utak ṇe. — “Utak”: the bud sheath from which the composite coconut flower will burst; “ṇe”: “that there by you.” In the Marshallese language, prepositions are directional, allowing for specificity when barking boat or with fishing commands.
U-waak tak-li! — Answer floats eastward.
Wa jab depet āne. — Literally, “boat does not pierce islet.” This proverb means that a canoe’s hull does not pierce the sand of an islet without bearing gifts.
wapepe — Literally, “boat floating.” The symbol represents the four swells, one from each quadrant, converging upon an island in mid-ocean.
Wōde im ajoḶe! — “Chew it and gnaw at it!”
wōdwōd — To chew on a pandanus kernel with a twisting motion that crunches out the pulp and minimizes the fibers caught between the teeth.
wōjjej — An idiom used to express surprise.
wōr — Spiny lobster: Panulirus penicillatus.
Wūj uwaṇ in jān lōḷḷap in! — “Pull this gray hair from this old lady!”
wūnaak — Flocks of seabirds diving for baitfish driven to the surface by tuna.
wūno — Medicine.
wūt — Large-leafed land taro: Alocasia macrorrhiza.
wūtak — The bud sheath from which a composite coconut flower will burst.
Place and character names
AelōñḶapḶap (aka Ailinglaplap Atoll)
Altair
Anbōd (shark-hunting reefs off Jālwōj Atoll)
Antares (aka Tūṃur)
Aorak (Liṃanṃan’s clan)
Aries
Bōkrōk (aka Ḷōbōkrōk; Liṃanṃan’s brother on the boat; has a scar)
the Chief (frigate bird)
Delphinus
Diaj (immense coral rock on Namorik reef)
Ellep (aka Lib Island)
Epoon (aka Ebon)
Etre (aka Ḷāātre; a boy who climbed a coconut tree with Ḷainjin)
Idedh (islet given to Paratak by Raipuinlang)
Intertropical Convergence Zone
Irooj Rilik
Jālwōj (aka Jaluit Atoll)
Je (easternmost islet)
Jebrọ (aka Pleiades; constellation; Taknaṃ’s nickname for Ḷainjin)
Jiañ (Ḷainjin’s drowned boyhood friend)
Jibke (Lenkar’s chosen one)
Jitwa (aka Lijitwa)
JoḶọk (aka LijoḶọk; Liṃanṃan’s younger sister)
Kalbōk (Ḷainjin’s fishing, shark-fighting friend for life)
Kāliptak (an eastern-flowing current)
Kāmeto (Liṃanṃan’s name for a baby)
Kōkkālọk (aka Likōkkālọk; Taknaṃ’s niece)
Kōle (aka Kili; bird island)
Konak
Kosrae (a small island)
Kuwajleen (aka Kwajalein Atoll; islets of)
Ḷāātre (aka Etre)
Lae (Atoll)
Ḷainjin (Tarmālu’s son)
Lairi (lived on Wōtto; lives in a story)
Ḷajuōn (Lijitwa’s infant son)
Ḷaluj (an elder who tells the story of Jibke and Lenkar)
Ḷani (small boy who makes fishing line)
Lenkar (Jibke’s chosen one)
Lijitwa (Ḷōtokjān’s chosen one)
Likeju (Jitwa’s sister)
Likōkkālọk (aka Kōkkālọk; Taknaṃ’s niece)
Likoropjen (an ugly spirit)
Liṃanṃan (Irooj’s daughter; Ḷainjin’s chosen one)
Lirukōb (the daughter of Irooj Rilik)
Litaknaṃ (Ḷainjin’s name for Liṃanṃan’s grandmother)
Ḷōbōkrōk (aka Bōkrōk; Liṃanṃan’s brother on the boat; has a scar)
Ḷōbwebwe (a boy liked by Jitwa’s younger daughter)
Ḷōkajaaj (a reef off Ebon)
Ḷōpako (aka Pako; Ḷainjin’s nickname; man shark)
Ḷōpedpedin (aka Pedpedin; the Irooj; Liṃanṃan’s father)
Ḷōppeipāāt (a huge octopus)
Ḷōtokjān (aka Tokjān; Liṃanṃan’s uncle)
Ḷōkkōkālọk
Lōktañūr (Tūṃur’s mother)
MānnijepḶā (sick bird; mythic bird)
Marshall Islands
Namorik Atoll (where Ḷainjin lives; part of the Rālik string of islands)
Naṃo (aka Namu Atoll)
Nan Madol (Ponapen village on the reef)
Nan Samohl (an eel)
Ngalen (splashes Ḷainjin with water when he has sunstroke)
Pako (aka Ḷōpako; Ḷainjin’s nickname; man shark)
Paratak (the father of Likōkkālọk’s daughter)
Pedpedin (aka Ḷōpedpedin; the Irooj; Liṃanṃan’s father)
Pleiades (aka Jebrọ; constellation)
Pohnpei (where Paratak is from)
Pohnpeian
Polaris
Raipuinlang (the wealthiest chieftain)
Rālik Chain
Rālik Islanders
Republic of Kiribati
Republic of the Marshall Islands
Satawan (Wisina’s island home)
Scorpius
Shark (Ḷainjin)
Taknoḷ (apprentice hull maker)
Taknaṃ (aka Litaknaṃ; Liṃanṃan’s grandmother)
Tarmālu (Ḷainjin’s mother)
Tokjān (aka Ḷōtokjān; Liṃanṃan’s uncle)
Tūṃur (aka Antares)
Ujae (Atoll)
Wisina (Ḷainjin’s former lover from Satawak)
Wōjjā (aka Woja Atoll)
Wōtto (aka Wotho Atoll)
Man Shark Page 35
