rop

See original Mihalic entry.

Noun forms

1. Botany: a vine ® kanda
   rop bilong bus a liana
   rop daka the betel pepper vine
   rop i gat nil any thorny vine

2. Material culture: fibre made from the inner bark of trees, bilum string, wool used as bilum or cap string ® kep²
   wanpela meri sidaun tanim rop i stap a woman is sitting down rolling bilum string (on her thigh)
   rop bilong wokim bilum bilum string
   rop wul synthentic wool unravelled and re-rolled into bilum or cap string, especially in Highlands bilum styles

3. Material culture: other natural products, such as climbing bamboo and orchids, made into tensile strips for artefact making, or used for lashing structures together
   rop bilong banara bow string made of climbing bamboo, Nastus sp.
   rop bilong pasim haus vines used in house construction when nails are not available

4. Botany: fibrous texture
   sampela yam i gat rop insait some yams are stringy

5. Tree crops and fruits: a cluster of fruit on one stem
   rop buai betel nut sold by the cluster (of 50-100 nuts on the stalk)
   rop banana a stalk of bananas
   rop kokonas a cluster of coconuts (tied together)

6. Physiology: blood vessel, tendon, nerve
   rop bilong blut vein, artery
   han bilong mi i gat bikpela rop my arm has large veins
   rop bilong pikinini the umbilical cord
   rop wailis a nerve (explanatory term)
   asples i holimpas wanpela raskol, na ol i katim lek rop bilong em the villagers caught a rascal and cut the tendons of his legs (to stop him running away)

Exclamation forms

7. Sexual innuendo: kaikai rop! vulgar abuse, from Hagen kan, ‘vine, rope’ ® kan

© Revising the Mihalic Project, 26 Jan 2005 [Home]