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The current entry for <b><u>tambu </u></b>in the Revising the Mihalic
Project includes:<br><br>
<i>"<font size=2>The extension to the relationship term of ‘inlaw’
reflects the many special observances that should, with varying degrees
of strictness, be obeyed between inlaws. "<br>
</i>(<a href="http://www.mihalicdictionary.org/Index.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.mihalicdictionary.org/Index.htm</a>)<br><br>
The following </font>piece (by Jack Metta?) from The National (17 Aug.
2007, Weekender Section), sketches some of the ambiguities in the range
of possible extensions ...<br><br>
<a href="http://www.thenational.com.pg/081707/w2.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.thenational.com.pg/081707/w2.htm<br>
</a><font face="tahoma" size=5 color="#000080"><b>Five letters of total
confusion<br>
</b></font><font face="tahoma" color="#000080"><i>Hearing the word tambu
uttered in almost all circles of life, young <br>
Johnny is wrecking his brain to make the connections <br><br>
</i></font><font face="tahoma" size=2>THE five-letter Pidgin word is
often uttered in total innocence but for the totally innocent bystander,
it could be the start of a mind-boggling experience – undue stress on his
limited brainpower to reason.<br>
He would be wrecking his brains during the time the parties are engaged
in conversation and Lord only knows what goes through his mind as he
tries to put together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle relating to
tambu.<br>
At the end of the day, he might be sitting in the car, mouth agape,
seeing through unseeing eyes and thoughts straying far away, totally
baffled by what he deems as something totally illogical or something
quite extraordinary. In other words, the situation totally escapes the
conclusion that he had drawn from the explanation proffered by his
parents the first time curiosity got the better of him and he popped the
question: “Dad, what’s tambu mean?” <br>
Jay, that legal eagle who flew by the house last weekend, brought the
subject up on the account of noticing the syndrome on his 11-year-old
son, after picking up Uncle Iari.<br>
Now, Uncle Iari is a colourful man about town who makes no bones about
his interest in the members of the opposite sex, though he is happily
married with several children and grandchildren and is considered a
leader of sorts in his own right by his peers. Perhaps, his ego trips to
some fantasy land of his dreams may be attributed to the latter. <br>
The trouble with this guy was that he openly boasted about his exploits
and as if to confirm his inflated ego, all and sundry were greeting him
or seeing him off with the five-letter word. <br>
So this kid is sitting there consuming all this and trying to piece the
puzzle together with that far away look in his eyes.<br>
You could almost read John’s mind going to work:<br>
Mum calls Uncle Iari tambu, so that means Uncle Iari is either married to
mum’s sister or mum is married to Uncle Iari’s brother, which would be
dad, right? That would explain the ‘uncle’ thing. But mum never looked
like Uncle Iari anyway, and they are not from the same province either.
So dad can’t be Uncle Iari’s brother. So there’s only one thing to draw
from this. Uncle Iari and dad are good friends and both must consider
each other as good and close as family. That is why they call themselves
bros.<br>
He could go with that and as if in answer, a smile lights up his innocent
face and radiates through his eyes. His inner sense of self-satisfaction
at solving a niggling puzzle was palpable.<br>
It was there all along. You would understand the greetings on the face
value if you know the person and his family and deduce the connections
through the marriage bonds. With others, you would most likely jump to
conclusions that since they come from the same province, there would
obviously be marriage connections somewhere along the line; hence the use
of the five-letter word in greeting or parting would be part and parcel
of that connection. <br>
Then the Papuans come into the picture and throws the spanner into the
works.<br>
It happens at Brian Bell’s Family Store at Boroko when dad parks the car
to buy some smokes.<br>
John senses a sudden urgency in the movement in front of him as Uncle
Iari hastens to roll down the dark glass of the car. Having done that, he
quickly pokes his bald head out to greet a couple of pretty Papuan
lasses. John notices a smile so broad that the edges of Uncle Iari’s
mouth would have split his ears if they just happened to a fraction of a
millimetre higher.<br>
One of the lasses stops abruptly, casts a glance their his direction and
squeals tambu as instant recognition sets in.<br>
The other girl turns and squeals in chorus and Uncle Iari was out of the
car in a flash and engaging the girls in conversation as if they’d been
at it for hours.<br>
John notices that the girls’ behaviour had somewhat picked up a little
bit of flamboyancy since the squeals started and attributed that to the
‘mightier-than-thou’ presence of Uncle Iari.<br>
John’s mind was agog. These girls were young enough to be Uncle Iari’s
daughters and they were calling him tambu. That meant that Uncle Iari was
either married into their family or them into his. That would be the
logical first impression. Secondly, they could be Uncle Iari’s son’s
girlfriends, hence the reference to him as tambu. Thirdly, somewhere
along the line, there must have been some inter-marriages giving rise to
the adoption of the five-letter word. And last, but not the least, Uncle
Iari’s must certainly be the man he’s reputed to be – the man of all
seasons and ... women? And doesn’t that explain the other greetings and
sundry he was getting from practically all quarters of the community?.
<br>
John’s simple mind could not cope with the inflow of information spurred
on by observation and hearing and he wondered what person in his right
mind would have gone and coined the expression in the first place.<br>
Maybe it started innocently enough and straight to the point but as
society got a bit more sophisticated, that was when the rot set in.
<br>
Maybe it’s the ‘lingo we talk’; maybe it’s the way human beings need to
communicate in order to differentiate something or someone from
another.<br>
He knows the laws are specific and his parent have told him as such –
having many wives is a no-no but it is still practised under the
traditional system today. That perhaps could explain why so many other
people have so many tambus. And friends have become bros or sisters and
their relatives are referred to as tambus by the opposing parties and
life goes on in extended circles.<br>
He is now trying to grasp the social implications of the so-called
expanded family circle that is often referred to as ‘wantok system’ and
he’s really, really trying to come to terms with tambu because somehow
the word has swallowed uncles, aunties, bubus, brothers and
sisters.<br>
The enigma of the tambu link is made all the more complex by the
greetings and adieus accorded to Uncle Iari by practically all the ethnic
groups that make up the melting pot of life in the city.<br>
Now, young Johnny is trying to live down his own conclusion that Uncle
Iari igat planti meri ...<br>
And that perhaps should jolt our memory to recall the Wise Counsellor’s
words: “Human wisdom comes from reason; godly wisdom comes from
revelation ...” <br><br>
<br>
Robin Hide<br>
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