Ethnicity and Nationality

[BURTON John]

Dear staff at the Institute of PNG Studies: wokim nambawan wok tru!

> 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

JB: Yes

Mention should also be made to calling Negrita
rum "Meri Buka" because of the picture on the label.

JB very true

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

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

[JB: actually this should be only Wabag - e.g. 'meri auwi' etc]

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]

[JB: perhaps not, 'bala' is brother in Torres Strait Creole]

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

[JB: I'll give you this one, but perhaps again by association with 'bala']

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]

[JB: means 'boy' or 'man']

karanas -- p. from New Ireland province

kaving -- p. from Sepik River

[JB: good one - cf. 'you look like your own carving']

kawas -- p. from Buka/Bougainville

[JB: derivation?]

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?]

[JB: who says it? - otherwise doubt this one]

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

[JB: also 'upstairs']

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

[JB: also 'New York']

we hope this is of interest.

It certainly is! Some others that spring to mind:

55 - Paia-waia Markham Kunai faia (bingo call: "paia-waia" common Hagen song
chorus + Markham kunai's on fire)

SH20 - Sepik Wara (have I got the initials quite right?)
USA - Upper Sepik Area

Thanks very much indeed
John Burton

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