ACD - Austronesian Comparative Dictionary Online

*qanus₂ spittle; to spit (intr.)

POC qanus₂ spittle; to spit (intr.) ⇫ ¶

OC
Tuvaluan	anu	Spit!
Anuta	anu	saliva, spit, spittle
Samoan	anu	to spit; spittoon
Futunan	ʔa-ʔanu	to spit
	ʔanu-ʔanu	to spit
Niue	tau-anu	to spit (plural)
	anu	to spit
Tongan	ʔa-ʔanu	to spit
Maori	ānu	spit; sputter

POC qanus-i to spit (trans.) ⇫ ¶

OC
Rotuman	ɔnusi	to spit
Mota	anus	to spit; spittle; the lungs
Samoan	anu-sia	smelly (said of dead animals, etc.)
Futunan	ʔanu-si	to spit in someone’s face, spit on someone
Makatea	nusi	to spit
Tongan	ʔanu-hi	(trans.) to spit, spit on, spit out

Reconstructions

POC	qanus₂	spittle; to spit (intr.)
POC	qanus-i	to spit (trans.)

Note

Also Nggela aŋusu ‘to spit’, Kwaio ŋisu ‘saliva, spittle, gall’, ŋisu-a ‘to spit on’, Lau ŋisu spittle; to spit’, ŋisu-fi ‘to spit upon’, Arosi ŋisu to spit’, ŋisu-hi ‘spit on’. This reconstruction was first proposed by Milke (1968), who also cited several forms now included under the doublet *kanisu, but ignored the massive amounts of irregularity that must be accepted in order to maintain a single proto-form *qanusi. The POc base apparently was a trisyllabic verb ending with *–i, which was reinterpreted in Proto-Polynesian as containing the ‘close transitive’ suffix –i, thereby giving rise to an innovative stem ʔanu.