FW: [Mihalic] kapkap

[C A Volker]

Further to the now old conversation about kapkap, this is what Graeme Were
has to say. Graeme wrote his PhD dissertation on kapkap at the University
College London.

 

  _____  

From: Graeme Were [mailto:g.were at ucl.ac.uk] 
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 5:18 AM
To: C A Volker
Subject: Re: [Mihalic] kapkap

 

Craig

good to hear from you,

The pidgin term kapkap derives from northern New Ireland and has become a
standard word in museums and museum anthropology to describe the clam shell
disc / turtleshell fretwork that we both know. As I recall, in northern New
Ireland dialects its form changes: kepkep, xapkap, kapkap. 

 

best

Graeme

 

 

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: C A Volker <mailto:volker at nalik.org>  

To: Mihalic at anu.edu.au 

Sent: Monday, November 27, 2006 12:24 PM

Subject: RE: [Mihalic] kapkap

 

 

I am just going through postings from a while back and came across this
posting. An article of interest might be Graeme Were's "Objects of Learning:
An Anthropological Approach to Mathematics Education" Journal of Material
Culture.2003; 8: 25-44. 

 

I haven't actually read it, but I have read his PhD dissertation (University
College London) on kapkap. Although he doesn't go into the etymology of the
word, he does show how widespread they are in the SW Pacific. 

 

Kapkap is used in Tok Pisin in New Ireland, but it is also a tok ples word
in at least some languages.

 

Craig Alan Volker 

 


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From: mihalic-bounces at anu.edu.au [mailto:mihalic-bounces at anu.edu.au] On
Behalf Of Ross Clark (ARTS DALSL)
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 2:29 PM
To: Mihalic at anu.edu.au
Subject: [Mihalic] kapkap

 

This word for a particular type of shell-backed tortoise-shell ornament
seems to be widely used in the Pacific art world. I came across it in a 1964
paper by H.D.Skinner, who apparently considered it an established
trans-national term. I don't find it in Mihalic or on the revision web site,
or in any other Melanesian Pidgin source I've looked at. It's not in OED,
though it ought to be if it is as widely used as it appears to be. 

Is this a Tok Pisin word?

Can anyone pinpoint its origin? (Shameful confession: I can't find my copy
of Malcolm Ross's paper on AN words in TP)

Has anyone seen a documented use earlier than 1964?

 

Ross Clark

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