Foreword

 

The data taken from texts was collected under the auspices of a grant from the East-West Centre, University of Hawaii, 1968-1969. They funded the visa and travel costs as well as other fieldwork expenses for the researcher of the documentation project.

Russ Cooper, of SIL, who was the researcher for the project, collected the original texts in Suau, published the database in 1970, later re-edited in 2017-2018). He worked with four local colleagues of the Fife Bay Team in 1968-1969: Tana Ruatoka, Rosalie Ruatoka, Lameka Solomon, and Laso Maeale, all deceased. They worked along with mother-tongue speakers who recorded the texts in 1968-1969. The Fife Bay Team worked on and verified the definitions for all of the vocabulary items included in the texts. Then, Mr. Cooper published the first version of the shorter Daui Dictionary in 2001. He later put the data into a FLEx database.

Russ Cooper, in a February 26, 2001 letter, stated, "The enclosed stories were all written down in the Daui language, back in 1968-69 when I was living at Fife Bay doing field research on the Suau cluster languages along the south coast under the auspices of a grant from the East-West Centre, University of Hawaii.

"I have not done a final check on all of these words, but most of the data in most of the stories was worked on intensively by three Daui speakers along with myself: i.e., by, Tana and Rosalie Ruatoka, and Lameka Solomon, all of Awalolo village.

"The short dictionary represents possibly one half of the text material ... plus the words from two standard survey wordlists: and the Swadesh 200 item word list and the SIL wordlist.

"At this stage the vocabulary entries come mostly from “Oyagi Tanuwagana” - the Owner of Fire, a story from Isuisu, “Liuna” a story from Silosilo, “Wawaya ena Po’a” - Boy of the Rocks, a story from Awalolo, and “Biula” - Land of the Dead, an interview with Ma’auna of Sawaia village. By entering examples and data from these four stories first, I have tried to spread them out over the widest possible range of Daui villages.

"Spelling of main entries is usually a recommended spelling, however the spellings representing the various dialects and villages are in a phonetic spelling, as are the pronunciations.

p.s. ‘Lausaha’ comes from the expression “U lau saha?” where are you going, and is a name originally used by others for the Daui group. Daui speakers themselves need to decide which name for their language they wish to use."

Introduction to the Shorter Daui Lexicon

Tupo Daui dodogadi maudo’imiu, yauwedo! Yesu hesana yai a lauto’iemiu.
Ami libadi hisahisawaidi mo, wau ta, buka ne na’ona yai wa, a toledi.
Bukana hesana a: Alina Daui Libalibadi, o Daui Dictionary. Iamo, age i lohaloha, libadi hisa mo a abidi, nuana doha 600 mo. Libamiu maudo’idi sola a abidi, na Dictionary yai a toledi, hisa mo.
Ami pilipilidai haisa tebe a ulidi, Silosilo yai, Fife Bay yai, yo teha e’esa yai ne, huyana ma’emiu yau ta miagogo Fife Bay yai, Kwalahu ena huya yai, 1968 yo 1969. Nuana emi stoli haisa hinage, bena gonoana ma’a au ulidi, doha.
Nogea, omi yau a lau’ahuleni 1968 yai , na wau ta, nuana libamiu age a uli-komakomani. Ena a uli-pono, au hadudulaidi. Tabu au mode, au hadudulaidi mo! Pa’ana yau, nuagu i hui.
Lista, o Dictionary na’ona yai, ginaulina doha:
libadi words
liba ata’ataina pronunciation
alina teha-teha locations for dialects
aniona alina dimdim yai English meaning
aniona alina Motu yo Pidgin Motu & Pidgin meanings
aniona tehadi meaning variations
examples examples
ginauli haisa other items

English Introduction to the Shorter Daui Lexicon

Greetings to all of the Daui People! I greet you in Jesus name.
At this time I have just put a few of your words into this book.
The Book is called Alina Daui Libalibadi, or a Daui Dictionary, but it is not very long yet. I have only put in a few of your words, perhaps 600 or so. The majority of your words I have not yet acquired, and have not put them in yet, only a few.
I have already written down some of your stories, at Silosilo and at Fife Bay and at other places. This was at the time I lived with you at Fife Bay, back when Kwalahu was Circuit Minister, in 1968-1969. You probably have other stories, which you can also write down, like I did.
I regret that I had to leave you back in 1969, and that I may not have written your words down properly. If I wrote them wrong, you should straighten them out. Don’t worry, just do them correctly! Because, as for me, I’ve probably forgotten too much.

Early History

Contact with Christian missions was first with James Chalmers and his London Missionary Society [LMS] team, probably in about 1878, which was the time at which the LMS established their first mission station at nearby Suau Island. Before 1900 the primary mission headquarters was moved to Isuleilei Mission, Fife Bay, which is in the heart of the Daui-speaking area.

There is still more work to do, but we have decided to publish this work-in-progress, in order to document the work done so far. Please send your suggestions via the Contact Us page.

The Publishers