[An-lang] body = house = boat = family

[Miriam van Staden]

Dear Austronesianists,
Throughout the Moluccas and the Timor area, and in both the Austronesian
and Papuan groups, we find models of the 'whole' of society and its
'parts' that involve the domains of the human body, the house, the boat,
and the family, including the ancestors. Interestingly, often the same
lexical items are used to refer to parts of bodies, houses, boats, and
family or ancestral relationships. For example, Tidore - one of the Papuan
languages of North Halmahera - has a single term that can be used to refer
to the spine of the body, the ridge of a roof, the keel of a boat, and to
one's parents or ancestors.
To use (at least) one of these models seems only natural, especially
for these seafaring island people, but what interests me is whether outside
this region we also find the same set of models, and indeed similar
conflations of meanings as in Tidore. My question to you is then whether
this is commonly found throughout 'Austronesian', or whether it is
restricted to Eastern Indonesia. Does anyone have useful references?
Thank you very much!
Miriam van Staden,
University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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