Re: Fijian gender

Roger írta: "Fijian distinguishes 4 types of possession:  (1) inalienable
(body parts, probably kin terms, probably some other things); (2) alienable
(things that one can possess or obtain for one's use)-- these two categories
are common in many languages of Oceania, Eastern Indonesia (Moluccan area)
and of course elsewhere in the world; assignment to one or the other
category is often flexible.  The other two are more or less unique to Fijian
(3) edible, (4) drinkable-- clearly these last two are fairly restricted as
to what they can refer to.

One question: Say you were talking about e.g. your artificial eye? Would
that be expressed alienably or inalienably, since you can (theoretically at
least) remove it? And what if e.g. your heart was donated?

"Inalienable: the various possessive forms are suffixed

"For the others, the poss. suffixes go on special bases, which then precede
the noun in question:

"Alienable (or general): the suffixes are attached to no-
Edible: attached to ke-
Drinkable: attached to me-

*That* is pretty neat! :) I think I'll steal that for a conlang...

"There can be some overlap: noqu devu 'my sugarcane' (e.g. to sell), mequ
devu 'my sugarcane' (to "drink" i.e. suck on); and perhaps yate/qu 'my
liver' vs. kequ yate 'the piece of liver I can eat'-- it may be that these
categories so exited the early researchers because when first contacted, the
Fijians were still cannibals.

A history question: How did the Europeans stop the Fijians from being
cannabals? I mean, wouldn't they be scared they might be next? :P

"I don't have a grammar of Fijian, but the dictionary notes that ke-
(edible) forms can be used with things characteristic of a person.

Any examples? I don't quite understand that.

"Ditto!! Perhaps our new Oceanist knows of other languages in the area that
have an "edible" etc. category.

Yes indeed! (That's why I asked *here*, not on the ZBB-- I thought since you
and Carol are experts on Oceanic langs you'd be the best people to ask).

Oh and another question: What are Formosan langs? ...Wait a minute, isn't
there an island/archipelago called Formosa-something? *shrugs* Anyway, what
are some distinguishing characteristics? Oh yes, one more... lol... Any info
on Tahitian? Google is unhelpful...

Thanks,
Trebor

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