Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/332

 3IO The Poetry of the Khvai Papuans.

and Soibu both mean the same thing, the spirit-land, although the first name only is in ordinary use.

The natives are quite aware of the rhyming character of such words, and form the variants of these words purposely for the sake of the assonance ; as one of my informants put it, "All same I sing out boy belong me [whose name was Saisami], "Saisami, Aisami, Kaisami." "

Some other texts of the same serial song also afford examples of rhymes : —

" Warawia bobo Sarawia boboJ' {" They find him one swamp name Warawia.")

" Mnrke Surke Alttrkc Siirke sagida yobaniar (" I go place belong Murke [a mythical person], he got plenty sagida [croton].")

" Yomejia wairii soniena wairu yomena-gii somena-gu." (" He sing out people belong place, " More better you come."")

In a few texts three rhymes are combined with each other, as in the following : —

" Yoroino soronio cronio yaraniaivio saravmwio.'' (" Along outside, see he break along canoe, spray he come.")

A study of the Kiwai songs furthermore reveals a kind of alliteration. An example occurs in the serial song mentioned above, which describes the making of a canoe. In the seven first verses and in some of the others the verbs alliterate, all beginning with a w-sound.

" Biirai negebadtimo nimo burai tato iipi biirai negeba- duino." — " Btirai nasiodumo fiitno burai into upi burai nasiodiimoT — "■Burai uemaipodumo niino burai tato upi burai neuiaipoduvior Etc.

All the cases of alliteration which I have found in Kiwai songs are of this description. The alliterative words generally occur both at the beginning and end of a verse, and, as each text is sung over and over again and one verse repeats the consonance of the preceding one, the similarity of sound becomes the more obvious.