The Polynesians have
two different terms for 'spinning', hiri and hiro:
| Hiri
1. To braid, plait, tress (hair,
threads). 2. To rise in coils (of smoke). 3. To hover
(of birds). Vanaga.
1. To elevate, to mount. Hiriga,
to elevate; elevation, mounted, ascension, assumption,
declivity; hiriga mouga, hillside.
Hirihiri, a swing, seesaw. P. Pau.: iri, to
be put up in a place, to lodge. Mgv.: iri, placed
in a higher position than the observer, as a box on a
high shelf. Ta.: iri, to lodge or stick up in a
place. The germ signification is 'above, higher'. In
Samoa it is used most commonly in a tropical sense, but
the primal sense is sufficiently retained in the
signification to lodge, to stick in, to show general
concord with Rapanui and particular harmony with the
other languages of Southeast Polynesia. 2. To make a
bag; taura hiri, to make a cord; rauoho hiri,
plaited hair; hirihiri, frizzed; rauoho
hirihiri, lock of hair. P Mgv.: hiri, wo
weave, to plait; akahiri, to make a mat. Mq.:
hii, large plait of coconut fiber. Ta.: firi,
to plait, to braid. When we interpret in the sense of
local conditions Père Roussel's definition 'to make a
bag' the concord is perfect, for bags are woven. The
germ sense is plainly the act of twining in and out,
over and under, which, with specific differences due to
manner and material, may result in plaiting or weaving;
see hiro. 3. To go, to walk, to voyage, to arrive, to
appear; hiri tê reka, to go without noise;
hiri koroiti, to go softly; hiri tahaga no mai,
to go without a halt. Hiriga, voyage, journey;
hiriga hakapa, to go by twos; hiriga hipa, to
go obliquely; hiriga kokekoke, to go by sudden
steps; hiriga okorua, to go by twos; hiriga
tahataha to go across; hiriga tekiteki, to go
on hopping; hiriga tê mataku, to go on
fearlessly; hiriga totoro, to go on all fours;
hiriga varikapau; to go in a ring; hiriga
veveveve, to go boldly. Churchill.
Pau.: Hirinaki. 1. To incline,
to slope. Ta.: hirinai, to rest upon. Ma.:
irinaki, to rest upon. 2. To be apprehensive. Ta.:
hirinai, to apprehend. Churchill.
Mgv.: Aka-hiria, to enquire
after. Sa.: sili, to ask, to demand. Hirihiri,
to fish for turtle. Mq.: fiifiii, a small net for
taking turtle. Churchill. |
| Hiro
1. A deity invoked when praying for rain
(meaning uncertain). 2. To twine tree fibres (hauhau,
mahute) into strings or ropes. Vanaga.
To spin, to twist. P Mgv.: hiro,
iro, to make a cord or line in the native manner
by twisting on the thigh. Mq.: fió, hió,
to spin, to twist, to twine. Ta.: hiro, to twist.
This differs essentially from the in-and-out movement
involved in hiri 2, for here the movement is that
of rolling on the axis of length, the result is that of
spinning. Starting with the coir fiber, the first
operation is to roll (hiro) by the palm of the
hand upon the thigh, which lies coveniently exposed in
the crosslegged sedentary posture, two or three threads
into a cord; next to plait (hiri) three or other
odd number of such cords into sennit. Hirohiro,
to mix, to blend, to dissolve, to infuse, to inject, to
season, to streak with several colors; hirohiro ei
paatai, to salt. Hirohiroa, to mingle;
hirohiroa ei vai, diluted with water. Churchill.
Ta.: Hiro, to exaggerate. Ha.:
hilohilo, to lengthen a speech by mentioning
little circumstances, to make nice oratorial language.
Churchill. |
When the moon is
rising from the water at the western horizon the night is Ohiro
(the first night of the moon according to Englert). The name
presumably alludes to her rising being the result of a kind of
waterspout, spinning around itself
(pú ohirohiro).
Fornander has traced
the word back to the old Indo-European languages, and his synopsis
is good to remember when trying to read rongorongo texts:
"HILI, v.
Haw., to braid, plait, twist, turn over,
spin; wili, id.; wili, s.
a ribbon a roll; wili-wili, to
stir round, to mix; another dialectical
variation is hilo, to twist,
turn, spin.
Sam., fili, to plait, as sinnet;
filo, to mix, s. twine, thread;
vili, a gimlet a whirlpool.
Marqu., fau-fii,
twist, braid.
N. Zeal., wiri,
id.
Rarot., iro,
id.
Tah., firi,
id.; hiro, id.
Fiji., siri,
askew, not nicely in a row, wrong, in
error.
Tagal and Bisays,
hilig, a woof.
Greek, είλω,
to roll up, to press together, pass to
and fro, to wind, turn round;
έλισσω,
turn round or about, roll, whirl;
έλιξ,
adj.,
twisted, curled;
s.
anything of a spiral shape, twist, curl,
coil; ίλλω,
to roll, of the eyes, to squint, look
askance; ίλλος,
squinting;
ίλλας,
a rope, band;
ίλιγξ,
a whirlpool.
Sanskr., vel,
vehl,
to shake, tremble;
vellita,
crooked;
anu-vellita,
a bandage. To this Sanskrit
vel
Benfey refers the Greek
είλω,
the Latin volvo,
and the Gothic
walojan.
Liddell and Scott also incline to
connect είλω
and volvo
with the same root.
To
me it would seem as if the Sanskrit
vrij,
whose 'original signification', Benfey
says, is 'to bend', and the Sanskrit
vrit,
whose 'original signification', Benfey
says, is 'to turn', were nearer akin to
the primary form from which the Greek
είλω,
ίλλω,
and the Polynesian hili,
wiri,
descend: that primary form being
vri,
now lost to the Sanskrit, with a primary
sense of to bend, twist, turn over,
braid, and of which vel,
vell,
or vehl,
is possibly another secondary and
attenuated form. With such a Sanskrit
vŗi.
surviving in vŗij
and vŗit,
the derivation of the Latin
filum,
thread, as twisted, spun; of the Latin
varus,
bent asunder, parting from each other,
varix,
crookedness; of the Saxon wile,
deceit; of the Swedish willa,
confusion, error, wilse,
astray, becomes easy and intelligible."
(Fornander)
|
|