[PapuanLanguages] Languages named "No"

[Edgar Suter]

For the Kâte people there were two systems of talking about one's neighbors. One was geographical and classified people according to their habitat: Hâwec 'sea', Mape 'Mape River', Kâte 'forest', Sopâc 'grassland'. The other referred to their speech.  These terms can be combined with the noun dâng 'sound, words, language', hence Wemo dâng (what), Wamorâ dâng (why), Bamotâ dâng (why), Momare dâng (why), Mâgobineng dâng (they say), Migabac dâng (I say), Dedua dâng (he says). Note that Bamotâ (why) and Mâgobineng (they say) refer to the same language. Interestingly, Bamotâ shows an irregular phonological development, we would have expected initial /w/ rather than /b/. Is this language engineering, changing the word used to classify neighboring languages in order to make oneself different? I have also heard the geographical terms being used to refer to languages, thus Hâwec dâng can refer to the Jabêm language. 

Edgar