Jalnguy, the ‘mother-in-law’ speech style in Dyirbal
Jalnguy, the ‘mother-in-law’ speech style in Dyirbal
Virtually every open class lexeme—nouns, adjectives, time words, verbs, adverbals—has a different form in the everyday (Ev) and Jalnguy (Ja, ‘mother-in-law’ or avoidance) styles. Yet Ja has only about one-quarter as many lexemes as Ev. This is achieved through many-to-one correspondences between the two vocabularies. Ja has just a generic term relating to twenty names of frog species in Ev, one adjective for two adjectives of taste, one verb corresponding to seven or eight verbs for types of piercing, etc. Basically, there is a single underlying semantic system, which is projected onto the lexicon at two levels of generality. It is appropriate, when talking in the presence of an avoidance relative, to be vague. In other circumstances one should be as specific as possible. Ja has a minimal set of words, just enough that it is possible to express in Ja everything which can be said in Ev.
Keywords: avoidance style, mother-in-law style, jalnguy, taboo relationships, semantic system
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