131 h eakepa viapau rera kaakau tapa-re-vora voari
why no he dog he hit back there “Why didn’t he hit the dog back there?”
Prepositions
It will be seen above that prepositions always follow noun, location, and time words. See sentence a
ovokivu-ia “on another day” and Ibu iare “to Ibu”; and see sentence e rera iare “to him.” The preposition -ia in the first instance is very much like the Tok Pisin preposition long, which approximates most of the
prepositions of English.
Possession
There are at least three ways to express possession. They are illustrated here using the possession marker - aro, and the possessive pronouns [see Appendix]:
ragai va-aro aioa
ragai aioa-aro
I it-poss. food I food-poss.
“my food” “my food”
aioa oaa
food mine “my food”
Noun phrases
Demonstrative pronouns and adjectives are combined with nouns in various types of phrases. The order in which the words occur in a phrase is illustrated here:
Demonstrative pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns always immediately precede the nouns they designate:
ro oirato evara kepaara
this m man those n houses
“this man” “those houses”
Adjectives
Adjectives always immediately precede the noun which they modify: vearo aio
riro kaekae raiva good food
big long road “good food”
“very long road”
10.4.2 Figures of speech
As is so common in Melanesian languages, one cannot always take literally what is said. Figures of speech are interesting in any language and some from Rotokas are included here:
Tuitui vii aiovere. “The fire will eat you.” The fire will cause a sore or will burn you. akerato “type of shade tree that folds its leaves at dusk” a man who retires early
apaapaa koaravira “like a swarm of fireflies” to see spots before the eyes in bright light, etc. Vii erisa uriorai. “I come to dig you.” I come to try to get information from you.
evao irara “wooden men” men who do not respond to advice or warnings given to them Gotogotovira avapai reoara. “The words are going out hung-like.” The talk does not flow freely.
Vovouisi ipaepa. “The heartbreath came up.” It was startled. Kotupiara itoitooro tore iraota. “Pulling tight your knees you must stand.” You must brace yourself.
132 Ragaiva kau kepoparoi. “He is a hard nut with me.” He argues stubbornly with me.
Kokito vateparoi. “He is giving his ear.” He is paying attention. Kieta reo kopareva. “He swallowed the Kieta talk.” He is fluent in the Kieta language.
Osireiara gare pieta. “You all make your eyes small.” All of you ignore this. Teapi pokopari. “Do not burst.” Don’t eat too much.
Riakova pugupavira toupae. “The woman is busy.” The woman is pregnant. Viapau uvuiparoi ra paivuruva-ia ukaioro. “He is unable to drink from a closed container.” He can’t
understand. Oriparai. “I am cooked.” I am defeated.
For other grammatical information, dictionary, text materials, etc., please contact the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Ukarumpa via Lae, Papua New Guinea.
10.4.3 Rotokas counting system and uses
The Rotokas counting system is technically an Imperfect Decimal or 5–10 System. It is an “intact” 5–10 system in that all four numbers 6, 7, 8, and 9 have a quinary construction. By “quinary,” it is meant that the
construction of these four numbers includes the morpheme for “five” Type I system or a morpheme which only implies “five” Type II system.
The system is said to be rare and found in the following geographic locations: the southern half of Africa, isolated areas of north Africa, the Middle East, southeast Asia, the southern and eastern portions of South
America, and nearly all of North America, besides eastern and central Melanesia. In the Rotokas Proper dialect, the numbers are: one: katai, two: erao, three: vopeva, four: voresura,
five: vovavae, six: katai vatara, seven: erao vatara, eight: vopeva vatara, nine: voresura vatara, ten: katai tau, eleven: katai tau katai, …twenty: erao tau, …one hundred: katai vovoto, …one thousand: katai tuku, and
one million: katai ipu. The word for “five” is vavae handfive, but the word vatara, which occurs in the second pentad, to my
knowledge, has no meaning. The morpheme vo is usually left out in single enumeration, but is used generally with definite objects.
In the Pipipaia dialect, there is an interesting phenomenon similar to the counting system of Kunua, but more like the phenomenon which occurs in the Bantu languages of Africa. The quinary construction includes
the word iviro cross over. The system is as follows: one: kataia, two: varei, three: vopeva, four: voresura, five: vovavae, six: iviropa thing crossed over, seven: iviroparei two things crossed over, eight:
iviropapeva three things crossed over, nine: iviroparesura four things crossed over, and ten: votau.
For the most part, the vernacular system up to ten is the most common system used in the Rotokas area. For numbers above ten, Tok Pisin is used. When I questioned the men about the counting system, they became
interested in “reconstructing” the old, traditional system. They went to the oldest men of the village and worked out the above system. They attempted to use the system past one hundred by announcing numbers of
hymns in the church hymnbook; however, it was met with little enthusiasm Firchow 1970.
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11 Rotokas Leadership, Government, and Business
11.1 Leadership Traits
