WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
Argonauts of the Western Pacific / An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea cover

Argonauts of the Western Pacific / An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea

Chapter 173: VIII
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

This work presents an in-depth ethnographic study of the Kula exchange system among the Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia. It explores the ceremonial aspects of the Kula, where participants engage in the exchange of shell valuables across islands, highlighting the social and cultural significance of these exchanges. The author examines the intricate relationships and networks formed through this practice, emphasizing its role in establishing social status and community ties. Additionally, the text discusses the broader implications of such exchanges on understanding human behavior and social organization, supported by detailed observations and illustrations.

VIII

From the linguistic point of view, the final parts of the spells, the dogina, present, as a rule, fewer remarkable features. Phonetically the most outstanding trait is the purely onomatopoetic sound complexes, such as sididi or saidididi, or the three words sididi, tatata, numsa, found in the Kadumiyala spell. From the point of view of meaning, there are in some of the dogina interesting metaphorical turns of speech, such as the descriptions of time in the Kaygagabile spell, where the difference in speed between the magician and his companions is expressed by allusions to the morning and evening sun, couched in figurative speech. Some mythical allusions also find their way into the dogina. These parts of a spell are undoubtedly the least important in the natives’ eyes; very often the same dogina is used with a number of formulæ belonging to the one cycle, as we have noticed. Other spells have no dogina at all, for instance, that of Kapitunena Duku, where the onomatopoetic sound sidididi stands for the whole dogina. As said above, the manner of reciting these parts is more perfunctory, with fewer melodic modulations and phonetic peculiarities.