[PapuanLanguages] Languages named "No"

Sun Feb 28 01:17:59 AEDT 2016

I can confirm that both Eitiep and Mehek mean 'no' in those languages.

Matthew

On 2/27/16 5:34 AM, Joyce Wood wrote:
> This is all so interesting; thank you everyone.
>
> My experience is near the Sepik Highway. In the Sandaun Province part 
> of Urim, it is as Matthew Dryer describes. People find it very useful 
> to refer to languages by their word for 'no', if they talk about their 
> neighbouring languages. In fact, (even) within dialect concerns, my 
> Urim friends would talk about their speech being "tokples Kalpm" as 
> opposed to the East Sepik Urim people who speak "(tokples) Kalpis" 
> (both of which mean 'no/nogat'.) They will readily acknowledge that 
> they are "wanpela tokples tasol" with the Kalpis speakers, but I've 
> rarely heard people actually use the name Urim. I think they vaguely 
> know that outsiders would call their language Urim/Wrim.
>
> Aiku (Yangum Mon) means 'nogat'
> (not sure about Eitiep, hope to find out)
> Kayik (Wanap) means 'nogat'
> Mende (Seim) means 'nogat'
> Heyo, Beli, & Yahang mean 'nogat' (don't quote me on that)
> Mehek apparently means 'nogat'
>
> Kombio apparently doesn't mean 'nogat'.
>
> - Joyce
>
> On 2/26/2016 4:47 PM, Lise Dobrin wrote:
>> The southwestern-most Arapesh language, Wəri (which is called that by 
>> its speakers), is the local word for 'no'. But no other Arapesh 
>> language follows that convention; instead, the language names are 
>> usually some variant of the form /buk/ or /bu'/. Still, people mostly 
>> refer to their own language as 'our talk'. This seems to fit with the 
>> common discursive pattern of 'be less specific when less specific 
>> will do'.
>>
>> Lise
>>
>>
>> On Feb 25, 2016, at 11:16 AM, Matthew Dryer <dryer at buffalo.edu> wrote:
>>
>> The custom of using the word for ‘no’ as the name of the language is 
>> without exception in the region I work in northern PNG, in the 
>> vicinity of Aitape and inland from there.Most of the languages that 
>> follow this convention that I am aware of are Torricelli languages, 
>> but it includes Mehek, a Sepik language, and appears to include at 
>> least some of the Austronesian languages on the coast in this area.
>>
>> But I think it is also necessary to distinguish the names used by 
>> speakers for their own language and the names used by speakers of 
>> other languages.Namely, while the use of the word for ‘no’ is 
>> pervasive as the name used by speakers of other languages, speakers 
>> frequently have a different name for their own language, though they 
>> may use that name interchangeably with their word for ‘no’.
>>
>> Because words for ‘no’ are often cognate among related languages, it 
>> is often the case that there are similarities in the names among 
>> related languages and this can be a source of confusion for 
>> linguists. The following are all names for Torricelli languages based 
>> on their word for ‘no’ that appear to be cognate:
>>
>> Alu, Galu, Olo, Aro, Aruop, Oru
>>
>> I’m curious what the geographical expanse of this in PNG is. Bill 
>> Foley’s email implies that it extends well to the east of where I 
>> work, while Sasha Aikhenvald’s email implies that it doesn’t extend 
>> too far inland (though the Ndu languages do extend to the coast). It 
>> isn’t clear how far west it extends. It apparently does include the 
>> Skou language Barupu (Corris 2005) but it does not include Poko-Rawo, 
>> a Skou language spoken near Leitre between Vanimo and Aitape (at 
>> least as a name they use for their own language).
>>
>> Matthew Dryer
>>
>>
>>
>> On 2/24/16 11:31 PM, Aikhenvald, Alexandra wrote:
>>> This is not at all the case for any of the Ndu languages in the East 
>>> Sepik (nor for many of their neighbours).
>>>
>>> A few Huon-Finisterre languages base their name on the word for 
>>> what: Hannah Sarvasy (Hannah.Sarvasy at anu.edu.au) will be able to 
>>> provide all the details.
>>>
>>> As a matter of comparison - I am aware of at least one set of 
>>> languages in Amazonia, named after the form for 'no': Kurripako, 
>>> Karutana, Karo - all dialects of the Baniwa of Içana/Kurripako 
>>> continuum (North Arawak). Speakers are aware of this, and comment on 
>>> this.
>>>
>>> Sacha
>>>
>>> Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald, PhD, DLitt, FQAAS, FAHA
>>> Distinguished Professor and Australian Laureate Fellow
>>> Director of the Language and Culture Research Centre
>>> James Cook University
>>> PO Box 6811, Cairns, Queensland 4870, Australia
>>> http://www.jcu.edu.au/faess/JCUPRD_043649.html
>>> mobile 0400 305315, office 61-7-42321117
>>> fax 61-7-4232 1880  http://www.aikhenvaldlinguistics.com/
>>> http://research.jcu.edu.au/lcrc
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: PapuanLanguages [mailto:papuanlanguages-bounces at anu.edu.au] On 
>>> Behalf Of Joyce Wood
>>> Sent: Thursday, 25 February 2016 2:29 PM
>>> To: papuanlanguages at anu.edu.au
>>> Subject: Re: [PapuanLanguages] Languages named "No"
>>>
>>> 'no' (English) / 'nogat' (Tok Pisin)
>>> is the naming convention for languages in the Sepik region of PNG. 
>>> See Laycock 1975 in Pacific Linguistics. Sorry this is not a full 
>>> citation.
>>>
>>> I've always wondered which came first: Laycock's written records, or 
>>> the language names? I used to think Laycock started it, but now I'm 
>>> thinking that the convention was established among the language 
>>> speakers themselves, long before Laycock visited there. Info anyone?
>>> - Joyce Wood
>>>
>>> On 2/25/2016 1:24 PM, Tom Honeyman wrote:
>>>> Hi All,
>>>>
>>>> I have often heard anecdotal evidence of a naming pattern, 
>>>> supposedly widespread, in various parts of both PNG and Australia 
>>>> of languages "named" for the word meaning “no” (or “no-having”, or 
>>>> the negator) in that language.
>>>>
>>>> I'm sure I have a memory of someone either publishing or at least 
>>>> blogging about this in the last 10 years or so, but I can't for the 
>>>> life of me find the source. “No” is of course not the only 
>>>> convention either.
>>>>
>>>> Can anyone please point me in the right direction?
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Tom Honeyman
>>>> _______________________________________________
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