[PapuanLanguages] (no subject)

[Lise Dobrin]

You find a somewhat similar splitting up of kin terms in the  
Torricelli lgs of this area. Many terms come in pairs, one used when  
the relationship is the speaker's own, the other used when the same  
relation is another's. Sometimes the two forms are clearly  
morphologically related, sometimes they are not. You can find this  
described in McGregor and McGregor's Olo Language Materials (Pacific  
Linguistics 1982). The Arapesh languages have these paired kin terms  
as well (e.g., wawen 'my mother's brother' vs waken 'your/his/their/ 
etc mother's brother'; yamo 'my mother' vs amakeikw 'your/her/their/ 
etc mother'), though thinking of your names questions, use of kin  
terms in address varies dramatically from place to place -- inland  
west of Maprik names are used almost always, to the exclusion of kin  
terms (much to the horror of any visiting coastal Arapesh people, for  
whom this pattern of use feels outrageously disrespectful!).

Also, Jurg Wassman describes Yupno namelike individual tunes and how  
they function in his 1997 article "Finding the Right Path."

Lise

-----Original Message-----
From: papuanlanguages-bounces at anu.edu.au
[mailto:papuanlanguages-bounces at anu.edu.au] On Behalf Of  
ah63 at buffalo.edu
Sent: Wednesday, 20 October 2010 2:43
To: papuanlanguages at anu.edu.au
Subject: [PapuanLanguages] (no subject)

I have a question regarding names. I am studying Mehek, a Sepik language
spoken in and around Nuku in Sandaun Province. I discovered a phenomenon
where each person's name has two counterpart names, one which is used  
when
that person is being reprimanded and one which is used when the  
person has
done something good or has returned from a journey. The "bad" name is
morphologically related to the regular name, while the "good" name has a
(mostly) unrelated form. These alternate names correspond to the name
itself; everyone with a given name will have the same "good" and "bad"
name. In addition to the good and bad names, every name also has a  
unique
whistle call and song.
The whistle call is used to call people out of visual range and the  
song is
used as a form of greeting or praise. I would like to know if anyone  
else
has noted anything similar to this?

Adam Hatfield
Department of Linguistics
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY
USA

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Lise M. Dobrin
Assistant Professor
Linguistics Program Director
Department of Anthropology
University of Virginia
Brooks Hall 202
PO Box 400120
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4120 USA
1-434-924-7048
dobrin at virginia.edu