Proto Polynesian: *Kawa
REFLEXES IN SOME POLYNESIAN LANGUAGES:

Tongan: Kava (Piper methysticum [Piperaceae])
Niuean: Kava (P. methysticum)
Samoan: 'ava(P. methysticum)
Rapanui: Kava ("bitter tasting")
Tahitian: 'Ava(P. methysticum)
Marquesan: Kava, 'ava (P. methysticum)
Hawaiian: 'awa(P. methysticum)
Tuamotuan: Kava(P. methysticum)
Rarotongan: Kava (P. methysticum [Piperaceae]; Kawakawa Pittosporum rarotongense [Pittosporaceae])
Māori: kawa, kawakawa (Piper excelsum)

Note: In Māori, Rapanui, Rarotongan and Tuamotuan kawa or kava also has the sense of "bitter", which is not the case for most Western Polynesian languages.

COGNATE REFLEXES IN SOME OTHER AUSTRONESIAN LANGUAGES
Muyuw (Papua): Ka-kawowa (Piper sp., "Kava variety", Piperaceae)
Gapapoiwa (Papua): Kaware (Zingiber sp., "Kind of ginger", Zingiberaceae)
Latoka (Fiji): Kawa (Derris sp., "Fish poison vine", Fabaceae)

Watch this space! This is one of the pages written in the prototype stage of this web site, which has been transferred with minimal changes to the newer format. It is still therefore "under construction", but contains the essential linguistic and botanical information, along with other material. Updated text and more pictures will be added progressively as soon as time permits (new pages for plant names not yet discussed are being given priority). If you would like this page to be updated sooner than planned, please email a note to temaarareo at gmail.com.

As a word referring specifically to the cultivated plant later given the designation Piper methysticum by botanists, "kava" seems to have originated in Vanuatu in a group of Proto Eastern Oceanic dialects (grouped as Proto Remote Oceanic), before the later push into the Fiji area. From Vanuatu the plant was carried over ensuing centuries by migrating groups throughout the Central Pacific / Polynesian area, and to a much lesser extent back to the Solomons and parts of what is now New Guinea. Malcolm Ross (Proto Oceanic Lexicon, Volume 3), suggests that kava is probably a sterile cultivated variety of Piper subbullatum (it can be propagated only vegetatively).

Related species and varieties of kava are often designated by reduplicating the root and following it with a qualifier. In Eastern Polynesia and some of the Western Polynesian "outliers" like East Futuna, a compound form kavakava atua (or kavakava ātua) denotes other plants in the Piper genus (e.g. P. tristachyon in the Marquesas and P. graeffii in East Futuna), or plants previously placed in the related genus Macropiper, now merged with Piper (e.g. Piper [Macropiper] latifolium in both Rarotonga and the Marquesas). In the Cook Islands the reduplicated form, unqualified, denotes a species of Pittosporum (P. rarotongense). Art Whistler (Ethnobotany of the Cook Islands, p. 368) speculates that this may refer to the bitter taste of the plant's leaves). The compound form kawakawa ātua does not seem to have been used in Aotearoa. Piper methysticum either was not brought to Aotearoa or did not thrive here. Both the root word and the reduplicated form refer in Māori to the related species Piper [formerly Macropiper] excelsum, which is an important plant ceremonially and medicinally and also has mild narcotic properties.

The roots and to a lesser extent the leaves of Piper methysticum have relatively mild and generally benign narcotic properties. A drink, more recreational in Vanuatu but of great ceremonial importance in Fiji and Polynesia, is prepared by steeping the pounded or masticated roots in cold water. The young roots have a higher concentration of the narcotic elements and are preferred for brewing in Vanuatu, whereas the less potent roots of more mature plants are used in Fiji and Polynesia. The drink or chewing the roots or leaves has the effect of a mild anaesthetic, numbing the lips and tounge, after which the partaker generally feels slightly euphoric, and is likely to talk both freely and reasonably sensibly as the kava seems to promote both relaxation and clear thinking, as well as a general feeling of well being, somewhat similar to the chewing of betel nuts wrapped in kava leaves, but with less long-term damage to the teeth.

Decoctions of the root and poultices of the leaves of Piper methysticum were (and are) used for a great variety of medicinal purposes, from inducing sleep to treating headaches and persistent sores. Reflecting its importance in Polynesian and other Oceanic cultures, there is a huge literature on kava, both the drink and the plant: a few key references are mentioned in the notes on "further reading", below.