A Comprehensive Comparison of Lexemes in the ... - SIL International

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Table 1.4. Potential errors when performing a cursory survey.†
Error
Examples
Some informants said nəpakɨr for ‘sand’; others said nəməkəraker (p.
319). These are synonyms. Both lexemes are found in four of
Tanna’s languages.
Some informants said kapoapən for ‘sky’; others said neai (p. 339).
Kapoapen (lit. ‘black cloud’) and neai are nearly synomymous
lexemes for ‘sky’ found in all the languages of Tanna See ‘blue
Synonym sky’ on p. 50 and ‘sky’ on p. 196 below).
mismatch Some informants said yapou for ‘lazy’; others said yelpah (p. 389).
They are synonyms: both are available in the lexicons of Tanna.
One informant said rɨkin ru for ‘think’ or ‘listen’ while others said
ətərɨg (p. 519). These are synonyms.
Some informants said vəh for ‘hold’ and others said əskwalɨm (p.
479). These are near synonyms: vəh is ‘hold in the palm’;
əskwalɨm is ‘grasp firmly.’
Some informants said pin for ‘smell’ while others said əmiovɨn (p.
509). These are different lexemes: pin is transitive, ‘sniff, detect
an odor’; əmiovɨn is intransitive ‘have an odor.’
Some informants said an for ‘eat’ while others said əvɨgɨn (p. 469).
Grammatical
These are different lexemes: an is transitive; əvɨgɨn means either
mismatch
‘feed animals’ or ‘eat [intransitive].’
Some informants said that sun is rukweiha (p. 309). It is mɨrh,
mɨnag, or mɨt as the other informants correctly stated. Rukweiha
is ‘sunshine.’
Word One informant said natui for ‘new’ while others said ui (p. 399).
joining The word is wi, but nat wi means ‘a new thing.’
One informant said kahp for ‘liver’ (p. 199). Kahp just means
‘movable body part,’ such as testicle or tumor.
One informant said naha iran for ‘how many’ while others said
kuhu(n) (p. 429). Naha iran is a colloquialism for ‘how much
Incorrect
does it cost?’ The lexicon of the informant’s language contains
answer
kuvhuun See p. 126 below).
The linguist was eliciting ‘scorpion’ (p. 279), but there are no
scorpions on Tanna. The varied responses to this lexical item
reflect the confusion.
Tryon lists nap for ‘salt.’ It is the lexeme for ‘fire.’
Linguist’s
He lists nehap for ‘mountain.’ It should be listed as the lexeme for
mistake
‘smoke’ (p. 319).
†This table is not intended to denigrate Tryon’s work but is merely meant to illustrate how difficult it is to
obtain accurate data using a wordlist survey approach.