Table Of ContentSocial Structure, Space and Possession
in Tongan Culture and Language
Culture and Language Use
Studies in Anthropological Linguistics
CLU-SAL publishes monographs and edited collections, culturally oriented
grammars and dictionaries in the cross- and interdisciplinary domain of
antropological linguistics or linguistic anthropology. The series offers a forum for
anthropological research based on knowledge of the native languages of the people
being studied and that linguistic research and grammatical studies must be based
on a deep understanding of the function of speech forms in the speech community
under study.
Editor
Gunter Senft
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics,
Nijmegen
Volume 2
Social Structure, Space and Possession in Tongan Culture and Language.
An ethnolinguistic study
by Svenja Völkel
Social Structure, Space and
Possession in Tongan Culture
and Language
An ethnolinguistic study
Svenja Völkel
University of Mainz
John Benjamins Publishing Company
Amsterdam / Philadelphia
TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
8
American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Völkel, Svenja.
Social structure, space and possession in Tongan culture and language : An ethnolinguis-
tic study / Svenja Völkel.
p. cm. (Culture and Language Use, issn 1879-5838 ; v. 2)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sociolinguistics--Polynesia. 2. Tongan language--Social aspects. 3. Space and time in
language. 4. Cognition and culture--Polynesia. I. Title.
P40.45.P65V65 2010
306.440996--dc22 2010028220
isbn 978 90 272 0283 3 (Hb ; alk. paper)
isbn 978 90 272 8772 4 (Eb)
© 2010 – John Benjamins B.V.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any
other means, without written permission from the publisher.
John Benjamins Publishing Co. · P.O. Box 36224 · 1020 me Amsterdam · The Netherlands
John Benjamins North America · P.O. Box 27519 · Philadelphia pa 19118-0519 · usa
Table of contents
List of maps, figures and tables ix
Acknowledgements xiii
Symbols and abbreviations xv
chapter 1
Introduction 1
1.1 Ethnolinguistics 1
1.2 Fieldwork and research methods 3
1.3 The ethnographic setting 6
1.3.1 Tonga 7
1.3.2 The village of Niutoua 15
1.4 The Tongan language 20
part i. Anthropological issues
chapter 2
Social structure 27
2.1 Kin and the personal social status within the kin group 27
2.1.1 Social units 28
2.1.2 Kinship terminology 30
2.1.3 Social status and corresponding behaviour within
the kin group (kāinga) 34
2.1.4 Kinship terminology and social status within the kāinga 41
2.2 Societal ranking 43
2.2.1 Classes or societal groups 43
2.2.2 Ha‘a ranking 49
2.2.3 Speech preludes 51
2.3 Interaction of a person’s social status within the kāinga
and their societal rank 54
2.3.1 Social status within the kāinga of the Tu‘i Tonga 54
2.3.2 Situations of conflict 56
vi Social Structure, Space and Possession in Tongan Culture and Language
chapter 3
Land and the symbolic meaning of space 57
3.1 Land tenure 57
3.2 Local groups 64
3.3 The geography of the islands and the use of land and sea 66
3.4 Land shortage and migration 67
3.5 The symbolic meaning of space 68
3.5.1 Seating order in a kava circle 69
3.5.2 Seating order and spatial symbols
for special rank or status 74
chapter 4
Possession and gift exchange 77
4.1 The economy 78
4.1.1 Agriculture, livestock and fishing 79
4.1.2 Production and use of koloa 82
4.2 Gift exchange 85
4.2.1 Gift exchange and private events 87
4.2.2 Gift exchange and civic events 89
4.2.3 Gift exchange and church events 91
4.3 Remittances and the role of money 92
chapter 5
Conclusion: Connecting remarks on social structure,
space and possession 97
Photo illustrations 101
part ii. Linguistic issu es
chapter 6
Spatial descriptions 105
6.1 Different frames of reference 106
6.2 Peculiarities of spatial reference in the Oceanic
language family 112
6.3 Tongan spatial markers 113
6.4 The use of different frames of reference in Tongan 124
6.4.1 Spatial representation of Niutoua 124
6.4.2 Non-linguistic perception of space 126
Table of contents vii
6.4.3 Spatial descriptions 129
6.4.3.1 Linguistic realisation of the frames of reference 131
6.4.3.2 Linguistic use of the frames of reference 138
6.4.4 Linguistic and non-linguistic coding of space 144
6.5 Space as a social component 147
6.6 Conclusion 153
chapter 7
A‑ and O‑possession 155
7.1 Terminology and definitions concerning linguistic possession 155
7.2 Tongan possessive markers (morphosyntax) 158
7.3 The semantics of A- and O-possession 164
7.3.1 Theories explaining the difference between
A- and O-possession 165
7.3.2 A semantic analysis of A- and O-possession in Tongan 176
7.3.2.1 Defining A and O in Tongan 176
7.3.2.2 The use of A and O with Tongan kinship terms 182
7.4 Conclusion 193
chapter 8
The language of respect 195
8.1 Social deixis: Honorifics 196
8.2 Western Polynesian languages of respect 198
8.3 The Tongan language of respect (compared to Samoan) 200
8.3.1 Defining lexical levels in Tongan 203
8.3.2 The Tongan vocabulary of respect (semantic forms) 213
8.3.3 The use of Tongan respect forms (context) 223
8.3.3.1 The use of the language of respect at a
village level (Niutoua) 229
8.3.3.2 The use of the language of respect within
the royal family 232
8.4 Conclusion 237
chapter 9
Conclusions 239
References 245
appendix 1
Question catalogue of the Niutouan inquiry
(in English and Tongan) 253
viii Social Structure, Space and Possession in Tongan Culture and Language
appendix 2
Lists of A‑ and O‑possessed semantic categories
and single items in different Polynesian languages 257
appendix 3
List of A‑ and O‑possessed semantic categories and single concrete
nouns in Tongan according to Churchward (cf. 1953: 81–87) 261
Glossary of Tongan terms 267
Index 271
List of maps, figures and tables
List of maps
Map 1.1 South Pacific and the Polynesian Triangle 8
Map 1.2 Islands of the Kingdom of Tonga 9
Map 1.3 Tongatapu island 11
Map 1.4 The village of Niutoua (town allotments) 16
Map 3.1 Estates on Tongatpu 61
Map 6.1 Mental map of Niutoua (exercise 2 of the inquiry) 125
List of figures
Figure 1.1 The Polynesian subgroup 21
Figure 2.1 Social status within the kāinga from a male perspective 37
Figure 2.2 Social status within the kāinga from a female perspective 37
Figure 2.3 Genealogy of royal title holders 45
Figure 2.4 Ha‘a affiliation of nōpele titles 51
Figure 3.1 Kava circle of the Tu‘i Kanokupolu 71
Figure 6.1a Spatial situation of Example 1 (relative reading) 107
Figure 6.1b Spatial situation of Example 1 (intrinsic reading) 107
Figure 6.2 Spatial situation of Example 2
(absolute frame of reference) 108
Figure 6.3 Feature distinction according to Levinson 108
Figure 6.4 Underlying design of the non-linguistic experiment 111
Figure 6.5 Underlying design of the non-linguistic experiment
(exercise 3 of the inquiry) 127
Figure 6.6 Spatial situation during the description of Example 48 136
Figure 6.7 Spatial situation of the interview 137
Figure 6.8 Continuum of the use of the absolute and relative
frames of reference 145
Figure 6.9 Spatial coordinates of a Tongan house 148
Figure 6.10 Spatial coordinates of a Tongan church (a. basic; b. reflection) 149
Figure 6.11 Spatial coordinates of the hall of the Wesleyan church
in Niutoua (at a big feast) 151
Figure 6.12 Spatial coordinates of a Tongan village 152
x Social Structure, Space and Possession in Tongan Culture and Language
Figure 7.1 Bennardo’s illustration of his spatial definition
of A- and O-possession 175
Figure 7.2 Reciprocal kinship relations (a. fakafotu-mehekitanga
relationship; b. ilamutu-fa‘ē tangata/tu‘asina relationship) 186
List of tables
Table 1.1 Population and size of island groups 10
Table 2.1 Tongan kinship terminology 32
Table 2.2 Kinship terms and corresponding status (for kin who are
related through not more than one connecting relative) 43
Table 3.1 Nōpele and matāpule titles and their hereditary estates (tofia) 59
Table 5.1 Visualisation of social and societal structures 99
Table 6.1 The different frames of reference and the deictic
versus non-deictic distinction 109
Table 6.2 Tongan spatial prepositions 113
Table 6.3 Tongan directionals 117
Table 6.4 Tongan spatial nouns 119
Table 6.5 Use of the different frames of reference for non-linguistic
spatial perception 129
Table 6.6 Use of different linguistic structures in various kinds
of spatial descriptions 141
Table 6.7 Frames of reference in short distance descriptions 142
Table 6.8 Use of the absolute and relative frames of reference
for linguistic and cognitive coding 146
Table 7.1 Tongan articles 159
Table 7.2 Tongan personal pronouns 159
Table 7.3 Tongan A-possessive pronouns (set 1: premodifying) 161
Table 7.4 Tongan O -possessive pronouns (set 1: premodifying) 161
Table 7.5 Tongan possessive pronouns (set 2: predicative) 163
Table 7.6 Tongan benefactive pronouns 164
Table 7.7 A- and O-possessed semantic categories
(according to Churchward) 172
Table 7.8 A- and O-possessed terms describing kinship relations
and other personal relationships in Tongan 183
Table 7.9 Kinship relations and ‘simple control theory’ 184
Table 7.10 Kinship relations and ‘initial control theory’ 189
Table 8.1 Status differences according to honorific types 197
Table 8.2 Differences of rank and appropriate use of honorific
vocabulary in Tongan 202
