TY - JOUR
T1 - The Legend of Lamòling
T2 - Unwritten Memories and Diachronic Toponymy through the Lens of an Abui Myth
AU - PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco
AU - CAVALLARO, Francesco Paolo
N1 - PERONO CACCIAFOCO, Francesco, and Francesco Paolo CAVALLARO. (2017). The Legend of Lamòling: Unwritten Memories and Diachronic Toponymy through the Lens of an Abui Myth. Lingua: An International Review of General Linguistics, 193: 51-61
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2017/5/10
Y1 - 2017/5/10
N2 - This paper reconstructs a number of Abui (Papuan) place names and micro-toponyms from the coastal area of Alor (South-East Indonesia) through the analysis of a legend centered on two gods from the Abui traditional religion, ending with the replacement of the first deity with the second one. The myth appears as diachronically ‘multi-layered’, from ancestral times to the arrival of Christianity in Alor, with the consequent identification of the ‘bad’ (or ‘weaker’) god as a demon and, then, as the devil. The story allows the etymological explanation of the meaning of around eight place names (toponyms and micro-toponyms), drawing a map of that ‘mythological’ space and landscape that is real and still attested, existing, known, and recognized by Abui native-speakers. The etymological and historical/diachronic analysis of place names, in this context, is fruitful not only in the reconstruction of their origins and in map-tracking, but it also involves an anthropological study of cultural aspects of oral tradition in the Abui religion. The story documented in this paper is considered true and not a legend by the Abui people and all the place names in this story known and accepted by the Abui people according to the parts they play in the legend. These place names and micro-toponyms, therefore, have a relevance that goes beyond their etymological reconstruction, allowing important insights into the fields of anthropology and history of culture and a close association between diachronic toponomastics and anthropological linguistics.
AB - This paper reconstructs a number of Abui (Papuan) place names and micro-toponyms from the coastal area of Alor (South-East Indonesia) through the analysis of a legend centered on two gods from the Abui traditional religion, ending with the replacement of the first deity with the second one. The myth appears as diachronically ‘multi-layered’, from ancestral times to the arrival of Christianity in Alor, with the consequent identification of the ‘bad’ (or ‘weaker’) god as a demon and, then, as the devil. The story allows the etymological explanation of the meaning of around eight place names (toponyms and micro-toponyms), drawing a map of that ‘mythological’ space and landscape that is real and still attested, existing, known, and recognized by Abui native-speakers. The etymological and historical/diachronic analysis of place names, in this context, is fruitful not only in the reconstruction of their origins and in map-tracking, but it also involves an anthropological study of cultural aspects of oral tradition in the Abui religion. The story documented in this paper is considered true and not a legend by the Abui people and all the place names in this story known and accepted by the Abui people according to the parts they play in the legend. These place names and micro-toponyms, therefore, have a relevance that goes beyond their etymological reconstruction, allowing important insights into the fields of anthropology and history of culture and a close association between diachronic toponomastics and anthropological linguistics.
KW - Anthropological Linguistics
KW - Coastal Abui Place Names
KW - Coastal Micro-toponomastics in Alor
KW - Diachronic Toponomastics
KW - Lamòling
KW - Toponyms in Oral Legends and Myths
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85019084182&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0024384116301784?via%3Dihub
U2 - 10.1016/j.lingua.2017.04.006
DO - 10.1016/j.lingua.2017.04.006
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85019084182
SN - 0024-3841
VL - 193
SP - 51
EP - 61
JO - Lingua
JF - Lingua
ER -