Leepwal

Original spelling Ļeepwal. Pronounced leyepwal, the first "l" being pronounced with the back of the tongue raised (velarized) and the root of the tongue retracted (pharyngealized) so as to elongate the oral cavity, thereby giving the consonant a "heavier" or "darker" sound. Ļeepwal is the name for ζ Cen in Marshallese.

Etymology and History

This star name originates from the Marshall Islands. Ļeepwal is the third child of Lōktañūr (Capella), the mother of all stars.

The name Ļeepwal (in modern Marshallese) was originally recorded as Läbôol by the Catholic missionary August Erdland, who lived in the Jaluit Atoll from 1904 to 1914 (Erdland 1914: 79 #25).

Mythology

According to Marshallese mythology, Lōktañūr (Capella), the mother of all great stars, has ten offspring (Abo et al. 2019). Tūṃur, a son, is the eldest: this name and variants have also been recorded around Micronesia and generally apply either to Antares or to the asterism Paikauhale, Antares, and Alniyat (τ, α, and σ Sco) (Johnson et al.). Ḷōmejdikdik, the second child, is the asterism formed by Shaula (λ Sco), Lesath (υ Sco), ι Sco, and κ Sco in the tail of Scorpius. Ḷeepwal (ζ Cen) is the third child; Ad (Arcturus), the fourth; and Mājlep, "big eye" (Altair, Alshain, and Tarazed — α, β, and γ Aql), the fifth (Abo et al. 2019). The name Mailap and variants are widespread in Micronesia and are mostly identified with Altair (Johnson et al.). Lōktañūr’s sixth child is Da (Spica), the seventh is Jitata (γ ζ and π Aqr), the eighth is Ḷokwan-Ḷakeke (Cassiopeia), and the ninth is Jāpe, "bowl" (α, β and γ Del).

Jebrọ, is the youngest of the ten offspring. He is identified as Alcyone (η Tau) in the Pleiades and as a male—the king of the stars. He was also known by various other names: Mājdik when small, Buonṃar when he "began the contest with his brothers", Jeḷeilōñ when he became king, Dāpeej as an old man, and also sometimes as Jetakdik (Abo et al. 2019).

IAU Working Group Star Names

The name is to be discussed by the IAU WGSN.

References

• Abo, Takaji, Byron W. Bender, Alfred Capelle, and Tony DeBrum (2019). Marshallese-English Online Dictionary. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press. https://ling.lll.hawaii.edu/dicts/MOD/.
• Erdland, P. August (1914). Die Marshall-Insulaner. Münster i.W.: Aschendorff (Bibliothèque-anthropos, 2(1)).
• Johnson, Rubellite, John Mahelona and Clive Ruggles (in press, publication expected in 2026). Nā Inoa Hōkū: Hawaiian and Pacific Star Names, 3rd edn. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.