Language,culture, and mind: trends and standards in the latest pendulum swing. Daniel Everett,Language: the cultural tool. London: Profile, 2012.

The study of language in relation to anthropological questions has deep and varied roots, from Humboldt and Boas, Malinowski and Vygotsky, Sapir and Whorf, Wittgenstein and Austin, through to the linguistic anthropologists of now. A recent book by the linguist Daniel Everett, Language: the cultural tool (2012), aims to bring some of the issues to a popular audience, with a focus on the idea that language is a tool for social action. I argue in this essay that the book does not represent the state of the art in this field, falling short on three central desiderata of a good account for the social functions of language and its relation to culture. I frame these desiderata in terms of three questions, here termed the cognition question, the causality question, and the culture question. I look at the relevance of this work for socio‐cultural anthropology, in the context of a major interdisciplinary pendulum swing that is incipient in the study of language today, a swing away from formalist, innatist perspectives, and towards functionalist, empiricist perspectives. The role of human diversity and culture is foregrounded in all of this work. To that extent, Everett's book is representative, but the quality of his argument is neither strong in itself nor representative of a movement that ought to be of special interest to socio‐cultural anthropologists.     

Redescription of a rare callionymid fish,Paradiplogrammus corallinus,from Hawaii and Japan

Paradiplogrammus corallinus (Gilbert) has been represented by only two female specimens collected from the Hawaiian Islands. The species is redescribed on the basis of male and female specimens from the Hawaiian Islands and Hachijo-jima, Izu Islands, Japan. This species is unique amongParadiplogrammus in having a pair of supraorbital cirri.     

Evolution and biogeography of the woody Hawaiian violets (Viola, Violaceae): arctic origins, herbaceous ancestry and bird dispersal

Specialists studying the genus Viola have consistently allied the Hawaiian violets comprising section Nosphinium--most of which are subshrubs or treelets--with putatively primitive subshrubs in certain South American violet groups. Hawaiian violets also possess inflorescences, a floral disposition otherwise found only in other genera of the Violaceae, thus strengthening the hypothesis of a very ancient origin for the Hawaiian species. A survey of phylogenetic relationships among infrageneric groups of Viola worldwide using nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences revealed a dramatically different biogeographic origin for the Hawaiian violets: A monophyletic Hawaiian clade was placed in a close sister relationship with the amphi-Beringian tundra violet, V. langsdorffii s. 1., in a highly derived position. This remarkable and unforeseen relationship received strong clade support values across analyses, and monophyly of the Hawaiian lineage was further indicated by a unique 26-base-pair deletion in section Nosphinium. The high polyploid base chromosome number (n approximately equal to 40) in the Hawaiian violets relates them to Alaskan and eastern Siberian populations in the polyploid V. langsdorffii complex. More than 50 species of the 260 allochthonous birds wintering in the Hawaiian Islands are found to breed in the Arctic, occupying habitats in which individual birds might have encountered ancestral V. langsdorffii populations and served as dispersers to the central Pacific region. Acquisition of derived morphological traits (e.g., arborescence and inflorescences), significance of a confirmed Arctic origin for a component of the Hawaiian flora, and the likelihood of other "cryptic" Arctic elements in the Hawaiian flora deserving independent molecular phylogenetic corroboration are discussed.     

Systematics and biology of the endemic water scavenger beetles of Hawaii (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae, Hydrophilini)

Abstract.  Recent field surveys in the Hawaiian Islands have revealed an adaptive radiation of endemic water scavenger beetles (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae). Phylogenetic analysis based on 55 adult morphological characters affirms that this endemic hydrophilid fauna is a monophyletic clade that incorporates the first well-supported transformation from an aquatic to terrestrial way of life within any lineage of the subfamily Hydrophilinae. The clade is prescribed to the genus Limnoxenus Motschulsky, where described members were previously placed. Five new species are described: L. waialeale sp.n. (Kauai), L. kauaiensis sp.n. (Kauai), L. oahuensis sp.n. (Oahu), L. punctatostriatus sp.n. (Kauai) and L. namolokama sp.n. (Kauai). Lectotypes are designated for the two previously described species L. semicylindricus (Eschscholtz) and L. nesiticus (Sharp). The Hawaiian lineage is a component of a larger clade that also includes the remaining four species of Limnoxenus from Europe, South Africa, and Australia, plus the monotypic genera Limnocyclus Balfour-Browne of New Caledonia and Hydramara Knisch of South America. The majority of the Hawaiian species exhibit vestigial wings, an extremely unusual condition in aquatic beetles. No other island-endemic members of the Hydrophilinae are known to be flightless, suggesting insularity per se is not responsible for this condition. L. nesiticus of Oahu has not been collected during the past 106 years, suggesting that it has been lost to anthropogenically mediated extinction.     

Molecular insights into the phylogenetic structure of the spider genus Theridion (Araneae, Theridiidae) and the origin of the Hawaiian Theridion-like fauna

The Hawaiian happy face spider ( Theridion grallator Simon, 1900), named for a remarkable abdominal colour pattern resembling a smiling face, has served as a model organism for understanding the generation of genetic diversity. Theridion grallator is one of 11 endemic Hawaiian species of the genus reported to date. Asserting the origin of island endemics informs on the evolutionary context of diversification, and how diversity has arisen on the islands. Studies on the genus Theridion in Hawaii, as elsewhere, have long been hampered by its large size (> 600 species) and poor definition. Here we report results of phylogenetic analyses based on DNA sequences of five genes conducted on five diverse species of Hawaiian Theridion , along with the most intensive sampling of Theridiinae analysed to date. Results indicate that the Hawaiian Islands were colonised by two independent Theridiinae lineages, one of which originated in the Americas. Both lineages have undergone local diversification in the archipelago and have convergently evolved similar bizarre morphs. Our findings confirm para- or polyphyletic status of the largest Theridiinae genera: Theridion , Achaearanea and Chrysso . Convergent simplification of the palpal organ has occurred in the Hawaiian Islands and in two continental lineages. The results confirm the convergent evolution of social behaviour and web structure, both already documented within the Theridiidae. Greater understanding of phylogenetic relationships within the Theridiinae is key to understanding of behavioural and morphological evolution in this highly diverse group.     

Po'ouli landscape bioinformatics models predict energetics, behavior, diets, and distribution on Maui

This study uses a spatially explicit microclimate/biophysicalapproach to examine the potential distribution of the Po'oulion Maui to find either new habitats to search for existenceor refine search efforts in previously occupied areas. We usedspecific physiological and behavioral ecology bird data, andPo'ouli morphological and spectral data obtained from museumspecimens to address ecological and conservation-related questionsabout the Po'ouli that are otherwise very difficult to quantify.Laboratory and field tested microclimate and biophysical—behavioralanimal computer models were integrated with remote sensing technologies.To show that the generic microclimate and endotherm models canpredict metabolic and water loss requirements of Hawaiian Honeycreepers,we used the 2 species with known physiological properties, theHawaiian Amakihi, Hemignathus virens, and the Hawaiian Anianiau,Hemignathus parvus. Predictions were within experimental measurementerror of the laboratory measurements. Then using field ratherthan laboratory conditions as input data, we predict the fielddistribution of the Amakihi on Maui as the first spatial testof the models applied to birds. Results are consistent withAmakihi field distribution data. Fossils show that the Po'oulionce lived on Maui at low elevations in dry/mesic habitats ona likely diet of native tree snails and insects. The arrivalof lethal mosquito-borne avian malaria in Hawaii exterminatedlow elevation Po'ouli forcing a population shift to mountainrainforests and possibly a snail diet instead of insects. Toexplore the maximum consequences of such a diet shift we assumedexclusive diets of snails versus insects at both low and highelevations. Snail diets require     

Authenticity and the Revitalization of Hawaiian

The process of language revitalization relies heavily on education in its broadest sense. That is, there must be a viable conduit for the transmission of communicative competence, and any individual who contributes to that process is an educator. This article deals with the responsibility of such educators with respect to the quality of the product they intend to transmit. In particular, they must address the issue of authenticity, especially in the case of Hawaiian in which the shift to English has almost run its full course. It is inevitable in efforts to recover and maintain a language in a community in which few competent speakers (experts) remain that competing opinions will arise as to the direction such efforts should take, each professing to be better informed than the other and each pointing to its link to traditional forms as verification of its authenticity.     

Evolutionary relationships, interisland biogeography, and molecular evolution in the Hawaiian violets (Viola: Violaceae)

The endemic Hawaiian flora offers remarkable opportunities to study the patterns of plant morphological and molecular evolution. The Hawaiian violets are a monophyletic lineage of nine taxa distributed across six main islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. To describe the evolutionary relationships, biogeography, and molecular evolution rates of the Hawaiian violets, we conducted a phylogenetic study using nuclear rDNA internal transcribed spacer sequences from specimens of each species. Parsimony, maximum likelihood (ML), and Bayesian inference reconstructions of island colonization and radiation strongly suggest that the Hawaiian violets first colonized the Maui Nui Complex, quickly radiated to Kaua'i and O'ahu, and recently dispersed to Hawai'i. The lineage consists of "wet" and "dry" clades restricted to distinct precipitation regimes. The ML and Bayesian inference reconstructions of shifts in habitat, habit, and leaf shape indicate that ecologically analogous taxa have undergone parallel evolution in leaf morphology and habit. This parallel evolution correlates with shifts to specialized habitats. Relative rate tests showed that woody and herbaceous sister species possess equal molecular evolution rates. The incongruity of molecular evolution rates in taxa on younger islands suggests that these rates may not be determined by growth form (or lifespan) alone, but may be influenced by complex dispersal events.     

Natural history, biogeography, and endangerment of Hawaiian dry forest trees

We describe the floristic composition of Hawaiian dry forest trees and identify natural history characteristics and biogeographic variables that are associated with risk of endangerment. Hawaiian dry forests are comprised of 109 tree species in 29 families, with 90% of all species endemic, 10% indigenous, and 37% single-island endemics. Forty-five percent of Hawaiian dry forest taxa are at risk of endangerment. Dry forest taxa at risk have a significantly larger range size compared to taxa from other Hawaiian forest types. Dispersal mechanism was a significant predictor of a species occurrence in dry forest compared to other forest types based on logistic regressions clustered by lineage. Among dry forest taxa, hermaphroditic breeding systems, autochorous dispersal mechanisms, conspicuous flowers, and dry fruit were all more likely to be at risk of endangerment. When analyses were clustered by lineage using logistic regressions, only dispersal mechanism and flower size were significant predictors of risk and taxa with autochorous dispersal and conspicuous flowers were more likely to be at risk. The Big Island, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai all have remarkably similar numbers of dry forest taxa (63–65 species) and dry forest taxa at risk of endangerment. However, Big Island and Kauai have the highest number and percentage of single-island endemics. These results demonstrate patterns of endangerment specific to Hawaiian dry forests, the high levels of endangerment in this forest type, and the importance of prioritizing conservation in dry forest regions.     

Endemism and evolution in Hawaiian marine invertebrates

Endemism in Hawaiian marine invertebrates is strikingly lower than that in Hawaiian terrestrial organisms. Although marine speciation has been widespread, there have been no major radiations or species swarms comparable with those commonly reported for terrestrial animals and plants; the marine fauna of the Hawaiian islands is differentiated from its Indo-west Pacific roots but has not diversified. The marked differences between marine and terrestrial endemism provide broad support for several models in which speciation depends on dispersal, colonization rate, or effective population size. Distinguishing among these models will require detailed information on the genetic structure and phylogenies of marine species both in the Hawaiian archipelago and throughout the Pacific.     

Ecology, biogeography and evolution of corals in Hawaii

Recent studies in Hawaii have contributed much to the understanding of the ecology and evolution of Hawaiian corals and are forcing a reevaluation of our basic concepts concerning the zoogeography, ecology, taxonomy and population biology of these important reef-forming organisms. Geographic isolation rather than physical adversity of the environment seems largely to have determined the number of coral species that are found in Hawaii, but the physical environment controls growth of Hawaiian species with increasing latitude along the archipelago. Annual broadcast spawning has recently been shown to be the dominant mode of sexual reproduction, rather than brooding of larvae on a lunar cycle as previously believed. Asexual reproduction through colony fragmentation or by production of asexually produced larvae is now known to result in extensive representation of a single genotype in some coral populations.     

Hawaiian biogeography and the islands' freshwater fish fauna

Aim This paper describes known patterns in the distributions and relationships of Hawaiian freshwater fishes, and compares these patterns with those exhibited by Hawaii's terrestrial biota. Location The study is based in Hawaii, and seeks patterns across the tropical and subtropical Indo‐west Pacific. Methods The study is based primarily on literature analysis. Results The Hawaiian freshwater fish fauna comprises five species of goby in five different genera (Gobiidae). Four species are Hawaiian endemics, the fifth shared with islands in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. All genera are represented widely across the Indo‐west Pacific. All five species are present on all of the major Hawaiian islands. All five species are amphidromous – their larval and early juvenile life being spent in the sea. Although there has been some local phyletic evolution to produce Hawaiian endemics, there has been no local radiation to produce single‐island endemics across the archipelago. Nor is there evidence for genetic structuring among populations in the various islands. Main conclusions In this regard, the freshwater fish fauna of Hawaii differs from the well‐known patterns of local evolution and radiation in Hawaiian Island terrestrial taxa. Amphidromy probably explains the biogeographical idiosyncrasies of the fish fauna – dispersal through the sea initially brought the fish species to Hawaii, and gene flow among populations, across the archipelago, has hitherto inhibited the evolution of local island endemics, apparently even retarding genetic structuring on individual islands.     

Aesthetics, Intuition, and Reference in Fijian Ritual Communication: Modularity in and out of Language

The ethnographic interpretation of "meaningless" ritual—ritual in which participants are not able to give verbal accounts of the symbolic meanings involved—poses basic questions about the relationships among language, culture, and meaning. Along with verbal meaning expressible in language, rituals are often observed to have important practical meaning outside of language. Aside from basic how-to, facilitating dimensions, practical meaning systems can also constitute metaphor and accomplish reference in ways that are parallel to, yet distinct from, verbal and gestural language functions. Techniques of language analysis are useful in interpreting practical meaning in ritual if language meaning is viewed from the perspective of Wittgensteinian use-based semantics and language is seen in context of a more general multidomain meaning system module that supports the communicative aspects of culture. [Keywords: ritual, aesthetics, communication, ethnography, Fiji]     

Prosopis pod production—Comparison of North American,South American,Hawaiian, and African germplasm in young plantations

Prosopispod production was compared in 3 field trials in southern California, i.e., a typical orchard planting, an irrigation trial, and a heat/drought stress trial. Thirteen species representing North American, South American, Hawaiian, and African germplasm were evaluated. Hawaiian and African accessions were eliminated from the irrigation trial by a minus 5°C temperature. The most productive pod producers were P. velutinaaccessions from southern Arizona. In the fifth season, 5 trees of the most productive accession, i.e., P. velutina32 had a mean pod production of 7.2 kg/tree with a range of 3.2–12.2 kg/tree. P. chilensisand P. albatrees of the same age were much larger but had less pod production. Trees in the driest irrigation treatment had the greatest pod production. Pod production estimates of 3,000–4,000 kg/ha were obtained in the dry irrigation treatment by P. velutina20 which received 370 mm rainfall in the year preceding harvest.     

Erosion, Geological History, and Indigenous Agriculture: A Tale of Two Valleys

Irrigated pondfields and rainfed field systems represented alternative pathways of agricultural intensification that were unevenly distributed across the Hawaiian Archipelago prior to European contact, with pondfields on wetter soils and older islands and rainfed systems on fertile, moderate-rainfall upland sites on younger islands. The spatial separation of these systems is thought to have contributed to the dynamics of social and political organization in pre-contact Hawai’i. However, deep stream valleys on older Hawaiian Islands often retain the remains of rainfed dryland agriculture on their lower slopes. We evaluated why rainfed agriculture developed on valley slopes on older but not younger islands by comparing soils of Pololū Valley on the young island of Hawai’i with those of Hālawa Valley on the older island of Moloka’i. Alluvial valley-bottom and colluvial slope soils of both valleys are enriched 4–5-fold in base saturation and in P that can be weathered, and greater than 10-fold in resin-extractable P and weatherable Ca, compared to soils of their surrounding uplands. However, due to an interaction of volcanically driven subsidence of the young island of Hawai’i with post-glacial sea level rise, the side walls of Pololū Valley plunge directly into a flat valley floor, whereas the alluvial floor of Hālawa Valley is surrounded by a band of fertile colluvial soils where rainfed agricultural features were concentrated. Only 5% of Pololū Valley supports colluvial soils with slopes between 5° and 12° (suitable for rainfed agriculture), whereas 16% of Hālawa Valley does so. The potential for integrated pondfield/rainfed valley systems of the older Hawaiian Islands increased their advantage in productivity and sustainability over the predominantly rainfed systems of the younger islands.     

RADseq resolves the phylogeny of Hawaiian Myrsine (Primulaceae) and provides evidence for hybridization

The Hawaiian radiation of Myrsine (primrose family, Primulaceae) is the only one among the ten most species‐rich Hawaiian plant lineages that has never been included in a phylogenetic analysis. Our study is based on a RADseq dataset of nearly all Hawaiian Myrsine species and a Sanger sequencing dataset based on a worldwide sampling of Myrsine and related genera. Myrsine as a whole might be paraphyletic with respect to the monotypic Macaronesian genera Heberdenia and Pleiomeris, whereas Hawaiian Myrsine is resolved as monophyletic. The Sanger sequencing proved to be insufficient to resolve the Hawaiian lineage, whereas RADseq fully resolved the relationships with high support. Hawaiian Myrsine consists of three main lineages, of which one contains the majority of species and is mainly confined to Kauaʻi, and the other two lineages primarily consist of few widespread species. Although phylogenetic reconstructions delivered fully resolved and supported tree topologies, Quartet Sampling and HyDe analyses reveal phylogenetic incongruence throughout the phylogeny and provide the first molecular evidence of extensive hybridization in the lineage.     

Alkaloid-Poor Plant Families,Poaceae and Cyperaceae,Are Over-Utilized for Medicine in Hawaiian Pharmacopoeia

The theory of non-random medicinal plant selection predicts that the number of medicinal plant species in a given family is related to the total number of species in that family. As a consequence of such a strong relationship, some plant families are over-utilized for medicinal purposes while others are not. Medicinal plant families that are often over-utilized share evolutionary traits such as the presence of secondary plant compounds which are known to have medicinal values. Consistent with this model, several studies have shown that alkaloid-poor plant families such as Poaceae and Cyperaceae, two families known more for their physical defenses rather than their chemical defenses, are medicinally under-utilized across the world. In this study, we demonstrate that contrary to expectation, Poaceae and Cyperaceae are over-utilized in the Hawaiian ethnopharmacopoeia. One reason for this over-utilization is a result of the Hawaiian cultural practice of converting plants in the Poaceae and Cyperaceae families into ash for direct medicinal use or as a component in other medicinal preparations. The over-utilization of Poaceae and Cyperaceae is also potentially due to their versatility and greater availability in parts of the land divisions where most humans are allowed to visit. Knowledge of how to use ash is taught through mo‘olelo, Hawaiian history, and represents a Native Hawaiian understanding of and relationship to chemical knowledge. Our study provides new evidence for the theory of non-random medicinal plant selection and shows, contrary to expectation, that unique patterns of plant family over-utilization could arise in unique cultural and geographical contexts.     

Genetic variation of introduced Hawaiian and native Costa Rican populations of an invasive tropical shrub, Clidemia hirta (Melastomataceae)

Clidemia hirta is one of the most common woody invasive plants in mesic to wet forests in Hawaii, where it was introduced around 1940. The species is relatively uncommon by comparison in its native range of Central and South America and some Caribbean Islands. We examined genetic variation in allozymes of 20 C. hirta populations on four Hawaiian Islands to determine the introduction history. For comparison, we measured genetic variation in 20 native populations across Costa Rica. Mean levels of genetic variation in Hawaiian and Costa Rican populations were low compared to other woody or introduced plants (11.5-12.5% polymorphic loci, 2.05-2.50 alleles per polymorphic locus, and 0.045-0.063 expected heterozygosity). Most genetic diversity was held within rather than among populations in both areas (G(ST) = 0.120 and 0.271 in Hawaii and Costa Rica, respectively). Hawaiian populations had a high degree of genetic similarity, and no genetic differentiation was found among the four Hawaiian Islands sampled. These patterns of genetic variation in Hawaii suggest that no intraspecific hybridization of genotypes from different parts of the native range has occurred and that introductions to the different islands came from the same or similar source populations. The low levels of genetic diversity in parts of both the native and introduced ranges suggest that genetic variation is unrelated to invasiveness in C. hirta.