[Mihalic] Malo

Wed Mar 2 17:17:29 EST 2005

Hi all,

Certainly 'sulu' or even 'zulu' is used in urban TP in Mosbi. It is used 
exclusively for the tailor-made garment as often worn by the PNG Prime 
Minister, other MPs, etc., hence wearing it also says something about 
formality and status, and how one wants to be perceived by others.

I believe I've only heard 'malo' or 'mal' referring to traditional dress, 
where it would be wrapped between the legs to cover the genitals. But I 
also think 'malo/mal' is used by Angan peoples to refer to their barkcloth 
head covering and/or cape. Further, it is used for barkcloth used for any 
purpose. There may also be examples of using 'malo/mal' to refer to 
store-bought cloth used for similar purposes, but I'm not certain. 
Certainly 'laplap' would be the usual term for a non-traditional cloth 
wraparound, but there may be overlap with 'malo/mal' as well, but not with 
'sulu'.

Don

Don Niles
Head & Senior Ethnomusicologist
Music Department
Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies
P.O. Box 1432
Boroko 111
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
tel.:	[675] 325-4644
fax:	[675] 325-0531
email:	ipngs at global.net.pg

At 10:32 +1100 1/3/05, John Burton wrote:
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 >     Malo-ists Ê I should have pointed out that malo and maro  are both 
in the OED online, but as can been are Tahiti/Hawaii centered. My 
1843  example was from Nauru, obviously on the future PNG's doorstep. (1) 
No, the words are not in the other  dictionaries, but are there fluent 
Pijin/Bislamists out there whose memories are  jogged by malo/maro? (2) 
Does anyone agree with the 1850  distinction below between malo and sulu? 
(3) Is sulu in Tok Pisin??? (4) Lavalava is used in Torres Strait 
Creole  where TP has laplap - are there any places in PNG where Tok Pisin 
speakers (very  old ones perhaps?) ever use lavalava? Ê John Burton Ê 
[MARO] A kind of loincloth worn traditionally by the men of many  Pacific 
islands, usually a long strip of bark-cloth passing between the legs 
and  around the waist; = MARO  n.Ê
 >Ê
 >1850  D. HAZLEWOOD  Feejeean & Eng. Dict. 129/1 The difference 
between  malo and sulu seems to be in the way in which it is worn: malo is 
sulu when put  round the body and not between the legs. 
1860  <http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-r.html#m-reid>M.  REID Odd 
People 213 A coarser and  scantier pareu is to be seen among the poorer 
people,..and not unfrequently this  is only a mere strip wrapped around the 
loins; in other words, a  malo ,  maro ,  or  maso as it is indifferently 
written in the varied  orthography of the voyagers. 1898  D. MALO  Hawaiian 
Antiquities (1951) 25  In the form of sheets [bark-cloth is] used as a 
blanket to cover  one at night, or as a toga for dignity and comfort by 
day, or made into the  malo, the garment of modesty of the men, or the 
pa-u, which was  the garment of modesty of the women. 1969  R. T. WILCOX 
Dict. Costume (1970) 201  Malo, the Hawaiian man's girdle or loincloth. 
Originally  of tapa cloth which was made from tree bark, but now of cotton 
dyed in brilliant  colors.   Ê [SULU]  In Fiji: a length of cotton 
cloth  wrapped about the body to form a sarong; hence, a type of sarong 
worn by both  sexes (typically from the waist to the knee by men, and to 
the ankle by women).  Also, a similar fashion garment worn by  women.Ê
 >Ê
 >1850  D. HAZLEWOOD Feejeean & English Dict. 129/1 Sulu-ma, v. to  put on 
a sulu, or dress... The difference between malo and sulu seems to be 
in  the way in which it is worn: malo is sulu when put round the body and 
not  between the legs. 1897   SUNDOWNER   Rambles in Polynesia 7 For 
many  years yet..the Polynesian islander will continue to wear his sulu 
or  lava-lava, as the case may be. 1921  W. A. CHAPPLE  Fijiits Problems & 
Resources ii.  22 His [sc. the Fijian's] sulu is his only 
garment,..a  rectangular piece of cotton cloth that he folds round his 
loins and tucks in  upon itself. 1926  Glasgow Herald 25 Sept. 4/5 
Clad  only in their sulus (or kilts). 1944  W. E.  HARNEY Taboo (ed. 2) 
135, I had only a  loinclotha sulu, as it is called. 1970  Honey June 86 
Vivid  multicoloured patchwork slit sulu 11 gns, and tie top, 84s. 
1977  Times 20 July 1/7 The staff of  the Fijian High Commission had turned 
out in pinstripe sulu skirts and  morning jackets.
 >
 >      The word is not in Jourdan's Pijin dictionary and not 
in    Shnukal's Broken dictionary.
 >
 >
 >Re (1): Not      listed in Crowley's Bislama  dictionary
 >
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