PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Series C - No. 84 A COMPARATIVE DICTIONARY OF OROKOLO, GULF OF PAPUA by Herbert A. Brown wi th line illustrations by the author Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Brown, H.A. A comparative dictionary of Orokolo, Gulf of Papua. C-84, xxii + 275 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1986. DOI:10.15144/PL-C84.cover ©1986 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. PACIFIC LINGUISTICS is issued through the Linguistic Circle of Canberra and consists of four series: SERIES A - Occasional Papers SERIES B - Monographs SERIES C - Books SERIES D - Special Publications EDITOR: S.A. Wurm ASSOCIATE EDITORS: D.C. Laycock, C.L. Voorhoeve, D.T. Tryon, T.E. Dutton EDITORIAL ADVISERS: B.W. Bender K.A. McElhanon University of Hawaii Summer Institute of Linguistics David Bradley H.P. McKaughan La Trobe University University of Hawaii A. Capell P. MUhlhausler University of Sydney Linacre College, Oxford Michael G. Clyne G.N. O'Grady Monash University University of Victoria, B.C. S.H. Elbert A.K. Pawley University of Hawaii University of Auckland K.J. Franklin K.L. Pike Summer Institute of Linguistics Summer Institute of Linguistics W.W. Glover E.C. Polome Summer Institute of Linguistics University of Texas G.W. Grace Malcolm Ross University of Hawaii Australian National University M.A.K. Halliday Gillian Sankoff University of Sydney University of Pennsylvania E. Haugen W.A.L. Stokhof Harvard University University of Leiden A. Healey B.K. T'sou Summer Institute of Linguistics City Polytechnic of Hong Kong L.A. Hercus E.M. Uhlenbeck Australian National University University of Leiden Nguy�n Dl1ng Li�m J. W.M. Verhaar University of Hawaii Divine Word Institute, John Lynch Madang University of Papua New Guinea All correspondence concerning PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, including orders and subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Secretary PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies The Australian National University Canberra, A.C.T. 2601 AustralIa Copyright © The Author First Published 1986 Maps drawn by Theo Baumann Printed by A.N.U. Printing Service Bound by Adriatic Bookbinders Pty Ltd The editors are indebted to the Australian National University for assistance in the production of this series This publication was made possible by an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund ISSN 0078-754X ISBN 0 85883 317 4 TO S.H.D. Fellow Student and Colleague CONTENTS Table of Contents v Foreword VI Preface vii Map XI Introduction xii Abbreviations XX References XXI DICTIONARY 1 English-Orokolo Index 109 T oaripi-Orokolo Index 169 Catalogue of Orokolo Publications 206 Bi bliogr a phy 206 Appendix 1: Terms of Relationship 209 Appendix 2: Traditional Systems of Counting 211 Appendix 3: Outline of Verb System 212 Appendix 4: Swadesh Word List 219 Appendix 5: Orokolo Texts (a) Pipi Korovu 224 Notes 241 (b) Letters 247 Notes 252 v FOREWORD The present dictionary of Orokolo. with its English-Orokolo index. is the first comprehensive dictionary of this important Papuan language of the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. The language has close to 7500 speakers. with the major of its two dialects. Orokolo proper. having approximately 6500 speakers. In addition to being an important local language. Orokolo has in recent years also become a limited local lingua franca in the western part of the area of the Eleman stock­ level fa mily to which Orokolo belongs. The stock-level fa mily itself is a member of the vast Trans­ New Guinea phylum of Papuan languages which with over 500 languages occupies over 4/5 of the mainland of New Guinea. both in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya. and also extends into Timor. The relationship between languages of the Eleman family and other Trans-New Guinea phylum languages further north is not close and in fact rather tenuous. but there seems to be good grounds. on the basis of work carried out during recent years. that this assumed realtionship is real. The Orokolo language is fairly closely related to the T oaripi language spoken further east. That language. which is the most important language of the Eleman stock-level family and has over 20.000 speakers. has for many years been used as a missionary lingua franca. and was formerly also used in the Orokolo language area until the emergence of Orokolo as an independent church language. and later local lingua franca. The Toaripi language is well studied. and a dictionary on it. by H.A. Brown. was published in 1968 by the University of Sydney as Oceania Linguistic Monographs No. 11. The author of the present dictionary. Dr H.A. Brown. has made a very valuable contribution to Papuan linguistics with both his dictionaries of Toaripi and the present Orokolo work. The value of the Orokolo dictionary has been considerably enhanced by the addition of Toaripi comparisons to the Orokolo dictionary entries which in many instances throw additional light on the etymology and semantics of individual Orokolo items. The addition of numerous references to the Orokolo Scripture translations, which are certainly all available to readers specifically interested in that language, constitutes a useful help for the user looking for examples of the usage of given dictionary items. Also, the inclusion of an appendix containing an Orokolo clan myth and letters written in Orokolo by indigenous speakers of the language is a valuable addition to the dictionary. I wish to thank the author for his excellent contribution to the knowledge of the Papuan languages of the Gulf area of Papua New Guinea. S. A. Wurm, Professor of Linguistics, Editor vi PREFACE It is now 47 years since I began studying Orokolo, the language which is the subject of this dictionary. At that time I was a student, preparing to be a missionary, doing an Honours Course in Anthropology at University College and the London School of Economics. It had then only just become possible for an Arts student to graduate in London in this subject. I was, in fact, the only student taking the course during 1934-6, although there was also a fellow student doing a Special B.Sc. in Anthropology. For Linguistics we had the advantage of tuition by the late Professor J.R. Firth, who was then teaching at University College. As there were only two of us students taking the course, the instruction he gave us was largely of an informal character. There were several occasions in our discussions when he paid generous tributes to the contributions to linguistic knowledge made by missionaries as an outcome of their work of Scripture translation. I say 'generous', because I am well aware that some Scripture translations into 'primitive' languages have shown little linguistic discernment. Those were the days before Wycliffe Bible Translators had begun their work. It would have been easy for a man of Firth's linguistic knowledge to have pointed out a few of the many errors made by missionary translators, but never did I hear him do this. It was these expressions of appreciation of linguistic work done by missionaries that encouraged me to resolve to do all I could in the way of translation, whatever form my missionary duties might take. I further resolved that I would set down in some systematic form such knowledge of Papuan languages as I might acquire. This dictionary is an outcome of that resolve. Towards the end of 1938 I left England for Papua, and there, apart from three furloughs in England and some shorter periods in Australia, I have lived, until two years ago eye trouble made necessary a return to England. Prior to graduating, however, I had made a beginning at investigating Papuan languages. I received an introduction to S.H . Ray, and at his suggestion I began a study of Orokolo, using as a basis the then recent translation of the Four Gospel and Acts made by the Rev. H.P. Schlencker. The main reason for this choice of language was my anticipation that I would be appointed to a place somewhere in the Gulf of Papua. Ray told me that he had himself very little knowledge of Orokolo, but he knew it to be cognate with T oaripi. I was able to get from him material on Toaripi and other Gulf languages. I made some progress with the study of Orokolo. Schlencker's translation turned out to be far from satisfactory, and other more urgent claims on my time resulted in my putting aside my investigations. In due course, having completed my training, I arrived in Papua, and was appointed to the Mission District of Moru. There Toaripi was the language in use. Earlier missionaries had translated the whole of the New Testament, but there was neither grammar nor dictionary. However, I was able to show to the missionary colleague, the Rev. Maurice Nixon, whose position I was taking over, some fairly extensive notes on Toaripi that I had written in England as a result of help from Ray. My duties as a district missionary proved to be onerous. The area I had to cover included 60 miles of coast where there were two mission stations, 40 miles apart. At a later date a third mission station was established on the mountains 100 miles inland. Roads were lacking. Along the coast the beach was the highway. Itineration was on foot or by dug-out canoe, a mode of progression that was vi i vi i i at times even slower than walking. When I was not travelling.