Chapter 5.5 Health and disease

Meredith Osmond

1. Introduction1⇫

Reconstruction of POc terms for diseases carries with it a substantial problem. To the extent that descriptions of current languages include disease terms at all, they reflect not only the diseases of the present or near present (such as measles, syphilis, poliomyelitis), but also the medical knowledge of their compilers. It follows that for this particular semantic field, linguistics can convey only a broad idea of the health of POc speakers, albeit one that accords loosely with descriptions given by the first westerners to visit the region.

Although Portuguese and Spanish explorers had sailed along, and sometimes briefly visited the north coast of New Guinea from as early as the 16th century, our first reliable information as to the health of the indigenous inhabitants of mainland New Guinea dates from over three hundred years later when Miklukho-Maclay, in 1871, apparently the first white person seen by the natives of Astrolabe Bay on the north New Guinea coast, noted in his diary: ‘Of these eight Papuans of my first meeting, four appeared sick. Two had legs disfigured by elephantiasis, and one was an interesting case of psoriasis, which had spread over his entire body. The back and neck of the fourth was studded with boils, which formed large, hard protuberances and on his face were several scars, probably of previous such boils’ (1975:19). Later he mentioned that a native from Bilibil complained very much of a pain in the back and shoulders (probably rheumatism) (p.83). He also noted that ‘Digu’s face [one of the first local people to befriend him] bore traces of smallpox. He explained to me that the illness came from the north-west and that many died from it. When it happened and whether it happened more than once, I was not able to find out.’ (p.91).

Other information on the health of early Oceanic populations may be derived from skeletal remains. Our best evidence at present comes from the remains of 36 individuals, 29 of them adult, found at Teouma, Vanuatu, dated to ca. 3100–3000 BP (Buckley et al. 2008), i.e. very soon after the initial dispersal of Proto Oceanic speakers. Examination of these skeletons indicates that in addition to dental caries, three quarters of the sample suffered from degenerative joint disease (p.97). ‘Because populations were probably small, chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and yaws are unlikely to have been present’ (p.91). Nonetheless, the authors add that ‘the types of rib lesions observed in the Teouma samples are frequently observed in pulmonary tuberculosis sufferers … but can also be caused by other respiratory conditions such as pneumonia and bronchitis’ (p.109). In a separate article Hallie Buckley (2007:747) argues that erosive arthritis noted in six of these individuals may be evidence of gout.

2. Concept of illness⇫

As described in a number of early Melanesian ethnographies (Romilly 1889, Codrington 1891, Seligman 1910, Fortune 1932, Powdermaker 1933, Wedgwood 1934-35), illness and death were formerly (and in places still are) seen as the result of sorcery, performed because of some perceived transgression by the sufferer. However, there is considerable variation in the degree to which sorcery is implicated in any given condition, in the ways in which it is practised, and the methods by which it may be counteracted.

Ian Hogbin (1978:47) describes beliefs held in Wogeo, one of the Schouten Islands off the north New Guinea coast. According to his informants, nothing in Wogeo happens by chance: sorcery is believed to be implicated even in minor illnesses. He writes:

Everybody can list a score or more of common ailments such as headache, toothache, boils, indigestion, nausea, diarrhoea, fainting attacks, sore throat, bronchitis, strained muscles, and fever. …To the Wogeo the cause lies in a mild form of sorcery, differing from that leading to death, and relief demands the performance of beneficient magic to counteract the evil. … Each of the diseases has an associated ritual system, with spells to induce the complaint and spells to cure it.

Hogbin adds that even succumbing to snakebite or a serious accident is attributed to sorcery (1978:51), although he exempts the deaths of infants and those already senile (p.54). However, in earlier writing he attributes the deaths of small infants to spirits stealing their souls, while deaths of adults after protracted illness are put down to breaches of religious taboos (1934:328).

To the Manam Islander as described by Camilla Wedgwood (1934-35:64-65),

Minor illnesses which are more or less endemic and from which the patient easily recovers, such as colds, coughs and mild attacks of fever, are often lightly dismissed as natural, imore baia (“he is just ill”) they will say, or their attitude might be more accurately represented by saying that, because such ailments are common, of brief duration and show none of the signs which are regarded as serious, the natives do not trouble about their cause. But if a person is seriously ill or is suffering from some abnormality such as lunacy, physical deformity or bad sores which will not respond to treatment, such a departure from the normal condition of good health is believed to be due to a supernatural agency.

Ann Chowning (1989:222) describes the situation among the Kove, in west New Britain. Here, serious diseases in older children and adults, as well as their deaths from a variety of immediate causes such as accidents, tended to be attributed to sorcery. An exception was death or injury in warfare. The death or sudden illness of young children was usually attributed to attack by spirits, either a ghost of dead kin angry with the child’s parents or a spirit of non- human origin whose territory had been intruded upon by the parents. A similar belief among the Longgu speakers in the southeast Solomons has been noted by Hogbin (1964a:58), who writes that ‘when a youngster under the age of about five succumbs the parents are prepared to accept a verdict of “just the sickness of a child”, resulting from a ghost’s having played with him or her. But all other deaths (including those from what we would call bad luck) are attributed to black magic’.

Hortense Powdermaker (1933:293) writes that in Lesu, on the east coast of New Ireland, death, unless it has some obvious cause, such as falling from a tree or drowning, or unless it happens in old age, is thought to be due to black magic. Illness may be due to magic or more natural causes.

A major problem experienced by early ethnographers in obtaining information on all matters connected with sorcery and magic was the natural reticence of the locals when it came to discussing secret and mysterious processes with strangers. Missionaries in particular could be expected to discourage any such beliefs as incompatible with Christianity. In British New Guinea from the 1880’s on, there was also a very real fear of the results of government interference, for sorcery became an indictable offence (Seligman 1910:278). Similar reticence has been noted elsewhere. It may take years for an outsider living within a community to be allowed to know of such matters. Raymond Firth who spent a year in Tikopia in 1928-9, learnt much later that the chiefs had given orders that he was to be told nothing about their gods and ritual practices (1957:8).

Spells whose purpose is to cause illness or death, and conversely, to aid in recovery, are typically guarded jealously, sometimes handed down from generation to generation, at other times able to be bought (Wedgwood 1934-35:292). Terms for these may themselves carry power and will be used with great caution. Consequently, our knowledge of such practices as they apply to the cause of disease and its treatment and eventual outcome is patchy, to say the least, and an area in which comparative linguistics can play very little part. As I have found, the only terms to do with disease and healing likely to be recorded by wordlist compilers are those referring to natural processes or actions. Almost all reconstructions are restricted to the physical manifestations of disease and healing.

The following sections present reconstructions of POc terms for diseases and healing. Higher level reconstructions are included if known, most from Blust’s Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD).

3. Illnesses and afflictions⇫

3.1. General terms⇫

Of the three general terms reconstructed, POc *masaki(t) (V) ‘be in pain, sick’; (N) ‘sickness’ is the most inclusive in meaning, applicable both to illnesses and other afflictions. In southeast Solomonic languages its reflexes have come to have specific reference to feverish illness, particularly malaria.

PMP *masakit ‘be in pain, be sick’ (ACD; Dempwolff: *sakit ‘injury, pain, illness, disease’)
POc *[ma]saki(t) [V] ‘be in pain, sick’; [N] ‘sickness’
NNG Gitua mazai ‘sick’
NNG Kaulong sahi ‘sick, sickness’
NNG Mapos Buang rak ‘sick’
NNG Sengseng sahi ‘sick’ (h reflects *g)
MM Vitu maðaɣi ‘sick’
MM Tigak masak ‘be in pain’
MM Tolai maki [N] ‘pain, ache’; [VI] ‘to ache, be sore’
SES Gela (va)haɣi ‘be in pain; be ill, have malaria’
SES Talise masaɣe ‘sick’
SES Tolo masahe ‘sick, ill; illness, disease’
SES Kwaio mataʔi ‘fever, malaria’
SES To’aba’ita mataʔi [VI] ‘be sick’
SES Arosi (mara)mataʔi ‘to feel malaria coming on’
SES Arosi mataʔi ‘to have fever, malaria, be feverish’
SES Sa’a mataʔi [VI] ‘malaria, to have malaria’
NCV Mota masaɣ ‘ague’
NCV Paamese mesai ‘sick, sickness’
NCV Dorig msāɣ ‘fever’
PSV *a-misa ‘sick, be in pain’ (vowel metathesis) (Lynch 2001c)
SV Lenakel a-mha ‘be sick, in pain’
SV Kwamera a-misa ‘be sick, in pain’
SV Anejom̃ e-mθa ‘be sick, in pain’
Mic Kiribati maraki ‘pain, suffering, grief; painful’
Mic Chuukese meteki ‘pain, hurt, be painful’
Mic Ponapean metek ‘be painful’
Mic Woleaian metax ‘sick, sickness, in pain’
Pn Tongan mahaki ‘sickness, disease, ailment’ (first element in many compounds)2
Pn Rennellese masaki ‘sickness’ (first element in many compounds)3
Pn Samoan maʔi ‘be sick; fall ill’ (first element in many compounds)4
Pn Tuvalu mahaki ‘illness’
Pn Māori mahaki ‘ill; sick person; cutaneous disease’
cf. also:
SES Fagani (ha)siɣī ‘(s.t.) sore’
Fij Bauan mosi [V] ‘be in pain’
Fij Bauan mosit-a [VT] ‘cause pain to s.o.’

The following set is an apparent PWOc variant of POc *masa(k,q)i(t) with the vowel sequence moving from a-a-i to a-i-i, and -s- replaced with -j-. Both contain the stative prefix *ma-. Lukep, W Kara and Nalik terms below could reflect either POc root *jiki or *siki, while the Bali (without prefix) and Bola terms reflect only *jiqi.

PWOc *[ma]ji(k,q)i ‘be in pain, be sore’
NNG Lukep -masigi ‘be in pain’
MM Bali (vari)tiɣi ‘be in pain’
MM Bola madiɣi ‘be in pain’
MM West Kara masik ‘be in pain’
MM Nalik masik ‘be in pain’

A different term with two variants refers more specifically to aching or throbbing pain. Both *pitik and *(p,pʷ)idik are reconstructable.

PMP *pi(n)tik ‘throb, beat’ (ACD)
POc *pitik ‘to feel pain, throb’
Adm Drehet (kanro)pʷisip ‘horsefly’
NNG Buang vtī(gʷib) ‘small stinging fly’ (gʷib ‘cassowary’?)
NNG Mato vusi ‘sick’
NNG Numbami witi ‘be in pain’
NNG Wogeo -vir ‘be in pain’
PT Kilivila pisi ‘hurt, ache’
PT Kilivila pi-pisi ‘to throb’
PT Sudest viri ‘feel hurt, pain’
PT Motu hisi ‘pain’
PT Motu hisi e ania ‘suffer’ (lit. ‘to eat pain’)
MM Nakanai piti ‘unidentified disease’
SES Lengo vi-viti ‘(s.t.) sore’
SES Gela viti-viti ‘to throb’
SES Kwaio fī ‘suffer, be sick’
SES Lau fī ‘feel pain, hurt’
SES To’aba’ita fī [VI] ‘hurt, be painful, be sore’
SES To’aba’ita fīa [VT] ‘cause s.o. to feel pain, hurt s.o.’
NCV Mota vitiɣ ‘to feel pain’

The reconstruction below is evidently a variation of *pitik. It is noteworthy that Gela and To’aba’ita retain reflexes of both forms, albeit with no apparent difference in meaning.

POc *(p,pʷ)idik ‘throb’
MM Bulu vidi ‘be in pain’
MM Tolai pidik [VI, VT] ‘to sting, of insects, nettles etc., tap with the fingers’
MM Tolai pi-pidi(l) [VI] ‘to throb; knock at a door’
SES Gela vidi ‘to throb or smart, of a cut, pulse’
SES Longgu pidi-pidi ‘feel an itch, pins and needles, a small pain’
SES To’aba’ita fidi [VI] ‘of a body part, be sore, ache’
SES To’aba’ita fidi- [VT] ‘of a sickness, injury, cause ache, pain in s.o.’s body’
Fij Bauan vidi ‘jump, spring, fly up’
Fij Bauan vidik-a ‘flick s.t., fillip’
Fij Bauan vidi-vidi [N] ‘tick (of clock or watch)’
Fij Bauan vidi-raka ‘suffer jumping pain, in fits and starts’
Fij Wayan vidik-i ‘flick s.t.’
Fij Wayan vidi ni uto [N] ‘heartbeat’ (uto ‘heart’)

Reflexes of PAn *maCay, PMP *matay ‘die, dead’ (§4.2.1.2) carry a number of extended meanings. POc *mate, sometimes reduplicated, evidently included among its meanings ‘be weak or ill’, ‘be motionless, be unconscious’, ‘be paralysed’. As a result, if the meaning ‘dead’ is intended, some qualification is usually required, e.g. Sa’a mae ʔoto ‘quite dead’, Manam imate tina ‘dead + intensifier’.

The antonym of both POc *[ma]sakit and stative POc *mate was evidently POc *maqurip ‘be in good health, be alive’ (§4.2.1.1).

3.2. Painful skin conditions⇫

Listed next are a number of terms that refer to skin conditions—first the painful infections that include tropical ulcers, abscesses and boils. The large number of reconstructions no doubt reflects the commonplace nature of these conditions, and indicates that a more specialised POc vocabulary existed for them. However, dictionary definitions do not provide enough information for us to distinguish between, for instance, terms for boil or infected scratch or wound or tropical ulcer, or perhaps terms that might indicate the severity of the infection. All reconstructions are nouns bar POc *makini(t) ‘to be stung, have a stinging pain’, which may have been the verb used to describe an insect sting

3.2.1. Boil, ulcer, wound⇫

POc *manuka below reflects PAn *ma-Luka/PMP *ma-nuka, meaning ‘wounded’. In POc it has become a general term for a sore. However, unprefixed PAn *Luka/PMP *luka became the POc term for yaws (§5.3.4).

PAn *ma-Luka ‘wounded’ (ACD)
PMP *manuka ‘wounded’
POc *manuka ‘ulcer, sore, wound’
NNG Wogeo manuk ‘sore (on skin)’
NNG Kairiru manuq ‘sore (on skin)’
PT Sinaugoro manuɣa ‘sore, wound’
MM Bola manuka ‘sore’
MM Sursurunga manu ‘sore (on skin)’
MM Patpatar manua(na) ‘sore (on skin)’
MM Minigir manua ‘sore (on skin)’
MM Tolai manua ‘ulcer’
MM Bilur manua ‘sore (on skin)’
MM Ramoaaina manua ‘sore (on skin)’
MM Mono-Alu manua ‘sore (on skin)’
NCV Mota maniɣa, manuɣa ‘ulcer, sore’
NCV Raga manuɣa ‘wound, sore’
NCV Paamese manue [N] ‘sore; wound’
Pn Tongan monuka ‘be wounded, injured (and of royalty’s goods, be damaged)’
Pn Samoan manua ‘wound’
Pn Pukapukan mānuka ‘a scar’

POc *loto ‘boil, abscess’
Adm Titan lot ‘boil’
Adm Nyindrou lok ‘boil, ulcer, pus-filled sore’
Adm Drehet lɔk ‘boil, (large) sore’
Adm Loniu lɔt ‘skin disease involving heavy rash, possibly a type of ringworm’
Adm Lou lot ‘boil, abscess’
NNG Kaiep lot ‘sore (on skin)’
NNG Wogeo -lot ‘swell’
NNG Mutu lot ‘sore (on skin)’
NNG Sera lok ‘sore (on skin)’
MM Vitu loto ‘boil’
MM Bali loto ‘sore (on skin)’
MM Bulu loto ‘boil’
MM Sursurunga lot ‘boil’
MM Nehan loto ‘sore (on skin)’
SES Bugotu ðoto ‘pus’
SES Lau lō ‘boil, abscess’
Pn Samoan (ʔati)loto ‘skin disease, erysipelas’ (ʔati ‘bite’)

POc *paR(a,o)(q) ‘boil’ is attested in EOc languages and by non-Oceanic cognates, but appears to have been lost in WOc.

PAn *baReq ‘abscess, boil, swelling on the body’ (ACD)
POc *paR(a,o)(q) ‘boil’ (ACD: POc *paRoq)
SES Arosi hara ‘to swell, of the body; become hard and round, of a swelling’
SES Bauro hara ‘a boil’
Fij Bauan bō ‘a boil’
Fij Wayan bō ‘a boil’
Pn Tongan fā ‘blister’
cf. also:
PT Dobu para ‘yaws on anus’ (for †pala)
PMP *mata ni baReq ‘core of a boil’ (ACD)
POc *mata ni paR(a,o)(q) ‘core of a boil’
Fij Bauan mata ni bō ‘core of a boil’
POc *pʷasa ‘sore on skin’
PT Kilivila pʷasa ‘sore (on skin), ulcer’
PT Iduna -fʷaʔa(na) ‘(get) sore or pimple (from lime mixed with betelnut)’
PT Tawala paɣa ‘sore’
SES Gela posa ‘break (of a boil)’

PNCV *vosa ‘a sore, a boil’ (Clark 2009)
NCV Mota wosa ‘boil’
NCV Nokuku wosa- ‘boil’
NCV Kiai vosa ‘sore’
NCV Tamambo vosa ‘boil; skin infection or wound’
NCV Uripiv (mela)wos ‘boil’
NCV Lendamboi na-vʷose ‘abscess, boil’
NCV Atchin na-vos ‘sore, wound’
NCV Neve’ei ne-vʷes ‘sore, wound’
NCV Nguna na-po-posa ‘yaws’
cf. also:
NNG Manam poake ‘sore, tropical ulcer, wound’
NNG Buang pɣɛs ‘sore, ulcer’
PT Iduna bʷake ‘(very large) sore, wound (extensive, lasts for months or years)’ (borrowing?)
PMP *bisul ‘boil, abscess’ (ACD)
POc *bisu(l) ‘sore on skin’
NNG Mengen biso ‘sore (on skin)’
NNG Kakuna viso ‘sore (on skin)’
MM East Kara vis ‘sore (on skin)’
MM West Kara bis ‘sore (on skin)’

The following reconstruction appears to be the same term as POc *buku, glossed in vol.1(85) as ‘node (as in bamboo or sugarcane); joint; knuckle; knot in wood, string or rope’, in vol.2(51) as ‘hill’, and in §3.6.8.1.2 as ‘mound, knob, joint’, where it was noted that the term focussed on the shape of the referent rather than on what it was. In the present instance it denotes a swollen lump on the skin, and a number of reflexes are also used as a verb ‘swell’. However, the alternation between b- and p- across reflexes remains unexplained.

POc *buku ‘mound, knob; boil, skin sore’
NNG Takia -puk ‘swell to bursting point; burst open’
NNG Mapos Buang vūq ‘swelling; swell’
PT Kilivila puku(na) ‘boil (on lower body)’
MM Nakanai pu-puku ‘swollen’
MM Nakanai buku-a ‘swollen, protruding’
MM Halia puku ‘boil, swollen sore’; ‘swell’
MM Madak buk ‘boil’
MM Patpatar buk ‘boil on a person, usually small’
MM Tolai buk ‘boil, abscess’
MM Nehan puk-puku-ana ‘measles, skin sickness, chicken pox etc.’
MM Halia puku ‘boil, swollen sore’; ‘swell’
MM Kia boku ‘tropical ulcer, boil; swell’
SES Bugotu puku ‘swelling, knot, lump’
Pn Tongan poku ‘scabies’

POc *boto[-] probably denoted swellings in general, but its meaning has evidently narrowed to ‘sore, boil’ in NNG languages, to elephantiasis in Arosi, and to chicken pox rash in Mokilese.

POc *boto[-] ‘swelling’ (probably)
NNG Lukep botoboto ‘sore’
NNG Mangap ᵐbeete ‘sore, ulcer’
NNG Sio ᵐboto ‘sore’
NNG Bariai boto ‘ulcerated sore’
NNG Mengen boto ‘pimple, boil’
SES Arosi pʷō-pʷō ‘elephantiasis’
PMic *pʷoto ‘swelling’ (Bender et al. 2003)
Mic Kiribati (te)pʷoto ‘a bulbous root’
Mic Kiribati pʷoto ‘having a bulb’
Mic Marshallese pʷpʷec ‘swollen, swell, lump’
Mic Mokilese (um)pʷɔs ‘sickness, chicken pox’
Mic Ponapean (m)pʷos ‘boil, swelling, infection’
Mic Woleaian ɸʷō, ɸʷōɸʷō ‘swelling’
Mic Chuukese pʷō, pʷō- ‘swelling of any kind’
Mic Mortlockese pʷō ‘swelling’
Mic Puluwatese pʷo, pʷōpʷo ‘swelling’
Mic Carolinian bʷō, bʷōbʷo ‘swelling’
Mic Satawalese pʷō ‘swelling’

3.2.2. Pus⇫

POc *nanaq ‘pus’ is notable for the fact that it is retained in languages right across the Pacific, except in Polynesia.

PAn *nanaq ‘pus’ (Dempwolff 1938)
POc *nanaq ‘pus’
Adm Sori-Harengan nana ‘pus’
Adm Bipi nana ‘pus’
Adm Ponam nana ‘pus’
NNG Kove nanai ‘pus’
NNG Maleu nane ‘pus’
NNG Malai nanag ‘pus’
NNG Gitua nanak ‘pus’
NNG Malasanga nana ‘pus’
NNG Mengen nana ‘pus’
NNG Bilibil nan ‘pus’
NNG Takia nan ‘pus’
NNG Manam nana ‘pus’
NNG Wogeo nana ‘pus’
NNG Ali naŋ ‘pus’
NNG Sissano nan ‘pus’
PT Are nana ‘pus’
PT Gapapaiwa nana ‘pus’
PT Diodio nanaya ‘pus’
PT Iduna nanaya ‘pus’
PT Suau nana ‘pus’
PT Tubetube nane ‘pus’
MM Lavongai nan ‘pus’
MM Tigak nan ‘pus’
MM East Kara nan ‘pus’
MM Tabar nana ‘pus’
MM Lihir nan ‘pus’
MM Tangga nan ‘pus’
NNG Lamogai na-nan ‘pus’
MM Label nana ‘pus’
MM Vitu nana ‘pus’
MM Bali nanaka ‘pus’
SES Gela nana ‘pus’
SES Lau nana ‘pus’
SES Kwaio nana ‘pus’
NCV Mota nana ‘pus’
NCV Mwotlap na-nana ‘pus’
NCal Jawe hna ‘snot, nasal mucus’
Mic Ponapean nān ‘pus’
Fij Bauan nana ‘pus’

3.2.3. Stinging⇫

POc *makini(t) ‘to be stung, have a stinging pain’ is the stative form of POc *kinit, *kinit-i- ‘to pinch, nip’ (vol.1:280).

POc *makini(t) ‘to be stung, have a stinging pain’
MM Nakanai makili-kili ‘black gnats’
NCV Efate makini-kini ‘itchy’
Pn Tongan makini ‘to have a shooting pain, e.g. hitting a funny bone, or pricking and tingling, pins and needles’
Pn Pukapukan makini ‘sting, slight pain’
Pn Samoan maʔini ‘sting, smart’

3.2.4. Itching⇫

Two formally similar but unrelated reconstructions found elsewhere, POc *kaRat-i ‘to bite’ (§4.3.5.1) and POc *karak ‘ringworm, itch’ (§5.3.3.2 below) each have scattered reflexes meaning ‘itch’. Their cognate sets listed below have been limited here to those reflexes with ‘itch’ meanings. It is possible that the loss of POc final consonants in many languages and the close association between (insect) ‘bite’ and ‘itch’ resulted in some conflation of reflexes so that the Kaiwa, Numbami and the EOc reflexes of POc *kaRat added to their meaning the ‘itch’ sense of *karak.

PAn *kaRat ‘bite’ (Blust 1999)
POc *kaRat [VI] ‘bite’
POc *kaRat-i [VT] ‘bite’
NNG Kaiwa alas ‘itchy’
NNG Numbami ka-kalata ‘itchy’
SES Bugotu ɣaðat-i [VT] ‘to sting, bite s.t.’
PNCV *kaRa-ti ‘itchy, stinging; bite’ (Clark 2009)
NCV Mwotlap ɣaj ‘to itch, bite’
NCV Mota ɣara ‘to itch’
NCV Mota ɣaɣarat ‘the itch, to have the itch’
NCV Raga ɣaɣara ‘painful’
NCV Tamambo hat-hati [VT] ‘itch, make itchy’
POc *karak ‘ringworm; to itch’
Adm Lou kara(mosa) ‘an itch’ (mo-mosa-n ‘itchy’)
NNG Yabem (ŋa)kalaʔ ‘burning, itchy, scratchy, tickling, sexually excited’
NNG Bukawa (ŋa)galaʔ ‘itchy’
NNG Kaulong kalek ‘to itch; to scratch’
PT Dawawa ɣara-ɣara ‘itching’
MM East Kara ma-ɣarak ‘itch’
MM Tolai kara-karek ‘itchy’
MM Ramoaaina kəra(bi) ‘to itch, smart’
MM Babatana kiraka ‘to itch’ (-i- for †-a-)

A number of languages across cognate sets also use their term for ‘itchy’ to mean ‘sexually excited’ (Gedaged, Buang, Yabem and Bukawa in NNG, Tolai in MM, Rennellese and Hawaiian in Pn; §4.2.2.2).

PAn *gaCel ‘itch, feel itchy’ (ACD)
PMP *gatel ‘itch’ (N)
PMP *ma-gatel ‘be itchy’ (ACD)
POc *makato ‘(be) itchy’
NNG Medebur makato ‘(be) itchy’
NNG Kaiep maket ‘(be) itchy’
MM Lihir makat ‘(be) itchy’
cf. also:
Adm Drehet mʷʔatoŋ ‘itchy’ (mʷaʔati ‘to itch’)
NNG Gedaged maga(gau) ‘to itch, lust after’
MM Nakanai makasili ‘to itch’

PPn *maŋe(s,h)o ‘itch(y), sexually titillated’ (POLLEX: *maŋeho)
Pn Niuean maŋiho ‘to itch; scabies, a tree whose leaves cause a painful sting; to be hot (of spices)’ (-h < *-s- or *-h-)
Pn Samoan maŋeso [V] ‘itch’ (-s < *-s-)
Pn East Futunan maŋeo ‘itchy’
Pn Rennellese maŋeo ‘itch, sore; be sexually titillated’
Pn Tikopia maŋeo ‘yaws, be afflicted with yaws’
Pn West Futunan maŋeo ‘be itchy, the itch’
Pn Hawaiian maneʔo ‘itch, itchy; sexually titillated’ (-ʔ- for †-∅-)
cf. also:
Adm Lou ŋaɛs ‘scratch an itch’

Although PMic *kāSu is glossed ‘to scratch’ by Bender et al. (2003), most reflexes support ‘to itch’.

PMic *kāSu ‘to itch’ (Bender et al., 2003:‘to scratch’)
Mic Puluwatese kə̄t ‘to itch’
Mic Carolinian kkə̄t ‘to be scratchy, itchy’
Mic Woleaian kkɵ̄tu ‘be itchy (from eating s.t.)’
Mic Chuukese kkə̄t ‘to itch, scratch an itch’

3.2.5. Wart, cyst⇫

Certain PMP trisyllabic roots with *-e- (*[ə]) as the nucleus of their second syllable, like PMP *buteliR ‘wart’ below, had in POc lost PMP *-e- along with the second consonant of the resulting consonant cluster (§1.3.4.2), giving in this instance POc *putiR.

PMP *buteliR ‘wart, cyst, non-purulent skin eruption’ (ACD)
POc *putiR ‘wart, cyst, non-purulent skin eruption’ (ACD)
PT Motu husi-husi ‘pimple, wart; stye on eye’
SES ’Are’are hui ‘wart’
SES Sa’a uhi ‘warts on the hand’ (metathesis)
SES Arosi uhi ‘wart on the hands’ (metathesis)
Mic Ponapean pʷut(oniap) ‘wart’

3.3. Skin infections⇫

Next are skin infections like scabies or the two most common forms of tinea, ringworm (Tinea imbricata) and the skin infection that causes white patches to appear on the skin (Tinea versicolor).

3.3.1. Scabies⇫

Scabies is a highly contagious parasitic skin disease caused by the itch-mite, Sarcoptes scabei, and it is no coincidence that terms for the disease are similar to terms for ‘scratch’ or ‘scrape’, as noted below.

PAn *kuris ‘scurfy skin disease, scabies’; [V] ‘scratch’ (ACD)
POc *kuri-kuri ‘scabies’
PT Dobu kuli-kuli ‘scabies’
PT Molima kuli-kuli ‘skin disease in people; mange in dogs’
PT Iduna kuli-kuli ‘scabies’
SES Kwaio koli-koli ‘scabies’
cf. also:
PT Motu kuhi-kuhi ‘scabies; itch’
PMP *karut ‘scratch, rasp’5
POc *kʷaru-kʷaru, *kʷaro-kʷaro ‘k.o. skin disease, probably scabies’ (POc *kʷaru(t), *kʷarut-i- ‘scratch with fingernails’; vol.1:237, modified by Ross 2011)
Adm Lou kor-koro ‘patchy skin fungus’
MM Nehan kar-karu(ana) ‘rash’
NCV Lewo koro-koro ‘k.o. skin disease’
NCV Nguna karo(a) ‘scabies, rough surface’ (karo ‘scratch, scrape’)
NCV Avava koro-kor ‘scabies’
NCV Nāti nü-kar ‘scabies’
Fij Bauan karo-karo ‘scabies’

Dictionary-makers of Papua New Guinea languages tend to attribute reflexes of POc *kʷasi-kʷasi below to borrowing from Tok Pisin kaskas ‘scabies’. Some reflexes may indeed have a Tok Pisin origin, but the presence of Polynesian reflexes indicate (a) that POc *kʷasi-kʷasi should be reconstructed, and (b) that an Oceanic language is the source of Tok Pisin kaskas. The Polynesian reflexes indicate that PPn *kasi denoted scrofula, eruptions around the neck caused by a bacterial infection of local lymph nodes, but this shift in denotation is not a surprising one, as scabies also causes skin eruptions.

POc *kʷasi-kʷasi ‘scabies’ (cf. POc *kʷasi[-] ‘scrape, scratch’, *kʷasi ‘scraper made from mussel shell’; vol.1:240–241, modified by Ross 2011)
NNG Yabem kasɪ ‘scabies, itch, rash’
NNG Kaulong ma-kas ‘ringworm, tinea (?)’ (ma- < PMP *ma- ‘stative’)
MM Nakanai kasi-kasi ‘scabies’
MM Patpatar kas-kās ‘scabies’ (kas ‘scrape’)
MM Sursurunga kaskas ‘scabies’ (kasi ‘scrape’)
Pn Tongan kahi ‘diseased swellings, scrofula on neck, piles’
Pn East Uvean kahi ‘scrofula’
Pn East Futunan kasi ‘scrofula’

3.3.2. Ringworm, Tinea imbricata⇫

The English term ‘ringworm’ is a misnomer, as the skin infections it labels are caused by fungi. One of these is Tinea imbricata, found mainly in and around the Pacific, and caused by the fungus Trichophyton concentricum. It appears as an eruption of concentric rings of overlapping scales which often covers much of the sufferer’s body. The main POc term for Tinea imbricata was *puni, which reflects a sound change discussed in §1.3.4.2.

PAn *buqeni ‘ringworm, Tinea imbricata’ (ACD)
PMP *buqeni ‘ringworm, Tinea imbricata’ (ACD)
POc *puni ‘ringworm, Tinea imbricata’ (ACD)
NNG Lukep pun ‘skin fungus’
PT Motu huni ‘ringworm’
MM Nakanai vu-vuli ‘k.o. painful ringworm; a smallpox-like disease’
SES Tolo vuni ‘fungal skin infection’
SES Longgu vuni ‘fungal skin disease’
SES Sa’a huni ‘skin disease, ringworm’
SES Ulawa huni ‘skin disease, ringworm’
SES Arosi huni ‘ringworm’
NCV Neve’ei na-vinvin ‘ringworm’ (John Lynch, pers. comm.)
NCV Naman nə-vənvən ‘ringworm’ (John Lynch, pers. comm.)
SV Sye no-vun ‘ringworm’
Pn West Futunan fune-fune ‘itch, to itch’
Pn Takuu fune ‘skin disease, tinea’
Pn Tikopia fune ‘skin disease, possibly scabies’
Pn Tahitian hune-hune ‘the itch, or a cutaneous disorder resembling the itch’

As noted in §5.3.2.4, POc *karak perhaps also primarily denoted ‘ringworm’ and had itching as a secondary sense.

POc *karak ‘ringworm; to itch’
Adm Drehet karaʔ(ah) ‘ringworm’
NNG Manam kare ‘ringworm’ (for †ʔare)
NNG Tami gala-gal ‘ringworm’
NNG Hote kalak ‘ringworm’
MM Vitu kere ‘ringworm’
MM Bulu kera ‘ringworm’
MM Nakanai kara(kobe) ‘ringworm’
MM Sursurunga kar-kar ‘ringworm’
MM Tolai kara-kare(n) ‘a person covered with ringworm and therefore without hair on the body; an abusive term’
MM Tolai kar-kar ‘ringworm’
Fij Bauan kara ‘ringworm’
Fij Wayan kara ‘skin disease in which pale spots appear on the skin’ (probably tinea versicolor)

Proto Malaita-Makira (SES) *garat-a ‘ringworm’ looks superficially like an irregular development from POc *karak above, but this is probably a chance resemblance. The form *garat-a is a nominalisation with *-a (< POc *-aŋ) of a root reflected without nominalisation in To’aba’ita ma-gara (VI) ‘be covered with sores or a skin condition such as scabies’. Its POc antecedent would be †*garas, for which we have no other evidence.

Proto Malaita-Makira *garat-a ‘ringworm’ (*-a NOMINALISER)
SES Lau garata ‘ringworm’
SES To’aba’ita garata, karata ‘skin disease, tinea, ringworm’
SES Kwaio kalata ‘ringworm; afflicted with ringworm’
SES ’Are’are karata ‘ringworm’
SES Sa’a karata ‘ringworm’

3.3.3. Tinea versicolor alias pityriasis versicolor or tinea flava⇫

Tinea versicolor is known as ‘white spot’ across much of Melanesia. Caused by the yeast Malassezia globosa, the infection leads to skin eruptions. These result in pigmentary changes in people with dark skin tones that leave lighter patches of skin. The POc term for white spot, supported by non-Oceanic cognates as far away as the Philippines, was *pano, but reflected in just a few Oceanic languages. Recorded under ‘cf. also’ below are Papuan Tip terms that appear to reflect †*pana(k,q) or †*pana(r,R). They remain unexplained.

PMP *panaw ‘fungus infection which produces light patches on the skin: Tinea flava or Pityriasis’ (ACD)
POc *pano ‘skin disease which produces light patches on the skin, Tinea versicolor’
MM Nakanai palu-lu ‘have hives-like swelling’
SES ’Are’are hano ‘a skin disease, white spots without scales’
SES Sa’a hano ‘a skin disease, small white spots on the skin, but no scales’
cf. also:
PT Gumawana vana ‘lightened skin pigment’
PT Kilivila vana ‘eczema’
PT Gapapaiwa vanaɣa ‘disease called “white spot”’
PT Iduna vanala ‘k.o. ringworm (on scalp)’

The set below supports only a PROc reconstruction. The Longgu term, disqualified as a reflex by its initial t-, was probably borrowed from a reflex in another (unidentified) Guadalcanal language. If so, the reconstruction would be raised to PEOc. The cognacy of the Tawala term below is suspect on both semantic and formal grounds (Tawala d- < POc *d, *dr or *j).

PROc *tani ‘disease characterised by pale patches on skin’
Mic Ponapean c̣en-c̣en ‘disease characterised by pale patches on skin’ (Christian 1899: 37)
Mic Kiribati tan-tan ‘spotted, as skin’
Mic Marshallese can ‘skin disease, white spots on skin’
Fij Bauan dani ‘chloasma, spots or discolouration of skin; tinea’
PPn *tane ‘skin disease, tinea’ (POLLEX)
Pn Tongan tane [N, V] ‘skin disease, pityriasis, k.o. skin disease’
Pn Samoan tane ‘name given to various skin conditions includ. tinea’
Pn Tikopia tane ‘light skin patch in colour, not disease’
Pn Hawaiian kane ‘tinea’
cf. also:
PT Tawala dani ‘scratch, rash or irritation from scrub or grass’
SES Longgu tani ‘white spot, skin infection that causes white patches to appear on the skin’ (borrowing)

3.4. Yaws (Framboesia)⇫

Yaws is considered to be among the earliest diseases known to man,6 and must have been present among Austronesian speakers prior to their movement into the Pacific. The disease occurs in tropical regions and begins as an inflammatory lesion through which bacteria enter the body as a result of direct contact with an already infected person. The disease manifests itself in the form of raspberry-like nodules on the skin which may become deep open sores, and in severe cases, result in facial scars and bone deformity. It is common among children who typically develop sores around the mouth and anus, but confers a degree of immunity so that secondary, more crippling stages that can result in bone lesions are more likely in those whose first exposure is as adults (McNeill 1976:177, 218). Once widespread in New Guinea, yaws is now almost totally eradicated, and terms for the condition have largely fallen into disuse within the last fifty or so years.

Languages in the region would no doubt have had a number of terms for the different stages of yaws and for the disease as it affects different parts of the body. (Babatana terms include tapae sua ‘secondary yaws - ulcers’ (tapa ‘ulcer’, sua ‘child’), boka ‘yaws affecting mouth and chin’, ŋore ‘yaws affecting the nose’, maqoqele ‘yaws affecting bone’ and so on.) A number of terms have been located for the raspberry-like nodules once commonly found in children (PCP *tona ‘skin blemishes caused by yaws’), while some cognates included under reconstructions for painful skin conditions above, such as in POc *manuka, ‘ulcer, sore, wound’ (§5.3.2.1), may refer to these sores. Indeed, the unprefixed form of this term, PAn *Luka/PMP *luka, gave rise to POc *luka, the term for yaws. Oceanic reflexes are restricted to the Southeast Solomonic subgroup, but the existence of non-Oceanic cognates (Banggai (wMP) nuka, Selaru (CMP) nua [ACD]) with this sense supports the POc reconstruction. The loss of the first *-k- of PSES *luka-luka reflects a regular reduplication process (Andrew Pawley, pers. comm.).

PAn *Luka ‘sore, wound’ (ACD)
PAn *ma-Luka ‘wounded’ (ACD)
POc *luka ‘yaws’
PSES *luka-luka ‘yaws in adults’
SES Bugotu lua-luka ‘yaws’
SES Lau lu-luka ‘yaws in adults’
SES To’aba’ita lū-luka ‘yaws’
cf. also:
PT Molima liliʔu ‘a skin ailment which produces sores around the mouth and on palms and soles, and affects liver’
PT Molima lolaʔa-laʔa ‘a rash; loss of nose’ (unexpected vowels)
MM Nakanai (ma)lulu ‘skin disease, sometimes fatal’

There is evidently a belief among some Central Pacific communities that the marks left by octopus sucker on the skin are similar to skin blemishes caused by yaws (Geraghty 1986).

PCP *jona ‘yaws; octopus sucker’ (Geraghty 1986)
Fij Rotuman jona ‘be afflicted with or suffer from yaws’
Fij Bauan tona ‘yaws’
Pn Tongan tona ‘yaws’
Pn Rennellese tona ‘skin blemish, suction cups of octopus tentacle’
Pn Samoan tona ‘yaws’
Pn Rarotongan tona ‘yaws’
Pn Tikopia tona ‘tropical ulcer, yaws’ (maŋeo, tona, para in order of severity)
Pn Māori tona ‘wart, excrescence’
cf. also:
SES To’aba’ita tona ‘ulcer on soles of feet, appears with yaws’ (borrowing)

3.5. Fever, malaria⇫

Was malaria endemic among the speakers of Proto Oceanic? Linguistics does not provide an answer to this question. Reconstructions carry glosses no more precise than ‘be hot’, ‘be cold’, ‘tremble’, ‘shiver’ and so on, conditions which have a range of causes but are symptoms of malaria. Nor is the malaria-carrying mosquito found in Micronesia, New Caledonia, Fiji or Polynesia. Proto Malaita-Makira *mataki ‘malaria, to have malaria’ is reconstructable, but this is a reflex of POc *masakit ‘be sick’ (§5.3.1), the specific reference to malaria apparently limited to the southeast Solomons. There are today two main strains of malaria in New Guinea, transmitted by Plasmodium vivax and P. falciparum by way of certain species of the Anopheles mosquito. P. vivax can lodge in the liver, causing a relapse up to two years after the initial infection, and can be easily transported with its human hosts. It is considered to be of Southeast Asian rainforest origin, and, where it is long-established in a stable population, can result in a degree of tolerance in its victims (Groube 1993:168, 171). Groube, a prehistorian, writes (p.169) that ‘it would be incredible, considering the proximity of Southeast Asia (the possible homeland of P. vivax), if this parasite was not introduced [to New Guinea] before the end of the Pleistocene.’ P. falciparum, on the other hand, is of African origin. The resultant illness, although non-relapsing, is more virulent than that transmitted by P. vivax. As the parasite cannot survive within its host beyond the duration of its initial infection, it requires large host populations moving rapidly for successful migration. It is considered a latecomer to Melanesia, its arrival ‘unlikely to have been much before a thousand years ago’ (p.168), i.e. more than two thousand years after the initial dispersal of Proto Oceanic speakers.

Almost all verbs in the data with the meaning ‘be ill with malaria’ are from SES or NCV languages. They are either from POc *malaso ‘be cold’ (Gela malaho ‘cold, chill; to be cold, chilly; malaria, to be ill with malaria’, Lo-Toga mela ‘cold, fever, malaria’) or POc *riri/*rere ‘tremble, shiver’, variants of POc *ma-ridriŋ ‘(s.o.) cold’. For supporting evidence see §4.7.6 and §4.8.1.

3.6. Rheumatism, arthritis⇫

A single POc reconstruction is proposed for ‘inflammation of joints’, *ŋu-ŋu(l). Although Oceanic cognates are all Polynesian, the existence of a PMP reconstruction *ŋu-ŋul ‘arthritic or rheumatic pain’ indicates that there was a POc reflex. Instances of gout, a disease evidently suffered by Austronesian populations from Taiwan to Polynesia (Buckley 2007) are in places identified by this term.

PMP *ŋulŋul ‘arthritic or rheumatic pain’ (ACD)
POc *ŋu-ŋu(l) ‘inflammation of joints’
PPn *ŋu-ŋu ‘rheumatism, arthritis’ (POLLEX)
Pn Niuean ŋuŋu ‘inflammation of the joints, gout, arthritis’
Pn Tongan ŋuŋu ‘various kinds of swelling or tumour’
Pn East Futunan ŋuŋu ‘arthritic swelling of the joints’
Pn Pukapukan (maki) ŋuŋu ‘rheumatic pain’
Pn Samoan ŋuŋu ‘name given to a number of complaints, including rheumatism, gout, arthritis, etc.’
Pn Rarotongan ŋuŋu ‘rheumatism; lameness’
Pn Hawaiian nunu ‘swollen, puffed up; to swell’
cf. also:
MM Nakanai golu ‘painful condition of the bones’ (Chowning)

3.7. Asthma, breathlessness⇫

Asthma was probably not recognised as a sickness by pre-modern Oceanic speakers, who referred to it by terms for breathlessness. Two POc terms are reconstructed, *oŋa(p) and *ŋaRa (for discussion see §4.5.2). A PPn term, *sela, is also reconstructable.

PMP *eŋap ‘gasp for breath’ (ACD)
POc *oŋap ‘pant, be out of breath’
NNG Kove ŋave ‘pant, as a dog’ (-e unexplained)
NNG Kaulong ŋep ‘pant’ (-e- for †-a-)
MM Sursurunga ŋeh-ŋeh ‘be out of breath’ (-e- for †-a-)
MM Tolai ŋua ‘asthma’ (metathesis)
MM Roviana uŋa ‘asthma, bronchitis’ (u- for †o-)
SES Gela oŋa ‘be out of breath with running, as in bringing news’
POc *ŋaRa ‘be breathless, pant’ (Geraghty 1990: PEOc)
MM Nehan ŋara ‘breathless, winded’
MM Roviana ŋa-ŋara ‘open the mouth, open as shellfish’
NCV Mota ŋala ‘be out of breath, pant, be tired’
NCV Labo ŋaxa ‘breathe, be out of breath, asthmatic’
Fij Wayan ŋā ‘catch liquid in a container or by holding the mouth open under running water’
Fij Wayan (vā)ŋāŋāŋā ‘with mouth or container opened; gaping’
Fij Bauan ŋā ‘opening of mouth, gaping action; catch water in the mouth and drink it as it runs’
PPn *ŋā ‘breathe, pant’ (POLLEX)
Pn Tongan ŋā ‘pant, struggle for breath, as with asthma’
Pn Rennellese ŋā ‘open the mouth, as a thirsty cormorant or dog’
Pn Tikopia ŋā ‘screech, utter hoarse cry’
Pn Rarotongan ŋā ‘pant, gasp’
Pn Māori ŋā ‘take breath, breathe; make a hoarse harsh noise, screech’
Pn Hawaiian nā ‘moan, groan, wail’
cf. also:
NNG Sio ŋa-ŋa ‘breathe hard, pant’
MM Nakanai lala(hate) ‘breathe, sigh’ (hate ‘liver, innards’)
MM Ramoaaina ŋoro-ŋoro ‘pant, be breathless, be out of breath’ (conflates reflexes of ŋaRa_ ‘pant’ and _ŋorok ‘grunt’)
MM Roviana ŋa-ŋaha ‘pant with exertion’
PPn *sela ‘asthma, gasp for breath’
Pn Tongan hela ‘tired, asthma’
Pn East Uvean hela ‘suffocation’
Pn East Futunan sela ‘gasp, asthma’
Pn Samoan sela ‘gasp for breath, asthma’

3.8. Coughing⇫

The English term is vague, referring to anything from throat-clearing to severe paroxysms. Perhaps the POc terms were more specific. Two POc terms, *koso (VI), koso-ŋa (N) and *puku(R)/PROc *puRuk, both glossed ‘cough’, have been reconstructed: for cognate sets see §4.5.7.

3.9. Diarrhoea⇫

Oceanic languages often describe diarrhoea in descriptive or euphemistic terms (cf. English ‘trots’, ‘runs’), like these three PT languages: Bunama gamʷa-pili [stomach-run], Dobu diya-salisali [intestine-rot/melt], Iamalele kamo taitai-na [stomach landslide-its]. Similarly Sye (SV) ne-vcah norari [the-faeces flow].

Nonetheless, two monomorphemic POc reconstructions have been made, *surup and, less secure, *sana. Reflexes of the first are well distributed.

POc *surup ‘diarrhoea’
NNG Mutu suruv ‘have diarrhoea’
PT Kilivila solu ‘diarrhoea, dysentery’
MM Kia suru ‘diarrhoea’
MM Babatana suru ‘diarrhoea’
MM Babatana moro suru ‘dysentery’ (moro ‘ill’)
MM Maringe s(n)uru ‘have diarrhoea’
MM Roviana huru ‘diarrhoea’
SES Bugotu su-suru ‘diarrhoea’
SES Gela suru ‘diarrhoea’
SES Gela suru gabu ‘dysentery’ (gabu ‘blood’)
NCV Mota si-sire ‘looseness of bowels, diarrhoea’
NCV Lewo suru ‘defaecate’
NCV Namakir si-sirieʔ ‘have diarrhoea’
NCV Nguna siro ‘have diarrhoea’

The POc status of *sana depends on Kilivila -sola being a reflex, as no other non-Polynesian reflexes have been found.

POc *sana ‘diarrhoea’
PT Kilivila (i)sola ‘diarrhoea, dysentery’
Pn Tongan hana [VI] ‘be loose in the bowels, have diarrhoea’
Pn East Uvean sana ‘diarrhoea’
Pn East Futunan sana ‘diarrhoea’
Pn Samoan sana(toto) ‘dysentery’
Pn Kapingamarangi hana-hana ‘diarrhoea’
cf. also:
Fij Rotuman sana ‘have diarrhoea’ (borrowed from Pn)

Terms for dysentery are typically compounds that include a term for ‘blood’: Gedaged tae daɬ [excrement blood]; Roviana pea ehara [defecate blood]; Gela suru gabu, Tongan hana toto, Samoan sana toto [diarrhoea blood].

3.10. Vomiting⇫

Two POc reconstructions for the verb ‘vomit’, *mʷutaq and *luaq, are well-supported, each having antecedents at least as far back as PMP. They are discussed in §4.4.4.

3.11. Swelling, elephantiasis⇫

Although swelling is a symptom of a wide range of afflictions, wordlists tend to single out one particular highly visible form, elephantiasis. This is the term given to gross swelling of parts of the body, typically legs or scrotum, a late-stage, chronic condition of filariasis. The disease is caused by nematode parasites in the lymph glands of the body, and is transmitted via various species of mosquito including Anopheles, the species also responsible for malaria transmission. Early stages of the disease are often accompanied by severe rigor and fever, and may be mistaken for malaria. Elephantiasis is present in the entire Oceanic region, including Polynesia and Micronesia. The particular form of filaria found in most of Oceania (due to Wuchereria bancrofti) is also widely distributed through the warmer parts of Asia (Sasa 1976).

One reconstruction, POc *pʷiRa, refers specifically to elephantiasis. POc *tubuq is a generic term meaning ‘to swell’, but may be compounded with the relevant body-part term, such as a reflex of POc *qaqe ‘leg’ or *laso ‘testicles’ to refer to elephantiasis.

POc *pʷiRa is reconstructed, rather than *puRa, to account for the numerous reflexes that do not undergo the lenition of the initial consonant that is expected of *p- but not of pʷ-.

POc *pʷiRa ‘elephantiasis’ (Geraghty 1990: *puRa)
Adm Lou pi ‘filariasis, swelling of leg’
NNG Gedaged piḷe-n ‘elephantiasis, filariasis’
NNG Gitua pira ‘(leg) swollen’
SES Bugotu lupa ‘dropsy’ (metathesis)
SES Gela lupa ‘dropsy’ (metathesis)
SES Longgu lupa ‘a disease that causes the body to swell up’ (metathesis)
SES Arosi pura ‘dropsy, elephantiasis’ (for †hura)
SES Sa’a pule ‘elephantiasis, dropsy’
NCV Mota pura ‘elephantiasis’
NCV Raga bura ‘elephantiasis’
NCV Tamambo bura ‘elephantiasis’
NCV Lewo pula ‘elephantiasis’
Mic Chuukese piri ‘hard growth or lump under the skin’
Mic Kosraean pili ‘mumps, have mumps’
Mic Mokilese pir ‘lymph nodes’
Pn Tongan fua ‘elephantiasis’ (veʔe-fua ‘of legs’, loho-fua ‘of testicle’ etc.)
Pn Niuean (hui)fua ‘elephantiasis’ (lit. ‘leg swell’)
Pn Samoan fua-fua ‘abscess, pimple’
Pn Tikopia (faka)foa ‘swelling on body’

POc *tubuq may be used for all kinds of swelling, both desirable and undesirable, including growth of tubers (vol.1:134). A nominalised form, PEOc *tubuŋa ‘general term for swelling’ is also reconstructable, but the initial syllable is lost in Polynesia. For swelling as it applies to boils and the like, see §5.3.2.1.

PMP *tu(m)buq ‘grow, thrive, swell’ (Blust 1986)
POc *tubuq ‘to grow, swell’
NNG Numbami tubu ‘grow, fatten’
PT Kilivila tobʷawa ‘elephantiasis’
PT Minaveha (ae) tubu-tubu ‘elephantiasis’ (of leg ae)
PT Molima (ae) tubu-tubu ‘elephantiasis of the legs’
PT Motu tubu ‘grow; ferment; swell’
PT Bwaidoga tubuga ‘grow large, swell’
PT Mekeo ufu ‘swell’
MM Nehan tubu ‘a boil’
MM Teop subu ‘swell’
MM Roviana tubu ‘sore, ulcer’
SES Bugotu tubu ‘swell; a simple ulcer; an ulcerous person’
SES Lau ūbu ‘swell, as a boil; a swelling, boil’
SES Lau ūbu-a ‘swollen’
SES Kwaio ubu ‘swell, swelling, swollen’
SES Kwaio ubuʔ-a ‘boil, swelling’
SES Sa’a upu [VI] ‘swell in body’
SES Arosi ubu ‘swell’
NCV Port Sandwich töᵐb ‘swell, swollen’
NCV Labo tiᵐb ‘swell’
NCal Yuanga khiᵐbu ‘swell’
NCal Nemi hiᵑguk ‘swell’
Mic pi tibu ‘swell, swelling, swollen’
Fij Wayan tubu ‘grow’
Fij Bauan tubu [VI] ‘grow, increase’; [N] ‘a rash, any disease that rises above the skin’
Pn Tongan tupu [VI] ‘grow, rise, swell’
Pn Pukapukan tupu ‘grow, develop’
Pn Samoan tupu ‘grow, break out, happen’; [N] ‘growth’
Pn Tikopia tupu ‘grow, change into; abnormal growth, swelling’
cf. also:
Pn Samoan tupa ‘elephantiasis’

PEOc *tubuŋa ‘general term for swelling’ (-ŋa ‘nominaliser’)
SES Lau ūbuŋa ‘small swelling’
SES To’aba’ita ūbuŋa ‘general term for any k.o. swelling on the body’
cf. also:
Fij Rotuman puŋa ‘abscess, esp. between legs or under arm’ (Pn loan)
PPn *puŋa ‘swelling, abscess’ (loss of initial syllable)
Pn Tongan puŋa ‘abscess in armpit’
Pn Samoan puŋa ‘inflammation of inguinal lymphatic gland’
Pn Tahitian pua ‘disease accompanied by a swelling’ (for †puʔa)
Pn Māori puŋa ‘swelling, lump’
Pn Tuamotuan puŋa ‘lump, knob, protuberance’

POc *popo(l) (with antecedent PMP *belbel), evidently referred to bodily swelling caused by water retention, but only a single Oceanic cognate has been traced.

PMP *belbel ‘hydropoesia, bodily swelling caused by water retention’ (ACD)
POc *popo(l) ‘hydropoesia, bodily swelling caused by water retention’ (ACD)
SES Arosi hoho ‘swelling on woman’s body’

3.12. Epilepsy⇫

Although no POc reconstruction for epilepsy has been made, a number of clues suggest that the convulsions of an epileptic fit were seen as similar to the sudden movements of some birds. For instance, Sa’a has a term kokoko which refers to ‘a bird, the megapode’ and also to ‘a disease and its convulsions, so called in allusion to the startled movements of the megapode when discovered’. Tongan has a term mahaki-moa ‘to be epileptic’ (mahaki ‘illness’, moa ‘fowl’). Wayan Fijian uses a similar metaphor, manumanu-ni-soni (manu ‘flying creature’, soni ‘vine used to trap bats, which struggle to get free’). Two manu terms from SES languages, Arosi manu and ’Are’are manu susuru (susuru ‘?’) also mean ‘epilepsy’.

3.13. Eye disorders⇫

Blust (ACD) reconstructs PMP doublets for ‘cataract’, *bileR and *bulaR, both of which appear to have Oceanic reflexes. which have broadened their meaning to include sight impairments and blindness generally and have acquired the additional sense ‘close one’s eyes’. The latter is used as a metaphor for blindness in various WOc languages, e.g. Mangap mata- i-pis, Takia mala- i-tau, both [eye- it-closed] ‘blind’.

PMP *bileR ‘cataract of the eye’ (ACD)
POc *pʷilo(R) ‘close one’s eyes; blind; be sight-impaired’ (ACD: *piloR ‘blind’)
MM Patpatar pulo ‘blind; blind person; close eyes’
NCV Tamambo bʷelu-bʷelu ‘shut eyes’
NCV West Ambrym bʷil ‘close eyes’
NCV Uripiv -pʷil ‘close eyes’
NCV Lewo -pʷelu ‘close eyes’
NCV Namakir pʷil ‘blind’
NCV Nguna pʷili ‘close the eyes’ (final -i unexpected)
NCV Nguna pʷīli ‘blind; blind person’
Mic Marshallese pilo ‘blind; trachoma; inflamed eye; not see well’

PAn *bulaR ‘cataract of the eye’ (ACD)
POc *pula(R) [V] ‘close one’s eyes; blind’; [N] ‘cataract’
MM Ramoaaina pula ‘be blind; close one’s eyes’
MM Tolai pula ‘be blind, short sighted, have blight; blindness’
SES Sa’a hu-hule ‘cataract’
PPn *pula ‘foreign body in eye’
Pn Tikopia pura ‘difficult to see, murky’
Pn Hawaiian pula ‘have s.t. in eye’
Pn Māori pura ‘foreign body in eye, impairment of vision’
Pn Tuamotuan pura ‘any small foreign substance in eye’
cf. also:
Adm Seimat pulaxa ‘blind’ (borrowed?)

A single Oceanic reflex supported by one from wMP permits a POc reconstruction for ‘cross-eyed’.

PMP *zilak ‘cross-eyed’ (ACD)
POc *(j,s)ila ‘be cross-eyed’
Fij Rotuman cila ‘squint, be cross-eyed’

Oceanic languages frequently use a reflex of *mata- ‘eye’ with a range of modifiers to refer to various eye conditions including cataracts, squinting, conjuctivitis, trachoma and undifferentiated blindness. For the latter, typical compounds are ‘eye’ + ‘closed’ (see above) and ‘eye’ + ‘night/dark’, although no bimorphic reconstruction has been possible. Pukapukan, for instance, has matapō ‘blind’ (from POc *mata- + *boŋi ‘night/dark’). To’aba’ita has mā-rodoa ‘any serious eye condition that prevents good vision’, and Lau has mā-rodo ‘blind’ (both from POc *mata- + *rodrom ‘be dark, be night’).

3.14. Deafness and dumbness⇫

The PMP antecedent of POc *tuli evidently referred to ‘earwax’, but the POc cognates extend the meaning to ‘deaf’. Examples with final -e may represent independent instances of lowering of -i to -e. For further discussion and a further cognates, see §3.8.2

PMP *tuli, *tilu ‘earwax’ (ACD)
POc *tuli ‘deaf, earwax’
PT Kilivila tuli ‘deaf, crazy’
PT Dobu (tena) tui [ear be.deaf] ‘deafness’ (tena ‘ear’; tenana ‘i tui ‘be deaf’)
PT Misima tui ‘deaf’
MM Nakanai tule ‘earwax’
NCV Mota tul ‘earwax’
NCV Ambae dule ‘earwax’
NCV Paamese a-ruli ‘earwax’
Fij Bauan dule ‘earwax’ (-e for †-i)
Fij Wayan tule ‘earwax’ (-e for †-i)
Fij Rotuman fuli ‘be deaf’
PPn *tuli ‘deaf’
PPn *taqe-tuli ‘earwax’ (*taqe ‘faeces’; POLLEX)
Pn Tongan tuli ‘deaf’
Pn Samoan tuli ‘deaf’
Pn East Futunan tuli-tuli ‘deaf’
Pn Māori turi ‘deaf’
Pn Hawaiian kuli ‘deaf’

Commonly associated with deafness is the inability to speak. Two further POc reconstructions are proposed, one with pre-Oceanic antecedents.

PMP *beŋel ‘deaf’ (ACD)
PCEMP *beŋel ‘mute, unable to speak’ (ACD)
POc *boŋol ‘deaf mute’
Adm Mussau (taliŋa) boloŋo ‘deaf’ (metathesis)
MM Ramoaaina boŋ ‘foolish, mute’
SV Sye o-mŋol ‘deaf’
cf. also:
MM Patpatar ŋulo ‘confused, dumb, unable to speak’
POc *pʷapo ‘deaf and dumb’
Adm Mussau pavo ‘dumb’
NNG Kaulong peh-peh ‘unable to speak, stupid, insane’
PT Ubir fawa ‘earwax’
MM Nakanai vou ‘deaf’
MM Patpatar bāu ‘be deaf, not hear well’
MM Nehan pau ‘dumb, unable to talk’

The inability to speak that is commonly associated with deafness is in some communities also considered a sign of mental deficiency or stupidity. Note the glosses of the Kiriwina item in the *tuli set, the Ramoaaina item in the *boŋol set and the Kaulong item in the *pʷapo set. Examples from other languages include Yabem meloʔ ‘insane, dull, foolish, deaf and dumb, epileptic’, Tawala bade-bade ‘insane, deaf and dumb, naked’, Kiriwina nagowa ‘deaf, dumb, insane’. Tolai beg-beg ‘deaf, dumb; fool, idiot’, Arosi bweu ‘be foolish, stupid, thick-witted, deaf and dumb’, ’Are’are peu ‘dull, foolish, idiotic, insane, be in a trance, be deaf and dumb’.

3.15. Tooth decay and toothache⇫

There is a widespread belief among Austronesian speakers that dental caries is caused by a small worm. Both the creature and the associated condition are named in different languages by reflexes of various reconstructed terms for ‘worm’. Blust comments on two WMP languages, Cebuano and Malagasy, whose reflexes of PAn *qulej ‘maggot’ refer also to ‘tooth decay’ or ‘toothache, supposed to be occasioned by a small worm in the tooth’ (ACD). Other wMP languages refer to tooth decay by reflexes of PMP *bukbuk ‘weevil that infests wood, bamboo, and rice; dust produced by the boring of this insect; tooth decay’ (ACD). Dobu (PT) has a term kimʷata ‘the supposed insect which causes caries in children’, from mʷata ‘snake’. The To’aba’ita (SES) term is wā-lifo ‘tooth decay, believed to be caused by worms’ (wā ‘worm, grub, maggot, caterpillar, larva’, lifo ‘tooth’). Codrington also reports the belief as existing in the Banks Islands (NCV), but gives no terms (1891:193).

In some languages toothache is referred to simply by a compound, ‘tooth’ + ‘pain’ or similar.

3.16. Giddiness⇫

Cognates from Seimat and Tolai support POc *ta-lili ‘(be) dizzy’ (PMP *ta- SPONTANEOUS; §1.3.5.4) while Polynesian cognates support PPn *lili-ka (POc *-ka adjective formative). Other terms reflect *lili in combination with still other affixes. Western Micronesian languages reflect a stem *aliali, which presumably arose as a variant of *lili.

POc *lili, *talili ‘(be) dizzy’
Adm Seimat (pula) tali-talia ‘giddy’ (‘eye revolving’)
NNG Gedaged (ki)lili ‘giddy, vertiginous; to faint’
NNG Manam (soa)lili [VI] ‘be dizzy’ (soa ‘very much’)
MM Tolai talili [VI] ‘be dizzy or giddy’
SES Lau lili(ŋi) ‘giddy from too much betel chewing’
Fij Wayan lili(bō) ‘dizzy’
Pn Tongan lili(ka) ‘be giddy, feel like falling from a height’
Pn Samoan lili(ʔa) ‘feel giddy’
Pn Tikopia ri(ka) ‘get off balance’
Pn Emae riri(ka) ‘feel dizzy, experience vertigo’
PWMic *mʷa-ali-ali ‘circle, circling, dizzy’ (Bender et al. 2003)
Mic Ponapean mʷa-aliɛl ‘be dizzy’
Mic Mokilese mʷe-elēl ‘dizzy’
Mic Chuukese mʷæ-æɾiyen ‘dizziness, be dizzy’
Mic Puluwatese mʷæ-æliyel ‘be dizzy, confused’
Mic Carolinian mʷæ-æliyæl ‘dizzy’
Mic Woleaian mʷa-aliyeli ‘be dizzy, giddy, dazed’

Many Oceanic languages use an eye-related metaphor, especially ‘eye’ + spin’.

Adm Seimat (pula) tali-talia ‘giddy’ (‘eye revolving’)
PT Motu mata madai-madai ‘giddy’ (madai ‘going round’)
PT Dobu mata-kwaniweniwe ‘giddy’
PT Kilivila biluya matala ‘dizzy’ (‘eye revolving’)
SES Longgu mama-gali [VI] ‘feel giddy, eyes are spinning’ (gali ‘circle’)
Fij Bauan mata-butō ‘dizzy, giddy’ (butō ‘dark’)

PPn had the term *[ni]nimo for dizziness or vertigo.

PPn *[ni]nimo ‘vertigo’ (POLLEX)
Pn Tongan ni-nimo ‘suffer from vertigo, dizziness, giddiness’
Pn East Futunan ninimo ‘vertigo’
Pn Pukapukan (taka)nimo-nimo ‘giddiness’
Pn Pukapukan nini(wi) ‘move unsteadily, be giddy’
Pn Tikopia nimo ‘clouded, swimming, of vision’
Pn Tokelauan ni-nimo ‘move round in a circle, be confused in mind, be giddy, dizzy’
cf. also:
Pn Samoan nini(va) ‘feel giddy’

3.17. Club-footed⇫

Club foot is a relatively common congenital deformity whereby the affected foot appears to have been rotated internally at the ankle. It is seen rarely in western communities because it is successfully treated in early childhood, but without treatment people with club feet often appear to walk on their ankles or on the sides of their feet.

The only cognate set with this meaning allows a PCP reconstruction.

PCP *sape ‘malformed, of foot, club-footed’ (Milke 1961)
Fij Bauan sabe ‘stiff-legged, unable to bend the knee’
Pn Tongan hape ‘malformed, of foot’
Pn East Futunan sape ‘malformed (foot)’
Pn Samoan sape ‘malformed, of foot’
Pn Tikopia sape ‘club-footed, deformed of foot’
Pn Tahitian hape ‘faulty, malformed, mistaken’
Pn Hawaiian hape ‘faulty’

3.18. Madness⇫

In §5.3.14 it was noted that the inability to speak that is commonly associated with deafness is in some communities considered a sign of mental deficiency or stupidity. Communities will also have a term for someone whose behaviour is considered suddenly abnormal. Although its reflexes are not widely distributed, POc *ŋau ‘crazy’ can be reconstructed. PPn *fasa ‘mad, crazy’ is also reconstructable.

POc *ŋau ‘crazy’
Adm Titan ŋow ‘crazy, silly’
Adm Nyindrou ñoi ‘crazy, silly’
NNG Takia -ŋao-ŋ ‘ignorant, stupid, confused’
NNG Manam ŋao [VI] ‘be crazy’
NNG Manam ŋao-ŋao [ADJ] ‘crazy’
NNG Mangseng ŋo-ŋoŋ ‘crazy person’
NNG Mangseng ŋo-ŋoŋ-a ‘crazy’

PPn *fasa ‘mad, crazy’ (POLLEX: ‘insane’)
Pn Tongan faha ‘mad, insane’
Pn Tongan faha-faha ‘act like a lunatic, rave’
Pn East Uvean faha ‘mad, furious, frantic’
Pn Rennellese hasa-hasa ‘wail, groan, moan’
Pn Samoan fasa ‘delirious’

4. Healing⇫

4.1. Natural healing⇫

Healing may occur naturally, without human intervention. POc *mapo ‘heal, be healed, cured’ is well supported across major subgroups, with particular application to wounds and sores, although in some languages its reflexes refer also to recovery from illness.

POc *mapo ‘heal, be healed, cured, especially of wounds and sores’
Adm Mussau mao ‘heal, recover’
Adm Lou mʷap ‘heal’
NNG Gedaged mao ‘heal, return to a sound state’
NNG Gitua mavu ‘healed’
PT Kilivila (katu)mova ‘heal’ (vowel metath.)
MM Bola mavu ‘healed, of sore or wound’
MM Tolai map [VI, VT] ‘heal, of a wound’
MM Tangga maf ‘heal’
MM Halia maho ‘heal, as sore or wound’
MM Maringe mafo [VI] ‘heal, be cured, recover from pain, injury or illness’
SES Bugotu mavo ‘to heal up, be healed’
SES Longgu mavo [VI] ‘to be healed’
SES Lau mafo ‘to be healed’
SES To’aba’ita mafo [VI] ‘heal, be healed’
NCV Mwotlap maw ‘heal, heal over as a wound’
NCV Mota mawo ‘heal, heal over as a wound’
SV Lenakel aməv ‘heal, be healed’
SV Anejom̃ mah ‘heal, be healed’
Mic Kiribati mao ‘heal, as a wound’
Mic Marshallese mew ‘to heal’
Fij Bauan mavo ‘healed, of a sore’
Pn West Futunan mafo ‘be healed, be well’
Pn Pukapukan mafo ‘heal, of sore’
Pn Samoan mafu ‘heal, dry up, of a wound’
Pn Tikopia mafu ‘become healed, get well’
Pn Māori mahu ‘healed, cicatrised’
cf. also:
MM Nakanai mahavu ‘healed, of a sore’

4.2. Assisted healing⇫

Just as communities attributed some illnesses to natural processes and others to the result of sorcery, so their treatments dealt with both magical and practical aspects of the condition, and the two are sometimes difficult to separate. Practical treatment may have included application of herbal remedies both by ingestion and in external use, and massage. Focus here is on the physical treatment given, rather than on investigation and removal of the cause.

Ways of effecting treatment were multiple, varying from place to place and with the nature of the ailment, although some commonality is evident.

4.2.1. Spraying masticated substances on to affected part⇫

The spraying of some masticated substance such as ginger mixed with saliva from the mouth on to an affected body part is evidently a very old and widely practised treatment right across the Austronesian world. Blust lists, in addition to numerous cognates of PAn *buReS that carry a general meaning ‘spray water from the mouth’, terms from Cebuano and Sundanese (wMP), Asilulu, Kamarian and Boano (CMP) that carry a meaning of spraying something from the mouth for the specific purpose of healing (ACD). In Oceanic communities we have descriptions of similar treatment from Manam (Wedgwood 1934-35), Nakanai (Chowning and Goodenough 2014), and Gela (Codrington 1891). Although POc *puRas ‘spray water from the mouth’ can be reconstructed, a second term, POc *puRuk, similar but apparently unrelated, has wider support.

PAn *buReS ‘spray water from the mouth’ (ACD)
PMP *buRah ‘spray water from the mouth; spray a mixture of saliva and masticated medicinal herbs on an ailing body part in curing’ (ACD)
POc *puRas ‘spray water from the mouth’
NNG Mangap pures ‘blow out from mouth’
PT Molima wula ‘blow out water, as a whale’
PT Dobu ulasa ‘to spit as in sorcery’
MM Nakanai (ka)vuras-i ‘to spit a spray into the air’
NCV Nakanamanga vura-i ‘spit on’
NCV Paamese hula-i ‘spray; ejaculate’
cf. also:
PT Tawala ula-ulasi ‘whale’ (expect w-)

POc *puRuk ‘to spray spittle etc. from the mouth for magical purposes’ (cf. *puku(R) ‘cough’)
Adm Seimat pūk [VI] ‘spit’
NNG Gedaged fuɬe-k ‘to spray, by blowing saliva, ginger, water etc.; besprinkle, splatter’
NNG Hote apok ‘to spit’
NNG Lukep puru ‘to spew; whale’
PT Motu pururu-a [VT] ‘to spit out’
MM Patpatar puruk ‘spit with a lot of air’
MM Tolai puruk [VI,VT] ‘blow from the mouth in such a way as to scatter its contents, as a wizard blows lime into the air, and as a doctor blows saliva on to a wound’
SES Kwaio fulu ‘blow’
NCV Kiai puru-sia ‘spit on’
cf. also:
Adm Lou pirek ‘blow with the mouth’
Adm Lou purik ‘break wind, fart’

4.2.2. Massage⇫

Another form of treatment involved massage, the purpose of which may have been location and removal of an offending substance (Romilly 1889 for Motu,7 Codrington 1891 for Banks Islands) or simply to ease a person’s pain or discomfort (Codrington 1891 for Gela, Whistler 1996 for Samoa). It became more highly developed in Fiji and Polynesia. Wayan Fijian, for example, has at least seven terms describing different kinds of massage such as massage by stroking, by kneading, with fingers, with palm of hand and so on (Pawley and Sabaya 2003).

POc *samo(s), *samos-i- ‘massage, stroke’ has few but well distributed reflexes. PROc *amosi seems to reflect the same item with unexpected loss of *s-, while most NCV terms reflect loss of the initial syllable.

POc *samo(s), *samos-i- ‘massage, stroke’
NNG Takia -amis-i ‘massage, rub’
NNG Sio yamɔ ‘stroke; rub gently’
NNG Bariai sama ‘rub on’
NNG Labu -samo ‘to stroke, pet; sweep’
SES Longgu tamozi- ‘to stroke, caress s.t.’
NCV Labo smʷ-i ‘to stroke (a cat)’
PROc *amosi ‘massage, stroke’ (Clark 2009: PNCV *amosi)
NCV Nokuku mosi- ‘wipe’
NCV Paamese amusi ‘stroke, massage, caress’
NCV Port Sandwich mʷis-mʷis-i ‘to stroke (a cat)’
NCV Nguna mʷo-mʷosi ‘massage’
NCV Valpei mʷosi ‘rub’
Fij Bauan yamo ‘feel with the hand’
Fij Wayan amoð-i [VT] ‘massage s.o. lightly’
PPn *amo(amo) ‘stroke, rub gently’
Pn Tongan amo ‘stroke with palm of hand’
Pn East Futunan amo-amo ‘rub gently, stroke’
Pn Rennellese amo ‘rub gently, anoint, caress’
Pn Tikopia āmo(āmo) ‘smear on (with repeated stroking motions)’
cf. also:
NCV Paamese kamusi ‘stroke, massage, caress’

The following term, with POc meaning ‘wring out (liquid)’, continues that meaning in PPn, but PCP has also a partly reduplicated form that refers specifically to massaging.

PAn *peRes ‘squeeze out’ (vol.1:169)
POc *poRos, *poRos-i- ‘squeeze out, wring out (liquid)’
PCP *bō ‘squeeze, rub firmly, massage in this way’
Fij Bauan bō ‘squeeze, lay hands firmly’
Fij Wayan bōbō ‘massage by squeezing’
PPn *fō ‘rub, as in washing clothes, extracting starch from arrowroot’
PPn *fofō ‘massaging’
Pn Niuean fofō [VT] ‘to massage’
Pn Tongan fofō [VT] ‘to massage by rubbing downwards’
Pn Samoan fofō ‘apply massage; give medical treatment’; [N] ‘remedy, cure; person skilled in massage’
Pn Tokelauan fōfō ‘apply massage gently’
PMP *lemiq ‘press, knead’ (Blust 1970)
POc *lomi(q) ‘press upon’
PPn *lomi ‘squeeze, press down upon’ (POLLEX)
Pn Niuean lomi ‘press’
Pn Tongan lomi ‘press’
Pn East Futunan lo-lomi ‘press on, massage’
Pn Samoan lomi ‘squeeze’
Pn Samoan lomi-lomi (1) ‘gentle rubbing of body part with tips of fingers to ease pain’; (2) ‘slight pressure or kneading, as massage’
Pn Kapingamarangi lomi-lomi ‘massage by squeezing the skin’
Pn Tokelauan lomi ‘massage, knead’
Pn Tahitian rumi ‘wring, massage’
Pn Hawaiian lomi ‘squeeze’
POc *(d,dr)aRi ‘rub, smear, anoint’
Adm Mussau rari-a ‘to rub, as medicine on the skin’
SES Gela dali ‘paint, smear, anoint, massage’
SES To’aba’ita daria [VT] ‘massage’

PPn *mili ‘rub, massage’ (POLLEX)
Pn Tongan mili ‘massage, rub with the hand, esp. the body with oil; rub between the hands’
Pn Niuean mili ‘rub with palm of the hand’
Pn East Futunan mili ‘stroke, rub gently; anoint; lotion’
Pn Rennellese migi ‘rub, move back and forth’
Pn Pukapukan mili-mili ‘feel, touch, masturbate’
Pn Samoan mili ‘rub’
Pn Samoan mili-mili ‘rub very gently’
Pn Tikopia miri ‘anoint’
Pn Tahitian miri-miri ‘handle, examine, massage, fondle, caress’
Pn Māori miri ‘rub, stroke, wipe; soothe’
Pn Hawaiian mili ‘handle, feel, fondle, caress’

However, ordinary non-specialised vocabulary may carry a more technical meaning in the context of healing. As Biggs reports for the language of East Futuna, in ordinary speech vai, mili, tuluʔi, kisu mean ‘water’, ‘rub’, ‘drip, ‘spit out’ respectively. In the context of healing, they take on the technical meanings of ‘medicine to be drunk’, ‘embrocation’, ‘medicinal drops’, and ‘spraying chewed up medicinal leaves from the mouth’ (Biggs 1995:120).

4.2.3. Use of plants⇫

The role of plants in the treatment of illness is not dealt with here, but there is evidence that plants such as ginger (POc *laqia, vol.3:414), and dracaena (POc *jiRi, vol.3:418) were in widespread use, together with lime (POc *qapu(R)), vol.2:64). See also Ross (2008) for more detailed discussion on the role of plants in the treatment of illness.

5. Conclusion⇫

Specific POc terms have been reconstructed for a few visible or otherwise readily recognisable disorders – for boils and tropical ulcers, for skin conditions now identifiable as tinea or scabies, for inflammation of joints, for eye conditions like cataracts, and for diseases with very specific visible characteristics like elephantiasis. Reconstructions for a number of behavioural verbs – to shiver, cough, vomit, (none of which necessarily indicate the presence of disease), and states such as itching are included in chapter 4. Terms that refer to pain in particular parts of the body tend to be compounds along the lines of English earache, toothache, headache, stomachache and so on. However, no fossilised reconstructable compounds have been found, but rather lists of transparent descriptions, with elements that vary slightly but are close in meaning. Wordlist compilers may simply not see the need to include such descriptions.

More detailed information on the range and severity of illnesses present in early Oceanic-speaking populations will be dependent on the findings of other disciplines. Further analysis of the Lapita skeletal remains from Teouma, Vanuatu, may provide evidence of diseases such as tuberculosis. Epidemiologists may be able to tell us more about the behaviour of the various strains of diseases such as malaria and elephantiasis, the size of populations necessary for transmission, and the degree of immunity some people may have or acquire. Diseases that were not known to POc society are those where we have some record of their introduction. From the end of the 18th century, parts of the Pacific were increasingly exposed to contact by missionaries, whalers, traders in search of sandalwood, pearlshell, tortoiseshell and beche-de-mer, and escaped convicts from Botany Bay, all potentially carrying transmissible diseases. The local people had no resistance, and therefore had apparently received no prior exposure to such diseases as influenza, whooping cough, measles, mumps, chicken pox, syphilis and gonorrhoea. Diseases such as leprosy, smallpox and tuberculosis which were known throughout much of the world from very early times, were probably introduced much earlier, but whether they were present at the time of the breakup of POc I cannot say.

Notes⇫