Native speakers 100,000 (2001 census) | Glottolog kewa1250 | |
Region Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea Language family Trans–New Guinea
Engan
South
Kewa ISO 639-3 Variously:
kjy – Erave (South)
kjs – East
kew – Pasuma (West) | ||
Kewa is a Trans–New Guinea language complex of the Southern Highlands province of Papua New Guinea.
Kewa pandanus language
Kewa's elaborate pandanus avoidance register, which is used only in the forest during the pandan harvest, has been extensively documented. The grammar is regularized and the vocabulary is restricted, with about a thousand words that differ from normal language. The language was first described by Karl J. Franklin in 1972 in an article called "A ritual pandanus language of New Guinea" and published in Oceania 43, 66-76.
Pandanus-register words have a broader semantic scope. For example, yoyo, a reduplication of yo 'leaf', refers to hair, ear, breast, and scrotum, all things which hang from the body as pandanus leaves hang from the tree. Palaa, 'limb,' (either thigh or branch) is used for any reference to trees, including root, firewood, and fire. (Even in normal Kewa, repena means both 'tree' and 'fire'.) Maeye or 'crazy' refers to any non-human animal except dogs. It contrasts with the rational world of humans.
Many words are coined from Kewa morphology but have idiosyncratic meanings in the forest. Aayagopa, from aa 'man', yago 'fellow', and pa 'to do, to make', refers to man, knee, skin, and neck. Many idiosyncratic phrases are then built on this word. For example, ni madi aayagopa-si (I carry man-DIM) means "my father".
The grammar has also been simplified. Clause-linking morphology is lost and replaced by simple juxtaposition of the clauses. In standard Kewa, there are two sets of verbal endings, one indicating actions done for the speaker's benefit. That set is missing from the pandanus language. The other inflection differs somewhat. For example, the forms of 'to be' are:
(The -nu in aayagopanu is a collective suffix.)