<html>
<body>
I believe the most common tanget in New Guinea from sea level to 2000
m or more is now usually known as <i>Cordyline fruticosa
(</i>Agavaceae<i>),</i> which is very variable in form. <br>
There is however at least one other species, that would be referred to
also by TP speakers as tanget: that is <i>Cordyline ledermannii,
</i>which was recently collected high in beech forest in the Schrader
Range of Madang Province (Gardner 2002), and there may be other
<i>Cordyline </i>spp..<br><br>
I am not sure if other, somewhat similar, species such as<i> Dracaena
sp(p.) (</i>Agavaceae<i>) </i>would also be called tanget by TP
speakers.<br><br>
So tanget refers strictly to <i>Cordyline </i>spp. (tho commonly and
centrally <i>C. fruticosa), </i>and ?possibly other species (i.e.
<i>Dracaena </i>spp.?)<br><br>
For an international "common" name? ti is certainly
widespread, but also cordyline?<br><br>
Robin Hide<br><br>
Cited:<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times">Gardner, R.O. 2002. <i>Cordyline
ledermannii </i>(Agavaceae) of New Guinea. Auckland Botanical Society
Journal, 57(1), 26-27.<br><br>
<br>
</font>At 05:39 PM 18/11/2004, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I have a question about
“tanget”, a word which hasn’t yet made its way onto the<br>
Mihalic website.<br><br>
I am currently working on a Nalik-English-Tok Pisin dictionary and have
come to<br>
the entry for the Nalik word for “tanget”. The Tok Pisin equivalent is
easy,<br>
but what is the internationally recognisable English word? In Hawai'i
it's<br>
called a ti plant, but in Australia? In PNG English it's “tanget”, of
course,<br>
spelt “tangket” in the Dellasta PNG Encyclopedia. But internationally?
Ti?<br><br>
That brings up the question as to the target English of PNG dictionaries
like<br>
the Nalik or Mihalic Tok Pisin ones. Should it be PNG English (tanget,
laplap,<br>
tradestore), Aussie English, or some generic international
English?<br><br>
Also, anyone know the correct botanical name for tanget? The original
Mihalic<br>
lists Taetsia fructicosa, but by googling ti plant, I found
Cordyline<br>
terminalis, and the pictures look like our PNG tanget. Can anyone
less<br>
botanically challenged than me help out?<br><br>
Thanks,<br>
Craig Volker</blockquote></body>
<br>
</html>