TRANSLATIONS
The
preliminary discussion has shown that there is no immediately
evident direct numerical relationship between the bird and the
fish manu kake. There is an indirect such, though. The
bird manu kake is placed at the beginning of a 300 glyph
long sequence ending with Gb5-6:
|
296 |
|
|
|
Ga3-1 (61) |
Gb5-4 |
Gb5-5 |
Gb5-6 (360) |
300 |
If we search for a
similar structure for the fish manu kake we do not have to
search for long:
|
258 |
|
|
|
Ga4-21 (105) |
Gb5-10 (364) |
Gb5-11 |
Gb5-12 |
260 |
104 glyphs before the
fish manu kake should probably be thought of as 4 * 26 days. 260
is then equal to 10 * 26 days, together 14 * 26 days. The 364-day long year
is not defined by the sun, but by the moonlit nights, because 364 =
13 * 28.
The 60 days arriving
before Ga3-1, are probably to be regarded as a 'square' too (like 4
* 26), and 4 * 15 = 60. The 'coinage' being 15 days, we conclude
that 360 = 24 * 15. With 24 * 15 corresponding to 14 * 26 it is
probable that 20 * 18 corresponds to 13 * 28:
364 |
4 * 26 = 104 |
10 * 26 =
260 |
14 * 26 |
13 * 28 |
360 |
4 * 15 = 60 |
20 * 15 =
300 |
24 * 15 |
18 * 20 |
A confirmation that
we have got the message right is the fact that there are 24
kiore - henua periods in Keiti. Also:
"... the first month of
the Moriori year, was named Rongo (Lono).
On the first of the new year the Moriori launched a small
canoe to Rongo, although they built and used only rude craft
for their fishing excursions. The canoe was manned by
twelve figures symbolizing the personifications of the twelve
months. Sometimes twenty-four figures were placed in the canoe, and
Skinner interprets the additional twelve as representing the female
counterparts of the months. As an old Maori once remarked.
'Everything has its female counterpart.'
... A curious diversion
appears in the month list of the people of Porapora and
Moorea in the Society Islands, which sheds light on the custom
of the Moriori who sometimes placed 24 figures in the canoe
which they dispatched seaward to the god Rongo on new years
day. The names of the wives
of the months are included, indicating that other Polynesians
besides the Chatham Islanders personified
the months ..." (Makemson)
Possibly we may have
some future use for
these 24 half-month names from the Society Islands, and I have
listed them here.
|
1 |
Paroro-mua |
Mara-amu, Trade Wind |
April - May |
2 |
Paroro-muri |
To'erau, North wind |
May - June |
3 |
Muri-aha |
Te-ura, Gorgeousness |
June - July |
4 |
Hiaia |
Turai-rea, Battering-down-of-Rea
|
July - August |
5 |
Taa-oa |
Te-rere-oaoa, Flight-of-joy |
August - September |
6 |
Huri-ama |
Te-mata-tau-roroa, Face-long-standing |
September - October |
7 |
Te-eri |
Te-haa-moe-apaapa, Persistance |
October - November |
8 |
Te-tai |
Te-hei-faa-taha,
Wreaths-worn-jauntily |
November - December |
9 |
Varehu |
Oteatea, In-florescence-of-banana |
December - January |
10 |
Faa-ahu |
Pahu-nui-atoi-tere-i-te-tamoe,
Great-drum-extending-ripeness-with-sound-sleep |
January - February |
11 |
Pipiri |
Pipirimaa-i-fenua,
Stinginess-throughout-the-land |
February - March |
12 |
A-unuunu |
Ua-unuunu-ma-te-tai,
Withdrawal-from-the-sea |
March - April |
The names of
the half-months are not of much use, I guess.
Furthermore, Oteatea can hardly be literally
translated as In-florescence-of-banana, and I don't
believe in the other translations either. We must
retranslate the women's names.
December-January is summer solstice time. The geography
of Easter Island points to Poike and to the pair
Pua Katiki and Maunga Teatea,
i.e. to the 18th and 19th kuhane stations. It is
a time to rest, and to 'spit':
Vare
Spittle, drivel, any viscous
liquid; viscous; vare mâmari, egg
white; pipi-vare, slug. Vanaga.
Varevare, steep,
rugged. Tu.: vare, to lose
consciousness. Barthel 2.
1. Hakavare, to
crisp, to plaster; hakavarevare, to
level. 2. Driveler. P Mgv.: vare,
clumsy, inept. Turivare, abscess at
the knee. Varegao, to speak
indistinctly, to offend, to pretend.
Varevare: 1. Steep, rugged. 2. Smooth,
plain, without rocks; horo varevare,
without branches; tino varevare,
slender; kona varevare, open place,
court, market place. PS Sa.: valevale,
fat. To.: valevale, young, tender,
applied to babies. In Nuclear Polynesia it
is difficult to dissociate this vale
from the vale conveying the sense of
ignorance. In Samoa this varevare
appears only as applied, lē valevale,
to a hog that is not fat. It is probable
that varevare
2 preserves the Proto-Samoan primitive and
that the sense-invert, in the preceding
item, is directed away from the germ-sense.
Churchill. |
Hu
1. Breaking of wind. T Mgv.,
uu, to break wind. Mq., Ta.: hu,
id. 2. Whistling of the wind, to blow,
tempest, high wind. P Pau.: huga, a
hurricane. Churchill.
Mgv.: hu, to burst,
to crackle, to snap. Ha.: hu, a
noise. Churchill. |
Va
1. Hakava, judge,
judgement. T Mgv.: akava, to judge,
to pass sentence. Pau.: haava, to
judge, to conjecture. Ma.: whakawa,
to charge with crime, to condemn. Ta.:
haava, to judge. 2. Hakava, to
speak. P Mgv.: va, to speak. Mq.:
vaa, to chatter like a magpie. The
Marquesan retains more of the primal sense
although the simile is an alien importation.
In Samoa va means a noise, in Tonga
va is a laughing noise, in Futuna
va is the disorderly cry of tumult, and
probably it is the initial element of Viti
wa-borabora to speak quickly and
confusedly as when scolding. Its only
identification in Tongafiti territory is
Hawaii wawa the confused noise of a
tumult ... Churchill.
Ta.: va, space
between the leaves in a roof. Sa.: va,
space between. Ma.: wa, interval.
Churchill. |
Rehu
1. Dust. P Mgv.: rehu,
a cinder, coal, ashes. Mq.: éhuahi,
ashes. Ta.: rehu, ashes, soot, any
powder. 2. To omit, to forget, to faint.
Rehurehu, to omit, omission, lost to
sight. Hakarehu, to surprise.
Rehua, unintelligible. Churchill.
Mgv.: rehurehu,
from early dawn to mid morning. Ta.:
rehurehu, twilight. Mq.: ehuehu,
id. Churchill.
Mq.: ehu, to fall
in bits. Ma.: rehu, to split off in
chips. Ehua, Ehuo, a large
constellation. Ma.: rehua, a star or
planet, probably Jupiter. Churchill. |
|