Unusual (first) names

[Joel S. Berson]

Did I read somewhere that these names were given Chagnon because he
didn't know what they meant (at least initially?) and they would make
him an object of humor or ridicule?  Or is that story associated with
some other anthropologist and his aborigines?  Or is it a rural folktale?

(Intriguingly, Google gives only 7 hits for Yamamamo + Chagnon, and
Google Books 0; the book itself apparently exists in many editions,
including a 1992 edition, ' "...a substantially revised adaptation of
the fourth college edition..."--T.p. verso.')

Joel

At 8/27/2008 01:19 PM, Baker, John wrote:
>         Napoleon Chagnon, in Yanomamo:  The Last Days of Eden, tells of
>how the Yanomamo gave him scandalous fake names, such as "Hairy Cunt"
>and "Eagle Shit," because a name taboo made them reluctant to give real
>names.  Maybe something similar was going on here.
>
>
>John Baker
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
>Of Mullins, Bill AMRDEC
>Sent: Wednesday, August 27, 2008 1:00 PM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject: Re: Unusual (first) names (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
>Classification:  UNCLASSIFIED
>Caveats: NONE
>
>Anyone interested in unusual names should see the list of American
>Indian names I posted last year:
>http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0712A&L=ADS-L&P=R11898
>&I=-3&m=72854
>
>I haven't figured out if these terms weren't taboo in Indian culture, if
>they were but were given by Indians to people with intent of mocking
>them, or if they were transcribed by white people with the intent of
>mocking them.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org