> hi, we want to find metaphorical expressions which refer to european
> introductions to native cultures, for example, in navahoe the word for
> boat means floating wood or the word for radio is metal box which speaks
> to itself.
> Please respond directly as I am not a member of your list.
Well, without an e-mail address, it's difficult!
[ Nancy's e-mail address is given in the "Original-Sender:" line of her
article: "columbia.edu!nrb6," which is the "bangpath" form of the
equivalent address "nrb6@columbia.edu." I will relay copies of articles
on this subject to Nancy, but I suggest that others send messages to her
directly, with a copy to "nat-lang@gnosys.svle.ma.us" if you feel that
your response might be of interest to the list as a whole. --Gary ]
In Sakao (Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu), the word for "clothes" is
"serpent's slough": nru"r (u" = u-umlaut). The word for
"white man/woman" is also nru"r, for obvious reason. The word
for "god" is "yEtar" the name of the father of their cultural
hero "sEr". They equate "sEr" with Jesus, because sEr was killed
by his father. The name for "Satan" is "galvo/r" (g = Arabic
ghain, v = Spanish v, o/ = o-slash, i.e. French eu as in "feu"),
another cultural character, but this time a giant snake, which
looks after the observance of their rather strange sexual customs.
"galvo/r" incidentally, is made up of "gal" = "to have an erection",
and "vo/r" = "to swell, elephantiasis". yEtar, incidentally, is
probably cognate with "Tangaroa", the Polynesian god. "Money"
is "nporyEth" (th= th as in "this"), literally: "pebbles".
(The official currency of Vanuatu, the "vatu" is a native word
which means "stone")
The word for "rifle" is nhhu" (yes, double h!), from hu" = "to blow".
"War" is accordingly nhhu"kar (red rifles), and "there is a war"
is nhhu" mkar (rifles are red). Is it to say that they had no wars
before the advent of Europeans? Of course not. But those wars were
called nhan = "spear". There is also another word for "rifle" which
is ngaple, but that is borrowed from the language next door, Tolomako,
in which "rifle" is "na gapuleve" from "gapu" = "fire" and "leve" =
"to use a lever" (no, leve does *not* come from "lever", it's just
a coincidence).