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

NUMBER 34 39
'from die male sea'). When Tobelo cross the six-ktiometer
isthmus of Dodinga and catch such fish in die 'male' seas of die
Moluccan Passage, they refer to these fish with the fish-type
name X and die attributive phrase,e.g.,0X0 gahi ma naur-ika
'male sea-thatdirection X' (i.e., 'die X (fish) normaUy found in
the male sea')—thus using a different suffix depending on
where die animal is located, though both locations seem
"reachable" by man.
The preceding discussion should show once again that a
single lexeme can be realized in several predictable forms, botii
within the same dialect and among dialects. We have already
seen tiiat this was true of endocentric phrasal lexemes, which
can be realized eitiier as reduplicated participials or as
subordinate clauses. These locative or "directional" enclitics,
which distinguish subclasses of BIOTIC FORM ('sea X' vs.
'jungle X,' etc.), are part of the lexeme that designates each
subclass, altiiough each lexeme may be realized in several
forms by the attachment of (predictably) different directional
enclitics.
Because -ika 'that direction' seems unmarked relative to
otiiers, it is generally used as die citation-form (except, e.g., o
aker-iha 'fresh.water-landwards') as in die foUowing examples:
o tarate o tonak-ika (orchid ground-thatdirection) 'ground
(-dweUing) orchid'
o oaha ofongan-ika (oaha jungle-thatdirection) 'jungle oaha'
Diospyros cf. leterocarpa
o oaha o gah-ika (oaha shore-that.direction) 'shore oaha'
Endocentric Phrase, Type 4. 'Male' and 'female,' 'good' and
'bad'
These might or might not be considered morphosyntacticaUy
die same as phrases of Type 5 below, because the words for
'male,' 'female,' 'good,' and 'bad' here might be considered
nouns and die headwords of die phrase. However, we wUl here
consider tiiese as a separate type, and consider tiiat the phrasal
parts meaning 'good,' 'bad,' 'male,' or 'female' are "attributives"
rather than the heads of die phrases, while Type 5 phrases
are not. This is because (1) abstract nouns (e.g., ma oa 'good')
seem to be used as attributives; and (2) tiiis difference is
underscored by die fact tiiat these phrases are semanticaUy
quite different from those of Type 5. Unlike phrases of Type 5,
tiiese phrases all have "classificatory significance," tiiat is, they
label the subdivisions of a class into a pair of contrasting
subclasses. Some of the classificatory significance of these
forms wiU be considered below (5.2.1). FinaUy, (3) phrases of
this type behave differendy in the rule for "sequencing"
lexemes (5.1.3 below) tiian do tiiose of Type 5.
Examples:
o digo ma nauru 'male digo' Sida rhombifolia L. ssp.
rhombifolia
o digo ma beka 'female digo' Sida acuta Burm. f.
o rukiti ma oa 'good ruldti' Gnetum sp.
o rukiti ma dorou 'bad rukiti' Gnetum gnemonoides
Brongn.
Endocentric Phrase, Type 5. Possessor (noun) + (possessive
pronoun) + possessed (noun)
These phrases have a construction like tiiat of a Type 2
endocentric compound word. The fact that the headwords of
tiiis type can substitute in sentences to designate die same class
designated by die whole phrase, however, indicates tiiat (unlike
words) tiiese phrasal lexemes can be interpolated, and tiiat odier
morphs can be inserted in diem. The "possessor" here, though,
is always a BIOTIC FORM, and only tiiree "possessed
(nouns)" occur: (ma) gilaongo '(its) servant' and (ma) dofa
'(its) counterfeit' in either FLORAL FORM or FAUNAL
FORM domain; and (ma) ayo '(its) motiier' in the FAUNAL
FORM domain. 3
It wtil be shown below (Chapter 5) tiiat die relations of a
class to its 'servant,' 'counterfeit' and sometimes 'motiier'
class is not a taxonomic one, and in die case of 'servant' and
'counterfeit' is only a metaphorical relation. These endocentric
phrases are die only ones tiiat can function as "basic" (B°)
terms; and tiiey are the only ones that are not "attributive
phrases."
Examples:
o kane-kane 'weaver-ant' Oecophylla smaragdina Fabr.
o kane-kane ma ayo 'weaver-ant's mother' (i.e., the
winged forms of weaver-ants)
o digo 'Sida spp.'
o digo ma gilaongo 'digo's servant' (Pseudelephantopus
spicatus (Aubl.) CF. Baker
o cengke 'clove' Syzygium aromaticum Kuntze
o cengke ma dofa 'clove's counterfeit; false clove'
Syzygium sp.
3.3. Foreign Borrowings in Tobelo Nomenclature
As noted in Chapter 2 above, Ternatese is die language to
which Tobelo often turned for naming places, persons, animals,
and plants. Here some observations about such "foreign"
influences on Tobelo nomenclature may be briefly mentioned.
1. Several examples above iUustrate that it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish Tobelo from Ternatese compounds.
Whde tiiis matter cannot yet be fuUy explored (in die absence
of any adequate dictionary of Ternatese), die observation is
based on die fact tiiat many Ternatese words are predictably
like Tobelo words. A Tobelo word with a final [... VaCVa#]
(where Va is the same unstressed vowel), especially, often has
a Ternatese cognate witfiout the final syllable.