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<TITLE>RE: [Papuanlanguages] 'Eating water' and elsewhere: a summary</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2>Many Oceanic languages which do not have 'eat' = 'burn' have instead 'bite' = 'burn', which is pretty much the same thing.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>-----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>From: Alexandra Aikhenvald [<A HREF="mailto:A.Aikhenvald@latrobe.edu.au">mailto:A.Aikhenvald@latrobe.edu.au</A>] </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:17 PM</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>To: Papuan languages discussion list</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Cc: Alan.Rumsey@anu.edu.au</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Subject: RE: [Papuanlanguages] 'Eating water' and elsewhere: a summary</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2> Dear Alan,</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Thanks for this! Manambu has several A=S ambitransitive verbs for 'burn'; 'eat' used with fire appears to be like a more metaphorical usage. I will check all the dictionaries of Ndu languages, and send more info as soon as I can.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Best</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Sasha</FONT>
</P>
<BR>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald, PhD, DLitt, FAHA</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Associate Director and Postgraduate Coordinator</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Research Centre for Linguistic Typology</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>La Trobe University</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Victoria 3086</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Tel: 61-(0)3-9479 6402</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Fax: 61-(0)3-9467 3053</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/aikhenvald.htm" TARGET="_blank">http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/aikhenvald.htm</A> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>-----Original Message-----</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>From: papuanlanguages-bounces@anu.edu.au [<A HREF="mailto:papuanlanguages-bounces@anu.edu.au">mailto:papuanlanguages-bounces@anu.edu.au</A>] On Behalf Of Alan Rumsey</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Sent: Wednesday, 13 September 2006 11:20 PM</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Cc: papuanlanguages@anu.edu.au</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2>Subject: Re: [Papuanlanguages] 'Eating water' and elsewhere: a summary</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>A further twist on all this eating and drinking: as I have pointed out to Sasha, in Ku Waru (Western Highlands Province, PNG) the verb for 'eat'/'drink' (no-)is also the ordinary word 'burn' (in both the intransitive/unergative sense and the transitive/causative one). I would be interested to know how widespread that pattern is. If you have information to offer about this, please post it to the whole list as Martin has suggested.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Alan</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2>Alexandra Aikhenvald wrote: </FONT>
</P>
<P> <FONT SIZE=2>Dear fellow Papuanists,</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>As promised here is a brief summary of the wonderful responses to my query posted a month or so ago.</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Summary: 'Kaikaim wara' in Tok Pisin, and associated expressions elsewhere in the New Guinea area: a summary</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>The original questy concerned a weird expression 'kaikaim wara' used in a word list of Boikin (Yengoru dialect), compiled by A. Freudenburg (1975; SIL archives) as a Tok Pisin equivalent of the English verb 'drink'. Boikin, like most (though not all) Ndu languages has one word covering 'eat', 'drink', and perhaps also 'smoke'. Manambu, also Ndu, has one verb, kə- meaning 'eat, drink, smoke' and also 'suck' and 'consume (mortuary payment)' (and 'drown' and 'burn, that is, be devoured by fire').</FONT></P>
<P>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>I am very grateful to everyone who reacted to this query.</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>The majority reply was that of surprise at this aberrant usage: Jan Gossner suggested that this could be 'an instance of the language speakers, if they are the source of the gloss, modifying their Tok Pisin usage to fit their grammar, especially if their Tok Pisin wasn't very strong'. Liisa Berghäll suggested that it may have made its way to the local variety of TP. Les Bruce hypothesized: 'Perhaps this type of substratum influence showed in in the past in the Pidgin of the Yengoru area if those languages have a similar generic term. Pidgin speakers in that same region, or perhaps around Maprik, use the expression harim smel , which is the same Pidgin verb for hearing sounds, through influence of the vernaculars there.' </FONT></P>
<P>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Most interestingly, Carol Priestly has heard 'kaikai wara' (not 'kaikaim wara') in the past (1960-70s) in the Eastern Highlands area. She hypothesises that this usage may have been restricted to the times, and the locations 'when was less influence from English, no primary schools etc'. So, it is possible that A. Freudenburg did indeed hear 'kaikai wara', or even 'kaikaim wara' (as he documented it) back in 1975!</FONT></P>
<P>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>The existence of a single 'ingest/consume' verb was pointed out for the following languages:</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Kalam (Kalam-Kobon) - Andy Pawley </FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Yahang (Torricelli) - Colin Filer</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Ku Waru (East New Guinea Highlands) - Alan Rumsey</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Duna (Duna-Bogaya) - Lila San Roque</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Kewa (Engan) - Karl Franklin</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Orokaiva (Binanderean) - Lise Dobrin</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Korafe Yegha and Tafota Baruga (Binanderean) - Cindi Farr</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Arapeshan languages (Torricelli) - Lise Dobrin</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Biangai (Goilalan) - Ngawae Mitio</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Alamblak (Sepik Hill) - Les Bruce</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Koromu (Evapia group, Rai Coast, Madang)- Carol Priestley</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Awiyakay (Arafundi) - Darja Hoenigman</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>This polysemous pattern can be considered an areal feature shared by many New Guinea languages. Andy Pawley suggests that this is a feature shared by all languages of the hypothetical Trans-New Guinea Phylum. An example of a similar polysemy outside New Guinea is ngarni in Warlbiri (Australian: Mary Laughren, p.c.).</FONT></P>
<P> <FONT SIZE=2>It is absent from a few languages in the Sepik area, such as Sare (or Kapriman: Sepik Hill - Ken Sumbuk), and two Ndu languages, Yelogu (according to Laycock 1965: 165), and Gala (also known as Ngala, or Swagup; pace Laycock 1965). Kwoma has one word, a- which covers 'eating' and 'drinking' but not smoking (Ross Bowden, and Renée Lambert-Brétière).</FONT></P>
<P> <FONT SIZE=2>An interesting turn for this topic was offered by Darija Hoenigman. She pointed out that in Awiakay (Arafundi) the same term is used for 'hungry' and for 'thirsty', which is rather logical given that 'eat' and 'drink' are expressed with the same term. This is definitely not the case in Manambu, where 'hungry', 'thristy', and 'hungry for a smoke' are expressed with different lexemes.</FONT></P>
<P> <FONT SIZE=2>Any further ideas?</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Les Bruce commented: </FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>'A comparative semantic study of such concepts would be interesting. This summer I have been collecting samples from different languages for concepts for hair (head and body hair), feathers, fur, and grass. Pidgin uses gras for all of these referents. How about starting a database for semantic typology to map different concepts around the world? I'd be interested.'</FONT></P>
<P> <FONT SIZE=2>We would be, too!</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Very best wishes</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Sasha</FONT>
<BR>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald, PhD, DLitt, FAHA</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Associate Director and Postgraduate Coordinator</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Research Centre for Linguistic Typology</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>La Trobe University</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Victoria 3086</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Tel: 61-(0)3-9479 6402</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2>Fax: 61-(0)3-9467 3053</FONT>
<BR> <FONT SIZE=2><A HREF="http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/aikhenvald.htm" TARGET="_blank">http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/aikhenvald.htm</A> </FONT>
<BR>
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