The Folk Biology of the Tobelo People - Smithsonian Institution ...

NUMBER 34 37
o jara ma rurtibu (X horse [poss.] herbaceous.weed)
'horse's herbaceous weed' Zoysia matrella (L.) Merr.
var. pacifica (a type of rurtibu 'herbaceous weed')
o kaho ma ngulu (X dog [poss.] (ngulu, unmarked:
'Spondias pinnata (L.f) Kurz')) 'dog's ngulu (Spondias
cf. dulcis Soland. ex Park.)
(B) "Possessed noun" reduplicated
Lexemic reduplication of nouns seems to generaUy indicate
a widening of tiieir meaning such that particular attributes of
die objects denoted are emphasized. This expansion of meaning
and emphasis of particular attributes seems to emphasize the
metaphoric nature of the term. Thus o dodiha ma kobongo
('snake's bones,' subtype A above) is also sometimes caUed o
dodiha ma kobo-kobongo (literally: 'snake's bones-bones').
Reduplication of 'bones' seems to attenuate die identification
of this plant's pronounced leaf-axes of its regularly-spaced
leaves witii a snake's bones; i.e., to emphasize the fact that this
vine (Ipomoea quamiclit L.) is only metaphorically somewhat
like a snake's bones.
This explanation seems much more likely than the alsopossible
'snake's separate (or individual) bones' (anotiier
possible but non-lexemic meaning of the reduplicated noun);
die latter interpretation would not explain otiier examples, such
as
o busu ma dalu-daluku (X (a red parrot, Lorius garrulus
garrulus) [poss.] palm-wine-[redup.] ) 'red parrot's
palm-wine', Mucuna sp. (refers to this bird's habit of
congregating at the tree when its flowers are in bloom,
as people congregate to drink at die tapped Arenga
pinnata palm).
Exocentric Compound, Type 1. Noun + verb root
This is die only type of exocentric compound in the domain
of BIOTIC FORMS. Since only the verb root is present
(without subject prefix) these can not be mistaken for phrases.
The most common compound-parts involve a noun that
designates a plant part (or object in association with the plant)
and a verb tiiat indicates a state or quality of that part or object
Examples:
o ngofawoe (o ngofa (abbrev. of Tbl-D ngofaka) 'child,
shoot, sucker' + -woe vb. 'to be many') 'many
children (i.e., shoots at base of tree)' (Lithocarpus sp.)
o hokaregi (o hoka 'leaf + -regi 'to be lobed') '(its)
leaves are lobed'
o gagilamo (< gagi (truncation of gagini) 'dew' + -lamo
(trunc. of -lamoko) 'to be much') (having) much dew'
(two types, see Appendix 1.1)
In a few cases, however, die noun indicates a human body
part, die verb a quality for which the plant so designated
presumably has some medicinal association (according, at
least, to die folk etymology of such terms)
o guluihuputu (o gului 'buttocks' + -huputu 'come
undone, come out') 'buttocks come out' (a malady;
hemorrhoids?)
o lakoddto (o lako 'eye' + -doto 'sharp') 'eyes (are)
sharp'
Endocentric Phrase, Type 1. Head + reduplicated "participial."
Phrasal lexemes having this form can almost always take the
form of Type 2 (subordinate clause) also. Thus o baya ma
doka-dokara 'red baya' may also be realized as o baya
itoka-tokara 'red baya' (i.e., 'baya which is red' (Amaranthus
hybridus L.)). The only cases in which Type 2 endocentric
phrases can not be realized as Type 1 reduplicated participials
is when the head is not a subject of die subordinate clause (e.g.,
o balibi hadato-datomo 'cultivated balibi,' but literally: 'balibi
which we plant,' Averrhoa bilimbi L.).
In calling such phrases "participial," one can emphasize the
analogy between participle and subordinate clause reflected in
English "the chopped wood" vs. "the wood which he chopped."
In fact, tiiough, there are many simtiarities of tiiis "participial"
to the abstract noun. For example, the verb 'to be red' -tokara
forms its abstract noun dokara 'redness' is die same way the
subordinate clause -toka-tokara 'which is red' forms die
so-called "participial" doka-dokara. Thus the "participial"
may, after further research in Tobelo verb morphology, be
shown to be an abstract noun '(its) being red.' Since this
interpretation is problematic, however, die construction may
temporarily be called a "reduplicate participial" here.
Since the same lexeme may be realized eitiier as a Type 1 or
Type 2 endocentric phrase, the latter wUl also be considered
before examples are given.
Endocentric Phrase, Type 2. Head + subordinate clause
In Tobelo, clauses are made subordinate by reduplication of
part of die verb stem (e.g., o gota wo-toyanga 'he chops down
die tree' vs. o gota wo-toya-toyanga 'the tree which he chops
down').
A Type 1 "Reduplicated participial" may be derived from
tiiis head + subordinate clause construction if the head is die
subject of the clause, as in tiiese examples which relate to
"surface quality" or color; each pair here represents two
realizations of the same lexeme (not contrasting lexemes):
Type 1: ofahihuku ma doka-dokara 'red fahihuku (tree)'
Type 2: ofahihuku itoka-tokara 'fahihuku (tree) which is red'
Type 1: o ligua ma gare-garehe 'white ligua (tree)'
Type 2: o ligua iare-arehe 'ligua (tree) which is white'