Suriname folk-lore

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Appendices

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Appendix I. Glossary of Taki-Taki Words Appearing in Introductory Notes

NOTE: Wherever it was possible to establish definite African provenience and New World survivals, these are indicated parenthetically, according to language or region, after the definition. In those instances where identification is not obvious, we have given European provenience as well.

- A -

a, the (Ewe a, the).

Abɛrewa, ancient woman; deified ancestress (Twi).

aboma, boa constrictor; deity assuming the guise of the boa (Kongo mboma, python).

abɔ̨ŋgra, medicinal seeds.

Abonuako, Thunder God (Ashanti abonua, stone axe, i.e. ‘thunder stone’).

Adyanti-wai̯, African deity.

Aflɛkete, deity born of the mating of Aisa and Lɛba (in Dahomey daughter of Agbe and Naete, gods of the Sea).

afkodrai, idolatry, i.e. worship of African gods (Dutch).

Agida, earth spirit; largest of complex of ceremonial drums; principal drum for invoking Earth and Snake Gods.

Aida, earth spirit (in Dahomey, snake deity coiled under the earth to support its weight).

Aisa, earth deity (Dahomey, Haiti).

Akabrewa, African deity, see Abɛrewa.

akansa, cornmeal cakes cooked in banana leaves (Fɔ̨, Nago, Edo, Haitian).

Akantamasu, or Akantamasi, Gods of the Ant-Hill (Twi?).

Akoabonua, see Abonuako.

akra, soul (Twi).

Alado or Aladi, Thunder God.

Ananka Yao, Thunder God.

anąnsi, spider; principal trickster of the animal tales (Twi).

anąnsi-tɔri, generic name for all tales (tɔri, Eng. story).

anąnsi-tɔri dąnsi, euphemism for the series of individual dances for the ancestors.

anei̯si, name of bush whose leaves and twigs are used medicinally.

Aninino, snake deity (Twi, onini python).

apinti, sacred drum; principal drum for invoking African gods not in Earth or Snake categories (Yoruba, apinti: Ashanti, mprintin).

Apuku, little folk of the bush worshipped as deities (probably from Yoruba-Dahomean, abiku).

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Arawaki, Arowak Indian.

asau̯, elephant (Kongo, nzau).

'asi, horse; devotee of a god (Dahomey, asi, wife; suffix si added to name of a deity denotes wife of deity, i.e. devotee).

asɔgri, cornmeal pudding.

Awąnaisa, earth deity, strong name for Aisa (in Dahomey one of the strong names for the earth).

Awąnasa, see Aisa and Awąnaisa.

awɛ̨ge, male invert (Edo, awekia, impotent man).

azɛ, witch (Fɔ̨, Ewe, Edo; Nago, Aje).

azɛmąn, vampire (Dahomey).

- B -

baka-futu-banya, dance for the ancestors.

bakra, white person (Efik).

bakra-opo, charm for dominating the will of a white person.

bakru, little people with bodies half human and half wooden, who act as carriers of black magic.

bakru-kɔti, a magic inoculation against these carriers of black magic.

bąnya, dance for the earth spirits; on occasion danced socially.

basɛra, bastard.

bei̯fi, to tremble, used especially in connection with religious possession.

bita, Suriname bitters, used medicinally.

bɔmbo, vagina; to copulate.

bɔnkoru, albino.

bɔnu, priest, maker of charms (Ewe, bo; Fɔ̨, gbo charm, nu, person).

bosum or abɔsomo, Kromanti word for deity (Twi).

Bumba, deity invoked in Loango wɩnti dances (also used in Haiti).

- C -

Cheno, snake deity.

- D -

dagowɛ, sacred snake (Ewe, Fɔ̨, Haitian).

dia-tu or dia tutu, the horn of a deer, the scrapings of which form an important ingredient for the making of charms.

didibri, devil.

Djuka, name of one of the three principal Bush-Negro tribes; generic coastal name for a non-urban Negro skilled in magic.

dokų, highly seasoned pudding of bananas, or peanuts, or young corn, cooked in a banana leaf (Gold Coast, Jamaica).

dɔro-sei̯ pikin, illegitimate child (Haiti, ‘enfant-dehors’).

dosu, name of child born after twins (Dahomey, Haiti).

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Dyadya, a spirit of the Tigri-Kromanti group: see Kromanti.

dyɛbi or djɛbi, devil; a spirit of the Tigri-Kromanti group: see Kromanti.

dyodyo or djodjo, soul (Dahomey djɔtɔ, ancestral soul).

- Ɛ -

ɛnt, to circumcise.

- F -

fai̯a-lɔbi, scarlet flower (see note, p. 7; according to van Panhuys [in a letter], ‘fire-love’, hence ‘ardent love’).

famiri, family; pad worn by women about the waist; name for protuberance formed by this pad in back which is one of the elements of the woman's dress called koto-yaki.

fiofio, bug, and spirit manifesting itself as this bug to punish for conscious or unconscious hypocrisy in relationships of intimacy or blood-kinship. (In the Congo fiofio is a root whose dust is used to exorcise the demons that might have entered the body of a child in its mother's womb).

fɔdų, see Vɔdų.

Frɛpsi, Indian wɩnti spirit.

futumą-nąnyam, food cooked by a menstruating woman.

- G -

gadō or gadu, god.

Gąŋga or Kąŋga, dance for the ancestors.

gi tafra, to offer food; idiom for offerings to the soul.

gɔro gadō, earth god (Eng., ground-god).

grąnmąn, chief, headman, governor. (Ewe, gą, chief; Sar. speech, g'amą).

Grɔ̨ Mama, Earth Mother; also generic name for tutelary earth spirit of each compound, plantation, etc. (Eng., ‘Mother of the Ground’).

Grɔ̨ Papa, a deity born of the mating of a female Earth spirit and a Papa snake. (Papa is generally interpreted as the equivalent of Popo. The Saramaka tribe includes the Popoto clan, which is pronounced as here written, and also the Papa Gadu).

- H -

hąŋgisa, kerchief (Eng., handkerchief).

hantimąn, male invert.

hasi, see 'asi.

hɛbi, heavy, a load; trouble.

hei̯-grǫ, a snake-deity.

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- I -

isri nąŋga isri, two pieces of iron struck against each other to give a rhythm; Kromanti spirits will not come unless to the voice of the drums is added the sound of iron against iron, for iron is the symbol of the Kromanti. (Dutch; in the Bush this is called felu ko felu, Port.).

- Ɩ̨ -

Ɩ̨ŋgi, Indian.

Ɩ̨ŋgi Wɩnti, Indian spirits, associated particularly with earth and water.

- K -

kabugru, Negro-Hindu cross (also employed to mean Negro-mulatto or Negro-Indian cross).

kabugru-uru, brown girl wanton (uru, probably Eng. ‘whore’).

kado, gift (Fr.).

kamalama, birthday gift of best friend.

kankantri, sacred silk cotton tree.

kankantri wɩnti, spirit of this tree.

kartamąn, man who tells fortunes by means of cards.

kaseka wɩnti, interlude of social dancing during a wɩnti dance.

kasiri, to purify (Hebrew).

kauna or kawina, social dance, essentially a fertility dance; ceremony performed when a manatee is caught, or a tapir is killed.

kauna sɩ̨ŋgi, songs for such dance and ceremony.

kauna drǫ, small drum, played at both ends.

kina, see trefu.

Kobisi, Indian wɩnti spirit.

kɔmfo, spirit skilled in divination (Ashanti word for priest of a god).

kɔndre, country, village, kingdom.

Kɔrowena, snake deity.

koto-mɩsi, women who dress in koto-yaki.

koto-yaki, traditional dress of women, now used principally for ceremonial occasions.

kriɔri, creole.

'kra, see akra.

'kra tafra, food offerings to the soul, eaten by the individual himself as the corporeal agent of the soul.

Krɛbisi, Carib Indian.

kreti, gunpowder, firecrackers; used ceremonially at funerals, and as an ingredient for making preventive charms against ghosts (Dutch).

kroi̯ 'a mąn, idiom for subjugating a man's soul.

Kromanti, category of spirits comprising African, forest, water and

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thunder gods; among the Saramacca people men's warrior society(?). (Ancient Gold Coast kingdom; name in New World for Gold Coast slaves, i.e. Coromantyns.

kuli, coolie; name given both Javanese and Chinese.

kunu, violation of ancestral moral code; punishment for such violation by ancestors and gods.

kuswɛ, red pigment from the fruit of the Bixa orellana.

kwakwa, musical instrument played at sacred dances, consisting of a hardwood bench beaten with one or two sticks.

kweki, children reared by strangers; they have the status akin to the African pawn in certain respects, though no money is exchanged between the family of the child, and the family taking the child.

Kwɛnda, snake deity.

- L -

lama, see kamalama.

Lɛba, god of the crossroads; guardian spirit of habitations, thought most often to reside in trees that are found in the yards. (Dahomey, Legba; Yoruba, Elegbara; Haiti, Legba).

Liba Mama, Mother of the River.

Loango wɩnti, lit., ‘Loango spirit’, a wɩnti associated with snake deities.

lɔbi-sɩ̨ŋgi, institutionalized ceremony of recrimination by ridicule, with women as the active participants; also form of public confession for women; songs sung at such ceremonies.

loko, sacred tree, and deity residing in the tree. (Dahomey, Loko; Yoruba, Iroko).

lukumąn, diviner.

lei̯, to lie; to guess; a lie.

lei̯-tɔri, riddle.

- M -

Ma fō Doti, Earth Mother, see Grǫ Mama.

mąn drǫ, male drum, one of complex of sacred drums.

mąn opo, a charm for winning and keeping a man.

mąŋ, to be able (Ewe; also possibly Dutch; or telescoping of both).

masra, master, husband, mister.

Masra Gra Gadō, Supreme God (lit., ‘Master Great God’).

mati, friend; name for homosexual relationship; invert (prob. Eng., mate).

muwɛse or Wɛse, Thunder God.

moi̯, fine, beautiful, polite (Dutch).

- N -

na, the; idiom for ‘it is’; abrev. for nąŋga (Twi, Nago, Mende).

nąŋga, and; with.

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nąnyąm, food.

Nɛŋgɛre, Negro.

Nɛ̨ŋgɛre-kɔ̨ndre, Africa.

Nɛ̨ŋgɛre-kɔ̨ndre kɔmfo, see kɔmfo.

Nɛ̨ŋgɛre Kromanti, see Kromanti.

Nɛ̨ŋgɛre-kɔ̨ndre pɛpre, African pepper, Aframomum Meleguete.

Nɛ̨ŋgɛre-kɔ̨ndre wɩnti, an African spirit, see wɩnti.

numą nɛ̨m, strong name.

nyąm, to eat, enjoy, capture, (as in a game of counters); spend, attack, (as when referring to an illness), (Jamaica, Brit.Guiana, U.S. [Sea Islands], Trinidad).

- O -

obia, healing principle; generic name for charm. (Efik, Twi?).

obia-fatu, palm oil.

obiamąn, maker of charms, who also exorcises evil magic.

odi, greeting, (probably Eng., ‘how do’; Sar., odi or ųndyi).

opɛte, vulture (Twi; Ewe, mpete).

opo, category of charms designed to perform aggressive acts for their owners; see tapu.

Opruru Brada, Thunder Gods (Eng., ‘Uproar Brothers’).

- Ɔ -

ɔrshadi, a drink made of the bitter and sweet almond, water and sugar; used as an offering to Earth Gods.

ɔru-kuku, owl.

- P -

pai̯, pay, sacrifice.

pąŋgi, cloth worn as skirt by women (Fr. pagne).

Papa Gadō or Papa Wɩnti, snake deity who possesses women. See Grǫ Papa.

Papa Ɩ̨ŋgi, a spirit born of the mating of a Papa snake and a female Indian spirit.

Papa fō wɩnti, priest; lit., ‘Father of the wɩnti’.

pɛmba or pɛmba-doti, sacred white clay (Kongo).

piai̯mąn, Indian priest (Carib Indian).

pikin, child; small; term of reference to the speaker when addressing a superior, i.e. a chief, a deity, a protector.

pina, pain, suffering, famine (Loango, pena); palm-leaf thatch; pin.

pinda, peanuts (Kongo, mpinda).

pɔdyo, a drum forming one of the complex of sacred instruments.

pranasi or prandasi, plantation (Eng.).

prapi, clay pot, bowl, or jug.

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presi-doti, praise the Earth, i.e. prayer to the Earth (Eng., praise-dirt).

puru, pull, withdraw, retract, guess, solve, redeem, retrieve. (Eng.)

puru mɔfo, ceremony of retraction; see fiofio (Eng., lit. ‘pull mouth’).

puru wisi, exorcise black magic.

puru yɔrka, exorcise a ghost.

- S -

sabana, savanna, cemetery.

safri-safri, cautiously, tenderly, quietly, (Eng., ‘softly’).

saka, to subside, to dismiss (Kongo, sakusa, to abate).

saka-saka, rattle used ceremonially to call the gods, and as one of the instruments of the ritual complex.

sąn, what (when speaking of things).

sąŋgrafu, sacred bush whose leaves and shoots are used ceremonially, particularly when dancing for the Tap' Kromanti, the sky gods.

sani, thing.

sɛti wɩnti, to pacify an angered wɩnti spirit.

sibi, to sweep.

Sinero, snake deity.

sisibi, broom.

smeri-wiri, a plant, Ocimum micranthum.

sneki-kɔti, magic inoculation against snake bites.

Sofia Bada, Thunder God (Dahomey, Bada, youngest member of Thunder pantheon; Haiti, Zofi Bada).

sopi, rum, alcohol.

Sranami, Thunder God, according to van Panhuys (personal communication), ‘Suriname deity’.

suma, person; who; used to form passive voice, i.e. suma taki, people say.... (Twi?).

sweri, oath, compact.

switi sopi, liqueur.

- T -

Tąndo, Osai Tando, African deity. (Gold Coast, Tano, older spelling, Tando; Togo, Asiotando, war god).

Tap-Kromanti, the Sky Gods envisaged as Thunder Deities; see Kromanti.

tapu, category of charms designed to act as preventives against the machinations of ghosts, malicious gods and sorcerers, see opo; top; on; ‘stop’ (in Haiti, the same charms are called arrêt).

tɛ̨, tɛm, when, until, (lit., ‘time’).

tigri, jaguar (lit., ‘tiger’).

Tɔbochina, snake deity (in Ewe, Fɔ̨, to, water).

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Tonɛ, generic name for water gods.

tɔ̨tɔ̨ or tɔ̨mtɔ̨m, pudding made of pounded bananas (Twi).

trąŋgamąn, strangulation, convulsions.

trefu, tabu, usually food tabu (Hebrew), also called tchina.

twelįŋ, twins (Dutch).

- U -

umą-opo, charm for winning and keeping a woman.

- V -

Vɔdų, snake deity; generic name for spirit, god. (Dahomey, vo, python, Vodų, generic name for spirit, god; Haiti, vaudou; U.S., voodoo).

- W -

Wankɛ, an African deity.

Watra Ɩ̨ŋgi, Indian Water spirit.

Watra Mama, Mother of the Water.

Wɛse, see Muwɛse.

wɩnti, wind, air, atmosphere, deity, spirit (Eng.).

wɩntimąn, priest or priestess of a wɩnti.

wɩnti prei̯, dance for the gods, lit. wɩnti ‘play’.

wiri or wiwiri, hair, leaf, herb, plumage.

wisi, black magic; poison.

wisimąn, sorcerer, poisoner.

- Y -

Yąnki, Indian wɩnti spirit.

Yao, Tata Yao, Thunder God; male born on Thursday (Twi).

Yawa, Thursday goddess (Twi).

ye or yeye, soul (Fɔ̨).

yɔrka, ghost (Carib Indian).

yɔrka kɔti, magic inoculation against ghosts.