The Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Solega: A Linguistic Perspective (Ethnobiology Book 0)

"This book covers the ethnobiology and traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the Solega people of southern India. Solega TEK is shown to be a complex, inter-related network of detailed observations of natural phenomena, well-reasoned and often highly accurate theorizing, as well as a belief system, derived from cultural norms, regarding the relationships between humans and other species on the one hand, and between non-human species on the other. As language-based studies are strongly biased toward investigations of ethno-taxonomy and nomenclature, the importance of studying TEK in its proper context is discussed as making context and encyclopedic knowledge the objects of study are essential for a proper understanding of TEK." -- Font no determinada Dedication 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 Chapter 1: Introduction 14 1.1 A Brief Introduction to the Field 15 1.1.1 Documenting Language and Traditional Knowledge Simultaneously 15 1.1.2 Defining ‘Ethnobiology’ 16 1.2 Language in Ethnobiology: A Classificatory Bias 18 1.3 Questions 20 1.3.1 The Ethnobiological Lexicon 20 1.3.2 Analysing One ‘Context’ 25 1.3.3 Incorporating Variation 26 1.3.4 ‘Encyclopaedic Knowledge’ as an Object of Study 27 1.4 Concerns About Scope and Method 28 1.5 Book Outline 31 1.6 Field Situation 33 1.7 Ethnographic Sketch 34 1.7.1 The Community: Name and Identity 34 1.7.2 Previous Studies 35 1.7.3 Governance 36 1.7.4 Religion 37 1.7.5 Division of Labour 37 1.7.6 Nutrition 38 1.7.7 Modern Living 39 1.7.8 Socio-economic Situation 40 1.7.9 Attitudes towards Language and Traditional Knowledge 40 1.7.10 Attitudes Towards the Forest 41 Chapter 2: Ethnotaxonomies and Universals: Investigating some Key Assumptions 43 2.1 Introduction 43 2.2 Universals in Folk Biological Classification 44 2.2.1 Ethnobiological Classification by Berlin 45 Categorisation 45 Nomenclature 45 Other Issues 46 2.3 On Challenging and Defending ‘Universals’ 46 2.4 Problems with Berlin’s Ethnobiological Classification 47 2.4.1 Many Possible Classification Schemes 49 2.4.2 ‘Objective’ Scientific Taxonomy 50 2.5 Synthesis 54 2.6 Folk Genera, Rank and Nomenclature 55 2.6.1 Solega 60 2.7 Conclusion 66 Chapter 3: Plants in Solega Language and Culture 68 3.1 Introduction 68 3.2 Solega Attitudes Towards Plants 69 3.2.1 Plants Used to Be People 70 3.2.2 Relationships with Individual Trees 70 3.3 General Naming Conventions 71 3.3.1 The Prefix he ◽- 71 3.3.2 The Epithet uccu 71 3.4 Patterns in Solega Plant Classification 72 3.5 Solega Ethnospecies and Scientific Classification 73 3.5.1 Plant Groupings in Solega 74 3.6 Ethnospecies Names and Linguistic Conventions 81 3.7 Plants in Place Names 83 3.7.1 Sources of Current Plant Distributions 84 3.7.2 Sources of Historical Biodiversity 86 3.8 The Naming of Individual Trees 87 3.8.1 Sacred Trees 88 3.8.2 Bee Trees 88 3.8.3 Trees Named for Their Physical Appearance 89 3.8.4 Other Named Trees 90 3.8.5 The Referent of a Named Tree 91 3.9 Plant Uses 91 Chapter 4: Solega Ethno-ornithology 108 4.1 Introduction 108 4.2 Methods 108 4.3 Solega Bird Nomenclature 110 4.3.1 Acceptability Judgements 111 4.3.2 Picture Elicitation Task 115 4.4 The Role of Perceptual Salience 122 4.5 The Effect of Culture 129 4.6 Relation to Scientific Taxonomy 130 4.7 Birds in Solega Life, Myth and Ritual 132 4.7.1 Birds as Sources of Information 134 4.7.2 Birds with Supernatural or Ritual Connections 135 4.7.3 Birds as Moral Arbiters 138 4.7.4 Miscellaneous Folklore 139 4.8 Conclusion 143 Chapter 5: Landscape Terms in Solega 146 5.1 Introduction 146 5.2 Ka:ḍu as a Landscape 153 5.3 Landscape/Forest Types in Solega 154 5.3.1 Tho:pu ka:ḍu 156 5.3.2 Beṭṭa:ga:ḍu 160 5.3.3 (Doḍḍa) ka:nu ka:ḍu 161 5.3.4 (H)orrega:ḍu (also na:ḍu ka:ḍu, kutare ga:ḍu) 163 5.3.5 Oṭṭuga:ḍu/eḷa:vuga:ḍu 165 5.3.6 Begga:ḍu 167 5.3.7 Hullu thoṭṭi, kari/benda ka:ḍu 168 5.3.8 Aḷḷa ka:ḍu/koḷḷa ka:ḍu 168 5.3.9 Hoḍe ka:nu 170 5.3.10 Saṇṇa ka:nu 170 5.3.11 Oḍḍuga:ḍu/kalloḍḍu 171 5.3.12 Bo:ḷiga:ḍu/beṭṭa bo:ḷi 172 5.3.13 Guḍḍega:ḍu, bo:rega:ḍu 174 5.3.14 Dimba ka:ḍu 175 5.4 Nomenclatural Considerations 177 5.5 Landscape/Forest Terms and Seasonality 178 5.6 Patterns of Usage 180 5.7 Conclusion 183 Chapter 6: Signs and Relationships 184 6.1 Introduction 184 6.2 Types of Signs 186 6.2.1 Long-Term Cycles 187 6.2.1.1 Solega Rain Calendar 188 6.2.1.2 The Phenological Cycle 191 6.2.2 Short-Term Cycles and (Temporal) Coincidences 192 6.2.3 (Spatial) Collocations 195 6.2.4 Intrinsic Signs 196 6.3 Relationships 199 6.3.1 Plant–Animal 200 6.3.2 Plant–Plant 203 6.3.3 Animal–Animal 203 6.4 ‘They’re Like Us’ 204 6.5 Conclusion 206 Chapter 7: Honeybee Lore 208 7.1 On the Manipulation of Resources 208 7.2 The Word je:nu 213 7.3 Honey Harvesting 214 7.4 Bee Songs 215 7.5 Solega Knowledge of Bee Natural History 218 7.5.1 Types of Honeybees 218 7.5.1.1 Hejje:nu 219 7.5.1.2 Thuḍuve je:nu 223 7.5.1.3 Kaḍḍi je:nu 223 7.5.1.4 Nesari je:nu 224 7.5.2 Aspects of Bee Life History 225 7.5.2.1 Honeybee Gender and Reproduction 226 7.5.2.2 Swarming 230 7.5.2.3 Foraging 234 7.6 Conclusion 236 Chapter 8: Conclusions 238 8.1 The Nature of TEK 238 8.2 Diachronic Ethnobiology 240 8.3 Fact or Fiction: TEK from the Analyst’s Point of View 241 8.4 Culture and Classifications 244 8.5 Linguistic Context and Encyclopaedic Knowledge 245 8.6 Concluding Remarks 247 References 249 Index 259 Front Matter....Pages i-xii Introduction....Pages 1-29 Ethnotaxonomies and Universals: Investigating some Key Assumptions....Pages 31-55 Plants in Solega Language and Culture....Pages 57-96 Solega Ethno-ornithology....Pages 97-134 Landscape Terms in Solega....Pages 135-172 Signs and Relationships....Pages 173-196 Honeybee Lore....Pages 197-226 Conclusions....Pages 227-237 Back Matter....Pages 239-252