long-spined sea urchins⇫

The following POc term probably referred to certain long-spined urchins, including Diadema spp., and possibly Astropyga and Echinothrix spp.

POc		*sala(n,ŋ)	‘k.o. sea urchin with long black spines, probably Diadema sp. or spp.’
Adm	Mussau	raraŋ(a)	‘sea urchin’
NNG	Manam	sala	‘Diadema setosum, black long spined sea urchin’
NNG	Kove	rarala	‘sea urchin with long black spines’
PT	Motu	dala	‘sea urchin’
PT	Kilivila	sanana	‘sea urchin’
MM	Halia	salana	‘spiny sea shell’
SES	Gela	hala	‘an echinus, sea egg’
NCV	Paamese	sal (eimas)	‘Diadema sp., sea urchin with long black spines’

cf. also:

NNG

Mangap

sailen

‘sea urchin’

A second term, *gina, is attributable to PEOc, having reflexes in S.E. Solomonic, North-Central Vanuatu and Central Pacific.

PEOc		*gina	‘k.o. sea urchin with long spines’
SES	Ghari	gine	‘k.o. sea urchin with sharp spines’
NCV	Raga	gine(hi)	‘sea urchin sp.’
NCV	Namakir	gin	‘sea urchin sp.’
NCV	Nguna	gida	‘sea urchin sp.’ (-d- for †*-n- irregular)
Fij	Bauan	gina	‘k.o. sea urchin, Echinus sp.’
Fij	Wayan	gina	‘k.o. sea urchin with long yellow spines, probably Echinometrix spp.’
PPn		*kina	‘sea urchin’ (pollex)
Pn	Niuean	kina	‘sea urchin’
Pn	Samoan	ʔina	‘k.o. sea urchin’
Pn	Māori	kina	‘k.o. sea urchin with long sharp spines, Evechinus chlorolicus’
Pn	Hawaiian	ina	‘small rock-boring urchins, Echinometra spp.’

The term *wana, for a long-spined urchin, is tentatively attributable to PCP.

PCP		*wana	‘sea urchin, probably Diadema sp. and/or Echinothrix spp.’
Fij	Rotuman	vᴂnᴂ	‘k.o. sea urchin’ (possibly a Polynesian loan)
PPn		*wana	‘sea urchin sp.’ (pollex)
Pn	Niuean	vana	‘sea urchin, Echinothrix sp.’
Pn	East Futunan	vana	‘sea urchin with long black spines’
Pn	Tikopia	vana	‘Diadema sp., needle-spined sea urchin’
Pn	Samoan	vana	‘edible sea urchins with long spikes, Diadema sp.’
Pn	Tokelauan	vana	‘Diadema sp., black sea urchin with long brittle poisonous spikes’
Pn	Hawaiian	wana	‘Echinothrix spp., long-spined urchins’

cf. also:

SV

Anejom̃

na-hen

‘k.o. sea urchin with small spikes’

5.2. Holothuroidea: sea cucumbers (bêche de mer, trepang, holothurians)⇫

5.2.1. Terms for specific taxa⇫

Firm-bodied sea cucumbers are relatively short and fat, with tube feet on the ventral surface. The thin-bodied, worm-like sea cucumbers lack tube feet. Some sea cucumbers are eaten by Oceanic communities. Tongan distinguishes some 18 sea cucumber taxa (Churchward 1959) and Wayan about 19 (Pawley and Sayaba 2003).

Blust (2002) reconstructs PWMP *balat ‘sea cucumber’ but no Oceanic cognates have been noted. Only one POc term for a sea cucumber taxon has been reconstructed, *(b,p)ula.

POc		*(p,b)ula	‘k.o. sea cucumber’
MM	Tabar	pura	‘sea cucumber’
MM	Vitu	bula	‘sea cucumber’
MM	Nehan	pul	‘sea cucumber’
MM	Tangga	pul	‘first element in compound terms for sea cucumbers’
NCV	Mwotlap	nʊ-vʊlvʊl	‘k.o. bêche-de-mer’
NCV	Ambae	burie	‘k.o. bêche-de-mer’
NCV	Port Sandwich	buelo	‘k.o. bêche-de-mer’
NCV	Paamese	vile(ŋā tomorū)	‘k.o. bêche-de-mer (?)’
NCV	South Efate	na-pʷlai (pako)	‘k.o. bêche-de-mer, Synapta maculata’
Fij	Rotuman	hula	‘k.o. sea cucumber’
Fij	Bauan	(drī) vula	‘k.o. sea-cucumber, chalk-fish’
Fij	Wayan	vula	‘whitish sea cucumber, with nipple-like projections on upper body, possibly Bohadschia marmorata or Holothuria fuscopunctata’

cf. also:

SES

Gela

vula

‘generic for cushion starfishes’

The following three terms are attributable to PCP.

PCP		*loli	‘sea cucumber taxon’
Fij	Bauan	loli	‘a small sea cucumber, whose skin is scraped and used as a fish-poison’
Fij	Wayan	loli-loli	‘Holothuria sp. or spp., probably Holothuria atra and/or edulis’
Pn	Tongan	loli	‘k.o. sea cucumber, comparatively long and hard’
Pn	Niuean	loli	‘generic for several kinds of sea cucumbers including Holothuria atra’
Pn	Samoan	loli	‘k.o. edible sea cucumber, Holothuria sp.’
Pn	Hawaiian	loli	‘generic for sea cucumbers’

PCP		*tarasea	‘sea cucumber taxon’
Fij	Bauan	tarasea	‘k.o. sea cucumber’
Fij	Wayan	tarasea	‘sea cucumber with white speckles, possibly Actinopyga sp. or Holothuria impatiens, edible’
Pn	Tongan	telehea	‘k.o. sea cucumber’
Pn	Rennellese	taŋasea	‘k.o. reddish sea cucumber, edible’

cf. also:

Pn

Samoan

sea

‘k.o. sea cucumber’

The following term literally means ‘eight breasts’, in reference to the nipple-like lumps on the upper body of this animal.

PCP		*ðuðu-walu	‘k.o. sea cucumber, probably Holothuria sp.’
Fij	Bauan	suðu-walu	‘k.o. sea cucumber, probably Holothuria sp.’
Fij	Wayan	ðuðu-walu	‘sea cucumber with nipple-like spikes, possibly Holothuria pervicax’
Pn	Tongan	huhu-valu	‘k.o. sea slug [sea cucumber], similar to mokohunu’

There is a POc reconstruction, *qanupe, whose meaning is indeterminate between ‘caterpillar’ and ‘k.o. sea cucumber’. All known WOc reflexes refer to sea cucumbers while all Eastern Oceanic reflexes refer to caterpillars (see ch.7, §17). When glossing the POc etymon one cannot, without external cognates, determine which of these two competing glosses was original, or indeed whether the POc form has two senses. In Wayan Fijian the English loan katavila refers both to caterpillars and to a kind of sea cucumber with caterpillar-like spiky protrusions.

POc		*qanupe	‘caterpillar or k.o. sea cucumber (indeterminate)’
PWOc		*qanupe	‘sea cucumber, holothurian’
NNG	Kove	anu(w)e	‘trepang’
PT	Dobu	kanue	‘bêche de mer’
PT	Kilivila	kariva	‘a white bêche de mer’
PT	Galea	anue	‘general term for all sea cucumbers’ (Lawrence Rutter pers.comm.)
MM	Nakanai	haluve	‘trepang’

PEOc		*qanupe	‘caterpillar’
SES	Ghari	nive	‘caterpillar’
Fij	Rotuman	aniha	‘caterpillar, maggot’
Fij	Bauan	(b)anuve	‘caterpillar’
Pn	Tongan	ʔunufe	‘caterpillar (generic)’
Pn	Samoan	ʔanufe	‘worm, caterpillar’
Pn	Nanumea	anufe	‘caterpillar, worm, slug, etc.’

5.2.2. General term for sea cucumbers⇫

Oceanic languages commonly have a general term for sea cucumbers, or more specifically for firm-bodied holothurids with tubular feet. (Long thin, soft-bodied holothurids lacking tubular feet are often classified as ‘worms’.) In the Fijian languages the generic term for firm-bodied holothurids is drī, in Marovo it is puhaka, in Nelemwa it is imale and in Hawaiian and Niuean it is loli. But in the absence of agreement across high-order subgroups no generic can be attributed to POc.

5.3. Asteroidea: sea stars and Ophiuroidea: starfish⇫

Oceanic languages usually distinguish by name a number of starfish. The sole POc term for starfish reconstructed so far continues a PMP etymon.

PMP		*saŋa-saŋa	‘starfish’ (Blust 1986)
POc		*saŋa-saŋa	‘a starfish’ (lit. ‘branching’; cf. POc *saqa ‘bifurcation, crotch’)
Adm	Lou	saŋesaŋ	‘starfish’
Adm	Titan	caŋa-caŋ	‘generic for starfish’
Adm	Nauna	caŋa-caŋ	‘starfish’
Adm	Nyindrou	saka-sak	‘starfish’
Adm	Lenkau	saŋu-saŋ	‘starfish’
NNG	Mengen	(kamva) saŋ-saŋ	‘starfish, forked’

cf. also:

Fij

Bauan

(ba)saga

‘branchy’; ‘starfish’

Cushion stars, Culcita spp., are plump, round starfish with short arms. No POc lexical form is recoverable but it is noteworthy that Marovo and the Fijian languages agree in naming cushion stars by expressions that mean ‘(possession) of a shark’; thus: Marovo beibeiani te kiso (‘lit. ‘shark’s drinking water’), Bauan kali ni qio, Wayan kali ni ikō (both lit. ‘shark’s pillow’). This suggests that the naming pattern is of POc antiquity, even though the forms are not cognate.

6. Cnidaria and Ctenophora: anemones, corals, jellyfish and hydroids⇫

The phylum Cnidaria (formerly Coelenterata) consists of four classes of animals: Anthozoa (anemones and corals), Scyphozoa (jellyfish), Ctenophora (comb jellyfish) and Hydrozoa (hydroids) which have nettle-like stinging hairs or tentacles used to capture prey.

There are two main classes of Anthozoa, (1) soft corals, colonial polyps having flexible skeletons that produce spicules of calcium carbonate, with feathery tentacles, and (2) stony corals and sea anemones, with tentacles in multiples of six. Stony corals have a hard skeleton. True anemones have no skeleton and a fleshy body, with circlets of tentacles, often brightly coloured, in contrast to colonial anemones which form a green mat on rocks and rubble.

6.1. Anemones⇫

No POc term denoting anemones is reconstructable on present evidence. A problem is that few dictionaries of WOc languages provide a term for this group of animals. PROc *druman(e,i) ‘anemone’ has reflexes in North and Central Vanuatu, Fijian, Rotuman and Polynesian.

PROc		*druman(e,i)	‘anemone’
NCV	Mota	rumʷane	‘a sea anemone’
NCV	South Efate	n-rimen	‘a sea anemone’
Fij	Rotuman	nunami	‘anemone’ (metathesis)
Fij	Wayan	dromani	‘generic for anemones’
PPn		*rumane	‘sea anenome’ (pollex)
Pn	Tongan	ūmana	‘anemone’
Pn	Samoan	lumane	‘anemone’
Pn	West Futunan	rumane	‘sea anenome’
Pn	Ifira-Mele	(a)rumani	‘anemone’

*druman(e,i) has no certain antecedent in POc but may derive from POc *droman ‘leech’, with semantic change and addition of a final vowel. Note that the NCV reflexes of *droman show an initial high vowel and, in some cases, a labiovelar second consonant, pointing to PNCV *ruma ‘leech’.

POc		*droman	‘leech’ (cf. ch.7, §21)
NNG	Mangga	domaŋ	‘leech’
NNG	Adzera	uaman	‘leech’
PT	Dobu	domana	‘leech’
PT	Molima	domana	‘mountain leech’
PT	Motu	doma	‘leech’
PT	Nimoa	dome	‘leech’
MM	Tolai	domol	‘leech’
NCV	Raga	rimʷa	‘leech’
NCV	Ambae	rimʷe	‘leech’
NCV	Tamambo	ruma	‘leech’

6.2. Corals⇫

Corals are colonies of small polyps which secrete a hard skeleton, forming a base on which the colony grows. Soft corals include sea fans, sea whips, sea feathers and sea blades. Hard corals include brain coral, staghorn coral and branching corals. Stony corals form a boulder, with the polyps emerging only at night. The distinctive brain corals are formed by coralettes clustering so close that they form sinuous valleys. Shallow underwater corals secrete limestone skeletons. The limestone is useful for a variety of purposes, including rubble for building house foundations and floors, and for making plaster. A rough, porous white coral is used as an abrasive in woodwork.

Oceanic languages generally have a generic name for living corals of the branching type and often distinguish several kinds. The Arosi dictionary lists eight different coral taxa, including six kinds of branching coral. However, dictionaries and wordlists seldom provide clear zoological identifications.

PMP		*lajay	‘coral’ (see vol. 2:102)
POc		*laje	‘generic forbranching corals’
NNG	Gedaged	lad	‘k.o. coral, short and flat’
PT	Motu	lade	‘k.o. coral’
MM	Maringe	(glae)laje	‘coral’
SES	Gela	lade	‘generic for branching corals’
SES	Lau	lade	‘branching coral’
SES	Arosi	lade-lade	‘coral’
SES	Arosi	rade	‘coral’
NCV	Mota	las	‘live coral of branching kinds’
SV	Anejom̃	n-las	‘live coral on a reef’ (John Lynch, pers. comm.)
Fij	Rotuman	lᴂs	‘coral, lime’
Fij	Wayan	lase	‘generic for branching corals’
Fij	Bauan	lase	‘common branchy coral’
Pn	East Futunan	lase	‘lime’

PMP		*buŋa	‘flower, blossom’
PMP		*buŋa ni batu	‘coral sponge’ (see vol.2, p.103)
POc		*buŋa	‘smooth round coral’
NNG	Takia	buŋ	‘large white coral’
NNG	Gedaged	buŋ	‘a round coral growth’
MM	Nakanai	buga	‘plate-shaped coral’
MM	Bola	buŋa	‘k.o. coral’
MM	Babatana	buŋa-na	‘large whitish stones found on the reef, calcified coral’
NCV	Mota	puŋa	‘k.o. coral (madrepore)’
Fij	Bauan	vuŋa	‘a porous coral rock in the sea’
PPn		*puŋa	‘coral rock’
Pn	Niuean	puŋa	‘limestone, coral rock’ (puŋa-puŋa ‘limestone platform on the reef’)
Pn	Tongan	(mata)puŋa	‘k.o. rather soft rock or stone, apparently a compact form of coral’
Pn	Samoan	puŋa	‘k.o. coral, used for polishing and as weights in breadfruit storage pits’
Pn	Rennellese	puŋa	‘general name for flat or round sharp coral’
Pn	Tikopia	puŋa	‘marine rock, probably coral’
Pn	Māori	puŋa-puŋa	‘pumice’
Pn	Hawaiian	puna	‘coral’

6.3. Scyphozoa, Ctenophora and Hydrozoa: true jellyfish, comb jellyfish and hydroids⇫

True jellyfish (Scyphozoa) are members of the Cnidaria, whose tentacles face down. They represent the medusa or free-swimming phase of Scyphozoa, preceding their polyp phase. Ctenophora, comb jellyfish, are colourless, oval blobs of jelly that float slowly. Hydrozoa are polyps which form fuzz-like colonies on rocks, after a brief phase as a free-swimming organism. This group includes fire corals, hydroids and siphonophores. Hydroids are feathery colonial organisms growing on the surface of coral.

Oceanic languages often distinguish several different kinds of jellyfish, including the spectacular Portugese man o’ war or bluebottle (Physalia physalia) but no POc terms for any jellyfish taxa are recoverable. Two PPn terms for jellyfish are reconstructable. One, referring to the Portuguese man o’war, is well supported and has a cognate in Bauan Fijian, where it refers to a hydroid.

PCP		*bak(u)i	‘k.o. jellyfish or hydroid’
Fij	Bauan	bakui	‘Hydra (colonial polyp)’
PPn		*paki(paki)	‘Portuguese man o’ war (bluebottle), Physalia sp.’ (pollex gives *paki)
Pn	Tongan	peki-peki	‘bluebottle, stinging jellyfish’
Pn	Niuean	paki	‘Portuguese man o’war, Physalis sp.’
Pn	East Uvean	paki(a)	‘Portuguese man o’war, Physalis sp.’
Pn	Hawaiian	paki(malau)	‘Portuguese man o’war, Physalis sp.’
Pn	Ifira-Mele	paki-paki	‘jellyfish’
Pn	Tikopia	pakipaki	‘Portuguese man o’war, Physalis sp.’

PPn		*kalukalu	‘k.o. jellyfish’
Pn	Tongan	kolukalu	‘generic for certain kinds of jellyfish’
Pn	Samoan	ʔaluʔalu	‘k.o. edible jellyfish’
Pn	Nanumea	kalikali	‘jellyfish sp.’

cf. also:

Pn	Rennellese	kaŋukaŋu	‘an insect’
Pn	Māori	karukaru	‘spongy matter in a gourd, clotted blood, blood’

A PSES term for anemone, or possibly jellyfish, is reconstructable which may be cognate with PPn *mama ‘chiton’ (see §4.4).

PSES		*mama	‘k.o. anemone or jellyfish’
SES	Gela	mama(ndao)	‘sea creature, soft, no shell’
SES	Arosi	mama(nongi)	‘a sea anemone; eaten’
SES	Lau	mama-e-lade	‘small blue jellyfish on dead coral’ (Fox 1974)
SES	Lau	mama-i-lade	‘sea anemone’ (Akimichi 1978)

The following PCP term may have denoted a kind of hydrozoa but the diversity of vague glosses given to its reflexes makes this uncertain.

PCP		*bulewa	‘an organism growing on rocks, possibly encrusting brown rock coral’
Fij	Bauan	bulewa	‘k.o. coral, clinging to rocks, eaten by fish’
Fij	Wayan	bulewa	‘slimy brownish organism, growing on rocks and floating on sea, eaten by fish’
PPn		*pulewa	‘marine substance/creature with stone-like or rough exterior’ (pollex)
Pn	Kapingamarangi	purewe	(1) ‘sandpaper-like growth on coral’; (2) ‘coral variety’
Pn	East Uvean	puleva	‘k.o. sea cucumber’
Pn	Mangarevan	pureva	(1) ‘roe of fish’; (2) ‘yellow scum floating on the sea from about 17-21 Feb. Eaten by fish’
Pn	Hawaiian	pūlewa	‘k.o. stone, used as sinker’

7. Annelida: worms⇫

Many annelid (segmented) worms live in tropical marine habitats. The two main groups are Oligochaeta (with few bristles) and Polychaeta (with many bristles). Marine worms are mainly Polychaeta and include fireworms, feather duster worms, sphagetti worms, Christmas tree worms and bobbit or palolo worms. Reconstructions are available for just two marine worm taxa.

7.1. Sipunculus sp., sandworm⇫

POc		*ibo	‘k.o. sandworm, probably Sipunculus sp.’
MM	Roviana	ibo	‘small seaworm, much used for bait’
Mic	Kiribati	ibo	‘a sandworm, Sipunculus indicus’
Fij	Bauan	ibo	‘large edible seaworm’
Fij	Wayan	ibo	‘k.o. sandworm, Sipunculus sp.’
Pn	Samoan	ipo	‘edible sandworm, Sipunculus sp.’
Pn	Nanumea	ipo	‘sp. of worm found on the beach’

cf. also:

MM

Teop

iobo

‘seaworms’ (-o- unexpected)

Although this cognate set formally matches PMP *imbaw ‘marine mollusc sp.’ (Blust 1980b: 77) the latter reconstruction rests on cognates in two WMP languages which both refer to bivalves.

7.2. Fireworms (Polychaeta)⇫

Fireworms, 5-18 cm long, bear many white bristles along their sides which can cause itching when touched. They bear a superficial resemblance to centipedes and millipedes. A well-supported PMP and POc reconstruction for ‘centipede’ exists, namely *qalipan, continued in PCP as *qaliva ‘millipede’. A separate term for ‘fireworm’, sometimes called ‘sea centipede’, is attributable to POc based on agreements between Saliba, a Papuan Tip language, and Polynesian witnesses. It appears that in PPn a single term, *weli, was applied both to fireworms and to centipedes and furry millipedes. Glosses given to cognates in North-Central Vanuatu and Southeast Solomonic suggest that this range of reference may well have existed in POc.

POc		*weli	(1) ‘fireworm, sea centipede’; (2) ‘? k.o. millipede or centipede’
PT	Saliba	yeli-yeli	‘fireworm, Pherecardia striata’
SES	Arosi	weli	‘black thickbodied millipede, lulus sp, found on near the coast’
SES	Arosi	weri(marumu)	‘sp. of millipede with furry body’
NCV	Raga	weli, ueli	‘small iridescent centipede’
NCV	Uripiv	na-wel	‘palolo worm’
PPn		*weli	(1) ‘centipede’; (2) ‘marine annelid like a centipede’ (cf. pollex)
Pn	East Futunan	veli	‘a venomous creature found on the reef’
Pn	Tongan	veli	‘a hairy worm that lives mostly in water’
Pn	Samoan	veli	‘a fish that stings when touched’
Pn	Pukapukan	veli	‘a variety of sea centipede’
Pn	Tikopia	veri	‘marine animal on reef: long, segmented; stings painfully if trodden on’
Pn	Mangarevan	veli	‘marine annelid like a centipede’
Pn	Hawaiian	weli	‘a holothurian’
Pn	Māori	weri	‘centipede’
Pn	Tahitian	veri	‘centipede’

cf. also:

PT	Dobu	pʷali-keke	‘millipede’
PT	Molima	pʷali-keke	‘poisonous millipede’
SES	Lau	fari-fari	‘scorpion’

7.3. Palolo worm (Eunice viridis, aka Palola viridis, Leodis viridis)⇫

The palolo worm is distributed from Indonesia to the central Pacific. It burrows into coral. When spawning, the posterior end, filled with sperm and eggs, breaks off and swims to the surface. The annual spawning or ‘rise’, governed by the phase of the moon, occurs at regular times in the months October to December and at these times people scoop up the worms which are cooked and eaten.

A name for the palolo worm is attributable to PEOc, based on cognates shared by SES and NCV languages. The former reflect *odu, the latter *udu. The only known WOc cognate occurs in a Santa Isabel language, Maringe: na-udu, where na- reflects the POC common noun marker *na. The Maringe form may be a borrowing from a neighbouring SES language but it is noteworthy that its first vowel agrees with NCV rather than SES witnesses.

MM

Maringe

na-udu

‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’

PEOc		*(o,u)du	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
PSES		*odu	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
SES	Gela	odu	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
SES	Ghari	odu	‘a worm that lives in coral’
SES	Arosi	ogu, oku	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
SES	Lau	ʔodu, ʔogu	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
SES	Sa’a	oku	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
SES	’Are’are	ʔodu, ʔoku	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
PNCV		*udu	‘Eunice, palolo worm’ (Clark 2009)
NCV	Mota	un	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
NCV	Mwotlap	n-in	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
NCV	Raga	udu	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
NCV	Big Nambas	n-ud	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
NCV	Neve’ei	nu-wud	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’

A separate term is reconstructable for PCP, with reflexes in Fijian and Polynesian languages.

PCP		*balolo	(1) ‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’; (2) ‘name of the months when this worm rises’
Fij	Bauan	balolo	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
Fij	Wayan	balolo	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
PPn		*palolo	(1) ‘palolo worm’; (2) ‘name of the months when this rises’
Pn	Tongan	palolo	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
Pn	Samoan	palolo	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
Pn	East Uvean	palolo	‘Leodis viridis, palolo worm’
Pn	Ifira-Mele	paroro	‘red or green marine micro-organism with bad smell’

8. Poriphera: sponges⇫

Sponges are conspicuous inhabitants of coral reefs. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, attaching themselves wherever they can find a space. Some Oceanic languages have a general term for sponges, e.g. Lau losi, lo-losi, Gela loi-losi, Roviana puha, Dobuan halu, Motu puta, Sa’a hulo, but no widespread cognate sets have been noted, other than the following from Polynesian languages.

PPn		*oma	‘sponge’
Pn	Tongan	oma	‘sponge’
Pn	Niuean	omo(mi)	‘sponge’
Pn	Samoan	omo(mi)	‘sponge’
Pn	Tokelauan	oma	‘sponge’
Pn	Marquesan	oma-oma	‘k.o. jellyfish’

9. What proportion of POc taxa have been reconstructed?⇫

Leaving aside the collective term *pinaŋoda, the number of fairly secure POc reconstructions for aquatic (including semi-aquatic) invertebrate taxa is 42, with a few additional tentative reconstructions at POc level and a number of other reconstructions attributable to PEOc or PWOc. Taking the Wayan figure of about 240 taxa as fairly typical of those Austronesian maritime communities which exploit fringing reefs and mangrove swamps, it follows that 42 is probably less than a fifth of the total number of aquatic taxa distinguished by POc speakers. The breakdown in Table 4.2, comparing Wayan with POc, indicates the distribution of the shortfalls across the main groups of aquatic invertebrates.

The relative paucity of POc reconstructions can be attributed in large part to gaps in the coverage provided by dictionaries of contemporary languages. Few dictionaries give anything like an exhaustive listing of terms for invertebrates. However, a pattern is discernable in the kinds of terms that can/cannot be reconstructed. One important category of terms almost completely missing from our reconstructions is binomials. A run through the list of reconstructions shows that all the POc terms are uninomials (unitary lexemes). By contrast, about a third of the Wayan names are binomials, including 40 of the 105 gastropod taxa, but only seven of the 35 bivalve taxa.

Why are uninomials more stable than binomials? Berlin (1992) argues that in folk taxonomies of wild animals and plants the most salient and well-marked categories for purposes of identification are folk generics (see ch. 8, §1.2.3). Names of taxa at the level of folk generic are usually uninominals (e.g. English owl, whale, oak, willow) or idioms, e.g. blackbird, she-oak, pussy willow). A folk generic may have a number of folk specifics, which are perceived as closely related but distinct types. These are typically known by binomials, made up of a folk generic plus a descriptive modifier which refers to one or another distinguishing feature of the taxon - its characteristic habitat, colour, size, shape, etc., e.g. barn owl, grass owl, sooty owl, hump-backed whale, blue whale. Folk generics commonly fall under high-order taxa, particularly the type that Berlin calls a life-form, such as English fish, bird, snake, and tree. Sometimes levels between life-form and folk generic are distinguished and Berlin calls these intermediates.

Table 4.2 Terms for aquatic invertebrate groups known for Wayan and Proto Oceanic

	Wayan	POc
Crustaceans
lobsters	3	1
prawns/shrimps	7	1
crabs (Brachyura)	33	7
crabs (Anomura)	4	4
Cirripedia	1	0
subtotal	48	13
Molluscs
gastropods	105	7
bivalves	35	10
chitons	4	0
cephalopods	4	3
subtotal	148	20
Echinoderms
sea cucumbers	19	1
sea urchins	8	2
starfish, brittle starfish	4	1
subtotal	31	4
Cnidaria
corals and anemones	11	2
jellyfish	2	0
subtotal	13	2
Worms	5
Total	245	42

The POc terms for aquatic invertebrates that have survived are exclusively generics of some sort, either folk generics or high-order generics. The modifiers that distinguish folk specifics have not been stable. There are, perhaps, several reasons why modifiers are unstable. One is the variability of local species. Although the same orders, families and genera of common reef and shoreline animals are usually common to different regions of the tropical Pacific, the species are more variable from region to region. Migrants might be expected to apply new modifiers to newly encountered species if these were clearly distinct from those known in their former homeland. Another factor is the wide range of distinctive characteristics exhibited by certain species and genera of the same family, such as colour, shape, size and behaviour. Speakers can be expected from time to time to change the choice of the characteristic used to distinguish one taxon terminologically from its sister taxa. Finally, particular modifying terms may themselves be replaced by synonyms which come into favour, sometimes leading to loss or change of meaning in the original modifier.

Some groups of invertebrates show a much higher ratio of taxa reconstructed to POc level than others, when compared with Wayan totals. Among the crustaceans, the Anomura (hermit crabs) have a high ratio with 4/4, whereas the Brachyura (true crabs) score only 7/33. Prawns and shrimps score much lower (1/7), the sole POc term reconstructed being the generic for prawns and lobsters. Sea cucumbers and sea urchins also show a very low ratio: three POc reconstructions compared with 27 taxa distinguished in Wayan. The cephalopods (3/4) have by far the highest ratios among the molluscs. The bivalves (10/35) score much higher than the gastropods (7/105), a difference not solely attributable to the fact that binomials make up 40 of the 105 Wayan gastropod names but only 7 of the 35 bivalve names.

These ratios can be taken as a very rough measure of how persistent POc names have been for particular invertebrate groups: a high score for POc indicates a high retention rate of terms in daughter languages, a low score the converse. Very likely there is a correlation between how persistent a term is, and how salient or important the referent is to to members of the speech community. Of course, a creature can be salient for any of a number of reasons: economic importance, large size, unusual appearance, being dangerous, and so on. Closer study of such matters must be left for another occasion.

Notes⇫