On the aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands / by Edward Horace Man. With report of researches into the language of the South Andaman Islands by A. J. Ellis.

  • Man, Edward Horace.
Date:
[1932]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the aboriginal inhabitants of the Andaman Islands / by Edward Horace Man. With report of researches into the language of the South Andaman Islands by A. J. Ellis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    38. .mar .wo-%, .Vra-.jo'do be'diff kd'to reff p&'ta igba'dignga be'dig mu’- gum lenpoi'chainga Veda'rereg-gu'mul le-re. While there, Masters .wd'i and ,i-ra- .jo'do, seeing the fat pigs for which their stomachs craved, broke their pig-fast, [be'dig also, see 36. reg pd'ta pig fat, that is, fat pig, not pig’s fat, see 34. ig-ba'dig-nga seeing- (verbal subst.), see 11. be-dig conse- quent on. mu'gum inside or belly, tdrmu'gum beneath, len to, postp. pbi-ehat-nga fond of (any kind of food) -(verbal snbst.). Vedd'reheeaxise oi (see 23), i.e. feeling fond of food to their inside, reg-gu'mul pig-ceremony. We have no corresponding word to gu'mul, it belongs to the peculiar institutions of the Andamanese. Mr. Man says : “Al- though .wb'i had been recently induced to marry, he was only a youth of about 16, and had not yet gone through the ceremony of ‘young man making’ known as gwmul le'ke {gii'mulAevowr- does), when the young neophyte who has for some time past evinced his powers of self-denial, and thereby, in a measure, his fitness to enter upon the cares and trials of married life, is en- abled after a course of three ceremo- nies (known as yd'di-gTvmul- turtle ceremony,iya-^M‘»nM/-honey ceremony, and reg-jl'rx- or simply, as here, reg- gu'mul- pig’s kidney-fat or simply pig ceremony), which take place at inter- vals with a degree of external cere- mony, to resume the use of these favourite articles of food, le-re devour- did. These ceremonies apply to the young of both sexes before reaching puberty. After this period the indi- vidual is said to be bd-tiga-, which implies that he or she may indulge in any kind of food at pleasure. During the period (lasting sometimes 2 or 3 years) of their abstention they are called d'kd-yd'h-, or d'hd-yd'ha- and the fasting period is termed d-kd-yd-ba- ”.] 39. tdrd'lolen atyed're yd'bada. They have suffered no ill consequences thereby, [idrb'lo-len last-to, that is, afterwards, see 18. at-yed'-re, otisthe plural form of the human prefix ah (see II), yed be sick, re past time, that is, men were sick, yd'ha-da not. They fancy that to break the gwmul (see 38) will entail serious consequences, the fact being thatthey then generally gorge themselves with these rich articles of diet, and hence make themselves iU.] 40. med'a d'chitik e'kan leb ro'go Ikpb'r md'to-pai'chalen chi lyuke. We are rearing a few pigs for ourselves. [med a we. d'chitik now. e'kan selves. leb for. ro'go pig. ikpb'r two, that is, a few ; as two is the largest number for which they have a name, they use it indefinitely, see 36. mb'to our own, pai'cha lap, len to, that is, ‘in our midst,’ db'to s. mb'to pi. ngb'to and 6'to s. and pi. are the reflective forms of dot 8. mb'tot pi., ngot and ot, etc., as 61 dolje'rke he my-head shave-does, but dol db'to je'rke I my-own-head shave-do. ehi'lyu-ke fattening-are, see 17.] 41. td'rdi'lea mar'dwi'u otpdg'i kdt'chu len ydwgare. The day before yesterday weall went again to Katchall. [tdr probably ‘ beyond,’ di'lea yester- day. mar'du-ru we aU, see 32. ot-pag'i again, ig-pdg'i is also used, see ot, ig, in Nos. 14, 15, and 9, 10, pdg'i repeat, .kdt'chu Katchall. len to, postp. ydwga-re go-did, used for going to a particular place, otherwise llr is used.] 42. kd'to o'gun d'rla u'batwl bar'- mire, (but) spent only one day there. [kd'to there, o'gun only, d'rla day. ii'ba-tu'l one, see Cl. 5, and also 10 and 43. bar'mi-re spend-did, passing the night there, as on a visit.] 43. me'kan lebro'go wbado'ga mwrgi jl'baba be'dig o'more. We fetched a pig and very many fowls for our own consumption, [me'kan ourselves, see e'kan in 40. leb for, postp. ro'go pig. u-ba-do'ga one, or rather only one, an emphatic form of wba-twl, see 10. mwrgi fowl, see 36. ji'haha very many, be'dig s\s,o. o'»to-r« fetch-did, see 16, to-yu-re bring-did.] 44. jwrulen yd'dl eho'ag drdwru be'dig igbd'digre do'na dwtre yd'bada. On the way we saw several turtles and porpoises, but speared none, [ju-rusea.. len to or in, postp. yd'di turtle. eho'ag porpoise, both rendered plural by the following word, drdu-ru several. be'dig also, ig-bd'dig-re see-did. do'na but. dwtre spear-did. yd'bada not. The usual w'ay to catch turtles is to harpoon them with a spear called kowai-a Ib'ko dwt-nga-, consisting of the tbg-, or a long bamboo haft, at one end of which a socket is provided for the kowai'a-, which is a short pointed and notched iron harpoon; these are connected by a long line.