{{Short description|Special language used in Papua New Guinea}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}} [[File:Pandanus julianettii nuts.png|thumb|[[Karuka]] nuts (''Pandanus julianettii'')]] A '''pandanus language''' is an elaborate [[avoidance language]] among several of the peoples of the eastern [[New Guinea Highlands]], used when collecting ''[[Pandanus]]'' nuts.
== Use ==
Annually, people camp in the forest to harvest and cook the [[Nut (fruit)|nuts]] of [[karuka]] (both ''[[Pandanus julianettii]]'' and ''[[Pandanus brosimos]]''). Many normal words are thought to be unhealthy for the plants, as they carry associations inimical to the proper growth of the nuts. An elaborate [[vocabulary]] of up to a thousand words and phrases has developed to replace the [[taboo]] vocabulary. The new vocabulary focuses on words involved with trips to harvest karuka nuts, and changes as words become known outside an area.<ref name="Franklin"/> The language is often spoken to control the claimed magical properties of the higher elevations where the karuka grows, and to placate dangerous [[nature spirit]]s like ''Kita-Menda'' (also called {{lang|imo|Giluwe yelkepo}}),<ref name="Stefaniw"/> the ritual keeper of the [[free-ranging dog|feral]] [[New Guinea singing dog|dog]]s. ''Pandanus'' language generally should never be used outside the area where the trees grow, for fear of mountain spirits hearing it and coming down to investigate.<ref name="Franklin"/>
All ages and genders are expected to know the ritual language before entering the taboo areas, but outsiders who do not know the language may be allowed to speak [[Tok Pisin]] instead.<ref name="Franklin"/> As Tok Pisin has become more widely spoken in the area, ''Pandanus'' languages have been spoken less. Newer generations also seem to be less afraid of the deep forest, and do not see much need for the protective talk. The Kewa and Imbongu pandanus languages were thought to be dying out already by the 1990s.<ref name="Stefaniw"/>
==Structure== The grammar and vocabulary of pandanus language is based on the mother tongue, but a restricted and consolidated form, especially for names of living organisms.<ref name="Franklin"/> Often words are grouped into umbrella terms which do not have an equivalent concept in ordinary speech. ''Pandanus'' language words can also be [[loanword]]s from other languages.<ref name="Pawley">{{cite book |last1=Pawley |first1=Andrew |author-link1=Andrew Pawley |title=The Language Game: Papers in Memory of Donald C. Laycock |date=1992 |publisher=Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University |others=Memory of [[Donald Laycock|Donald C. Laycock]] |isbn=0858834006 |editor1-last=Dutton |editor1-first=Tom E. |series=Pacific Linguistics Series C |volume=110 |location=Canberra |pages=313–334 |language=English |chapter=Kalam Pandanus Language: An Old New Guinea Experiment in Language Engineering |issn=0078-7558 |oclc=222981840 |editor2-last=Ross |editor2-first=Malcolm |editor2-link=Malcolm Ross (linguist) |editor3-last=Tryon |editor3-first=Darrell |editor3-link=Darrell Tryon}}</ref>
'Karuka,' as a term, is not treated consistently across all ''Pandanus'' languages. For example, in ordinary [[Kewa language]] it is ''aga'',<ref name="Lim">{{cite book |last1=Lim |first1=Tong Kwee |title=Edible Medicinal and Non-Medicinal Plants |date=2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-94-007-4053-2 |pages=128–130 |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-4053-2_17 |language=English |chapter=Pandanus julianettii |volume=4 |oclc=822591349}}</ref><ref name="French">{{cite book |last1=French |first1=Bruce R. |author-link=Bruce French (agricultural scientist) |title=Growing food in the Southern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea |date=1982 |publisher=AFTSEMU (Agricultural Field Trials, Surveys, Evaluation and Monitoring Unit) of the World Bank funded project in the Southern Highlands of Papua New Guinea |pages=64–71 |url=https://docplayer.net/42672690-Growing-food-in-the-southern-highlands-province-of-papua-new-guinea-bruce-r-french.html |access-date=20 September 2018 |language=English |format=PDF}}</ref><ref name="Franklin"/> but in the Kewa ''Pandanus'' language it is ''rumala agaa''.<ref name="Franklin"/><ref name="Stefaniw"/> Conversely, in both ordinary [[Kalam language]] and its ''Pandanus'' register, the word is the same: {{lang|kmh|alŋaw}}.<ref name="Pawley"/>
==Languages with ''Pandanus'' registers== ''Pandanus'' [[Register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] have been best documented for: {{Div col|colwidth=18em}} *[[Imbongu]]<ref name="Franklin"/><ref name="Stefaniw"/> *[[Kalam language|Kalam]]<ref name="Pawley"/><ref name="Franklin"/><ref name="Stefaniw"/> *[[Kewa language|Kewa]]<ref name="Franklin"/><ref name="Stefaniw"/> *[[Kobon language|Kobon]]<ref name="Pawley"/> *[[Melpa language|Melpa]]<ref name="Franklin"/><ref name="Stefaniw"/> *[[Angal language|Mendi]]<ref name="Franklin">{{cite journal |last1=Franklin |first1=Karl J. |title=A Ritual Pandanus Language of New Guinea |journal=Oceania |date=September 1972 |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=66–76 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4461.1972.tb01197.x |language=English |oclc=883021898}}</ref><ref name="Stefaniw">{{cite book |last1=Franklin |first1=Karl J. |last2=Stefaniw |first2=Roman |editor1-last=Dutton |editor1-first=Tom |editor-link1=Tom Dutton (linguist) |title=Culture change, language change – case studies from Melanesia |date=1992 |publisher=Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY |location=Canberra |isbn=978-0858834118 |issn=0078-7558 |pages=1–6 |chapter-url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145785/1/PL-C120.pdf |access-date=25 October 2018 |language=English |chapter=The 'Pandanus Languages' of the Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea – a further report |series=Pacific Linguistics |volume=C-120 |oclc=260177442 |doi=10.15144/PL-C120.1}}</ref> *[[Taiap language|Taiap]]<ref name="Pawley"/> {{Div col end}}
The Kalam ''Pandanus'' language, called {{lang|kmh|alŋaw mnm}} ({{transliteration|kmh|pandanus language}}) or {{lang|kmh|ask-mosk mnm}} ({{transliteration|kmh|avoidance language}}), is also used when eating or cooking [[cassowary]],<ref name="Majnep">{{cite book |last1=Majnep |first1=Ian Saem |last2=Bulmer |first2=Ralph |author-link2=Ralph Bulmer |others=illustrations by Christopher Healey |pages=150, 152 |title=Birds of my Kalam Country |trans-title=Mn̄mon Yad Kalam Yakt |date=1977 |publisher=Auckland University Press |location=New Zealand |isbn=9780196479538 |language=English |oclc=251862814}}</ref> as opposed to speaking {{lang|kmh|monmon mnm}} ({{transliteration|kmh|ordinary/free language}}). It is not spoken out of fear of spirits, but to prevent the nuts from being watery, tough, or rotten; or in the case for cassowaries, to show respect to the bird. Kalam ''Pandanus'' language may also be used outside the forest without ''penalty'' unlike other versions. This register is possibly thousands of years old, and may be inspired by older Pandanus languages.<ref name="Pawley"/>
The [[Huli language]] has an avoidance register called {{lang|hui|tayenda tu ha illili}} ({{transliteration|hui|bush divide taboo}}) used for collecting ''Pandanus'' as well as hunting or traveling. {{lang|hui|Tayenda}}, like many of the above, is used to evade malevolent bush spirits.<ref name="Goldman">{{cite book |last1=Goldman |first1=Laurence |title=Talk Never Dies: The Language of Huli Disputes |date=1983 |publisher=Tavistock Publications |isbn=978-0422782104 |location=London and New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/talkneverdieslan0000gold/page/254 254–257] |language=English |chapter=Talking about talk |oclc=993340993 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/talkneverdieslan0000gold/page/254}}</ref>
==Citations== {{reflist}}
==References== *Ulrich Ammon, 2006. ''Sociolinguistics/Soziolinguistik 3: An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society/Ein Internationales Handbuch Zur Wissenschaft Von Sprache und Gesellschaft'', p. 2042. *William Foley, 1986. ''The Papuan Languages of New Guinea'', p. 43.
==See also== *[[Korean ginseng-harvesters' cant]]
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[[Category:Ritual languages]] [[Category:Pandanus avoidance registers]] [[Category:Taboo]] [[Category:Languages of New Guinea]]