Editing Kava (section)

==History and common names==
{{See also|Domesticated plants and animals of Austronesia}}
Kava is conspecific with ''Piper wichmannii,'' indicating kava was domesticated from ''Piper wichmannii'' (syn. ''Piper subbullatum'').<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Applequist |first1=Wendy L. |last2=Lebot |first2=Vincent |title=Validation of ''Piper methysticum'' var. wichmannii (Piperaceae) |journal=Novon: A Journal for Botanical Nomenclature |date=25 April 2006 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=3–4 |doi=10.3417/1055-3177(2006)16[3:VOPMVW]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=86552278 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/121786 }}</ref><ref name="Ross2008Lexicon">{{cite book|first1=Malcolm|last1=Ross|editor1-first=Malcolm|editor1-last=Ross|editor2-first=Andrew|editor2-last=Pawley|editor3-first=Meredith|editor3-last=Osmond|title =The lexicon of Proto Oceanic: The culture and environment of ancestral Oceanic society|chapter =Other cultivated plants|publisher =Pacific Linguistics|volume=3 |year =2008|pages=389–426|isbn =978-0-85883-589-4|chapter-url =https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/106908}}</ref>

Kava was spread by the [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] [[Lapita culture]] after contact eastward into the rest of Polynesia. It is endemic to [[Oceania]] and is not found in other Austronesian groups. Kava reached [[Hawaii]], but it is absent in [[New Zealand]], where it cannot grow.<ref name="Ross2008Lexicon"/><ref name="Lebot1989">{{cite journal |last1=Lebot |first1=V. |last2=Lèvesque |first2=J. |title=The Origin and Distribution of Kava (''Piper methysticum'' Forst. F., Piperaceae): A Phytochemical Approach |journal=Allertonia |date=1989 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=223–281}}</ref><ref name="temarareoKava">{{cite web|url=http://www.temarareo.org/PPN-Kava.html|title=*Kava ~ *Kavakava |work=Te Mära Reo: The Language Garden|publisher=Benton Family Trust|access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref> Consumption of kava is also believed to be the reason why [[betel nut chewing]], ubiquitous elsewhere, was lost for Austronesians in Oceania.<ref name="blusttrusell">{{cite journal |last1=Blust |first1=Robert |last2=Trussel |first2=Stephen |title=The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary: A Work in Progress |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |date=2013 |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=493–523 |doi=10.1353/ol.2013.0016 |s2cid=146739541 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265931196}}</ref>

According to Lynch (2002), the reconstructed [[Proto-Polynesian language|Proto-Polynesian]] term for the plant, ''*kava'', was derived from the [[Proto-Oceanic language|Proto-Oceanic]] term ''*kawaR'' in the sense of a "bitter root" or "potent root [used as fish poison]". It may have been related to reconstructed ''*wakaR'' (in Proto-Oceanic and [[Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language|Proto-Malayo-Polynesian]]) via [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]]. It originally referred to ''[[Zingiber zerumbet]]'', used to make a similar mildly psychoactive bitter drink in Austronesian rituals. Cognates for ''*kava'' include [[Pohnpeian language|Pohnpeian]] ''sa-kau''; Tongan, [[Niue language|Niue]], [[Rapa Nui language|Rapa Nui]], [[Tuamotuan language|Tuamotuan]], and [[Rarotongan language|Rarotongan]] ''kava''; Samoan, [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]],  and [[Marquesan language|Marquesan]] ''{{okina}}ava''; and [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] ''{{okina}}awa''. In some languages, most notably [[Māori language|Māori]] ''kawa'', the cognates have come to mean "bitter", "sour", or "acrid" to the taste.<ref name="Ross2008Lexicon"/><ref name="Lynch2002">{{cite journal |last1=Lynch |first1=John |title=Potent Roots and the Origin of kava |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |date=2002 |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=493–513 |doi=10.1353/ol.2002.0010|s2cid=145424062 }}</ref><ref name="Heathcote2012">{{cite journal |last1=Heathcote |first1=Gary M. |last2=Diego |first2=Vincent P. |last3=Ishida |first3=Hajime |last4=Sava |first4=Vincent J. |title=An osteobiography of a remarkable protohistoric Chamorro man from Taga, Tinian |journal=Micronesica |date=2012 |volume=43 |issue=2 |pages=131–213}}</ref><ref name="McLean2014">{{cite book|first1=Mervyn|last1=McLean|title =Music, Lapita, and the Problem of Polynesian Origins|publisher = Polynesian Origins|year =2014|isbn =978-0-473-28873-0|url =http://polynesianorigins.org/chapter-11-food-plants/|archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20160125155846/http://polynesianorigins.org/chapter-11-food-plants/|url-status =usurped|archive-date =25 January 2016}}</ref>

In the [[Cook Islands]], the reduplicated forms of ''kawakawa'' or ''kavakava'' are also applied to the unrelated members of the genus ''[[Pittosporum]]''. In other languages, such as [[Futunan language|Futunan]], compound terms like ''kavakava atua'' refer to other species belonging to the genus ''[[Piper (genus)|Piper]]''. The [[reduplication]] of the base form is indicative of falsehood or likeness, in the sense of "false kava".<ref name="temarareoKawakawa">{{cite web|url=http://www.temarareo.org/TMR-Kawa.html|title=Kawa ~ Kawakawa |work=Te Mära Reo: The Language Garden|publisher=Benton Family Trust|access-date=15 January 2019}}</ref><ref name="temarareoKava"/> In New Zealand, it was applied to the kawakawa (''[[Piper excelsum]]''), which is [[endemic]] to New Zealand and nearby [[Norfolk Island]] and [[Lord Howe Island]]. It was exploited by the Māori based on previous knowledge of the kava, as the latter could not survive in the colder climates of New Zealand. The Māori name for the plant, ''kawakawa'', is derived from the same [[etymon]] as kava, but [[reduplicated]]. It is a sacred tree among the Māori people. It is seen as a symbol of death, corresponding to the rangiora (''[[Brachyglottis repanda]]''), which is the symbol of life. However, ''kawakawa'' has no psychoactive properties. Its connection to kava is linked to its similarity in appearance and bitter taste.<ref name="temarareoKawakawa"/>

Other names for kava include ''ʻawa'' (Hawaii),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wehewehe.org/gsdl2.85/cgi-bin/hdict?a=d&d=D1669|title=Nā Puke Wehewehe ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi|website=wehewehe.org|access-date=22 December 2017}}</ref> [[Samoa 'ava ceremony|''ʻava'']] ([[Samoa]]), ''yaqona'' or ''yagona'' ([[Fiji]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fijiembassy.be/index.php?page_in=yaqona|title=Embassy of the Republic of Fiji|website=www.fijiembassy.be|access-date=22 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180610162905/http://www.fijiembassy.be/index.php?page_in=yaqona|archive-date=10 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''sakau'' ([[Pohnpei]]),<ref>Balick, Michael J. and Leem, Roberta (2002) [http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/pdfs/mb/Kava.pdf ''Traditional use of sakau (kava) in Pohnpei: lessons for integrative medicine''] Alternative Therapies, Vol. 8, No.4. p. 96</ref> ''seka'' ([[Kosrae]]),<ref name=Lebot1992>{{Cite book|title=Kava |last1=Lebot|first1=Vincent|last2=Merlin |first2=Mark|last3=Lindstrom|first3=Lamont|date=1992-12-23|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-23898-3|doi = 10.2307/j.ctt211qwxb}}</ref> and ''malok'' or ''malogu'' (parts of [[Vanuatu]]).<ref name=":1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wxTrQOP36NsC&pg=PA37|title=Kava: The Pacific Elixir: The Definitive Guide to Its Ethnobotany, History, and Chemistry|last2=Merlin|first2=Mark|last3=Lindstrom|first3=Lamont|publisher=Inner Traditions / Bear & Co|year=1997|isbn=978-0-89281-726-9|page=58|last1=Lebot|first1=Vincent}}</ref>