Table Of ContentJournal of Ethnobiology 161-192 Winter
20(2):
EASTERN SUMBANESE
BIRD CLASSIFICATION
GREGORY FORTH
Department Anthropology
of
University Alberta
of
T6G 2H4
Edmonton, Canada
Alberta,
Oemboe memory
To Hina Kapita and to the of Louis Onvlec (1893-1986)
—
ABSTRACT.
In regard to ethnozoological classification, the Austronesian-
documented
speaking area of insular Southeast Asia one of the least parts of
is
Sumba
the world. Dictionaries of the language of eastern by Kapita (1982) and
names
Onvlee include over for kinds of avifauna with glosses in
(1984) fifty
drawn
Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) and Dutch as well as scientific identifications
Dammerman
mostly from fieldwork conducted by the naturalist in the 1920s.
Combining these data with ethnoomithological information collected by the author
domain Sumbanese
in the of Rindi, the eastern classification of birds discussed
is
and
with regard to nomenclature, internal structure, its relation to a general
On
ethnozoological taxonomy. the basis of recent ornithological studies of this
Sumbanese with
part of Indonesia, the association of categories scientific taxa
is
prominence symbolic
also reviewed. Finally, the of certain bird categories in the
idioms of ritual speech, myth, and augury is considered as a factor hypothetically
Sumbanese
linked with eastern ethnoomithological classification.
Key Sumba, naming and
words: eastern Rindi, classification of birds,
taxonomy, symbolism.
ethnozoological
—
RESUMEN. El area de habla austranesia del sudoeste insular de Asia es una de
mundo
menos documentadas en
las partes del relacion a la clasificion
Sumbanesa
etnozoologica. Los diccionarios de lengua del Este escritos por Kapita
la
Onvlee incluyen alrededor de cincuenta nombres de de
clases
(1982) y (1984),
como
aves, con terminos en indonesio (de Bahasa Indonesia) y holandes, asi
mayormente campo
de
tambien indentificaciones cientificas extra idas del trabajo
Dammerman
Combinando
en
conducido por naturalista los anosl920s. estos
el
datos con informacion etnoornitologica recopilada por el autor de este artfculo
la
sumbanes
en area de Rindi, clasificacion de pajaros del del este es discutida
el la
en relacion a la nomenclatura, estructura interna, y su relacion a una taxonomia
etnozoologica general. Sobre base de recientes estudios omitologicos en esta
la
parte de Indonesia, tambien se discute asociacion de categorias sumbanesas
la
con taxa cientifica. Finalmente, la prominencia de ciertas categorias de pajaros en
como
los terminos simbolicos del habla ritual, el mito, y el augurio, es considerada
Sumba
un hipoteticamente conectado con clasificacion etnoornitologica de
factor la
del Este.
—
RESUMfi. La ethnozoologique des Austronesiens de
partie
classification la
insulaire de I'Asie du sud-est est Tune des moins connues dans le monde. Les
dictionnaires de Kapita (1982) et Onvlee (1984) sur le langage du Sumba de Test
noms
contiennent plus de cinquante d'especes aviaires traduits en indonesien et
FORTH No.
2
Vol. 20,
162
dont plupart
que
en hollandais, ainsi leurs identifications scientifiques, la
Dammerman
dans annees
proviennent des travaux effectues par naturaliste les
le
A
de donnees de I'lnformation ethnoomithologique recueillie
1920. partir ces et
par I'auteur dans le domaine du Rindi, la nomenclature, la structure interne, ainsi
du Sumba de avec une taxonomie
que de des oiseaux Test
relation la classification
ethnozoologique generale sont examinees. L'association des categories
egalement revue lumiere de recentes
sumbanaises des taxa scientifiques est a la
et
etudes ornithologiques effectuees dans cette partie de I'lndonesie. Enfin,
du
dans symbolique
rimportance de certaines categories d'oiseaux I'expression
comme
un
discours rituel, du myth et de I'augure est consideree facteur
du Sumba
hypothetiquement ethnoomithologique de Test.
a classification
relie la
INTRODUCTION
To date no special study has been conducted into ethnozoological classifica-
tion on the Indonesian island of Sumba. The several Sumbanese languages belong
and more Malayo-Polynesian
the Austronesian family specifically to a Central
to
As
grouping (Blust 1979). part of general ethnographic research carried out in the
Map
eastern Sumbanese domain of Rindi in 1975 and 1976 (see recorded a
1), I
number names Most and some appear
of for bird kinds. of these, others besides, in
main Sumbanese Kambera compiled by
dictionaries of the eastern dialect of
Oemboe Hina Kapita Sumbanese on and
the principal expert the culture
(1982),
languages of the island, and by the late Louis Onvlee a linguist and Bible
(1984),
translator and the main Western expert on Sumbanese languages. Onvlee con-
ducted research jointly with Kapita between 1926 and 1955.
The paper
objective of this to review information recorded so far con-
is all
Sumbanese
cerning eastern ethnoornithological In view of the
classification.
common
appearance of birds in symbolic idioms, for example in Sumbanese ritual
language and myth, more
this topic relevant to rather than questions of
is
ethnotaxonomy and
nomenclature. Since Onvlee wrote in Dutch while Kapita's
work
is in Bahasa Indonesia (the Indonesian national language), a particular pur-
make
pose is to these data available to a wider ethnobiological, linguistic, and
anthropological audience not with
familiar these languages.
Another
relevant source, also in Dutch, the writings of the naturalist K.W.
is
Dammerman On
Sumba
(1926a, 1926b). the basis of research conducted on be-
May
tween March and (Monk Dammerman
14 26 1925
published
et 1997:882),
al.
names
32 bird in eastern Sumbanese (Kambera) and same number
the in the west-
ern Sumbanese language Laura by Dammerman
of
(transcribed
as 'Laora').
Dammerman's work
germane
not only because he was Western
is the scien-
first
tist to identify ornithological species present on the island, including two
Sumbanese
endemics, but also because Onvlee, on
especially, heavily
relies
Dammerman
(1926a) in defining eastern Sumbanese
Onvlee's
categories. dictio-
nary thus includes names drawn
just five scientific that appear be from
to
Dammerman,
(unspecified) sources other than Although both Onvlee and Kapita
significantly extend the list of Sumbanese taxa recorded by Dammerman, one un-
two
fortunate result of the lexicographers' on
reliance the early naturalist that
is
many
of the Latin binomials incorporated now
in their dictionaries are superseded.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000
163
modern
Nevertheless, binomials are for the most part readily inferred from a re-
Sumba
cent comprehensive ornithological study of and other eastern Indonesian
islands by Coates and K.D. Bishop
B. (1997),
Dammerman
Another two on
pitfall of the lexicographers' reliance of course
is
the possibility that the naturalist was mistaken in associating Sumbanese taxa with
Modern
particular species and genera. information on bird kinds present
scientific
on the island, however, supported by information drawn from Onvlee and Kapita,
and by
as well as linguistic ethnographic data compiled the present author, sug-
Dammerman's
were
gest that identifications, scientific as well as ethnozoological,
work
largely accurate. In this regard as well, the of Coates and Bishop (1997) has
proven Sumbanese have
especially useful. In identifying eastern bird taxa also
I
been able to draw on information provided by several eastern Sumbanese ques-
I
tioned in 1999 in Kupang, the provincial capital located in western Timor.^ With
Kupang
the aid of Coates and Bishop's guide, the informants were able
field to
number named
clarify a of important issues concerning the identity of birds by
Sumbanese
terms.
In spite of possible remaining gaps and ambiguities, the data compiled here
Sumbanese and
appear sufficiently complete to analyze eastern bird classification
A
some
to establish the general outlines of the system. point of relevance in this
As
regard the comprehensive nature of Onvlee's dictionary. a student of
is
who
Sumbanese languages resided on the island for over 20 years, cannot easily
it
many
be assumed Onvlee would have been unfamiliar with terms
that referring
even he had been unable them Also notewor-
to birds, to identify scientifically
if
thy the circumstance that Kapita, although a native Sumbanese and probably
is
better able to draw on a local knowledge of birds, does not record any names that
work more
do not also appear in Onvlee's dictionary. In fact, Onvlee's is slightly
complete. This not suggest that further research could not uncover additional
to
is
my
own
names for birds. Indeed, three terms encountered in the course of enqui-
among Sumbanese Kupang rawa
in Rindi and in {landti ivitu, mahihi, kaivi,
ries,
see Table 1)} are not listed by either Onvlee or Kapita, nor can they obviously be
accounted for as local variants of terms the two lexicographers do record. Even so^
many
below unnumbered
the total of nearly sixty-odd discuss (56 plus as as ten
I
which however number synonymous
productive binomials, total includes a of
names
usages) compares favourably with the 66 bird (or probable synonyms
59,
if
Nage
and terms with non-empirical referents are excluded) recorded for the of
Flores (Forth 1996, 1999), and the 54 terms recorded for the Nuaulu of Seram (Ellen
The Nuaulu should be taken
1993b). figure for in the context of a total of 195 spe-
Seram The comparable
cies recorded for the island of (Ellen 1993b:57). total for
Monk
who
Sumba Appendix
whole
as a 161 (see et 1997:354, 103
is 1; cf. al. list
Sumba). view environmental between
breeding species for In of differences east-
-^
ern Sumba and the more heavily forested and better watered western part of the
island, moreover, can safely be assumed that the number for eastern Sumba
is
it
rather lower than
this.
may
However the results of the present enquiry are judged, one hope that
they will be of sufficient interest to spur others to advance the study of eastern
Sumbanese ethnozoological Indeed, publishing information on the
classification.
FORTH
No. 2
Vol. 20,
164
Owin
some
ethnoloev of Sumbanese birds at present a matter of urgency.
is
knowledge Sumbanese
Indonesian national language, of
names
natural
for
huntin
increased
and
trapping to supply the export trade in cage-birds, the destruction of
air rifles),
human
by
natural habitats caused population increase, clearing of forests for agri-
modern some
culture and lumber, and development efforts, in cases the species to
Monk
names
which the indigenous refer are themselves probably in decline (see
and
1997:821-35; Coates Bishop 1997:39-40).^
et
al.
I
ADONARA PANTAR
ALOR
6
soLoR
•-
/ ^Waingapu
Kupan
10
SEMAU^
SAVIX,
<p.
ROTI
km
50 100 150 200 250
L —I
1 I I
12'
1
I
116=£ 118' 120 122- 124'
FIGURE 1.— The
SUMBANESE ETHNOTAXONOMY
BIRDS IN
The main
product of the present Sumbanese names
exercise a of for
is list
with
birds provisional These From
identifications. are set out in Table linguistic
1.
and ethnographic information compiled by
the present author in 1975-76, supple-
mented by and
Kapita Onvlee
(1982) (1984), is possible to locate these bird taxa
it
within broader taxonomy
a context of folk Figure The Sumbanese
(see
classifi-
2).
cation of animal kinds can readily be accommodated model
to the of ethnobiological
taxonomy developed by and
Berlin
his associates (see Berlin 1992). Berlin's terms
—
unique
beginner,
life-form, intermediate
thus provide a
means
analyzmg
useful ot and
local categories exploring mutual
their relation-
The
nature Sumbanese
ship. of eastern
bird nomenclature also lends support to
approach
Berlin's insofar as
indicates a based on
it classification primarily observ-
able morphological or behavioural
features (including vocal behaviour) rather than
on
non-perceptual
criteria. All the same, the Sumbanese
categories are further
re-
non-taxonomic
lated in other, ways,
thus
participating in a separate, symbolic
classification Forth 1998b:190-91). Non-taxonomic
(cf.
articulations of bird catego-
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000
165
ries are discussed after a review of nomenclature. In the concluding section briefly
I
consider the possible influence of symbolic value on the ethnoornithological
tax-
onomy
in general.
Whether Sumbanese
eastern ethnozoological classification incorporates a term
—
named
comprehensively
designating 'animal(s)' thus a ''unique beginner"
(Ber-
—
somewhat The main
lin 1992:15) debatable. candidate the expression
is
is
move/
makayidi-yadaku, which both Onvlee and
'things that Kapita further gloss
whole semua
as 'the of creation' (or creatures/ makhluk, Kapita 1982
'all s.v,
kayidiku). The phrase based on the compound yidi-yada, comprising two
is
roughly synonymous terms meaning move/ and producing an sound
'to alliterative
symbolism comparable to English 'topsy-turvy' or 'twist (and) turn' and Bahasa
Indonesia gerak which indeed Sumbanese combina-
gerik, translates the In
pair.
and
tion the affixes ka- -ku lend a repetitive or continuous quality to the basic
compound, ma-
verbal while what, that which') renders the nominal
('that, sense.
Homo
Although makayidi-yadaku
logically could include sapiens, the phrase
is
human
not normally applied beings and thus comparable, example,
to for to the
is
where word human/
vernacular English use of 'animal,' the contrasts with 'man,
The main Sumbanese
qualification concerns the collective sense of the phrase, that
the fact that appears mostly to be used as a reference to 'animals' in general
is, it
rather than to single individuals. Consistent with this, Kapita does not gloss
makayidi-yadaku as binatang ('animal,' Bahasa Indonesia), nor does Onvlee trans-
late with Dutch dier or beest. (Also, the last author gives the phrase as da
it
makayidi-yadaku, thus incorporating the plural Nevertheless,
article da.)
makayidi-yadaku a term Sumbanese regularly employ to refer to animals, not
is
an expression constructed in response to lexicographical questioning. That they
possess a category of 'animal', moreover, is indicated by the numeral classifier
when
which used ermumerating animals but not humans
or other
ngiti
(tail), is
living things.^
non-human
Although makayidi-yadaku
applies to animals, focus ap-
all
its
pears to be undomesticated kinds. Interestingly, yada, the root of yadaku, can
mean
'wild, untamed, difficult to tame/ as well as 'to move, be capable of move-
—
metonymy
ment' (Onvlee, Kapita yada). Yet this sense ^probably involving a
s.v,
—
movement
whereby a propensity to connotes the opposite of tameness not
is
clearly decisive for incorporation in the longer expression.^ Domestic animals
its
are collectively called banda. This however is a secondary meaning of a word, the
main sense of which 'goods, possessions, wealth' Bahasa Indonesia benda).
is (cf.
may
As term moreover
derivation suggest, the refers particularly large
this to live-
Sumbanese Some
form wealth economy.
stock, a principal of in the traditional of
my
Rindi informants claimed that banda could be understood in the wider sense
of 'animaT (Bahasa Indonesia binatang), with wild animals then being specified
as banda matamba (wild banda); but neither Onvlee nor Kapita record the latter
phrase and I suspect that, even at present, it is not a widespread or standard us-
Whatever and which makayidi-yadaku
age. the case, regardless of the extent to
may common two
and banda share referents, the categories are not obviously re-
lated by taxonomic inclusion. By the same token, banda can be characterized as a
mostly not economic
utilitarian category, referring entirely to a class of values.
if
FORTH
No.
2
Vol. 20,
166
naming
makayidi-yadaku phrase a category of living things
while a descriptive
is
on and on morphological, grounds.
behavioural, implicitly
distinguished explicitly
makayidi-yadaku an move, significant that the
Since refers to ability to is
it
taxon subsumes two major categories both of which are denoted by phrases refer-
ring to specific kinds of movement. Both constitute "life-form" taxa, in the sense
One
by Brown and mabei, 'things that creep,
defined (1979) Berlin (1992:15ff). is
crawl,' a large and internally diverse taxon that can include insects, arachnids,
amphibians, and even The other mahawtirungu, 'things that fly/
reptiles, fish. is
name
what
Not tnahawurungu. Contrary the
surprisingly, birds are focal to to
would suggest, not every sort of aerial creature included in the taxon. For ex-
is
Dammerman
ample, the Tlying dragon' (probably Draco volans, 1926a:218, in
cf.
kumhu hawumngM, reckoned not belong the
Rindi called lai 'flying lizard') is to to
Some
tnahawurungu but rather to the mahei, together with other lizards. Rindi
— —
thought that flying insects such as houseflies, wasps, and bees should be
mahawunmgu.
However,
counted as because they crawl as well, the creatures are
— —
and probably more usually mahei. almost goes without say-
also classified as
It
mahawurungu.
ing that bats are classified as Since the term translates exactly as
may
'flying things' be questioned whether Sumbanese, like most folk zoolo-
it
actually classify bats as kinds of That they do so indicated by the
gists, 'birds.' is
when
fact that Rindi mentioned bats with birds listing names of 'flying things,' as
by
well as a local belief that bats lay eggs.
The derivation of mahawurungu requires comment. Haivurungu com-
(to fly)
fused and wurungu, Malay Bahasa
prises a prefix, ha-, evidently a cognate of (or
burung some
Indonesia) and, following an Austronesian
(bird) authors, a reflex of
protoform referring to birds in general (see Dempwolff 1938; Lopez n.d., cited in
Wurm
and Wilson The same no wurungu
1975), sources give indication that re-
flects protoforms meaning 'to and may therefore be supposed that the
fly,' it
Sumbanese word
derives from a term that once denoted birds but has since, and
with the addition of the prefix ha-, acquired a verbal sense which, by way of fur-
ther prefixing, has as it were reverted to its original meaning/ There however
is
an
altemative interpretation. Both Kapita and Onvlee
indicate a derivation of
hawurungu
from wuru, denoting sound produced by wings
(to fly) the the of a
by an
flying bird, or object that is thrown into the In that case, the eastern
air.
Sumbanese word may
for 'to fly' even be based on an onomatopoeia, and
re-
its
may
semblance with burung
be
(bird) coincidental.^
Connected with opposed modes
the of locomotion to which the terms refer,
mahawurungu and mahei
comprise
creatures that typically occupy areas located
above and below human
respectively
the domain. Indeed, partly
in this re-
it is
gard that one can comprehend Hsh among
the inclusion of (iyangu) the mahei. For
although do not
fish actually 'creep' or 'crawl,' living in water they inhabit a re-
gion beneath the space inhabited by humans.
In addition, fish resemble other mahei,
particularly
reptiles, in several obvious morphological
respects, thus suggesting a
switch from behavioural
criteria as a basis of Although they
classification.^ consti-
two named
major
tute
life-form taxa within the makayidi-yadaku (moving
things),
mahei and
mahaivurungu
obviously do not exhaust Sumbanese
the category of
Most
'animals.' noticeably excluded mammals,
are both wild and
domesticated.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000
167
These are designated only by individual terms (for example, ruha 'deer/ buti 'mon-
key/ ringu 'dugong') which in most cases refer to terminal taxa coinciding with
made
The
scientific species. only distinction within these categories concerns wild
and what mammalian
domesticated varieties of are considered single kinds. Thus,
the wild cat and wild swine are called meo rumba and zvei rumba (rumba 'grass,
is
meo
bush') while their domestic counterparts are usually referred to simply as
As when
and wet can be seen from Table something similar done
(cat) (pig). 1, is
distinguishing wild and domestic kinds of fowls {manu) and ducks
(rendi).
Diagram)
2a (Tree
[unique beginner]
makayidi-yadaku
[life-forms]
mahawurungu mammals)
(other animals^
ifiabei e.g.
(flying things) (creeping things)
[intermediates]
mangmu
rawa (other birds
'Columbiformes') (small passerines)
(or
[folk generics]
marakuku manginu named
rawa kamukumtikitu (other
rawa (:=Lonchura, generics)
tana etc.)
etc.
[varieties]
manginu manginu
uhu, wataru,
etc.
—
FIGURE Sumbanese
ethnozoological
Bird taxa eastern classification
2. in
FORTH
No.
2
Vol. 20,
168
makayidi-yadaku,
Sumbanese
Since are quite clear that birds are instances of
all
category and mahawurungu are unambiguously related by taxonomic inclu-
this
sion (see Figure For the most part, the ^bird' taxon immediately includes a series
2).
by
terminal generic taxa (using "generic" in the sense proposed Berlin 1992:53-
of
named
The
that are not further divided into sub-types or varieties. resulting
53)
structure of three levels of course quite typical of folk classifications of living
is
things.
At the same time, the names recorded in Table include some 28 binomials,
1
component
and of these 16 appear to be productive in the sense that the second
by
specifies the referent as an instance of the class labelled the first term. Thus,
member
rawa more rawa.
tana, for example, specifies a of the inclusive category
two words
Other binomials are unproductive. Several comprise describing a fea-
ture of the bird katua laleba nggangga, landu witu, mhera wurungu).
(e.g., zvei,
name
The totoru laka also descriptive, combining a probable instance of ono-
is
matopoeia with a colour term {laka, see Table The six names that include kulu-,
1).
while formally similar to productive binomials, are not actually productive. De-
spite the probable connection between kulu- and words in other Austronesian
mean
languages that 'bird' or a kind of bird Nage/central Flores kolo 'dove'
(e.g.,
Sumbanese
[Forth 1996:106]), the term does not denote any particular class of bird.^^
As can be seen from Table the birds thus named are quite various, and indeed,
1,
Rindi denied that they were related to one another, or were variants of a single
What
kind. is more, kulu- also occurs as a component of terms designating natural
kinds other than birds (see kulu-kengu, millipede; kulu-nderi, a kind of grass; see
mouse
also kiilungu, a small sort of and kulu, a kind of breadfruit, Artocarpiis com-
morpheme
munis [Onvlee 1984]). In this respect, the reminiscent of central Flores
is
Ngadha) which
(Nage, kaka, forms names
similarly part of bird but further oc-
curs in terms for other natural kinds (regarding Nage, see Forth 1996:101; also
on same
Verheijen 1963 the element in Manggarai).
Most
productive binomials form pairs, thus distinguishing just two taxa within
more manu
the inclusive kind (e.g., rendi and rendi yalangu). By far the most promi-
nent instance of productive binomials are the terms denoting kinds rawa,
six of
all
which members Columbidae mem-
of refer to of the (pigeons and doves). Not
all
bers of this family, however, are specified with compounds of rawa. Others,
particularly seems smaller members, named word
are kulu-ndiha mhara,
it or a
that is itself modified to produce terms distinguishing kinds dove
different of (see
manu
and mbara None
tnbara
nggela). of the available evidence indicates that
mbara
either or kulu-ndiha is straightforwardly included within broader taxon
a
rawa. At same some
labelled the
time,
of the referents of razva, applying the
at
may
folk generic level, overlap with those of mbara. Onvlee thus gives Treron
teysmanni as the referent of both mbara and rawa
by
ratu. (Kapita's gloss, con-
only
links
trast, Streptopelia chinensis with mbara, whereas
Onvlee, rather
surprisingly, connects this species with no Sumbanese Onvlee
term.) further equates
rawa kakomku
with
Geopelia maiigei, while in Rindi this small dove a probable
is
mbara
referent oi nggela.
The rawa
terms and mbara
comparable
are also insofar as both are used with-
out
qualification to refer to particular kinds further named by compounds. For
rawa
example,
refers especially to Ducida aenea {rawa kamukumu),
Imperial
the
JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY
Winter 2000
169
rawa manu
pigeon, a bird that in Rindi at least further called and the largest
is is
of the Sumbanese Columbiformes.^^ The appearance of mhara in compound ex-
damage
denoting
pressions creatures that ripening rice crops (see Table strongly
2)
suggests term and although cuckoo-
that this specifies StreptopeJia Geopelia, the
dove {Macropygia ruficeps) also consumes rice (Coates and Bishop 1997). Larger
pigeons, including both the genera Ducula and Treron, are by contrast fruit-eaters.
Sumbanese rawa
Hence, conceivable that apply generally Columbiformes
to
it is
mhara
while reserving for particular instances, distinguished either absolutely or
—
situationally, according to their dietary behaviour a matter that bears on an ob-
vious utilitarian or practical consideration.
Whatever the exact relation between rawa and tnbara, the former term can be
seen as labelling an "intermediate" grouping, falling between the levels of
life-
On
form taxa and folk genera (Berlin 1992:139-160; see Figure the other hand,
2).
more unnamed
this status might accurately be assigned to a larger, class of
—
Columbiformes, most of which but not all^are designated as rawa while others
are called mhara (or by terms including these) or kulu-ndiha. In other words, all
—
may
Columbiformes be though
treated as a single, distinct strictly-speaking co-
—
Sumbanese taxonomy
vert intermediate category in eastern ethnoornithological
Forth 1996). Another candidate for intermediate status a group comprising
is
(cf.
most or of the diurnal raptors. As noted in Table Falconiformes are generally
all 1,
labelled as although the term's primary referent appears to be the Brahminy
ikitu,
more named marakuku necked
a bird specifically as ikitu ('White /throated
kite,
Consistent with broader use of ikitu are three western Sumbanese
this
ikitu').
Dammerman
by which
(Laura) terms for diurnal raptors listed (1926a), all of in-
These wikita wikita rewa koko, and wikita
clude the cognate wikita. are liza,
Sumbanese
and correspond respectively eastern kapaha, ikitu/ikitu
laho, to
mhaku/mhaku
marakuku, and
tehiku.
ikitu
ikitu tolungu ('meat hawks')
marakuku
ikitu
mbaku kapaha
(Brahminy tariku,
Kite) etc.
mbaku
mbaku
tehiku
A
FIGURE
3.— Rindi of diurnal raptors (iMtu)
classification
FORTH
No. 2
Vol. 20,
170
Rindi informant understood as a
According the detailed report of a ikitu,
to
One
two
comprises includes a single
general term for diurnal raptors, divisions.
Brahminy (marakuku). The second, labelled as ikitu tolungu (roughly,
kind, the kite
named
Table
'meat hawks')/ admits other kinds {kapaha, mhakii, tariku; see
1),
including members of both the Accipitridae and the Falconidae (see Figure 3).^^
among members
The same source specified the following order of size of the sec-
mbaku mhaku, kapaha,
ond
division: tehiku {Haliaeetus leucogaster, the largest),
how
was
tariku (the smallest). ^^ Unfortunately unable to determine far this clas-
I
among
Sumbanese.
of diurnal birds of prey shared eastern Essentially,
sification is
Brahminy most associated
separates the kite {Haliastur indus), the raptor closely
it
name members with
with from other of the broader taxon identified
the ikitu, all
same term 'meat
the term. Since Haliastur indus also eats flesh, the contrasting
however
hawk' does not illuminate the basis of the division. possible that the
It is
may
scavengmg than be Also,
rather killing relevant.-^^
Brahminy
while the -where, like other raptors, is
it
commo
Sumbanese more
This
from
Rindi the former
at least,
chickens. -^^
Sumba
Indonesia, on large raptors play a prominent
mythology. In parts of Flores, the Brahminy
is
it
Freeman 1960 and Metcalf
Brahminy
Bornean cosmolo
kite in
White
le (see below). Yet Rindi descriptions of the mythical bird sometimes sug-
Brahminy two
features of the Relevant
kite. to a possible conflation of the
may
hich suggests Onvlee's which
this is gloss, indicates that the large kite
sified as a kind of mbaku, more particularly the 'White-throated mbaku'
bara kuku, see Table
a situation that recalls the sort of classificatory
1),
\
already evidenced with
regard Columbiformes. an
to inversion
Effecting
)
my
relation of inclusion implied by Onvlee, Rindi informant both
listed
mbaku
and under mem-
tehiku However,
ikitu tolungu. his descriotion of
Brahminy
indicate the
Rindi
m
ana
larger eagies nawKs. Kegionai may
variation
toik classification
may
in resolving these issues. So too colour phases and
environmental
large raptors. For example, Brahminy may
Haliastur indus b
(the
kite)
mbaku when
kind
as a of specifically encountered near
the sea
(cf. Ell.
type
mangtnu. Like Onvlee
(1984), Rindi informants claimed were numerous
there
'kinds' (Bahasa Indonesia macam, manginu}^ among
jenis) of Mentioned these
were manginu uhu
manginu'), manginu wataru
('rice ('maize manginu'), manginu
tana ('ground
[-dwelling] manginu'), and manginu
were
kulu-kataitaku; but
there
many
reckoned be more
to besides, whose names were not known. With
the ex-
ception of kulu-kataitaku, a term used alone ^icn
fn lahpl ^ af^r^^r\r f;.vr.n r^^^o
