TRANSLATIONS

TRANSLATIONS

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While I was documenting the GD53 glyphs in Tahua I found the odd Aa2-67:


Aa2-59	Aa2-60	Aa2-61	Aa2-62	Aa2-63	Aa2-64	Aa2-65	Aa2-66	Aa2-67
koia	tona purega	ka moe	ki te hoga ka rogo			ki te honu	no te henua	ka hua nei te poporo

Here I have changed my normal painting method for the words of Metoro: instead of painting red those words which I recognize as his normal choices according to what the glyphs show I have this time painted red those words which appear contrary or strange according to his normal choices.

In Aa2-61 there is nothing whatsoever (as far as I can see) which motivates moe. And in Aa2-62--64 rogo also is a strange word to find.

These two redpainted words probably indicate that Metoro had an idea of the meaning of this sequence of glyphs, and that he tried to convey its meaning to Bishop Jaussen.

The conjunction between my thinking about how to classify Aa2-67 and the investigation into the mystieries of the bird-snare in New Zealand suddenly made me realize that possibly Aa2-67 should be interpreted as the bird-snare by which the sun 'bird' is caught at winter solstice.

To argue for this:

1. The henua (GD37) at left has signs of darkness (lines across).

2. The two semiovals at right also have lines across, adding to the impression of darkness, at the same time giving us a clue for the sun (which seems often to be depicted as two semicircles, possibly to indicate half-years).

3. The semiovals are not semicircles, instead they are more broad than high, maybe to indicate the slow movement at the solstices as contrasted with his quick movement at the equinoxes.

4. GD53 with (probably) sun-circles have a straight vertical line through the circles, here we see straight horizontal lines across the semiovals, which possibly should be understood to mean that sun is 'lying down to take a rest'.

5. In Aa2-65 we have honu - a sign of solstice (by comparing sun's slow movement with those of a turtle).

6. In Aa2-61 Metoro (oddly) is using the word moe (probably to indicate that someone is 'sleepy').

7. His word rogo at Aa2-62--64 probably is to be read as Rogo and in the moon calendars Rongo always seems to be located at the end of the month (if his name is mentioned at all), which presumably means that he is in some way connected with end and beginning (cfr also the Hawaiian Makahiki new year ceremonies when Lono is sacrificed).

8. The left part of Aa2-67 could be interpreted as the 'black’(meaning 'death' )‘perch' because GD37 suggests both 'time/space period' and 'wood'.

9. The right part of Aa2-67 could then be intepreted as the two strings snaring the 'bird' with the straight lines across indicating the 'legs' of the sun bird having been caught. (Of course the glyph must first be turned 90° counterclockwise.)

10. The glyph sequence Aa2-59--67 is a unit, because another group of glyphs is beginning with Aa2-68 and because yet another group of glyphs is ending with Aa2-58. There are 9 such groups of glyphs which seem to belong to a greater pattern, all ending similarly, viz. with hatched GD37 glyphs:


Aa2-35	Aa2-43	Aa2-48	Aa2-52	Aa2-58	Aa2-67	Aa2-77	Aa3-11	Aa3-38
5	4	4	5	4	4	6	5	4
26						15
1st half-year (?)			2nd half-year (?)			X (?)

The top short ends of the GD37 rectangles are drawn as if they were 'lopped off' in Aa2-48 and Aa3-38 (though in different directions). Presumably this means that they are 'cut short' (koti), Aa2-48 after the 1st half-year (13 hatchmarks, the last four across a very thin GD37 - midsummer) and Aa3-38 after the 2nd half-year - including the X-area - (28 hatchmarks).


Aa2-35	Aa2-43	Aa2-48	Aa2-52	Aa2-58	Aa2-67	Aa2-77	Aa3-11	Aa3-38
1st half-year			2nd half-year			X
13			28

The story about Uho from Anakena who married Mahuna Te Raa from Vinapu made me think again about the bird list and the possibility that the order of the birds follows the path of the sun:


Aa1-1	Aa1-2	Aa1-3	Aa1-4	Aa1-5	Aa1-6	Aa1-7	Aa1-8
*manu tara*	*pi riuriu*	*kava eoeo*	*te verovero*	*ka araara*	*kukuru toua*	*makohe*	*kena*

Aa1-9	Aa1-10	Aa1-11	Aa1-12	Aa1-13	Aa1-14	Aa1-15
*tavake*	*ruru*	*taiko*	*kumara*	*kiakia*	*tuvi*	*tuao*	*tavi*

That kena is succeeded by tavake at summer solstice must logically be interpreted to mean that tavake later will be succeeded by kena, a kind of circular retribution. The succession surely must take place at winter solstice. Presumably Tavake will then be sacrificed as Rongo.

The bird list perhaps tells us that Aa1-1 (manu tara) is the 'baby phase' of the 'kena', while the right part of Aa1-15 (tavi) is the 'end phase' of tavake.

Is there a wordplay with tavi = tá-vi and tavake = tá-vake?

Tá

OR. Write, writing. The name of writing before the term rongorongo in 1871 became current. Fischer.

1. To tattoo ( = tatú), to tattoo pictures on the skin, also: he-tá ite kona, tá-kona. 2. To weave (a net): he-tá i te kupega. 3. To shake something, moving it violently up and down and from one side to the other; he-tá e te tokerau i te maga miro, the wind shakes the branches of the trees; also in the iterative form: e-tá-tá-ana e te tokerau i te tôa, the wind continuously shakes the leaves of the sugarcane. 4. To pull something up suddenly, for instance, an eel just caught, dropping it at once on a stone and killing it: he-tá i te koreha. Tá-tá-vena-vena, ancient witching formula. Vanaga.

1. Of. 2. This, which. 3. Primarily to strike: to sacrifice, to tattoo, to insert, to imprint, to write, to draw, to copy, to design, to color, to paint, to plaster, to note, to inscribe, to record, to describe, number, letter, figure, relation; ta hakatitika, treaty; ta igoa, sign; ta ki, secretary; ta kona, to tattoo; ta vanaga, secretary. Churchill.

... the root ta through its long series of known combinations carries a strongly featured sense of action that is peripheral, centrifugal, and there seems to be at least a suspicion of the further connotation that the action is exerted downward ... The secondary sense of cutting will easily be seen to be a striking with a specialized implement, and we find this sense stated without recognition of the primal striking sense only in Mangareva, Nukuoro, Viti, and Malekula. In Indonesia this secondary sense is predominant, although Malagasy ta may come somewhat close to the striking idea ... Churchill 2.

The sense of cutting downwards is close to cutting down, therefore tá would be a suitable name for autumn. Tá would also fit with the 'lopped off' top ends of the henua (Aa2-48 and Aa3-38), which together are forming a V-shape - a valley of 'death' starting at midsummer and ending in midwinter.

Hatchmarked henua with 'lopped off' top ends we earlier saw in the calendar of the week according to H.

My suggestion now is that the days which I below have painted black are 'dark', whereas the redpainted days are 'light'. Those days which are 'black' have downward slopes at both ends suggesting 'fall'. Both Moon and Venus definitely disappears now and then. Mercury is difficult to observe and its wavery character makes for a borderline case.


Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
3	5	3	3	3	5	3

Sun is also a special case: It has an upward growing slope at bottom. I guess that should be interpreted to mean that Sun is the source of growing life. Upward slope is 'beginning', for example of the week.

Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are reliable supporters, nothing but right-angled ends. Somewhat surprising we find that Saturn is not 'black' but redpainted according to this scheme. I guess the explanation is that there should be 4 'supporting the sky pillars' (one at each cardinal point) and that Mercury is not reliable.

'The appearance of the orbit of the planet Mercury in the sky is completely irregular and therefore the appearance of this type of glyph in Wednesday ought to illustrate this phenomenon, a prominent characteristic of Mercury:

According to Makemson some of the names of Mercury are the following:

Hawaiian Islands

Society Islands

Tuamotus

New Zealand

Pukapuka

Ukali or Ukali-alii 'Following-the-chief' (i.e. the Sun)

Kawela 'Radiant'

Ta'ero or Ta'ero-arii 'Royal-inebriate' (referring to the eccentric and undignified behavior of the planet as it zigzags from one side of the Sun to the other)

Fatu-ngarue 'Weave-to-and-fro'

Fatu-nga-rue 'Lord of the Earthquake'

Whiro 'Steals-off-and-hides'; also the universal name for the 'dark of the Moon' or the first day of the lunar month; also the deity of sneak thieves and rascals.

Te Mata-pili-loa-ki-te-la 'Star-very-close-to-the-Sun'

Sun is included among the 4 and the number of hatchmarks in the 'supporting' group (counting also the upward sloping one in Sunday) is 4 * 3 = 12, a number pointing to the solar year. The other group has 5 + 3 + 5 = 13, a number pointing to the lunar year.

As to the meaning of vi (in Tavi) I suggest that it is alluding to viri:

Viri

1. To wind, to coil, to roll up; he viri i te hau, to wind, coil a string (to fasten something). 2. To fall from a height, rolling over, to hurl down, to fling down. Viriviri, round, spherical (said of small objects). Viviri te henua, to feel dizzy (also: mimiro te henua). Taviri, to turn around. Vanaga.

To turn in a circle, to clew up, to groom, to twist, to dive from a height, to roll (kaviri). Hakaviri, crank, to groom, to turn a wheel, to revolve, to screw, to beat down; kahu hakaviri, shroud. Viriga, rolling, danger. Viriviri, ball, round, oval, bridge, roll, summit, shroud, to twist, to wheel round, to wallow. Hakaviriviri, to roll, to round; rima hakaviriviri, stroke of the flat, fisticuff. Viritopa, danger. Churchill.

Viti: vili, to pick up fallen fruit or leaves ... In Viti virimbai has the meaning of putting up a fence (mbai fence); viri does not appear independently in this use, but it is undoubtedly homogenetic with Samoan vili, which has a basic meaning of going around; virikoro then signifies the ring-fence-that-goes-about, sc. the moon. In the Maori, aokoro is the cloud-fence ... Churchill 2.

The sense of coiling up is a very precise appellation of what goes on in the X-area:

'... In rongorongo rays of sunlight are visualized with three vertical straight lines (GD41). Such rays are used as 'poles' marking limits in time/space (GD37). At the time of new year, e.g., there will be two such 'poles', one marking the end of the old year and another marking the beginning of the new year (Takurua). This structure is - I think - used at the beginnings and ends of all periods.

At the time of new year the 4th corner of the 'earth' is located. It is time to detronise the old year and the dark hair of a woman is used to wrap it up. This happens in the 5th 'dark period' beyond the 4th quarter, a time when gods are born. The Chinese sign for number 5 is said to derive from the picture of a thread-reel.

I.e. the same method must be used to 'detronise' also the first half of a double-hour of day-light. (We always count periods in even numbers, a method used at first with 59 nights for a double-month and later reused for all time periods - also years.) When one 'ruler' is exchanged for another, a weak old one going away and a newborn 'ruler' - also weak - is arriving, there is room for freedom. The power from above is limited because of weakness. That explains why the middle vertical line is shorter ...'

Taviri

To turn around. Vanaga.

Key, lock, to turn a crank. Hakataviri, a pair of compasses. T Mgv.: taviri, a key, a lock, to lock, to twist. Mq.: kavii, a crank; tavii, to twist, to turn. Ta.: taviri, a key, to turn, to twist. The element viri shows that the primal sense is that of causing a motion in rotation. The key and lock significations are, of course, modern and negligible. Churchill.

The name Tavake perhaps should stand as it is, without trying to cut it to pieces:

Tavake

Sea bird, white, with rosy tail; its feathers were used to decorate hats and belts. Vanaga.

The rosy tail feathers may mean the 'end' of the 'red' phase of the year and the white feathers allude to the white 'bones' of the 'dead' year.

With new year located in the X-area and the detronisation of Kena at summer solstice, we may understand the vertical straight line in GD37 glyphs as indeed being a 'center' line, on one side of which is 'a.m.' (or 'spring') and on the other 'p.m.' (or 'autumn'):

'The translation process is facilitated by counting glyphs and marks of different kinds, e.g. was Ha6-3:

at first seen as a variant of hau tea with the middle line marked by an oval outline, presumably to indicate noon. Later an association with the Polynesian way of making fire was added to the 'middle'-interpretation. Finally, by counting glyphs from the beginning of the calendar Ha6-3 was found to be no. 26. The total number of glyphs in the H-calendar (including those in the X part) could also be reconstructed as 52 (i.e twice 26). By counting glyphs the identification of the glyph Ha6-3 as middle was thereby reinforced, at the same time as the earlier (weak only) conclusions about the total number of glyphs in the H-calendar also were confirmed ...'

'.. All the natives of the South Sea islands are great swimmers. Both men, women and children could almost be called amphibians, because they spend a good portion of their day swimming, diving, bathing and doing all those and similar sports in the midst of the breakers and the surging sea rolling in over the coral banks. The more the sea is heaving, the more the islander feels at home in this his right element. These islanders seem to be very fond of children, especially their neighbours', which they until quite recently did not hesitate to eat. That in addition to the repulsive murder of their own children, especially as regards girls, results in a quite considerable reduction in the number of the children. But otherwise the children are as merry and free from sorrow as their parents. They learn to swim almost as soon as they begin to walk. The children are very amused by swinging and by sending up paper kites. They also have a rather peculiar game, which consists of keeping their eyes wide open with the help of a stiff straw of grass pushing the eye-lids apart ...'

Maybe, also, GD25 (pure according to Metoro) is a picture of the same phenomenon:

Here, though, the vertical 'straw' is missing. Instead we see 'hinges' between the two bent henua. The 'hinges' should be the equinoxes, because there sun moves fast. If so, then we should imagine the glyph turned around 90°:

Ba6-2 (ko Toia) - we now can perceive - probably has its lost-head position at midsummer:

The 'arms' also suggest this, as we have seen in the opposed 'elbows' before and after midsummer, e.g. in Aa1-8 respective Aa1-9:

The 'legs' have a 'spooky' character, in the same fashion as in the upside down 'limbs' in the niu glyphs (GD18), e.g. Aa1-13:

Metoro's name niu for this glyph type probably suggests the 'land of the past' in the same way as Hiva does, because the coco palm no longer grows on Easter Island.

Toia perhaps is To-ia. In the readings of Metoro we have seen that GD73 usually is called toga, and that word may be to-ga:

In Churchill 2 he hesitates to explain mauga (mountain) as mau-ga:

"... although mau-nga is in form a typical noun-making from an attributive in which the verb sense has so strongly developed as to call for such differentiation. I set contra the note that in the languages in which maunga has undergone vowel change (mounga, manga) the proposed radical mau as verb remains unaltered ..."

This explains which type of -ga I am referring to, a way to 'substantiate' what otherwise is attributive in meaning.

Toga

1. Winter season. Two seasons used to be distinguished in ancient times: hora, summer, and toga, winter. 2. To lean against somehing; to hold something fast; support, post supporting the roof. 3. To throw something with a sudden movement. 4. To feed oneself, to eat enough; e-toga koe ana oho ki te aga, eat well first when you go to work. Vanaga.

1. Winter. 2. Column, prop; togatoga, prop, stay. Churchill.

Wooden platform for a dead chief: ka tuu i te toga (Bb8-42), when the wooden platform has been erected. Barthel 2.

Winter north of the equator means that sun has gone south. Tonga (the island) is south of Samoa.

The X-area is inversed. Therefore the 'limbs' of niu are seen as if they were the legs of Tane when he far in ancient times pushed up the sky.

The Toia glyph (Ba5-2) has the 'spooky' side downwards. His 'feet' are somewhere north of Anakena.

Vowel change from a to o is usual in Easter Island (mouga instead of mauga for example).

Maybe there is a similarity in meaning between to and ta, both indicating the season (fall) when the fruits and leaves should be cut down (tá), when it is getting dark because sun is moving away (down to the far north Hiva), a season when sun is going to hide behind the 'mountain' in the north.