FW: [Mihalic] kapkap

[DIGIM'RINA]

In the Trobriand Islands, what is worn over the head, but attached to a
piece of red cloth ribbon, and slanted over the head of a female
dancer/performer, is the moon-shaped multi-colored decoration cut and
pasted together from colored papers called Khapikapi. I do not know how,
let alone when, the New Irelanders and/or the Solomon Islanders introduced
it to us. I have no idea whether shells were used prior to thisnew
innovation!
linus


> Further to the now old conversation about kapkap, this is what Graeme
> Were has to say. Graeme wrote his PhD dissertation on kapkap at the
> University College London.
>
>
>
>  _____
>
> From: Graeme Were [mailto:g.were at ucl.ac.uk]
> Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 5:18 AM
> To: C A Volker
> Subject: Re: [Mihalic] kapkap
>
>
>
> Craig
>
> good to hear from you,
>
> The pidgin term kapkap derives from northern New Ireland and has become
> a standard word in museums and museum anthropology to describe the clam
> shell disc / turtleshell fretwork that we both know. As I recall, in
> northern New Ireland dialects its form changes: kepkep, xapkap, kapkap.
>
>
>
>
> best
>
> Graeme
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: C A Volker <mailto:volker at nalik.org>
>
> To: Mihalic at anu.edu.au
>
> Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 12:24 PM
>
> Subject: RE: [Mihalic] kapkap
>
>
>
>
>
> I am just going through postings from a while back and came across this
> posting. An article of interest might be Graeme Were's "Objects of
> Learning: An Anthropological Approach to Mathematics Education" Journal
> of Material Culture.2003; 8: 25-44.
>
>
>
> I haven't actually read it, but I have read his PhD dissertation
> (University College London) on kapkap. Although he doesn't go into the
> etymology of the word, he does show how widespread they are in the SW
> Pacific.
>
>
>
> Kapkap is used in Tok Pisin in New Ireland, but it is also a tok ples
> word in at least some languages.
>
>
>
> Craig Alan Volker
>
>
>
>
>  _____
>
>
> From: mihalic-bounces at anu.edu.au [mailto:mihalic-bounces at anu.edu.au] On
> Behalf Of Ross Clark (ARTS DALSL)
> Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 2:29 PM
> To: Mihalic at anu.edu.au
> Subject: [Mihalic] kapkap
>
>
>
> This word for a particular type of shell-backed tortoise-shell ornament
> seems to be widely used in the Pacific art world. I came across it in a
> 1964 paper by H.D.Skinner, who apparently considered it an established
> trans-national term. I don't find it in Mihalic or on the revision web
> site, or in any other Melanesian Pidgin source I've looked at. It's not
> in OED, though it ought to be if it is as widely used as it appears to
> be.
>
> Is this a Tok Pisin word?
>
> Can anyone pinpoint its origin? (Shameful confession: I can't find my
> copy of Malcolm Ross's paper on AN words in TP)
>
> Has anyone seen a documented use earlier than 1964?
>
>
>
> Ross Clark