A similarity in cultural and linguistic change 9783110870169, 9783110132977

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W A R D H. G O O D E N O U G H

A Similarity in Cultural and Linguistic Change

LISSE

THE PETER DE RIDDER PRESS 1975

© Copyright reserved No part of this text may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means without written permission from the author. ISBN 90 316 0052 0

The text of this article is reprinted from Linguistics and Anthropology: In Honor of C. F. Voegelin edited by M. Dale Kinkade, Kenneth L. Hale, and Oswald Werner (Lisse: The Peter de Ridder Press, 1975) pp. 263-273

Printed in Belgium by N.I.C.I., Ghent

1. In the language of Truk in Micronesia, as in many other parts of the world, there are words whose use is regarded as offensive or inappropriate in some social contexts. These contexts are not the same for all words. It appears, however, that there is an orderly relationship among the contexts and the words such that the different mutual distributions of words and contexts form a Guttman scale.1 Their different distributions, therefore, appear all to be functions of the same underlying consideration, each distribution type indicating a different degree of some kind of social 'distance', the distance in this instance having to do with sex, as we shall see. The materials I shall discuss are part of a larger body of data relating to the distribution of behavioral restrictions in social relationships in Truk, materials whose analysis is only now being resumed after being deferred for several years.2 I expect that other restrictions relating to sexual distance will also fit into the little scale of tabu words presented here. (See Goodenough 1951:47 for a preliminary scale of sexual distance.) Nor is my inventory of tabu words complete. What I present, then, is a small report of work in progress. I offer it because, taken together with material relating to another scale of behavioral restrictions, it provides evidence that change in these aspects of social culture proceeds in a manner analogous to that of change in the phonology and morphology of languages. 2. According to Boutau K. Efot, my principal informant on the subject,3 all of these words belong to a general category known as foosun neewut 'language of the men's house'. (What is meant by this is similar to what we mean by the expression 'barrackroom language', although it is by no means identical in its social implications.) Another name for these words is foosun akkafacaamas 'language of face-reddening'.

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In his general account to me, Mr. Boutau distinguished three ranks (tetteri) of fodsun neewut.

2.1 The first rank includes the names for private parts (sexual and anal) of men and women and for functions of the sexual organs (see Appendix). They may not ordinarily be mentioned in sexually mixed company (not counting children). Lovers and husband and wife may use these words in private together - a sign of their sexual intimacy - but not in public. The one occasion when their public utterance in mixed company is acceptable, and even appropriate, is in a fight. For this reason, words in this rank offodsun neewut are referred to as kkeeneemoowun 'war calls'. A person who does not fight on being taunted with such words is a craven. These words may be used by men among themselves in recounting sexual adventures or in joking, and they may be used similarly by women when no men are present. But there are prohibitions even here. Women who are 'sisters' (pwiipwi) and men who are 'brothers' {pwiipwi)4 may not use these words in talk together; neither may any pair who are 'father' (saam) or 'mother' (iin) and 'child' (naaw). They are also prohibited between a wife's 'brother' and a man's 'sister's' husband (ekkees) and between a husband's 'sister' and a woman's 'brother's' wife (also ekkees).5 These words may not be used by young men in the presence of men of middle or older age, nor may they be used by young women in the presence of women of middle or older age. 2.2 The second rank of fodsun neewut contains words for parts of the body closely associated with the genital and anal areas. It also contains some words whose meanings are innocent in themselves but whose phonological shapes make them honomymous or nearly homonymous with words in the first rank (see Appendix). Unlike words of the first rank, these words are permitted between men who are wife's 'brother' and 'sister's' husband {ekkees) to one another and between women who are husband's 'sister' and 'brother's' wife {ekkees). A man may use these words jokingly with women, provided his older 'brother' is not present and provided neither he nor any man present is in a kin relationship to any of the women except the relationship of husband's 'brother' to 'brother's' wife {pwiippwunu) or of 'sister's' husband to wife's 'sister' {pwiippwunu).6

2.3 Words of the third rank are difficult to characterize. In some instances they are suggestive of words in the first and second ranks. The less polite words for anal functions belong here. There are also some words whose reason for being in this category is not apparent.

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For all words of this rank there are other words of identical meaning that are acceptable in any social context (see Appendix). Words of this rank may not be used between 'father' (saam) and 'daughter' (naaw feefiri), 'mother' (iiri) and 'son' (naaw mwaari), or 'brother' and 'sister' (mwaaneyari);7 nor may they be used by anyone in the presence of persons who are so related and within hearing. Otherwise these words may be used freely. 3. The foregoing presents Mr. Boutau's general description. Subsequently, I presented him with a long list of different dyadic social relationships and asked him to indicate whether or not words of the three ranks were tabu in each relationship. I also asked him to indicate in which direction of the relationship they were tabu and whether or not the breach of tabu in each instance was or was not a tipis 'wrong, error'. 8 The results of this exercise closely paralleled what he had told me in his general account (Figure 1). The one exception was that he gave words of the second and third ranks identical distributions. The dyadic context in which he was then responding left out of consideration the restrictions on the use of words of the second rank in sexually mixed company. Nor did he then distinguish between their free use and their being used in joking only. Given the close fit between what he reported on these two different occasions and in these two different approaches to the subject, we can assume that the tabus relating to the use of these words were well structured in his mind. I have no reason to believe that his understanding differed markedly from that of other mature, intelligent members of his immediate community, although it probably differed in its details. 4. According to informants and my own observation, restrictions on the use of words of the third rank are not observed now, except by a few elderly purists. When I was first in Truk in 1947, a number of older people commented on the lack of attention to proper usage of these words among the younger people. When I returned to Truk in 1964, there was no longer any comment about it that I observed. At that time, according to Mr. Boutau, the restrictions on the use of words in the second rank were also weakening; but those relating to the first rank, he said, continued to be strictly observed. He commented that in a community on Udot Island, one in which he had relatives, things had gone even farther. There, prohibitions relating even to the first rank were being treated lightly. He said that he was embarrassed when he visited there,

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Scale type or distance status

Tabu owed By

To

3

Word ranks 2 1

1.

'brother' 'sister' 'father' 'daughter' 'mother' 'son' 'Da's' Hu Wi's 'Mo' 'So's' Wi Hu's 'Fa' layman R.C. priest layman Prot. minister layman catechist layman lay preacher

'sister' 'brother' 'daughter' 'father' 'son' 'mother' Wi's 'Mo' 'Da's' Hu Hu's 'Fa' 'So's' Wi R.C. priest layman Prot. minister layman catechist layman lay preacher layman

(2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2) (2)

2.

'adult' woman 'adult' man

'adult' man 'adult' woman

3.

Wi's 'brother' 'sister's' Hu Hu's 'sister' 'brother's' Wi young man young woman nonchief 'brother' 'sister' older man older woman 'son' 'daughter' 'daughter's' Hu 'son's' Wi chief (trad.)

'sister's' Hu Wi's 'brother' 'brother's' Wi Hu's 'sister' older man older woman chief (trad.) 'brother' 'sister' older man older woman 'father' 'mother' Wi's 'father' Hu's 'mother' nonchief

(3a)

4.

All other relationships not implied by or included in any of above

Codes: 2 1 0 *

= = = =

2 2 2 2 ' 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

0 0

*

•

2 2

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

0

0

0

restriction applies and its violation is a wrong (tipis). restriction applies but its violation is not a wrong. restriction does not apply. coded as O on detailed list, but indicated as possible only in joking behavior in general account. ( ) = restriction no longer observed by most people as of 1964. Fig. 1. Scale of word tabus in Trukese

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his male relatives being capable of saying such things as noon niwitumw ('in your anus') even in the presence of their 'sisters'. That particular community on Udot, he said, was the only place he knew where such was the case. It appears, then, that change in usage is following the lines of structure in the Guttman scale, all words of a given rank tending to be treated similarly. By dropping the restrictions on words of the third rank, Truk's people are, in effect, merging the first and second positions on the scale (Figure 1). A scale remains, but it is now simplified by one degree of difference on it. A similar simplification resulting from change has been observed for another status scale in Truk, one having to do with deference or prohibitions against being above {pin me wodn) another (Goodenough 1951:113). 5. With both scales, it seems evident that change, once begun for whatever reason, has tended to affect all members of a cognitive class or category similarly. If we allow for the possibility that Mr. Boutau may have assigned some words to the third rank because they were no longer tabu and some to the second rank because they still were tabu, such adjustments only serve to emphasize his own sense of cognitive order that change should follow category or class lines. That change does, in fact, tend to affect members of a structural category similarly is well documented for languages. Such change does not equally affect all members of the class at the same time, as isogloss boundaries demonstrate (Weinreich, Labov, and Herzog 1968); but once alternative forms of one or more members of a class arise, there seems to be a cognitive intuition that what is true or possible for some members of a class should be true or possible for all of them. Thus if a, b, c, d, e, and / are members of a class, and for a and b there develop alternative, competing forms a' and b', analogy now suggests that c', d', e', a n d / ' are also appropriate alternatives. The alternatives may be such as not to destroy the boundaries of the class now consisting of two alternative sets of members - so that it remains a distinct class within the larger system of classes. But the alternatives may be such as to do away with the distinctive features of the class, merging it with another class, as when an alternative pronunciation of a once distinctive phoneme (phonological class) makes it indistinguishable from another phoneme in the same language. Such is the pattern of change that has apparently taken place in the merging of scale positions in these examples of culture change from Truk.

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Thus we are able to document that in this respect, at least, a known principle of language change applies to other aspects of culture as well. 6. In their ground-breaking "Empirical Foundations for a Theory of Language Change", Weinreich, Labov, and Herzog (1968) call attention to the difference between principles of change as a process and the events that serve to 'actuate' or trigger the process in the first place. Theory of change must deal not only with what happens once alternatives have been introduced, it must also deal with the events by which alternatives become available as objects of choice. I cannot document the events that actuated alternative usages leading to abandonment of prohibitions relating to Trukese words in the third rank. It seems virtually certain, however, that the change began after the beginning of contact with Europeans and other foreigners in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Traders and missionaries were then coming on the scene and learning to speak Trukese. Their attention was readily called to words that were tabu or not freely usable in sexually mixed company generally; but as outsiders, they did not themselves participate in the kin relationships in which words of the third rank were prohibited, nor were they frequent parties to domestic situations in which other people in these relationships were assembled together. The missionaries introduced a new context for assembling these kinsmen, however, namely Sunday worship in church, where the prestigious ministers or priests used these words in all innocence. They put some of them into their translations of the New Testament, Prayer Book, and Catechism. The traders, who tended to marry locally, as a matter of pride sought to maintain domestic arrangements of a slightly more European style. Restrictions of the third rank that made no obvious sense to them tended to be ignored in their own households, so that their wealthy and powerful half-caste children, although speaking Trukese as their native languages, were in a position to make a point of their social position by ignoring some of the traditional niceties the way their alien fathers had done. Once nonobservance of the tabu on words of the third rank was established as an allowable alternative in church settings and among wealthy half-castes, the alternative usage had precedents by which it could be excused in other settings and among other persons. Thus a trend in choice of behavior among alternatives was put in motion. The direction of culture change was now set and needed only time to run its course. Such, we may surmise, were the actuating or triggering events by which alternative patterns were introduced; and such, we may

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presume, were the social contexts of these events, contexts from which arose the motives providing a selective pressure in favor of one alternative over the other. Imperfect learning by socially significant immigrants has been recognized as one of the processes by which new alternatives get fed into the awareness of a language's speakers (Weinreich, Labov, and Herzog 1968). And in the case before us, there is circumstantial, although no direct evidence, that imperfect learning by significant immigrants was the likely source of the cultural alternatives that set the stage for change in social restrictions on word usage. 7. What I have presented is only one small case among many different cultures and many different aspects of culture. But it encourages us to expect that as methods of formal analysis of the content of culture progress we shall find such examples proliferating. It encourages us in the view that eventually we shall achieve one body of theory that will account for change in both language and culture. University of Pennsylvania

APPENDIX

Tabu Words of Trukese First rank aamenifo - labia majora. awenimwi - cervix. caaca - noise made by genitalia in sexual intercourse. caap - genitals. cep - become erect (of penis). Also pec. cif - prod the female genitals with the penis in sexual foreplay. cificif - engage in such prodding. cifiti - prod (the female genitals). coof - penis. eeg - genital odor. egiyeg - genital odors. facaaca - reddish color of some female genitalia (as when stimulated). fe - have sexual intercourse. feey - have sexual intercourse with (someone). fewun niwit - buttocks (neeniyen moot 'sitting place' is acceptable).

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fewutun - anus. fiir - labia minora. gan - have orgasm. iri - masturbate. kkor - pubic and underarm hair. kkiir - pulled back (of foreskin), exposed (or prepuce). micikken - clitoris. mwaa - vagina. mwas - have unwashed genital smell. mwasamwas - have unwashed genital smell. nicaase - fellatio. nicaatu - cunnilingus. niwit - anus; penis. nukunuwoc - trough back of head of penis. otow - swell internally when stimulated (of the vagina). pec - be erect (of penis). Also cep. pwaar - pubic triangle (of woman). pwagen mwaa - vaginal opening. pwarappwec - without pubic hair (of a woman). pwotteneg - smell of unwashed genital smell. pwoomwas - smell of unwashed ginital smell. reepwag - fondling a woman's genitals. see - penis. seemwas - penis with unwashed smell. seepec - erect penis. seetipap - smegma penis. seewacep - big penis; have a big penis. siir - urine. sir - urinate. sum - testicle. taag - penis. tipap - smegma. tteneg - unwashed genital smell. tuwesir - urinate in orgasm (of a woman). tuwefacaaca - reddish colored female genitals. tuweffir - endowed with well-developed labia minora. tuwekkor - have hairy female genitals. tiiwemwas - female genitalia with unwashed smell. tiiwootow - a vagina that swells internally when stimulated. tuii - female genitalia.

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wee - have sexual intercourse. weet - sperm. wiiteey - massage (a woman's genitals) with the penis. Second rank ca - eat. Cf. caaca in first rank (mwègè is appropriate). cammog - eat heavily (mwègèmmog is appropriate). caaca - be eating (mwèmmwègé is appropriate). caari - eat (vt.) (ani is appropriate). caariya- - food (for someone) to eat (ana- is appropriate). capwen - lie on one's back (tabu because it is the female position in intercourse). capwenità - lie on one's back. cca - blood; be bloody (also the word for menstrual blood and for menstruation). conomwas - liar, false gossiper about the other sex. Cf. mwas in first rank. ir - be buried. Cf. iri in first rank. ireey - bury (vt.). mwas - dislike. Cf. mwas in first rank (opwut is appropriate). mwaseniine - exclamation of disgust or exasperation. Cf. mwas in first rank. neecimonnu- - inner part of upper thigh; lap. niikiinog - back of thigh and buttocks together (neeniyen moot is appropriate). Third rank cif - be nice. Cf. cif in first rank. cifeggaw - be disagreeable. cìfèèc - be very nice. èèc - good, suitable (yvutek is appropriate). fèwiin moot - buttocks (neeniyen moot is appropriate, also sekiir 'back'). ggaw - bad {pwutak is appropriate). kukkiin - little. Cf. kkiir in first rank (ginigiin is appropriate). kùrèwùren - comfortable (kunammwe is appropriate). Cf. kkiir in first rank. mesepaat - fool around; doodle (mesekitikit is appropriate). mwààneson - arrogance, disdain. Cf. suun in first rank (mwàànewùs is appropriate). neggin - girl (niyera is appropriate).

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WARD H. GOODENOUGH

nissimwa - cowardice; cowardly, timid. Cf. mwaa in first rank (nissiyâ is appropriate). pàà - excrement {pmwu is appropriate). pwaag - hole (gaat is appropriate). pwara - brave. Cf. pwaar in first rank (maat is appropriate). pwokkus - fragrance; smell sweet (pwoowûtek is appropriate). pwoomac - stench; stink (pwoopwutak is appropriate). pwoonow - stench; stink (pwoopwutak is appropriate). pwise - excrement {pmwu is appropriate). sig - fart (fenitog is appropriate). takir - laugh (kekkey is appropriate). takiriiy - laugh at (kekkeyisini is appropriate). tàyiri - tease (mesekitikitiiy is appropriate). wâtte - big (mmôg is appropriate).

NOTES 1

For the definition of a Guttman scale, see Guttman (1944,1950). For its application to ethnography, see Goodenough (1963). 2 Data were collected in 1964-5 in connection with a study of the cultural organization of social relationships, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (Grant No. NSF-GS-340). 3 Mr. Boutau is hereditary chief of one of Rom6num Island's two districts. Fortyseven years old at the time of the study, he had served as island magistrate, representative in the Truk legislature, and municipal judge. His adoptive father had been Rom6nurn's recognized authority on matters relating to traditional history and land tenure. 4 Pwiipwi is the plural by doubling of the base pwii-. Cf. pwiiy 'my sibling of same sex'. Quotation marks around the English kinship terms in the text indicate that the Trukese terms of which they are glosses are extended to include collateral kinsmen. For a full account of Trukese kinship terminology, see Goodenough (1951). 5 Ekkees is the plural by first syllable reduplication of the base eesa- (< *keesa-). Cf. eesey 'my spouse's sibling of opposite sex, my sibling of opposite sex's spouse'. 8 Pwuppwiinu is the plural by first syllable reduplication of the base pwunuwa-. Cf. pwunuwey 'my spouse, my spouse's sibling of same sex, my sibling of same sex's spouse, my spouse's siblings of same sex's spouse'. 7 Mwcidneydn is the plural by doubling of the last two syllables of the base mwaane-. Cf. mwaani 'my male sibling of opposite sex'. 8 In some instances, observance of a tabu was said to be a 'duty' (wiis) but its violation not a 'wrong' (tipis).

REFERENCES Goodenough, Ward H. 1951 Property, Kin, and Community on Truk (= Yale University Publications in Anthropology, 46).

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1963 "Some Applications of Guttman Scale Analysis to Ethnography and Culture Theory", Southwestern Journal of Anthropology 19:235-50. Guttman, Louis 1944 "A Basis for Scaling Qualitative Data", American Sociological Review 9:139-50. 1950 "The Basis for Scalogram Analysis", Studies in Social Psychology in World war II, ed. by S. Stouffer et al., vol. 4: Measurement and Prediction, 60-90. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press. Weinreich, Uriel, William Labov, and Marvin I. Herzog 1968 "Empirical Foundations for a Theory of Language Change", Directions for Historical Linguistics: A Symposium, 97-195. Austin: University of Texas Press.