[PapuanLanguages] extensions of 'tree base'

[Christian Döhler]

Thanks to everyone for commenting on my little tree base query from last 
week and for providing further examples!

It looks like the "tree base - origin, source" colexification is a very 
common one. but the "tree base - rivermouth" pattern seems to be special 
for some languages of Southern New Guinea. My explanation for this 
pattern in Komnzo was always from a local myth in which all people come 
from a place that is now somewhere in the Arafura Sea. In all versions 
the story, people used to live in a big tree. Depending on the version, 
that tree burnt down or it fell towards the north. Then, there was some 
event that caused a flood and drove people to the north to what is now 
Southern New Guinea. What is important is that the tree's trunk, 
branches and twigs created what later became the riverbed. In that 
sense, the flood moved inland just like a tree grows upward.

I will try and find out if this myth can be found in other SNG cultures, 
for example the Bine speaking area.

Best

Christian


Am 28.03.18 um 13:33 schrieb Christian Döhler:
> Dear Papuanists,
>
> I am working on two languages in Southern New Guinea: Bine (Eastern 
> Trans-Fly) and Komnzo (Yam). I have two related questions that have to 
> do with the word /zfth /in Komnzo and /iŋre /in Bine. Both of these 
> mean 'base of a tree'.
>
> 1. I noticed that in Bine and Komnzo rivers are sometimes
>    conceptualised by invoking a tree metaphor. In Komnzo, you can refer
>    to a rivermouth as /ŋars zfth /which means literally 'river (tree)
>    base', while you can refer to the creeks and tributaries that feed
>    into the river as /ŋars tuti /'river branches' or 'river twigs'.
>    Hence, a river is conceptualised as if it grows from the coast
>    towards the interior, as one can see it nicely on maps. This reminds
>    me of Nicholas Burenhult's work on Jahai landscape terminology,
>    where rivers are mapped onto the human body. I am trying to find out
>    how widespread the tree pattern is in New Guinea or elsewhere.
> 2. The word /zfth /'tree base' or 'plant base', i.e. that part of a
>    plant directly above the ground, can be used for a range of other
>    meanings in the languages of Southern New Guinea. In some languages
>    of the region, it can mean 'reason'. This is similar to the use of
>    'root' in English in 'the root of all evil' (which works for my
>    native German too). In other languages, the word can mean 'origin',
>    'clan', or 'family'. I am interested where else in New Guinea this
>    pattern of colexification is found.
>
> Any comments on different patterns in the languages you know about, or 
> references to relevant publications are most welcome.
>
> Very Best
>
> Christian
>

-- 
Dr. Christian Döhler
Institut für Linguistik
Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
Universität zu Köln
D-50923 Köln