CENTRAL AFRICAN GONG-LANGUAGES

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4 8 A C O M P A R A T IV E S T U D Ybe couched in different languages, yet tliey frequentlyshow a similarity in idea and structure. Note forinstance :The phrase for rain in Mbole and So :Mbole ...... botuku ôtf la baiso ............... blindness has no eyes.So ............ mbùla ekbutti na rçgandi ..... rain.émaisla lifita nabosio ......... puts a cloud over the face.The phrase for earth in Ena and Olornho :Ena ......... ekikili atienó kitó ................. the ground does not lackgraves.Olombo .... lembümbé lotiakeâ emelio ... the ground where corpsesare buried.The gong-name for « dog » in Olombo and Mbole :Mbole ...... bofulufulu mvwâ .................. giant dog (which says).oléijgâ kweékweé .................. kweékweé.Olombo .... kbeékbeé kombüla ................. kbeékbeé he howls.The name for a goat in Topoke and Luba :Topoke .... mbüli nama bolérçgé galoküte goat, animal, child ofsmell.Luba ....... (after Verbeken, 101) ............ the goat gives out theodour of the goat.Note also in this connection the name for the goat in thegong-language of the Nkundo, as recorded by H u l s t a e r t (41) :smelly goat.The name for the elephant in the Mbole dialects mayalso be compared with phrases recorded for other parts ofAfrica :Mbole (Botuijga) :omoqgô olûkasoku wàatindindi ...Mbole (Yalikoka) :lisokusoku llsllâkâ eleqgo ...........Nkundo :the elephant with big feet.the elephant destroys gardens.(After Hulstaert, 41) ....................... the troop of éléphants whichtrample the gardens.Luba :(After Verbeken, 101) .....................the great being which eats treesand plantations.
OF SOME C E N T R A L A F R IC A N G O N G -LA N G U A G E S 49À f'urther example of similarity of idea is furnished bythe name given to the European in Kele and Luba [cf. alsoMbole (Yaamba) and Olombo (Bosala)] :Kele :Luba :the European, the spirit from the forest;the ghost which comes from the place of our chiefs(V erb ek en , 101).Verbeken suggests that this name is derived from thepallor of the European’s skin, which gives the idea of aghostly figure. Another explanation is suggested howeverby the experience of the present author with Lokele gongbeaters.These men have explained the author’s abilitvto use the Lokele gong for message transmission as beingthe reproduction of a skill once acquired during a previousexistence as a Lokele man in the Upper Congo area.When this man died his spirit (bolnnó) went to Europeand later appeared back in Congo as the present author.The European is thus regarded as returning to a placeof former habitation after sojourning in the spirit world.b) A second characteristic of the gong-phrases is thatof the tendancy to use derogatory or diminutive words.Thus : the Kele gong-word for « fishing-net » is : bilémec ryaw£i]go, which is translatable as : « a little bit of an oldfishing net ». It may be compared with the Yaundephrase given by H e e p e (3 8 ) : « an old hunting net ».Other examples showing the same tendency are :Goat .WeedsKele :imbümbuli Jâokérçgé ..toqgaijgala twâokéijgélittle goat of the village,little bits of grass of thevillage.Children ... twileijgéleijgé very small children (eventhough youths are referredto).Head likoko lyaotó lump of a head.Olombo :Girls toseka little girls.4
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CENTRAL AFRICAN GONG-LANGUAGES

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