Kewa language
Engan language complex with a unique forest avoidance register.
Kewa belongs to the Engan language complex and is spoken in Papua New Guinea’s Southern Highlands province. A dictionary of its western dialect was produced by Franklin & Franklin in 1978.
In terms of sound, the consonants /p/ and /k/ can be pronounced as fricatives [ɸ] and [x]. The /k/ sound may also become [kx] or, in the southern dialect, [h]. The consonant /c/ can be realized as [tʃ], while /s/ may shift forward to [s̪] before the vowel /a/. The sounds /l/ and /ɾ/ often appear as retroflex [ɭ̆] and [ɽ]; /l/ can also be a flap [ɺ], and /ɾ/ may become a trill [r] in the southeast dialect.
Kewa also has a specialized pandanus avoidance register, used only in the forest during the karuka harvest. This register has a regularized grammar and a restricted vocabulary of about a thousand words that differ from everyday Kewa. It was first described by Karl J. Franklin in 1972. Words in this register often have broader meanings. For instance, *yoyo* (a reduplication of *yo* ‘leaf’) can refer to hair, ear, breast, or scrotum—things that hang from the body like pandanus leaves from a tree. *Palaa*, meaning ‘limb’ (either thigh or branch), is used for anything related to trees, including root, firewood, and fire. (Even in normal Kewa, *repena* means both ‘tree’ and ‘fire’.) The word *maeye* (‘crazy’) refers to any non-human animal, contrasting with the rational human world.
Many words in this register are built from Kewa morphology but carry idiosyncratic meanings in the forest. For example, *aayagopa* comes from *aa* ‘man’, *yago* ‘fellow’, and *pa* ‘to do, to make’, and refers to man, knee, skin, and neck. From this word, phrases like *ni madi aayagopa-si* (I carry man-dim) mean “my father.” The grammar is also simplified: clause-linking morphology is lost, replaced by simple juxtaposition. In standard Kewa, there are two sets of verbal endings, one for actions done for the speaker’s benefit, but that set is absent from the pandanus language. The remaining inflection differs somewhat—for example, the forms of ‘to be’ vary, and the suffix *-nu* in *aayagopanu* is a collective marker.
- language family
- Engan language complex
- region
- Southern Highlands province, Papua New Guinea
- dialects
- western dialect, south dialect, southeast dialect
- notable feature
- pandanus avoidance register
- documentation
- dictionary by Franklin & Franklin (1978)
Lore & Background
Many pandanus-register words are coined from Kewa morphology with idiosyncratic meanings. Aayagopa, from aa 'man', yago 'fellow', and pa 'to do, to make', refers to man, knee, skin, and neck. Phrases built on it include ni madi aayagopa-si (I carry man-dim) meaning 'my father'. Grammar is simplified: clause-linking morphology is lost, replaced by juxtaposition. The verbal ending set indicating actions for the speaker's benefit is missing; other inflections differ, as seen in forms of 'to be'.
Reader's Guide
The Kewa language complex is significant for its well-documented pandanus avoidance register, a rare linguistic phenomenon used exclusively during the karuka harvest in the forest. This register demonstrates how language can be adapted for specific social and environmental contexts, with a restricted vocabulary of about a thousand words and simplified grammar. The register's semantic broadening, such as using yoyo for body parts that hang like pandanus leaves, reveals cultural and ecological connections. The documentation by Karl J. Franklin and the dictionary by Franklin & Franklin provide foundational resources for understanding Engan languages. The loss of clause-linking morphology and the missing benefactive verbal set in the register highlight structural contrasts with standard Kewa. Materials on East Kewa are held in the open access Arthur Capell collections, aiding ongoing research. The language's phonology, with variant realizations across dialects, adds to its linguistic interest.
Did You Know?
- The pandanus register is used only in the forest during the karuka harvest.
- The word yoyo in the pandanus register refers to hair, ear, breast, and scrotum.
- In the pandanus register, maeye 'crazy' refers to any non-human animal.
- The pandanus register lacks the verbal ending set indicating actions done for the speaker's benefit.
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