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<DIV><SPAN class=200011705-25022006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>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. </FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=200011705-25022006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Is
this a Tok Pisin word?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=200011705-25022006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Can
anyone pinpoint its origin? (Shameful confession: I can't find my copy of
Malcolm Ross's paper on AN words in TP)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=200011705-25022006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Has
anyone seen a documented use earlier than 1964?</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=200011705-25022006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=200011705-25022006><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Ross
Clark</FONT></SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>