Ama, Ambonese

[Jim Rader]

I hope that AN-LANGers can help me with a couple more
problems. My apologies, by the way, if I have been remiss in
individually thanking respondents in the past.  I have been under
heavy deadline pressure of late and many things slip under the rug.

First:  is the word <ama> designating the outer float or hull of an
outrigger canoe used in any Polynesian language other than
Hawaiian?  I have no way of checking this easily.

Second:  Does the word "Amboinese/Ambonese" have any
meaning as a language label, or does this just describe the variety
of Malay spoken on Ambon?  Is "Central Moluccan" useable as a
label for a form from one or more languages of Maluku, or is this
simply too broad, seeing that "Central Maluku" has been used, if
I'm not mistaken, to describe a fairly large assemblage of
Austronesian languages?  Jim Collins, who is pretty familiar with
this area, used "Central Moluccan" in some etymological notes he
gave me a number of years ago. The particular syntagma I have in
mind is <ai lanito>, the etymon of the botanical Latin name
<Ailanthus>.

My thanks in advance for any comments--Jim Rader

Jim Rader
Etymology Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
47 Federal St., P.O. Box 281
Springfield MA 01102
http://www.merriamwebster.com