[Papuanlanguages] 'Eat' and 'burn'

Thu Sep 14 09:31:00 EST 2006

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 /no-  /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'.

Since you have opened the question up to wider comparisons beyond Papuan 
languages, I will point out that a single verb, /nga(g), / 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 /Handbook of Australian Languages 
/Vol 5,/ /pp. 59, 63, 78, 89, 90, 93, 99, 108, 120, 122, 129, 130, 131, 133)

One could treat the 'burn' uses of Ku Waru /no-/ and Bunuba /nga(g)/ 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 /biyga /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.

Best,
Alan

Alex Francois wrote:
> Dear Alan, dear all,
>  
> 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).
> The languages I have data on (full list here 
> <http://alex.francois.free.fr/AF-field.htm>) all distinguish 'eat' 
> (generally a reflex of POc */kani/) from 'drink' (generally <POc 
> /*inum/), as well as 'hungry' from 'thirsty', or 'eat' from 'smoke'/. /
> // 
> However, it is common for them to lexify in the same way '/eat/' and 
> '/burn/', the latter always with 'fire' as its subject --
> e.g. "My house has been burnt" will be Lit. '/My house, fire has eaten 
> it/'
>         "He died in a fire"  => Lit. '/A fire ate him dead/'
>  
> 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).
> 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. /They burnt my house/)
>  
> As far as I can remember, I found the same polysemy in Teanu, spoken 
> on Vanikoro. [a language supposedly Austronesian, but which might be 
> in fact Papuan (?)]
>  
> 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.
>  
> Best,
>  
> Alex.
>  
> ********
> Alex François
> LACITO - CNRS
> 7 rue Guy Môquet
> F - 94801  Villejuif
>   FRANCE
> tel. priv. +33 (0)1.64.46.61.47.
> tel. prof. +33 (0)1.49.58.37.48.
>  
> email  <Alexandre.Francois at vjf.cnrs.fr 
> <mailto:Alexandre.Francois at vjf.cnrs.fr>>
> http://lacito.vjf.cnrs.fr/membres/francois.htm
> http://alex.francois.free.fr/
>
>     ----- Message d'origine -----
>     *De :* Alan Rumsey <mailto:alan.rumsey at anu.edu.au>
>     *Cc :* papuanlanguages at anu.edu.au <mailto:papuanlanguages at anu.edu.au>
>     *Envoyé :* mercredi 13 septembre 2006 15:20
>     *Objet :* Re: [Papuanlanguages] 'Eating water' and elsewhere: a
>     summary
>
>     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' (/no/-)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 /that /pattern is. If you have information to offer
>     about this, please post it to the whole list as Martin has suggested.
>
>     Alan
>>     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
>>     ------------------------------------------------------------------------
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