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Thanks for this interesting comparative note Alex. Incidentally, I now
see that I shouldn't have used the word 'causative' in describing the
range of uses of the Ku Waru verb <i>no- </i>It can't be used for
something like 'The man burned the paper (in the fire)'; only for
something like 'The fire burned the paper' or 'The paper burned'.<br>
<br>
Since you have opened the question up to wider comparisons beyond
Papuan languages, I will point out that a single verb, <i>nga(g), </i>
is also used for 'eat' and 'burn' in Bunuba, an Australian Aboriginal
language I have worked on (as specified and exemplified in my grammar
of Bunuba in Blake, B. and Dixon, R.M.W (eds.) 2000 <i>Handbook of
Australian Languages </i>Vol 5,<i> </i>pp. 59, 63, 78, 89, 90, 93,
99, 108, 120, 122, 129, 130, 131, 133)<br>
<br>
One could treat the 'burn' uses of Ku Waru <i>no-</i> and Bunuba <i>nga(g)</i>
as metaphorical extensions of 'eat'. But there is, as far as I know, no
other, more strictly 'literal' way of talking about 'burning' in either
language (though in Bunuba there is a separate verb <i>biyga </i>for
'cause to burn, set fire to' which is not, as far as I know, used for
'cause to be eaten'). But a better treatment in my view is suggested by
Sasha's gloss 'consume', which could be taken as the basic meaning of
such a verb, with 'eat', and 'burn' (and 'drink' in Ku Waru and the
Vanikoro lgs) as contextually specific senses. <br>
<br>
Best,<br>
Alan<br>
<br>
<br>
Alex Francois wrote:
<blockquote cite="mid016501c6d752$8f057ef0$0f5c53c3@kiwi" type="cite">
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<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">Dear Alan, dear all,</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">I am an Austronesianist/Oceanist
specializing in the Oceanic languages of north Vanuatu -- as well as
the languages of Vanikoro, spoken in the easternmost Papuan-speaking
area (Temotu/ Santa Cruz, Solomons). </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">The languages I have data on <font
size="1">(<a href="http://alex.francois.free.fr/AF-field.htm">full
list here</a></font><font size="1">) </font>all distinguish 'eat'
(generally a reflex of POc *<em>kani</em>) from 'drink' (generally
<POc <em>*inum</em>), as well as 'hungry' from 'thirsty', or 'eat'
from 'smoke'<em>. </em></font></div>
<div><em></em> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">However, it is common for them to
lexify in the same way '<em>eat</em>' and '<em>burn</em>', the latter
always with 'fire' as its subject -- </font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">e.g. "My house has been
burnt" will be Lit. '<em>My house, fire has eaten it</em>'</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2"> "He died in a fire" =>
Lit. '<em>A fire ate him dead</em>'</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">In this case, 'eat' may be either
transitive (the fire consumes s.th. or s.o.) or intransitive ("the
fire's eating" = it is lighted).</font></div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">However, unlike Ku Waru, 'eat'
cannot be used with other subjects than the fire, to translate the
causative/agentive meanings of Eng. 'burn' (e.g. <em>They burnt my
house</em>)</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">As far as I can remember, I found
the same polysemy in Teanu, spoken on Vanikoro. <font size="1">[a
language supposedly Austronesian, but which might be in fact Papuan (?)]</font></font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">If this case of "colexification"
(as I call it) of 'eat' and 'burn' is common in PNG and in north
Vanuatu, of course it would be interesting to know if this is also the
case in the area in-between (i.e., Eastern PNG + Solomons) -- in which
case this would be a nice case of a lexical isogloss encompassing a
large area of the Pacific.</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">Best,</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div><font face="Verdana" size="2">Alex.</font></div>
<div> </div>
<div align="right"><font face="Verdana" size="2">********</font></div>
<div align="right"><font face="Verdana" size="1">Alex François<br>
LACITO - CNRS<br>
7 rue Guy Môquet<br>
F - 94801 Villejuif<br>
FRANCE<br>
tel. priv. +33 (0)1.64.46.61.47.<br>
tel. prof. +33 (0)1.49.58.37.48.</font></div>
<div align="right"> </div>
<div align="right"><font face="Verdana"><font size="1">email <</font><a
href="mailto:Alexandre.Francois@vjf.cnrs.fr"><font size="1">Alexandre.Francois@vjf.cnrs.fr</font></a><font
size="1">><br>
</font><a href="http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/membres/francois.htm"><font
size="1">http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/membres/francois.htm</font></a><br>
<a href="http://alex.francois.free.fr/"><font size="1">http://alex.francois.free.fr/</font></a></font></div>
<blockquote
style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-right: 0px; padding-left: 5px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px;">
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">-----
Message d'origine ----- </div>
<div
style="background: rgb(228, 228, 228) none repeat scroll 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>De
:</b> <a title="alan.rumsey@anu.edu.au"
href="mailto:alan.rumsey@anu.edu.au">Alan Rumsey</a> </div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Cc :</b>
<a title="papuanlanguages@anu.edu.au"
href="mailto:papuanlanguages@anu.edu.au">papuanlanguages@anu.edu.au</a>
</div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Envoyé :</b>
mercredi 13 septembre 2006 15:20</div>
<div
style="font-family: arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Objet
:</b> Re: [Papuanlanguages] 'Eating water' and elsewhere: a summary</div>
<div><br>
</div>
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' (<i>no</i>-)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 <i>that </i>pattern is. If
you have information to offer about this, please post it to the whole
list as Martin has suggested.<br>
<br>
Alan<br>
<blockquote
cite="midA89F82520EE98A4597C52FCB5B6B5C1E01463EE4@EXCHANGE.ltu.edu.au"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">Les Bruce commented:
'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.'
We would be, too!
Very best wishes
Sasha
<hr></pre>
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