25.4618, Qs: Meaning of Mapuche tree name, 'Huililahuan'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-25-4618. Tue Nov 18 2014. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 25.4618, Qs: Meaning of Mapuche tree name, 'Huililahuan'

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Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 12:33:19
From: Philip Simpson [philipsimpson at xtra.co.nz]
Subject: Meaning of Mapuche tree name, 'Huililahuan'

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I am writing a book on the New Zealand tree, totara (Podocarpus totara), a
Maori word referring to the sharp leaves. One of its relatives (Podocarpus
nubigenus)grows in Chile, where the Mapuche people live. I understand that
there are Mapuche speakers. The name of the totara relative is huililahuan
(‘wilila-wan’). It is renowned for being one of the most southerly of all
conifers, growing in extremely wet swampy forest. It has wonderful wood- like
New Zealand's totara. I understand that the language that Mapuche speak is
named Huilliche. It seems to me that the name of the language and name of the
tree share a common element, ‘huilli’ meaning people, I think. This might
indicate that Mapuche held the tree in high regard, perhaps as a timber for
carving posts of human form, such as grave markers or boundary posts.I would
like to know the meaning of Huililahaun. Thank you very much.
 

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics






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