Chapter IX

, we have the following opening:--

Vinapega, pega; vinamwana, mwana; nam mayouyai, makariyouya'i, odabwana; nam mayouya'i, makariyouya'i, o'u'ula.

In the first line, we have the symmetrically uttered and prefixed names of the two flying or jumping fishes, pega and mwana. The prefix vina- is probably the female prefix and may convey the meaning of flying's being associated with women, that is with the flying witches. The second and third verse contain a play on the root yova or yo'u 'to fly,' reduplicated and with several affixes added. These two verses are brought into a sort of antithesis by the last two words, odabwana and o'u'ula, or 'at the top,' and 'at the bottom,' or here, probably, at the one end of the canoe and at the other.

In the Bisila spell, given in the same chapter, we have the beginning:--

Bora'i, bora'i, borayyova, biyova; Bora'i, bora'i, borayteta, biteta.

The word bora'i seems to be again a purely magical one. The prefix bo- carries the meaning of tabooed, or ritual; the root ra'i suggests similarity with the above quoted magical word rayra'i, which is obviously merely a reduplicated form of ra'i. This is therefore a rhythmically constructed play on the magical root ra'i, and the words yova, 'to fly,' and teta, 'to be poised,' 'to soar.'

The Kayikuna veva spell presents the following rhythmic and symmetrical exordium:--

Bosuyasuya (repeated); boraguragu (repeated). Bosuya olumwalela; boyragu akatalena.

The exact meaning of the two words is not quite clear, except that they represent magical influences. Their arrangement and the antithesis of olumwalela ('middle part,' 'inside'), and katalena ('body' or 'outside') is in keeping with the features observed in the other beginnings here quoted.

VII

The tapwana (main parts) of the spells, though they take a much longer time in reciting, are simpler in construction. Many spells, moreover have no middle part at all. The first regular tapwana we find in our spells is that in the Kapitunena Duku. There, we have a series of key-words recited with a list of complimentary expressions. The key-words are verbs, spoken in the form:--

mata'i, matake'i, meyova, etc. cut, cut at, fly, etc.

These verbs are used in this spell with the prefix ma- or me-, which represents the tense of indefinite duration. This prefix, although, as far as I know, found in several Melanesian languages in full vigour, has in Kiriwina a distinctly archaic flavour, and is only used in certain locutions and in magic. Some of the verbs used in this spell are metaphorical in their meaning, describing the speed of the canoe in a figurative manner. The list of the complimentary words repeated with the key-words contains the enumeration of the different parts of the canoe. It is typical that the key-words are in their form archaic and in their meaning figurative while the complimentary terms are just ordinary words of everyday speech.

Another regular tapwana has been given in the Kadumiyala spell in

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