Denial (Warpuai)

Denial (Warpuai)

Ismael Isikel. Edited 30/6/2017

The noun “Denial” means the action of denying something. For example, ToLimut shook his head in denial. ToLimut iwalute rauluna mara warpuai. There are other words with similar meaning to denial and these include contradiction, refutation, rebuttal, repudiation, retraction, and abjuration.

Warpuai
In my dialect (Kabakada) warpuai is the word for denial. Warpuai is a statement that something is not true. A similar word and meaning to warpuai is pue which is used frequently in rebuttal remarks. In fact warpuai is the adjective of the verb pue. Words with similar meaning to warpuai include kamale, lagodo, logode, ole, niol, and pata.   Kamale means refuse to give or withhold something. It is similar in meaning to the word lagodo. Lagodo is a noun that refers to a person who withholds something. It is commonly used for a greedy person. Logode is the act of refusing. Similarly, ole is to refuse to comply with an instruction or request. Niol is a noun that is used to refer to a disobedient person, especially children. The word pata is similar in meaning to warpuai. It simply means no.

Example Usage

Ia Iringa ikamale ra boroi. Ms Iriniga refused to give the pig.
To Luana a lagodo. Mr Luana is greedy.
Ia Katarina iole ra winawana. Ms Catherine refused to go.
To Kuila a niol. Mr Kuila is disobedient.



Note: Esekia Warvi includes other synonyms in his comment below and those include the word pue that i have included in editing this post.

Vuna and Ra

This post is on the terms Vuna and Ra.

Edited 6/072017 Ismael Isikel

Vuna and Ra commonly appear at the beginning of place names to form the names of villages found in the Tolai areas of East New Britain. Vuna has two meanings: 1. reason; 2. cluster, group. Ra is the definite article the in Kuanua.

Examples of Usage

Ava ra vuna? What is the reason?
A vuna barnavudu. A cluster of bananas.
A vuna tarai. A clan. A group of people (a clan) from one of the two tribes (Pikalama and Marmar) in Tolai culture.

Examples of place names beginning with Vuna and Ra.

Rakunai (the grass) is the name of several villages in East New Britain. The most popular of them is Rakunai village where a Catholic Church and school are located. It shares borders with Raluan (the bulge) and Rakunai United Church.

Other place names beginning with Ra and their meanings include:

Rakandakanda - the cluster of canes
Rakotop - the crossing
Ramale - the valley
Ratongor - the mangrove

Place names beginning with Vuna and their meanings include:

Vunamami - Group of coconuts. Mami is the word that describes a species of coconut. The green husk is sweet and is chewed, similar to sugarcane. Vunamami is a village in Kokopo District.

Vunairoto - Group of iroto trees. Iroto is a species of wood. Vunairoto village is predominantly United Church and shares borders with Kabakada, Nabata, and Vunalir villages along the North Coast.

Vunagamata - Group of laulau trees. Laulau tree bears edible fruits when in season. Vunagamata village is located between Ratongor and Vunavulila villages along the North Coast road.

This post is based on one dialect of Kuanua and that is Kabakada. There are other terms depending on dialect as recently pointed out by Esekia Warvi. After reading my shared post on Facebook (13/6/2017) Mr Warvi commented, "Of similar meaning in Kokopo dialect it's "Bita" as in Bitatita, Bitavavar, Bitamarita, Bitapetep, etc...". My response, "Raluana/Kokopo dialect is bita. It means base or base of. That is one meaning I know. There may be another meaning. My vocab on Raluana/Kokopo dialect is less than comprehensive." There is a term in my Kuanua dialect that means "origin. It is also used to mean "base of" as in "bita"in Raluana/Kokopo dialect. The term is vunapaina. A synonym of vunapaina is turpaina and pronounced in other dialects as turupaina.

Sacred Practices

Sacred Practices (Umana Papait na Pidik)

Ismael K.  Isikel 9/6/2017

Sacred practices in the Tolai culture are found in the Tubuan and Iniat societies. Initiation is the socially prescribed prerequisite for membership in these  males -only sacred societies. Males who want to be initiated pay a fee in tabu to the owner of the tubuan.  

Sacred practices

Tubuan and Taraiu

A Taraiu is a special place set apart for the practice of Tubuan performances and other activities. Only initiated males are allowed to enter the Taraiu and take part in Tubuan activities. Females and uninitiated males are forbidden from entering the Taraiu or participate in Tubuan activities. The Taraiu is a sacred place and worthy of respect in Tolai culture. Females and uninitiated males do take part in feasts involving tubuan performances outside of the taraiu but keep to a respectable distance from the tubuan and men of the tubuan (tarai na tubuan).

Iniat and Marovot

A marovot is a sacred place for Iniat practices carried out by certain male members of the village. Wood and stone carvings of human figures, birds, and animals were carved at the marovot and used in Iniat rituals and other sacred practices.  As oral history goes, my grandmother (my father’s mother) told me on several occasions that one of the practices at the marovot was for the person to enter the marovot and perform certain rituals before taking a “deep sleep” so that his spirit depart the body and travel in the form of a bird or other animal form. The purpose of the “spirit travel” varied but one of them was payback killings.

Related terms and practices

Palnapidik. A  Palnapidik today is essentially ceremonial and is used in various traditional ceremonies in Tolai communities as part of decorating the ceremonial location. It is usually a small ornately decorated house. The current practice and purpose may not be the same as that of the past, especially before and during the arrival of Christianity and other foreign influences. Information now surfacing from archives, including old church records, (NGI Historical Society 4/5/2017) points to a traditional ceremony on its own involving the construction of a huge tall structure as the Palnapidik.

Tabalar.  Tabalar is the Kuanua word for carving. Other words that may be used to mean carving are Pokopoko and Tanua

Tulungen. Tulungen is the word for spirit.

Watabalar.  the practice of sleeping at the marovot in order for the spirit (tulungen) in the human body to depart and travel  in another form such as a bird, pig, shark (balilai) or other chosen animals. This animal form is chosen before the Iniat (the man) sleeps in order to accomplish the watabalar in order to carry out a task in non-human form.

Note: This post is written mostly from oral historical sources except for the reference to the Palnapidik ((NGI Historical Society 4/5/2017).