Ethnicity and Nationality

[Don Niles]

A few comments and additions from the staff at the Institute of PNG Studies:

COMMENTS ON PREVIOUS SUBMISSIONS:
> bret skin: a person from Port Moresby; a Papuan (i.e., someone from
>ex-British New Guinea) (Slone, 1995: 84)
**[DN]: We've only ever heard 'skin bret' and believe 'bret skin' to be
substandard usage

>  Buka: 1. a crow   2. a dark-skinned person   3. a North Solomonese
>(pejorative if referring to someone from Bougainville) 4. black; very dark
>(Mihalic, 1971: 78). Buka was once used by colonialists to refer to anyone
>from what is now P.N.G. (Nash and Ogan, 1990: 6). From a North Solomons
>language, meaning "what?" or "who?" (Wheeler and Everist, 1988: 301) [Can
>anyone veryify this or pinpoint the language?]
**[DN]: According to Lincoln (1976:201): "The French explorer Bougainville
recorded the shouts 'Bouka! Bouka! Onelle' (Bouginville 1771, as quoted by
Ray, 1926:12). But as far as I know, the meaning and origin of these shouts
have not been ascertained." Mention should also be made to calling Negrita
rum "Meri Buka" because of the picture on the label.

Refs:
Bougainville, L. A. de
	1771	Un voyage autoour du monde ... en 1766-1769. Paris.

Lincoln, Peter C.
	1976	"History of Research in Austronesian Languages:
Bougainville Province." In New Guinea Area Languages and Language Study,
Vol. 2: Austronesian Languages, ed. Stephen A. Wurm, pp. 197-222. Pacific
Linguistics, C 39. Canberra: Australian National University.

Ray, Sidney H.
	1926	A Comparative Study of the Melanesian Island Languages.
Cambridge University Press.

>  retskin: 1. a Highlander (pejorative). Lit. "red skin," as some
>Highlanders have reddish skin (Nash and Ogan, 1990: 9-12) 2. by extension,
>any non-Bougainvillean Papua New Guinean (pejorative) (Oliver, 1991: 223)
**[DN]: Also as 'skin ret'.

> yeloskin: a person from Milne Bay Province (pejorative) (Slone, 1995: 99)
**[DN]: No one here has ever heard this.

ADDITIONS:
I'm not sure how many of these are Moresby-isms, but the staff here is from
different parts of the country and while no one knows all of these, each
expression is indeed known by more than one person.

This is just a sample and some of the following ideas can be used more
generally.

1. food to indicate region -- saksak, taro, taro kongkong, bala, blakbokis,
gwarume

2. initials - doi, nips, ps

3. puns -- k92, meksiko, weibek

4. regional group to indicate wider region - Kombe, Arawe, Tolai

5. -x suffix (written here as 'ks') added to regional name shortening -
goipeks, kopeks, meksiko, papuks, samateks, yoks


angara-- male from Chimbu [means 'brother']

apo -- person from Eastern Highlands [means 'friend']

arawe -- p. from West New Britain [from Arawe Is.]

auwi -- p. from Highlands

awara -- p. from Oro [from common expression used in Oro languages]

bala -- p. from Western province [from shortened form of balamandi, the
Daru pronunciation of barramundi]

baramandi -- p. from Western province [from barramundi common in area]

bikfut -- p. from Highlands [from supposed larger foot size of people there]

blakbokis -- p. from Madang [because of the abundance of flying foxes in
Madang town]

doy / doi -- p. from Duke of York Islands, East New Britain province [from
first letters of words Duke Of York]

doti wara -- p. from Sepik River [from colour of Sepik River]

gawi -- p. from Sepik provinces [from Iatmul gawi 'eagle']

goipeks -- p. from Goilala, Central province

gras malmalum / skin malmalum -- p. from Papua

gwarume -- Central province girl from the coast [from Motu gwarume 'fish']

igiri -- p. from Southern Highlands

jebu -- p. from Highlands

jiwaka -- p. Jimi, Wahgi or Kambia area of Western Highlands

k92 / keinaintu- p. from Kainantu, Eastern Highlands [pun]

kande -- p. from Morobe, mainly the Finschhafen people; p. from Sepik

kange -- male from Western Highlands province, particularly those speaking
Melpa; [means 'boy' or 'male' in Melpa]

karanas -- p. from New Ireland province

kaving -- p. from Sepik River

kawas -- p. from Buka/Bougainville

keave / keiave  / kei -- p. from Gulf province [ke = Kerema East; ave 'dog'
from Toaripi [and other related languages]); originally: keiave saia; now
shortened to kei

kera -- male from Chimbu [means 'inlaw']

kombe  -- p. from West New Britain [from Kombe or Kove area]

kongkong -- a Chinese; a Malay (both pejorative); any Asian

kopeks -- p. from Kokopo, East New Britain

krung -- p. from the Highlands [imitative of the sound of the language?]

lain antap / ol man antap -- used by coastal person to refer to someone
from the Highlands

madgaun -- p. from Madang

maunten -- p. from Highlands

meksiko -- p. from Mekeo area in Central [pun on words Mekeo and Mexico]

nambis -- p. from coastal area; generally used by Highlanders

nilpis -- p. from New Ireland

nips -- p. from New Ireland [from the initial letters of New Ireland province]

papuks -- p. from Papua

pelpel -- p. from West New Britain [may be a special traditional spear use
by the Arawe people]

pik gris / gris pik -- p. from Highlands

pop -- p. from Northern (Oro) province [from first syllable of Popondetta]

PS [pronounced 'pies']-- p. from East Sepik [from the intials of Pikinini
Sepik]

pukpuk -- p. from Sepik area

sais 28 -- p. from Milne Bay or short person in general [from small size of
trousers, supposedly worn by people from Milne Bay]

saksak / saki -- p. from Western, Gulf, or East Sepik; those who have sago
as their staple food

samateks -- p. from Samarai or Milne Bay in general

sandaun -- p. from West Sepik

sauts -- p. from Southern Highlands

sol -- p. from Islands region; used by one person from the Islands region
to refer to another person from the same region; short for 'wan solwara'

spai / spy -- p. from Yangoru, East Sepik [from first letters of Sepik
Product Yangoru]

sunam -- p. from Manus [Manus spelled backwards]

tambu -- reciprocal term formerly common between Sepiks and Tolais; during
the colonial days many Sepiks were brought over to East New Britain to work
in the plantations which resulted in inter-marriages between the Sepiks and
the Tolais

tobras / tobaras -- p. from East New Britain, particularly a Tolai [from
To, prefix often attached to Tolai male names; plus bras 'brother']; also
meri tobras for a female

tudak -- p. from North Solomons [from dark skin colour]

wan peles -- reciprocal term for people from Sepik and Manus in addressing
each other

wara -- originally used by Engans and Southern Highlanders to refer to
Sepiks because of the river that runs from Enga into the Sepik;  has now
become a common expression used by Highlanders to refer to Sepiks

wauwa -- p. from Papua (old expression)

weibek -- p. from Enga; [pun on "Wabag" and/or "way back"]; pejorative
referring to uncivilised

wes -- p. from West New Britain or West Sepik

yangs -- p. from Yangoru, East Sepik

yelotop -- p. with yellow hair, particular from East New Britain or New Ireland

yoks / yok siti -- p. from Iokea, Gulf province


we hope this is of interest.

Regards,
Don

Don Niles
Senior Ethnomusicologist
Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies
P.O. Box 1432
Boroko 111
PAPUA NEW GUINEA

tel.:	[675] 325-4644
fax:	[675] 325-0531
email:	ipngs at global.net.pg