Fish Names of Wallis Island (uvea)

Fish names are not only of interest to the ichthyologist. Linguists too have been studying fish name as they are generally regarded as a more stable subsection of the lexicon, which is less subject to change and more reliable as a source for historical reconstruction. However in the Pacific, especially in Polynesia with its history of migration, linguists have to be careful when using fish names for comparative studies. While it is true that the common species have cognate forms in almost all Polynesian languages, a fish name may function as an interchangeable label for a lesser-known species designating a different fish in each language. The explanation for this semantic instability is readily found in the settlement of Polynesia by continuous migration. In their new environment people found fish species similar but not identical with those they knew. What was more logical than to use for the newly found species the name of its lookalike cousin back home? The data from Wallis Island are meant to encourage a Polynesia-wide study of fish names. Comparative research of this nature will reveal valuable information on linguistic subgrouping and on patterns of settlement in the Pacific region. 1. Wallis Island, native name Uvea, is part of the French overseas territory “Wallis et Futuna.” Situated approximately halfway between Fiji and Samoa, it has remained a rather isolated island in the heart of Polynesia. Until recently Western influence has been minimal. Local customs, tradition, and language are well preserved. Wallis is an island of volcanic origin with peaks up to 145 meters high. It is surrounded by a barrier reef enclosing a lagoon in which there are nineteen small uninhabited islands. The total land area is 96 square kilometers. The Wallisian language, which is closely related to Tongan, is spoken by six thousand people on the home island and by twelve thousand immigrants in New Caledonia. As elsewhere in the Pacific, fish is an important part of the daily diet of the population. Fishing is done in the lagoon, hardly ever outside the barrier reef. The French government is encouraging noncommercial fishing by providing small motor-powered boats, which are locally built and sold at subsidized prices. I collected data for this paper on a field trip to Wallis Island in 1980 while working on a dictionary project. My principal informant was Mino, an experienced fisherman of about forty, living at Lano in the district of