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126 Roslyn M. Frank As Satrústegui points out, in some cases these prayers and folk sayings insert the term inguma when addressing the being in question, while in other cases the same prayer or folk saying employs the term marrau or mamua. Thus, we can see that these three terms (marrau, mamua and inguma) are synonyms: phonological variants of each other. This line of evidence would also suggest that two sets of phonological variants of the term hamalau might have branched off from the original etymon of hamalau and then distanced themselves from each other: one set situated in more eastern dialects and another in more western ones. 29 At the same time we can see that once Christianity arrived, people came up with discursive ways to dissuade the frightening «night visitor» from paying them an unwanted visit. Thus, these formulaic sayings and prayers represent another example of the kind of hybridization that took place when the two belief systems came into direct contact with each other. One only wonders what this night-time prayer would have sounded like before the arrival of Christianity: were children instructed to talk to Hamalau before going to sleep, in order to tell the creature to keep busy with other things, like counting the stars, rather than paying them a visit? And, in the case of adults, were they, too, accustomed to addressing this being each night before falling asleep? As Satrústegui has observed, it is noteworthy that the prayers are not directed to God, Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, seeking their intervention, but rather the discourse scenario has the individual speaking directly to Hamalau, albeit under the variant names of Marrau, Mamu, Mahumahu, Mahuma, Inguma, etc. Also, according reports by Donostia based on the fieldwork he carried out in the same region, his adult informants said that the creature was an animal: «Como una especie de animal sedoso que oprime al durmiente» [‘Like a kind of silky animal that presses down on the sleeper’], while the general opinion of the informants was the «el Ingume es una especie de animal, suave, de mucho peso, que se desliza por el pecho apretándolos» [‘the Ingume is a kind of animal, smooth, very heavy, that slides onto their chest, gripping them tightly’] (cited in Satrústegui 1987: 22). Another clue concerning the nature of the creature comes from the verbal syntax encountered in the prayers and sayings. In Euskara there is a type of dialogic addressivity associated with certain verb forms which requires the speaker to mark the gender of the person being spoken to, i.e., the presence of 29 For a much more detailed ethnographic discussion of the western variants cf. Satrústegui (1981a; 1981b: 365-375).
EVIDENCE IN FAVOR OF THE PALAEOLITHIC CONTINUITY REFUGIUM THEORY (PCRT) 127 the addressee is integrated into the structure of the conjugated verb. Because of this fact, we can determine, based on the sampling of prayers and sayings collected, that the informants addressed the creature using the male gender marker, e.g., ez niok hire beldurrez; enuk hire beldur, etc. That said, it is also true that the collection of prayers and sayings is not extensive. Hence, the examples of dialogic addressivity which mark male gender might not be representative of the discursive style of all speakers. For example, in discussions of the collection of prayers and sayings, the gender of the informant is not indicated. Therefore, we do not know for sure whether men and women always addressed the being if it were male. 30 Also, we need to keep in mind the ambiguous, indeed, amorphous nature of the entity being addressed and the fact that it was often viewed as an animal. In some cases the prayers addressed to the creature, seek protection for the daytime hours as well as at night, repeatedly indicating that the individual is not afraid of the fearsome being at anytime: Mahuma, gaur enuk hire beldur [‘Mahuma, today I do not fear you’] Loan ez ihartzarrian. [‘neither sleeping nor awake.’] Jinkua diau aita, [‘God is our father,’] Anderedena Maria ama, [‘Virgin Mary [our] mother,’] Jandonahani gazaita, [‘Saint John [our] godfather,’] Jandone Petri kusi, [‘Saint Peter [our] cousin,’] Horiek denak ditiau askazi, [‘they all are our relatives,’] Loiten ahal diau ausarki. [‘we can sleep abundantly.’] (Satrústegui 1987: 17) 30 In passing I should mention that there is evidence for a female-oriented interpretation of the main character, a topic that is, however, outside the scope of this study. Briefly stated, this feminine orientation may be reflected in the figures of the pre-Christian Basque goddess Mari and her animal helpers, the Italian Befana and most particularly the Germanic Percht(a)/Bercht(a). In the case of the latter figure we should keep in mind that the etymology of the term (and its phonological variants such as precht and brecht) takes us back to the etymon of Germanic words for «bear», namely, *bher- «bright, brown» which also shows up in the name Hans Rupert/ Ruprecht: «Das Wort percht entspricht althochdeutsch peraht/beraht und bedeutet strahlend, glänzend, und es ist in dieser Bedeutung in Eigennamen wie Berchthold, Albrecht, Rupprecht/ Rupert bis heute erhalten. […] Mit der Etymologie des Namens Bercht(a)/Percht(a) hat man sich seit dem frühen 18.Jahrhundert beschäftigt: Er wurde einerseits mit dem bereits erwähnten althochdeutschen Wort peraht/beraht in Verbindung gebracht; demgemäß würde er also entweder die Leuchtende, Strahlende meinen – oder aber die ‘Frau der Perchtnacht’» [The word percht comes from Old High German peraht/beraht and means ‘bright, shiny’, and it survives in this meaning in names such as Berchthold, Albrecht, Rupprecht/Rupert. […] The etymology of the name Bercht(a)/Percht(a, has been studied since the early18th century: It [the name] was being related, on the one hand, to the Old High German word peraht/beraht already mentioned; accordingly, it would mean either ‘the luminous, bright’ or the ‘Woman of the Perchtnacht’] (Müller and Müller 1999: 450).
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INSULA Quaderno di cultura sarda Nu
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4 INSULA, Quaderno di cultura sarda
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6 Antonello V. Greco 1.1. La docume
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8 Antonello V. Greco biblica in esa
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10 detta ‘Sa Frissa’, cioè ‘
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20 ANNEX: LES TRES CARTES Constanti
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Page 80 and 81: 80 b) Vocalisme Reducció vocàlica
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Page 86 and 87: 86 Andreu Bosch i Rodoreda Pinocchi
Page 88 and 89: 88 REFERÈNCIES BIBLIOGRÀFIQUES An
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Page 100 and 101: 100 Figure 9. A very large Krampus.
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Page 110 and 111: 110 Almost every year from 1931 to
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Page 114 and 115: 114 Roslyn M. Frank In summary, in
Page 116 and 117: 116 Germanic-speaking zones we find
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Page 122 and 123: 122 mamarro, mamorru, mamurru, mama
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Page 132 and 133: 132 Roslyn M. Frank Gómez-Legos, O
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Page 136 and 137: 136 Quando l’autore ha due nomi:
Page 138 and 139: 138 3. ARCHIVI E BIBLIOTECHE Quando
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Page 142 and 143: 142 Num. 4 (dicembre 2008) Joan ARM
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