name.
Phrase 2 of this spell contains four couples, each consisting of a compound and a verb. The substantival compounds have all, according to the alliterative symmetry so dear to Kiriwinian magic, the prefix silimway-, derived from sulumwoya, the mint plant. Such play on words, especially on what is the leading word in a spell, as sulumwoya is here, shows that the purely phonetic handling of words must be associated with the idea or feeling of their inherent power. The keyword of the tapwana (phrase 3), has been translated, literally ‘it boils.’ Perhaps it might have been translated in its other slightly different meaning ‘it foams.’ Probably it has both meanings to the mind of the native reciter. I think that the use of a word fraught with two meanings at the same time is one of the characteristics of native language. In this spell, for instance, the word polu appears as one in a series of such verbs as ‘to roar,’ ‘to quake,’ ‘to sough,’ all carrying the meaning of ‘noise,’ ‘commotion,’ ‘stir,’ a meaning which is in harmony with the magical effects to be produced by the mwasila magic. In this context the obvious translation of the word would be: ‘to foam.’ On the other hand, this spell is said over a piece of mint, which will be preserved in boiled coco-nut oil, and the double meaning here contained might be paraphrased in this manner: “as the oil of the sulumwoya boils, so may my renown (or the eagerness of my partner?) foam up.” Thus the word polu would link up the meaning of the rite of boiling with the context of this spell. This explanation, however, has not been obtained from a native informant, though it is undoubtedly in keeping with the general type of current explanations. What I have called before the magical concatenation of magical ideas consists in just such connections of words and their meanings.
The dogina (final part) contains one or two typical features. For instance, in phrase 4, the maternal uncle of the present reciter is asked to breathe the spell over the head of Monikiniki. In this, the present owner of the spell identifies his canoe with that of the mythical hero. In 5, 6 and 7, we have several grandiloquent expressions such as that referring to the commotion on the mountain; that comparing his renown to thunder, and his treading to the noise made by mulukwausi; and that describing how the waga will sink, through being overfilled with valuables. The last part would, as usual, be recited in a much more perfunctory and quick manner, giving it the effect of piling up words, one forceful phrase following another It ends with the onomatopoetic sound tudududu … which stands for the roll of the thunder.
VI
The two specimens of magic here given in the original with a verbal translation, show how the linguistic analysis allows us a much deeper insight into the magical value of words, as it is felt by the natives. On the one hand,