Comments on existing entries

[Thomas H. Slone]

Hello everyone,

Here are some comments for existing entries in the dictionary.  Usage 
examples below are from Wantok Newspaper's Stori Tumbuna.  I also 
have a substantial number of new words to add, which I'll gradually 
begin posting for comment later.

Here goes with the existing words on the Web site:

===

1) Add to the "aut, autim" entry:

autim tiket - to knock out; to win over (sexually)
Ol i pait i go i go na pukpuk i autim tiket bilong masalai ya.
They fought and fought, then the crocodile knocked out the masalai.

Planti yangpela man i save traim long autim tiket bilong dispela 
meri, tasol no gat wanpela i save win.
Many young men tried to win over this woman, but they never succeeded.

===

It would be helpful to indicate the scientific names of flora and 
fauna when these are not obvious.  For example:

2) blu lang
This is currently listed as "blow fly".  It was originally listed in 
Mihalic as "March fly".

Blow flies are in the Bibionidae family (Powell & Hogue, 1979: 170). 
Blowflies are in the Sarcophagidae family (Powell & Hogue, 1979: 73).

In Bislama, blulang is a blowfly (Crowley, 1995).    The usage below 
(from Wantok) also indicates blowfly (which are carnivorous) rather 
than March fly (which are not).  Can anyone confirm that blu lang 
does not mean blow fly, or was this omission unintentional?

Dispela pik em dok wantaim anis na blulang i bin kilim.
The dog, the ant and the blowfly had killed this pig.

===

3) bikmausim
Regarding the query on usage: This word was not used in any of the 
Wantok Stori Tumbuna from 1972-1997 (1047 stories), indicating that 
usage is probably rare.

As for the "groper" meaning of bikmaus, Allen  & Swainston (1992: 
36-39) show the gropers and cods of PNG.  These are all in the same 
family, and there are "rockcods" and "gropers" in the same genus, so 
it is unlikely that there is a distinction in Tok Pisin.  A better 
definition would be:

2. noun: the groper , the rockcod (marine fishes, family Serranidae)

===

4) samsam
Murphy (1985) defines samsam as "dance"
Tuzin (1997: 222) defines samsam as "a stylized battle prance in 
which the warrior brandishes his spear while executing lunging 
motions" and Tuzin says that it is also performed empty-handed during 
oratory.  Is this a localized usage?  Does samsam more often imply 
belligerency than does singsing?

===

It would be helpful to keep a list of references on the Web site as 
we go along.

Allen, Gerald R. & Swainston, Roger (1992). Reef Fishes of New 
Guinea. Madang, Papua New Guinea: Christensen Research Institute.

Crowley, Terry (1995). A New Bislama Dictionary. Suva, Fiji: 
Institute of Pacific Studies.

Murphy, John J. (1985). The Book of Pidgin English. Re-vised Edition. 
Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia: Robert Brown.

Powell, Jerry A. & Hogue, Charles L. (1979). California In-sects. 
Berkeley: University of California.

Tuzin, Donald F. (1997). The Cassowary's Revenge: The Life and Death 
of Masculinity in a New Guinea Society. Chicago: University of 
Chicago Press.



--Tom Slone
THSlone at yahoo.com
tom at potency.berkeley.edu
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