[Papuanlanguages] 'Eating water' and elsewhere: a summary

Thu Sep 14 12:30:59 EST 2006

Many Oceanic languages which do not have 'eat' = 'burn' have instead 'bite'
= 'burn', which is pretty much the same thing.

-----Original Message-----
From: Alexandra Aikhenvald [mailto:A.Aikhenvald at latrobe.edu.au] 
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2006 1:17 PM
To: Papuan languages discussion list
Cc: Alan.Rumsey at anu.edu.au
Subject: RE: [Papuanlanguages] 'Eating water' and elsewhere: a summary

 Dear Alan,

Thanks for this! Manambu has several A=S ambitransitive verbs for 'burn';
'eat' used with fire appears to be like a more metaphorical usage. I will
check all the dictionaries of Ndu languages, and send more info as soon as I
can.

Best

Sasha

Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald, PhD, DLitt, FAHA
Associate Director and Postgraduate Coordinator
Research Centre for Linguistic Typology
La Trobe University
Victoria 3086
Tel: 61-(0)3-9479 6402
Fax: 61-(0)3-9467 3053
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/aikhenvald.htm 
-----Original Message-----
From: papuanlanguages-bounces at anu.edu.au
[mailto:papuanlanguages-bounces at anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of Alan Rumsey
Sent: Wednesday, 13 September 2006 11:20 PM
Cc: papuanlanguages at anu.edu.au
Subject: 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

Alexandra Aikhenvald wrote: 

	Dear fellow Papuanists,

	As promised here is a brief summary of the wonderful responses to my
query posted a month or so ago.

	Summary: 'Kaikaim wara' in Tok Pisin, and associated expressions
elsewhere in the New Guinea area: a summary

	The original questy concerned a weird expression 'kaikaim wara' used
in a word list of Boikin (Yengoru dialect), compiled by A. Freudenburg
(1975; SIL archives) as a Tok Pisin equivalent of the English verb 'drink'.
Boikin, like most (though not all) Ndu languages has one word covering
'eat', 'drink', and perhaps also 'smoke'. Manambu, also Ndu, has one verb,
kə- meaning 'eat, drink, smoke' and also 'suck' and 'consume (mortuary
payment)' (and 'drown' and 'burn, that is, be devoured by fire').

	I am very grateful to everyone who reacted to this query.

		The majority reply was that of surprise at this aberrant
usage: Jan Gossner suggested that this could be 'an instance of the language
speakers, if they are the source of the gloss, modifying their Tok Pisin
usage to fit their grammar, especially if their Tok Pisin wasn't very
strong'. Liisa Berghäll suggested that it may have made its way to the local
variety of TP. Les Bruce hypothesized: 'Perhaps this type of substratum
influence showed in in the past in the Pidgin of the Yengoru area if those
languages have a similar generic term. Pidgin speakers in that same region,
or perhaps around Maprik, use the expression harim smel , which is the same
Pidgin verb for hearing sounds, through influence of the vernaculars there.'

	Most interestingly, Carol Priestly has heard 'kaikai wara' (not
'kaikaim wara') in the past (1960-70s) in the Eastern Highlands area. She
hypothesises that this usage may have been restricted to the times, and the
locations 'when was less influence from English, no primary schools etc'.
So, it is possible that A. Freudenburg did indeed hear 'kaikai wara', or
even 'kaikaim wara' (as he documented it) back in 1975!

		The existence of a single 'ingest/consume' verb was pointed
out for the following languages:
		Kalam (Kalam-Kobon) - Andy Pawley 
		Yahang (Torricelli) - Colin Filer
		Ku Waru (East New Guinea Highlands) - Alan Rumsey
		Duna (Duna-Bogaya) - Lila San Roque
		Kewa (Engan) - Karl Franklin
		Orokaiva (Binanderean) - Lise Dobrin
		Korafe Yegha and Tafota Baruga (Binanderean) - Cindi Farr
		Arapeshan languages (Torricelli) - Lise Dobrin
		Biangai (Goilalan) - Ngawae Mitio
		Alamblak (Sepik Hill) - Les Bruce
		Koromu (Evapia group, Rai Coast, Madang)- Carol Priestley
		Awiyakay (Arafundi) - Darja Hoenigman

		This polysemous pattern can be considered an areal feature
shared by many New Guinea languages. Andy Pawley suggests that this is a
feature shared by all languages of the hypothetical Trans-New Guinea Phylum.
An example of a similar polysemy outside New Guinea is ngarni in Warlbiri
(Australian: Mary Laughren, p.c.).
		It is absent from a few languages in the Sepik area, such as
Sare (or Kapriman: Sepik Hill - Ken Sumbuk), and two Ndu languages, Yelogu
(according to Laycock 1965: 165), and Gala (also known as Ngala, or Swagup;
pace Laycock 1965). Kwoma has one word, a- which covers 'eating' and
'drinking' but not smoking (Ross Bowden, and Renée Lambert-Brétière).
		An interesting turn for this topic was offered by Darija
Hoenigman. She pointed out that in Awiakay (Arafundi) the same term is used
for 'hungry' and for 'thirsty', which is rather logical given that 'eat' and
'drink' are expressed with the same term. This is definitely not the case in
Manambu, where 'hungry', 'thristy', and 'hungry for a smoke' are expressed
with different lexemes.
		Any further ideas?
		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

	Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald, PhD, DLitt, FAHA
	Associate Director and Postgraduate Coordinator
	Research Centre for Linguistic Typology
	La Trobe University
	Victoria 3086
	Tel: 61-(0)3-9479 6402
	Fax: 61-(0)3-9467 3053
	http://www.latrobe.edu.au/rclt/StaffPages/aikhenvald.htm 

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