"Sounding the Essence of Sense and Sound: On Translating Playful and Poetic Prose

Introduction: novel + language use

This paper will consider the translation of the playful use of language on the part of marginalised youth living on the outskirts of Paris, as this wordplay appears in a contemporary French novel. This novel is Moinon, written by Patrick Goujon and published by Gallimard in 2003. I translated this novel last year within the framework of my PhD thesis at Paris 3. It relates the thoughts and experiences of two young men, the main narrators Hoch and Flex, and of their friends and family. The characters all live on the outskirts of Paris and the story is set in the early 2000s. This information, however, is never directly divulged to the readers; there is no explicit indication of time or place, and it is up to the reader to infer the setting from the language of the novel and/or from the voice that Goujon attributes to each of his characters. One might identify nuances of activism in such a choice as Goujon subtly plants a seed in his readers' minds, hinting at the invisibility of the outskirts of Paris within French society more broadly. The decision further serves to accentuate the identity function of language, as it is purely thanks to the highly-marked nature of the language employed by the novel's characters that the reader is able to recognise that when they speak of la Ville d'àcôté, the City Next Door, they are referring to Paris.

2.

Non-standard language: identity and rebellion

Hoch and Flex, and their entourage, speak a particular variety of French that one immediately recognises as belonging to the young people of la banlieue parisienne. Goujon's characters are marginalised, and, indeed, their limited agency finds more ample room to move in language; these young people, suffering from the sentiment of being pawns of French society, rebel against the language of the elite by taking ownership of the language handed down to them, bending and often violating the rules that it enforces, or by shaping and moulding it in ways that members of la bonne sociétéwould not. Speaking of the particular form of language adopted by young speakers of French in urban areas, Stella Linn states that "This linguistic variety allows underprivileged youths from multi-ethnic suburbs to rebel against authority by deliberately violating standard language norms" (IJLL, August 2016, p. 1). The urban youth language used by the characters in Moi non gives them a voice, literally and figuratively, allowing them to assert their identity and express their belonging, and the impact and liveliness of this particular version of youth language that Goujon channels in his novel finds stimulus in the poetics and performance of rap music.

Rap music, creativity and constraint

Rap music has its roots in the rise of the hip-hop movement from within the impoverished South Bronx of New York City of the 1970s. The characters in Moi non find both inspiration and an outlet for their voice in rap music as Goujon wields highly informal language characterised by slang and musicality to forge in Moi non a distinct style of writing combining the colloquial and the lyrical. He harnesses the MC's linguistic and stylistic toolkit to play with language, to play with words, as his characters craftily manipulate the standard language to make it their own. They find solace in the creativity that the constraints of rap music impose on them, requiring them to adjust their lyrics to fit the syllabic restrictions resulting from the specific number of beats and bars allocated to each line, while simultaneously making use of rhythm and rhyme to produce a text that flows. Adam Bradley and Andrew Lee DuBois confirm this link between creativity and constraint in their introduction to The Anthology of Rap; they claim that "Rap, like other artistic forms, thrives on constraint as much as it does on freedom" (2010, p. xxiii). In fact, the manner in which the characters of Moinon generate ingenuity from the constraints imposed by rap music can indeed be seen as an extension of their initial impulse to use language creatively within the context of the hardship of life in the banlieue parisienne. As we will see, these rap-related constraints placed on the writer of the original text are compounded in translation, where the translator must attempt to respect both the style and the content of the text as far as possible while making use of the possibilities available to them in the language of translation.

Rap constraints and wordplay

The constraints of rap music propel the MC, or in this case the author, towards efforts to play with language, and this wordplay manifests itself through the unusual and unexpected use of words. In The Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop, Adam Bradley discusses the way in which interspersing rap lyrics with rhyme can engender collocations that are interesting both semantically and stylistically. Bradley quotes poet and critic Alfred Corn who states that "The coincidence of sound in a pair of rhymes is a recommendation to the reader to consider the rhyming words in tandem to see what meaning emerges from their juxtaposition" (2009, p. 54). One might say the same for wordplay, in terms of that way that the highlighting or exploiting of the polysemy or homophony of words prompts fresh connections, encouraging the reader (or listener) to identify new meanings and relationships between words and ideas, calling into question commonly-made associations and/or establishing new ones.

Rap and poetry

Within Moinon, the character who narrates the better part of the first half of the novel, aspiring poet Hoch, proposes his own definition of poetry: "C'estça la poésie pour moi. Son avantage c'est que même si la syntaxe, le contenu sont pas corrects, les possibilités de faire sonner les mots, les mettre en désordre, les inventer même, c'est toujours là pour t'aider à pas te faire cocu toi-même" (Goujon, p. 14plus translation on PowerPoint). Hoch's voice is perhaps the most poetic of all the characters', and the way that he exploits literary devices is clearly influenced by the rap music that seeps through to his ears via his Walkman. The introduction to The Anthology of Rap insists on the relationship between poetry and rap and states that "Good rap lyrics are poetically interesting because they have to be; they have little in the way of melody or harmony to compensate for a poor lyrical line" (2010, xxxiv). The style and effect of the game that Goujon plays in Moinon can be likened to the "flow" of a piece of rap, or the rhythm and the rhyme of the words, and the way in which these elements interact. Adam Bradley defines flow as "an MC's distinctive lyrical cadence, usually in relation to a beat. It is rhythm over time" (2009, p. 6). Goujon has clearly been inspired by the writing of rap lyrics as he extends the use of poetic devices from the explicit passages of rap and poetry peppered throughout the novel to imbue the narration more broadly. Indeed, wordplay provides for Goujon the ideal platform to dabble in a juggling of sound and semantics, to vivid effect.

Translation of wordplay

Such creative and militant use of language necessitates particular attention in translation, since the translator must identify solutions which communicate the playfulness and the nuances of meaning nestled within the original turns of phrase, all the while suggesting the agency of the characters in their particular use of language. Failing to do so would betray the premise that is central to the original text, in which characters resort to a clever exploitation of language to assert the only agency they possess. Wordplay is used extensively throughout Goujon's novel and takes on a number of forms. I propose in what follows to focus primarily on the role played by constraints in the translation of rap or rap-like prose by opposing examples of passages of formal rap with passages of the narration influenced by rap.

CASE STUDY: NARRATIVE FLOW

Flow in the narration

Let us first look at aspects of wordplay in the narration of Moinon. Where wordplay makes an appearance in the narration, it is primarily deployed through the use homophones. When translating these homophones, I prioritised orality rather than striving for an exact replication of the type of wordplay used in the original. Therefore, when the use of a homophone in English risked hindering the flow of the translated text or appearing forced and artificial, I chose to focus on imbuing the text with rhythm and sound through the use of complementary literary devices such as assonance and consonance, all the while ensuring that I was making use of imagery and figurative language. The fact that I was translating rap-like narration and not formal rap meant that I was able to take more liberties in terms of rearranging syntax and shuffling word order so that the translation would flow in a manner that was pleasing to the ear.

NARRATIVE FLOW EXAMPLE 1

This first example I have chosen to analyse with you today is taken from the beginning of the novel, when Hoch and Flex are in a department store. Hoch is attempting to steal a silk shirt, and his friend Flex is distracting the security guard so that they won't be caught.

Mon ami est mon paravent et d'ici que le type calcule, je prends ma part avant.

p 20 My friend's my shield and, by the time the guy's put two and two together, I've already sealed the deal.

In the above example, the homophonic wordplay of the French is not reproduced in the English. I opted instead for a rhythmic translation that channelled assonance and consonance, using the expression "to put two and two together" for calculer, and "to seal the deal," for prendre ma part avant. Though establishing homophonic wordplay in the English could have been a possibility, through playing with the word "shield," for example, I preferred the final solution without homophones in English as the flow of the sentences was particularly forceful, therefore placing the emphasis on rhythm.

NARRATIVE FLOW EXAMPLE 2

My second example is also taken from the first chapters of the novel, where Hoch is describing his relationship with his friends and the kinds of activities and discussions they partake in together.

On se raconte nos petites histoires, enfin je t'ai déjà dit, les taffes soporifiques et les tafs en sous-marin, les coups de vice à la scred '. p. 31 We trade stories, like I said, about trading under the table. About smoking and joking, puffing to relax, about wheeling and dealing, covering our tracks.

Here, I have played on the double meaning of "trade," used in two forms ("trade" and "trading") and tried to emulate the use of homophones in the original. In this example as in the previous, it is clear that I departed considerably from the syntactic arrangement of the original text. I took the first use of a gerundive and built it on in the second part of the passage, attempting to achieve a robust flow. This flow is different from in the original, but has more impact on an acoustic level than what I might have settled on had I followed the syntax of the original more closely.

NARRATIVE FLOW EXAMPLE 3

My third and final example of rap-like prose appears towards the end of the first half of the novel, where Hoch is reflecting on consumerism before a sales festival in the mannequin store at which he works. In this example I was again able to use a partial homophone in "earn" and earnest", though these two words are not juxtaposed as explicitly in the translation as in the original since they are separated by a sentence, rather than appearing side-by-side. I attempted to compensate for the reduced impact by instilling in the English lines a distinctive rhythm, especially through the rhymed use of the sound "aking" in "raking in the takings."

Flow over homophones

Although wordplay is prominent in the form of homophones in the above examples, I reckoned that it came second to rhythm, and this hierarchy of priority provided ideal reasoning to focus on flow in the translation when the use of wordplay was either clumsy or forced. I adopted the same logic when translating rap, but the more formal constraints did not allow me as much flexibility in fleshing out the verses in English.

CASE STUDY: RAP LYRICS

Formal constraints in rap

Let us look then at a few examples of the translation of rap lyrics, governed by more formal constraints. In translating these and other passages of rap, the rhythm that I was able to employ was determined more forcibly by the structure of the original text since I needed to maintain rhymes and keep a similar number of beats per bar. That said, Adam Bradley reminds us in The Book of Rhymes that an MC is able to alter and play with standard pronunciation in performance to stress and accentuate certain parts of the lines, which means that an exact number of syllables per bar is not always indispensable, so long as the verse "balances its linguistic weight in such a way that it can be performed without awkward pauses, gasps for breath, or other infelicities" (2009, p. 27). Sound and rhyme in particular played a significant role in dictating my choices in translation, as I attempted to instill in the English bars elements of consonance, assonance and alliteration as far as possible, and to ensure that a coherent and consistent rhyme scheme rippled through each passage.

RAP EXAMPLE 1

The first example of rap lyrics that I have chosen to look at with you is taken from the second half of the novel where Flex expresses his thoughts and fears about the future.

Je veux pas me sentir enfermé, l'coeur en ciment en si peu d'temps / m'retrouver dans une peau que je kifferais pas, du vent / sur mes couplets, dans les poches de mes vêtements / le regard fatigué et froid de ceux qui squattent les bancs, <<< mais bon / c'est comme ça nos vies, on pense qu'à se plaindre et à se tirer d'ici / c'qu'est toujours mieux que se tirer dessus / J'ai vu tellement de rêves échouer dans le décor / emboutir des hommes et des femmes sans même leur donner la mort / les r'garder droit dans les yeux, sans même les plisser / leur dire « à compter d'aujourd'hui ton seul bonheur s'ra d'aller pisser ». p. 203

I don't want to feel trapped in this urban sprawl, heart like a stone wall in no time at all / end up with a skin I don't want to be in, scrawl / lyrics as thin as the clothes beneath my chin, crawl / tired and cold, like drifters idling in a hall, <<< but, after all / that's our life, we think only of complaining and of escaping on the next bullet train / which is always better than putting a bullet in the brain / I've seen so many dreams drown with the fish / crush men and women, not even grant their death wish / look them right in the eye and not even blink / tell them "from now on in your only pleasure will be smelling your shit stink."

Arriving at and settling on this translation was by no means a fast or facile process, but I departed from the two meanings of the verb se tirer evoked here, that of leaving and that of shooting, to brainstorm a list of words and expressions with similar meanings. Somewhere in this mess of notes was the word "bullet," noted to correspond with the idea of shooting oneself. When fleshed out into an expression, bullet could become "bullet in the head" or, indeed, "bullet in the brain," which conveniently rhymes well with the idea of running away on a bullet train. While they adjust the exact images projected by the original text, these two new rhyming images in English reflect the overall idea elicited by the French lines. The two expressions also function in terms of flow and establish a consistent and mirrored rhythm over the two bars.

RAP EXAMPLE 2

The second example contains a remarkable use of partial homophones which make a frequent appearance throughout the original text, especially in rap lyrics, often used to make half rhymes, or slant rhymes. When I use the term "partial homophones" here, I am referring not only to the use of words with similar sounds, but to the repetition of entire syllabic sounds through the use of the same base word or sound with different endings. the throat to thrust the fist and the fist to ease my mind… Paumés and pommes are translated as the slightly different sounding "space" and "spaced," in "spaced out" and "a waste of space," and mouche and mouchoir through two forms of the verb "to drop": "dropping" and "drop." I used the same technique of building on base words by changing the ending further down in the passage where I added a partial homophone: the noun "cat" and the adjective "catty." One might argue that this addition of a partial homophone compensates for the lack of homophone in the translation corresponding to the different uses of vois/voix.

These two examples of rather dense rap lyrics demonstrate the difficulties involved in translating rhythm and rhyme in such a way that the translated text functions as a performable piece of music while reflecting the ideas communicated in the original text. Structural compromises through syntactical rearrangement in the translation were often necessary to allow the sounds and images to reflect what I perceived to be the essence of the ideas conveyed in the original lines. The passages in English are markedly different from their French counterpart, but the original and the translations are comparable in their use of rhythm and sound to communicate very similar messages.

CASE STUDY: COMPETITION (time permitting)

Before I finish, I wanted to return briefly to the idea of the use of language as a weapon, in this case when a person's witty use of wordplay can allow them to gain an upper hand in a verbal exchange with social rivals. The idea of playing a game that is suggested by the terms "jeu de mots" and "wordplay" can be likened to the competitiveness of rap when it is performed in the context of rap battles. In the following example, Hoch finds himself in an uncomfortable situation, surrounded by young men from whose place in the social hierarchy is higher than his own. These young men attempt to impress Hoch by interrogating him, patronisingly, about his job and the type of car he has. Hoch is able to "beat" them by turning their insults on their head and using them against them through his quick wit. In that world, a world of cheek-kissing, blowdried wimps, in that world, I wasn't welcome. But my weapons were their own, and mine were undoubtedly better sharpened.

It was vital in the translation of this passage to maintain the overall tone of competition and animosity, clearly indicating the shift in power resulting from Hoch's clever use of language.

Here, and in the accompanying passages containing these kinds of exchanges, what needed to be privileged was the casual yet forceful manner in which Hoch dismantled the arguments of his opponents, achieved through a relaxed but crisp syntax. More broadly throughout the passage, I needed to ensure that the imagery of battle was maintained in the translation, communicating the idea of words as weapons and of the urgency of the competition.

CONCLUSION

I entitled this paper "Sounding the Essence of Sense and Sound: On Translating Playful and Poetic Prose," a title which solicits a questioning of the possibility of maintaining both sound and sense in translation, and of the creative licence afforded to the translator. I have presented today several examples from my own translation, providing my own justification for the choices and changes made. My concerns orbited around the ideal of identifying creative solutions that respected the playful acoustics of the original text without straying too far from its structure and content. Determining to what extent the flow of the original needed to be respected, and in what ways, and what liberties I could therefore take in the manipulation of the structure of the original text and of the specific images it conveys, was by no means an objective process: I was acutely aware of my agency as a translator, and of the subjectivity of the reasoning behind my own decisions, with which not all translators, readers or critics would agree. Jean Boase-Beier and Michael Holman In The Practices of Literary Translation, Constraints and Creativity, state that "There is no agreement on the level of intervention permitted to the translator" (1998, page 10). This paper, and indeed this conference, is perhaps itself a form of activism: like the voiceless youths of Goujon's novel, who latch on to language and sculpt it in their own way to make themselves heard, the translator, often forgotten or sidelined, or to use Venuti's terminology, "invisible," is in his context able to shed light on the deliberations influencing the final product and draw attention to the process hidden from public view.

In his book Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame, André Lefevere reminds us of the tendency to assume that a translator must privilege either the sound or the sense of the text being translated; that is impossible to render both in translation, to be a servant of two masters. "Translators, we are likely to be told, will be able to render the sense of the original only at the expense of the sound, and often also of the morphosyntactic features organising the original." I hope that in my translation of these passages containing wordplay, I have rendered the essence of the sense of the original text, sacrificing the morphosyntactic features of the original, which incidentally I felt was inevitable or at the very least indispensable, but not the sound. Such an approach allowed me to respect the way in which the characters of Moinonuse language as a weapon and as a vector through which to express rebellion. Rather than show compliance and complicity through the use of the standard French that is regulated by the Académiefrançaise, dictated by Le Bon Usage, and governed by strict rules, the characters choose to speak out against their domination by seizing the tool handed to them by the dominators. They appropriate it, adhering to the adage "rules are meant to be broken," making use of the techniques of rap to create playful and ungrammatical prose. In taking liberties to perform syntactic reshuffling and modify specific images to suit the sound patterns that I, personally, felt had the most force in English, I have created a new text in my own language and my own words, which is able to stand alone, in its own right, but which is at the same time reflective of and clearly comparable to the function that language serves in the original novel.

  Roll out the smooth talk so you're the one raking in the takings. Earn money, money, and more money and then, at the end of the day, wash your hands.

	Oublie la qualité, pense cadeaux, promos,	Forget quality, think gifts, special offers,
	remises, soldes, crédits. File des lunettes de	discounts, sales, store credits. Stock up on
	soleil pourries et des stylos plume. Oublie la	shitty sunglasses and fountain pens. Forget
	franchise, franchise les détours de langage	being earnest.
	et fais des petits. Fais du fric, du fric, du fric
	et à la fin de la journée, lave-toi les mains.
	(p. 71)


As observed by Sidnell (p.c., June 2003), this methodology also has its origins in relatively unchallenged ideas about creole languages, as these reoles are typically characterized as (the most) vernacular, natural, and authentic speech forms (of a community). The aim of this paper is to challenge these ideas.

Appeared in: 2004. In G. Escure & A. Schwegler (eds.), Creoles, Contact and Language change: Linguistics and social implications, 285-306. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins.

The speech event kuutu in the Eastern Maroon community *

Bettina Migge

Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität

Sociolinguistic analyses of creoles are generally restricted to morphosyntactic aspects, drawing their data from vernacular speech in informal interviews. While this approach has undoubtedly contributed to a better understanding of the grammatical competence of creole speakers, it has provided relatively little insight into their communicative competence. The present study follows the "ethnography of speaking" approach [START_REF] Hymes | Models of the interaction of language and social life[END_REF] to investigate the social and linguistic properties of an important formal event in the Eastern Maroon community, the kuutu 'council meeting'. The data underlying this study were collected among the Pamaka maroons. My investigation shows that the kuutu event is characterized by structured social and linguistic practices that provide important face-saving strategies, and create an aura of dignity, importance and respectability. The social practices described here include participation privileges, and procedures for organizing and holding a kuutu. Concomitant linguistic practices include turn-taking procedures as well as lexical and pragmatic choices. The social conventions and speech acts described here are primarily associated with titled persons and elders, who are the sole active participants in a kuutu. The analysis provided also suggests that speech genre analysis offers important insights into the nature of linguistic varieties and the social meanings they index.

Introduction*

Sociolinguistic research on creoles generally relies on speech data collected in relatively informal social settings. This methodological approach can be traced back to quantitative sociolinguistics that identified the vernacular as the most representative speech genre [START_REF] Labov | Sociolinguistic Patterns[END_REF][START_REF] Milroy | Observing and Analyzing Natural Language[END_REF]). 1 Participants in such settings are assumed to employ their most "natural" speaking style, since they are thought to pay little or no attention to overt societal speech norms.

However, anthropological research has provided abundant evidence that all (speech) behavior is subject to social monitoring and thus equally "natural". In both formal and informal interactions people select their social and linguistic practices based on various social considerations, such as situational appropriateness (the practices characteristic of a specific setting), the goals of the interaction, and the social identities they want to project [START_REF] Eckert | Style and social meaning[END_REF]. The main difference between formal and informal settings is that each involves a different set of social and linguistic norms. Participants in formal contexts target different types of social and linguistic practices than those who engage in informal contexts. An exclusive focus on only one kind of social setting and speech style thus appears to be arbitrary, and obviates a full understanding of the range of linguistic practices available within a community and crosslinguistically.

In addition, sociolinguistic research often investigates structural and macro-social constraints that condition the variation between the local standard language (typically the superstrate) and the creole. Analyses that focus exclusively on morphosyntactic features, such as the copula or pronouns, pay little attention to the social meanings users attach to individual variants -with the exception of [START_REF] Sidnell | Gender and pronominal variation in an Indo-Guyanese creole-speaking community[END_REF] -, and to the features of particular speech events -with the exception of [START_REF] Abrahams | The Man-of-words-in the West Indies: Performance and the Emergence of Creole Culture[END_REF], [START_REF] Sidnell | Primus inter pares: Story-telling and male-peer groups in an Indo Guyanese Rumshop[END_REF], and [START_REF] Rickford | Concord and contrast in the characterization of the speech community[END_REF].

Because of this predominantly one-sided approach, a significant amount of research remains to be done on (1) the range of discourse practices in creole-speaking communities, (2) the social and linguistic characteristics of such practices, (3) their social meanings and pragmatic functions, and (4) their role in the construction of social identities. A thorough understanding of the issues listed above is, however, essential to a comprehensive analysis of the linguistic makeup of Creole societies, the norms governing interactions, the nature of social identities, and the social (political and legal) organization of these communities.

The goal of this paper is to investigate one important formal speech event in the Eastern Maroon (EM) communities of Suriname and French Guiana (Guyane), the kuutu 'political meeting' or 'council'. More specifically, I will focus on the linguistic practices that characterize this type of event and on their related social meanings and functions.

My observations indicate that the kuutu linguistic practices differ considerably from informal speech events in the EM community. Furthermore, they appear to be an exclusive feature of the maroon societies of Suriname. Other Creole communities in this region model their formal practices according to the norms of the local standard European language (Abrahams 1983: 90).

The social and linguistic practices characteristic of kuutu events are subject to considerable structuring. Their function is to save the participants' face, and to impart an aura of social respectability and responsibility to its users. Kuutu events also highlight the social significance of the issues being discussed.

The paper is organized as follows: Section 2 briefly presents the EM communities, their linguistic background, and the speech data and the method of data collection. Section 3 investigates the kuutu setting, using Hymes' (1972) "ethnography of speaking" framework. Section 4 focuses on the linguistic practices and norms that apply in a kuutu. The final section ( §5) summarizes my findings and discusses their implications.

The Eastern Maroon community

The EM community is made up of three autonomous groups, the Aluku or Boni, the Ndjuka or Okanisi, and the Pamaka. These settlements were founded between 1710 and 1760 by slaves who had fled the plantations of Suriname [START_REF] Hoogbergen | The history of the Suriname maroons[END_REF]). Maroon villages are located in the interior of the tropical rain forest of Suriname and Guyane along the Marowijne river (in the case of the Aluku, Ndjuka and Pamaka), and its tributaries, the Lawa river (Aluku) and the Tapanahoni river (Ndjuka). Since the civil war in Suriname and the country's economic decline in the late 1980s and 1990s, a significant number of EMs have moved to the urban zones of Guyane, particularly to the town of St. Laurent du Maroni. This city presently has the largest urban EM settlement in the region.

The mother tongue and primary community language of the EM communities is the Eastern Maroon Creole (EMC). It is classified as an English-lexified creole, since roughly 77% of its basic vocabulary is derived from English. Significantly smaller numbers of lexical items come from Portuguese, Dutch, local Amerindian languages, and African languages [START_REF] Huttar | Sources of Ndjuka African vocabulary[END_REF][START_REF] Smith | The genesis of the creole languages of Surinam[END_REF]. EMC is said to be a conservative or radical creole because its structural system has been subjected to limited influence from its superstrate English, or other European languages spoken in the region, such as Dutch and French.

There are three major EMC varieties that coincide with the three existing EM groups (Aluku, Ndjuka or Okanisi, and Pamaka). These originally developed on the plantations of Suriname between 1680 and 1720 [START_REF] Migge | The origin of the copulas (d/n)a and de in the Eastern Maroon Creole[END_REF]. The three varieties are mutually intelligible, but differ slightly on the phonological as well as lexical level. For example, Ndjuka uses long vowels in some contexts, whereas the other two varieties use short vowels (cp. bataa vs. bata 'bottle'). On the lexical level, the ability marker is poi in Ndjuka and man in Aluku and Pamaka. 1 1 See [START_REF] Bilby | L'aluku: un créole surinamien en territoire français[END_REF] for a discussion of the differences between Aluku and Ndjuka. Goury & Migge (to appear) discusses the differences between Aluku, Ndjuka and Pamaka.

Two relevant publications provide linguistic and socio-cultural information on the Ndjuka community. One is a comprehensive grammatical description of Ndjuka [START_REF] Huttar | Ndyuka[END_REF], and the other is a basic dictionary [START_REF] Shanks | A Buku fu Okanisi anga Ingiisi Wowtu. Aukan-English Dictionary and English-Aukan Index[END_REF].

Data collection

This study is based primarily on observations and recordings of various kuutu that took place in the Pamaka community between 1995 and 2001. Most of the meetings took place in the village of the gaaman 'paramount chief' of the Pamaka, Langa Tabiki. Some kuutu events were held in the Pamaka villages of Boni Doo, Nason, Lokaloka, and Badaa Tabiki, and in the French town of St. Laurent du Maroni.2 Topics debated in the kuutu events included mainly local matters, such as intra-familial conflicts and disputes in the local gold-mining areas, or the organization and initiation of important ceremonies such as puu baaka 'end of mourning rituals'. However, external issues, such as the status of relations between the Pamaka and the national government of Suriname, also figured in the kuutu debates. Most of the data provided in the present study are taken from a kuutu that was held in March 2001 in the village of Langa Tabiki. This meeting dealt with a long-standing problem between the kabiten 'lineage head' of Badaa Tabiki, and the members of the Mma Sanna bee 'extended family founded by a woman called Mma Sanna'. Essentially, they were accusing their kabiten of disregarding his obligations, i.e. looking after his people and their territory, and of making undue use of his social powers. According to them, he was attempting to bring a gold-mining concession opened up by a family member under his sole control. In so doing he intended to force family members who worked there off the concession in order to install Brazilian and Surinamese-Chinese small-scale mining enterprises that would then have to channel a percentage of their exploits into his own pockets.

The recordings were either made by myself, or by a native field worker. They were subsequently transcribed by the field worker or by another native speaker of the EMC. Some of the information on which this study is based was obtained in the course of informal discussions with the fieldworker and various members of the EM community.

**query: I wonder if a simple map might not be helpful here to show where Langa Tabiki is located. If you would like, you can send me a map (via attachment, fax or whatever) on which you can indicate the village by hand. I'll then make the map and send it to you for your approval.

The social characteristics of a kuutu

Location, physical makeup, and participants

The word kuutu is probably derived from Kikongo kútu 'ear' (cp. the related Kikongo kúta 'to be assembled, to assemble, to form a reunion, etc.' (Laman 1964: 342-343). 3 In the EMC kuutu is used to mean both 'to complain', and 'to debate, to argue', as in:

(1) Hii dei, a e kuutu den swagi f' en. whole day he PROG complain the-pl in-laws for-him 'He is always complaining about his in-laws.'

(2) Den kuutu a toli fu a goutu busi. they debate the-Sg story for the-Sg gold forest 'They debated the problems in the gold-mining areas.' 3 I thank Armin Schwegler for suggesting this etymological origin of kuutu. Bakongo men and women (speakers of Kikongo) were almost certainly among the early and later contingents of Suriname slaves [START_REF] Arends | Demographic factors in the formation of Sranan[END_REF]. In other parts of the Americas, Kikongo kútu has also been preserved. Thus, in Cuba kutu (or plural makutu) is used in the Palo Monte ritual code to this day, and with a variety of meanings, including 'ear(s)'. For an introduction to the Palo Monte ritual language, see Fuentes [START_REF] Fuentes Guerra | Raíces bantu en la Regla de Palo Monte[END_REF][START_REF] Fuentes Guerra | Nzila ya mpika (la ruta del esclavo). Una aproximación lingüística[END_REF], [START_REF] Schwegler | El vocabulario (ritual) bantú de Cuba[END_REF][START_REF] Valdés Acosta | Los remanentes de las lenguas bantúes en Cuba[END_REF].

It is to the latter sense, 'debate', that EMs trace the meaning of the noun kuutu 'a meeting in which disputes are discussed and arbitrated'. It is one of the most important formal speech events in the community.

There are two broad types of kuutu:

(i) Kuutu fu konde sani 'village council or meeting' whose function is to organize up-coming community-wide events (e.g. burials, end of mourning period etc.). This type of kuutu addresses matters such as the date and location of events, people's contributions in kind, money and labor, rules of behavior, and the initiation or legalization of particular ceremonies.

(ii) Kuutu fu seeka sani 'meeting for arbitrating problems, court of justice', whose function is to preserve or re-establish social harmony whenever the need arises. This type of kuutu is organized to arbitrate serious disputes between relatives, or to investigate a crime. It thus provides a forum for the opposing parties to present and defend their contradictory views, and to try to resolve them in an impartial environment. The present research deals primarily with this kind of kuutu.

Kuutu are held in a local kuutu osu 'debating house', which is a rectangular open-roof structure. Kuutu osu built by the Surinamese government are made of stone, and are closed off on one of the short sides. Their use is generally restricted to kuutu that involve representatives of the national government. Kuutu events are also frequently held in other public or semi-public locations of the village, such as the ground floor of the house on stilts of a titled person, or in the area in which the faaka tiki 'shrine of the ancestors', and the kii osu 'mortuary' are located. The speaker participants and the audience bring their own seating, either regular chairs (sutuu), or local stools (bangi).

The speech event kuutu in the Eastern Maroon community

No strict rules of clothing apply in a kuutu: People wear their regular clothes. Titled persons bring a token of their official uniform, such as their hats, in the case of a kabiten '(sub)lineage head'.

There are two broad groups of participants in a kuutu, speaker participants and audience. Speaker participants are titled persons and elders. 4 Titled persons are the official members of an EM government (lanti), including the gaaman 'paramount chief', the ede kabiten 'the most powerful lineage heads', the (kowonu) kabiten 'regular (sub)lineage heads', and the basia 'assistant to the gaaman and kabiten'. The beneficiaries of these positions are selected from among the sisters' (male) children (sisa pikin) of their predecessor, i.e., through matrilineal inheritance. They are generally older people, but in recent years, the number of kabiten who are in their thirties and forties has increased considerably because the Surinamese government refuses to recognize elderly kabiten.

Titled persons can be male or female, but they are assigned different tasks. Female basia, in accordance with prevailing gender norms, are primarily responsible for organizing the up-keep of the public area of the village and the preparation of food during official events. A male basia serves as a ritual interlocutor (pikiman) in meetings, disseminates messages (bali basia), and assists the kabiten in all his activities.

Due to pressure from the government of Suriname, most (sub)lineages recently created umanpikin kabiten -'female (sub)lineage head' positions -in order to increase women's participation in the political decision-making process. Because of the novelty of this office, women's positions are subordinate to the positions held by men. From the maroon perspective, the positions with the longest tradition (e.g., those from the lowe tin 'time of flight') have the greatest social prestige, and provide the greatest sociopolitical power. Umanpikin kabiten deal with women's issues, and substitute for their male counterparts in their absence. For example, they may arbitrate small-scale problems, and receive members of the national government.

Most elders are responsible (male) persons above 40 or 45 years of age. Individuals over 60, however, have the greatest social power. Female elders generally do not play an active role in public sociopolitical events.

Titled persons and elders jointly manage the social, judicial and political affairs of the community. They give advice in times of crisis, arbitrate disputes (taki, kuutu), marry people (akisi uman 'ask woman'), and organize ritual ceremonies such as burials (beli, olo), end of mourning rituals (puu baaka 'remove mourning'), and spirit appeasement rituals (kunu pee 'avenging spirit ritual'). They also represent the community or its matrilineal (sub)lineages (bee). In a kuutu, they carry out the discussion for the disputing parties. If titled persons or elders are involved in a dispute, they may represent themselves. However, their arguments are more persuasive if other titled members or elders accompany them. If they are on their own, they are less likely to be taken seriously since they failed to mobilize supporters.

Untitled persons, and younger women and men, including the people involved in the dispute, do not generally take an active part in a kuutu. Their case is presented, discussed, and arbitrated on their behalf by the titled persons and elders of their bee. They are part of the audience but may be called upon to provide 'expert testimony'. They can only indirectly influence the decision-making process by petitioning the active participants prior to the meeting, or by clapping or shouting out the active participants during the event.

In a kuutu, the speaker participants usually sit apart from the audience and the most important titled members and elders (e.g., the gaaman, the ede kabiten, the most senior elders) sit separately from those of intermediate status (e.g. kowonu kabiten, other elders). All participants are arranged either in a full or in a half circle. The speaker participants sit closely together in the center of the half circle while all others sit behind them, or on the fringes. In the case of a full circle, the active participants cluster in one area, and the audience in another. Some passive participants may sit behind the people of the inner circle. In kuutu fu konde sani 'village council', the presiding members face the audience.

2. The overall structure of a kuutu

A complex sequence of semi-formal negotiations called taki typically precedes a kuutu. The function of this preamble is to facilitate mediation between the disputing parties. The disputants, or their close kin, make a formal complaint to an elder, generally the tii 'maternal uncle' or gaan tii 'mother's maternal uncle'. The elders discuss the problem with the disputants, and attempt to bring the disputing parties together in an effort to resolve the problem locally and quickly. If it cannot be resolved at this level, the kabiten of the bee organize a kuutu in order to bring the issue in front of the lanti 'government, public'. If one or several local kuutu cannot resolve the problem, the matter is brought before the government of the entire group, e.g. the Pamaka.

A kuutu may be called from one day to the next if an urgent matter arises. However, people are generally informed a couple of days ahead of time by messengers, by radio (on the coast) and/or by word of mouth. The day of the kuutu, a male basia formally announces the time of the event. A kuutu can take place at any time but important community-wide ceremonies (e.g. beli, puu baaka, etc.) that last several days provide primary occasions for holding a kuutu, since most of the important people of a bee and from other bees gather on such occasions. They use the time between events linked to the ceremony to work on pressing community issues.

Kuutu fu seeka sani have the following overall structure:

(i) Pre-event 1: People arrive at the venue, exchange (formal) greetings with the people already present (if they meet them for the first time that day), look for a suitable place to sit, and engage in small talk until the beginning of the kuutu.5

(ii) Pre-event 2: Once a sufficient number of the expected participants is present, important current issues, such as the outcome of a previous kuutu, are briefly discussed. The situation determines whether or not pre-event 2 will take place, and if so, what will be its actual duration.

(iii) Opening of the kuutu: The highest-ranking members of the two disputing parties introduce the topic under discussion, and talk about the desired outcome of the kuutu. Each spokesperson presents his party's grievance. With each introduction the problem becomes more narrowly defined, and clearly stated. Initially, figures of speech are used to allude to the issues under discussion (see Section 4. 4), but as the meeting progresses, the motives for disputes are overtly acknowledged. In the case of issues that may lead to heated confrontations, participants are reminded of the rules of conduct that apply in a kuutu.

(iv) Discussion: This is the longest part. The representatives of the two disputing parties present their case, and regularly take turns to respond to the points of view and evidence provided by the other party. The highest-ranking members have the privilege to speak first. If the discussion threatens to become offensive, the presiding members or other participants remind the assembly of the rules of conduct.

(v) Seclusion: Once all the views have been presented and discussed, or if some previously unknown issue arises in the course of the discussion, the members of each party usually go into seclusion (beni / go a se) to discuss possible solutions, positions and strategies in private, before presenting them in public.

(vi) End: If the kuutu succeeds, the highest-ranking members make final resolutions. They rule on the outcome of the dispute, and make recommendations to prevent further problems. If the arbitration fails, a procedure for continuing the process is proposed.

Rules of conduct

The most important behavioral norm in a kuutu is that participants have to be sensitive to positive and negative face. Positive face refers to (positive) self-image and personality, and to recognition and appreciation by others. According to Brown & Levinson (1989: 62), based on [START_REF] Goffman | Interactional Ritual: Essays on Face to Face Behavior[END_REF], negative face refers to the necessity to avoid imposition on a person's time, personal space, and freedom of action. In the context of the kuutu, face-saving protocols require that participants avoid undue direct confrontation, accusation, offence, criticism and demands involving fellow participants. Moreover, they are expected to properly present the issues at stake, and to work towards a solution that is acceptable to all parties concerned.

Another important rule of conduct involves the acceptance of existing social hierarchies. People of lower social status should submit to those having higher social status. The former should pay attention to the latter's point of view, heed their advice, and accept their decisions.

Finally, people in a kuutu are expected to act in a calm and reserved manner. They should abstain from open expressions of emotions such as anger, (un)happiness, and must behave saka fasi 'with humility'. They should not flaunt their knowledge, abilities and status, or abuse their social power.

Linguistic practices in a kuutu

The style of speaking used in a kuutu is generally referred to as lesipeki taki / fasi 'respectful speech'. It is employed in all kinds of socially important formal events (e.g., kuutu, taki, libations, appeasement ceremonies, when making formal demands, or when in the presence of elders and people of high social status such as titled persons and elders).

Lesipeki taki / fasi is distinct from kowonu taki and wakaman taki in terms of discursive practices (see below) and native categories. Kowonu taki/fasi 'everyday speech' is employed in typical everyday in-group settings among people of equal social status, or when talking to people of lower social status. Such settings include speech accompanying work activities, and informal chatting.

Various types of code mixing, particularly when involving the coastal creole Sranan Tongo, is often referred to by such terms as wakaman taki / fasi 'traveler's speech', or yunkuman taki 'young man's speech'. This speech style is closely associated with young men and (vulgar) street life.

Unlike these two speech styles, lesipeki taki / fasi conforms to the rules of conduct discussed in Section 3.3, as it exhibits the four properties of formal language use identified by Irvine (1979: 776-779):

(i) Increased code-structuring "concerns the addition of extra rules or conventions to the codes that organize behavior in a social setting" (Irvine 1979: 776). With respect to language, this may involve employing intonational (e.g. meter, or pitch contours), phonetic, lexical, morphosyntactic, and/or discursive features that set this variety apart from other ways of speaking.

(ii) (Increased) code consistency. "At many different levels of linguistic organization […] speakers select from among alternatives that have contrasting social significance" (Irvine 1979: 777). There are local rules of co-occurrence that stipulate the extent to which the choices have to be consistent. In formal settings "consistency of choices (in terms of their social significance) seems to be greater than in ordinary conversations, where speakers may be able to recombine variants to achieve special effects" (Irvine 1979: 777).

(iii) Invoking of positional identities. "Formal occasions invoke positional and public, rather than personal, identities […]. Public, positional identities are part of a structured set likely to be labeled and widely recognized in society […]. Personal identities, on the other hand, are individualized and depend more on the particular history of an individual's interactions" (Irvine 1979: 778).

(iv) Emergence of a central focus. "[…] a main focus of attention  a dominant mutual engagement that encompasses all persons present (see Goffman 1963: 164)  is differentiated from side involvements" (Irvine 1979: 779).

There are four features that saliently distinguish language use in a kuutu from everyday verbal interactions: (1) The nature of turns and turn-taking, (2) vocabulary and language choices, (3) address forms and (4) the use of figures of speech.6 These features are discussed below.

Turns and turn-taking in a kuutu

The nature of turns and turn-taking in a kuutu is subject to considerable structuring. A speaker (takiman, TM) is supposed to select a new turn, either by asking the pikiman 'ritual responder' (PM) for permission to speak (3a), or by calling the attention of the pikiman (3b). However, people of high social rank, such as the gaaman or high-ranking kabiten, also claim turns without previously securing the pikiman's permission (3c).

During a turn, only the ritual responder, pikiman, responds at regular intervals (piki taki) to the takiman. The pikiman is selected among the basia, or male elders, at the beginning of a kuutu, and generally holds this function throughout the kuutu. His responses (piki) come from a conventionalized set of short phrases that essentially signal agreement with the takiman (8). The same phrases are reapplied many times, but it is considered bad piki if he does not regularly alternate between the available options. Repetition is said to create monotony and to distract from the takiman's speech.

(8) a.

(N)a so a de (dda/papa); 'It's like that.' na so; a de so (dda/ppa). b.

Ya, dda/papa; iya, dda/papa. 'Yes, elder.' c.

Leti so (dda/papa); a leti so 'Right.' (dda/papa). d.

Aiyoo (dda/papa); eeya/eiya (dda/papa); ai, baa (dda/papa). 'Yes.' e.

Kwetikweti (dda/papa); nono 'No/not at all.' (baa dda/papa).

If the takiman asks a (rhetorical) question, the pikiman has to either answer it (9a) if the answer is obvious, or he simply repeats the question (9b). ( 9 The piki-style requires a skilled interplay between the takiman and pikiman. In this dialogue, the takiman typically leaves short pauses or intervals after what he considers to be semantically significant units. The work of the pikiman then is to anticipate these pauses and to insert the piki so that it highlights or underscores the vital parts of the message (10). If the takiman talks too quickly and does not provide intervals, or if the pikiman does not properly follow the takiman's speech, the piki-style cannot be realized. The pikiman has two main functions. First, he guides or encourages the takiman's speech by providing him with input that supports his positive face. Second, by being the only permissible interlocutor during the takiman's speech, he shields the takiman from distracting or disruptive comments from the other participants, i.e., he protects his negative face. He also highlights the role of the takiman, whose speech thus becomes the sole focus of attention.

It is generally not permissible for the other participants to overlap or interrupt the current speaker. However, there are two situations in which interruptions are tolerated: First, if the content or form of the speech becomes disrespectful or offensive (11), and second, when a higher-ranking person considers it necessary to speak immediately at the beginning of the turn. These interruptions are generally prefaced with apologies to protect the current speaker's face, and to avoid being accused of breaking the rules, i.e. to project a respectful self-image.

(11) TM1:

[Talking about all the bad things the ede kabiten did] Efu a so a be taagi mi 'If he had told me that we (the bee) taki u anga en,a ná, and he (the kabiten) are not the be a wan mi no be o same, I would not have inaugurated go de.

h i m . ' PM:

A so a de. 'Right' TM1:

Da a kabiten ... 'Then the kabiten…' TM2:

Eee, a ná enke mi e koti. 'It's not like I'm interrupting.'

TM3:

Ma efi i taagi a sama 'But if you tell a person wan taki di án bun, something that isn't good, da a palaki fika de.

then it gets stuck there.'

2. Language and word choices in a kuutu

Besides respecting well-defined turn-taking rules, participants in a kuutu are expected to select appropriate lexical items (abi lesipeki/kiyo 'code-consistency'). It is essential to avoid taboo and common or vulgar terms, such as those related to sex and witchcraft (wisi), and to use instead a specific set of terms denoting respect. 8 Table 1 presents a non-exhaustive list of such respectful terms and their common counterparts. 8 Note that the words such as uman, frou 'woman' have sexual connotations while boliman (lit. 'cook') and tia sama (lit. 'aunt person') do not. In a similar vein, terms such as koo sama 'lit. cold/quiet person' and sama fu sileti konde 'person of the supernatural world' suggest that deceased persons have simply moved on to another physical state but are still (active) members of the community -they give advice to its living members. In contrast, dede sama 'dead person' denotes a person that has been lost to the community. People also tend to avoid direct reference to topics that may threaten participants' face, such as direct criticisms, and accusations or restriction of their personal freedom. They generally allude to them using figures of speech (see Section 4.4). However, if it becomes necessary to openly discuss such matters, they are typically prefaced with abundant apologies (13) to mitigate the offensive force of the words. In example (13) only the takiman's words are provided; the responses of the pikiman are omitted for reasons of space.

(13) -Mi begi piimisi dii toon, 'I ask for forgiveness three times, papa J.! elder J.!' -So! Mi begi piimisi.

'Okay! I ask for forgiveness.' -Na omen toon.

'So many times.' -Den sama di sidon ya 'The people who are here, na mi tata sidon ya ye.

it's my elder who sits here.' -Da mi begi piimisi fu 'I ask forgiveness of the a gaaman bika mi tata.

gaaman since he is my father. -Fu mi mofu án mu misi 'So that I am not going to say gaanenge.

rude things.' -A fu gaanenge, mi e begi 'It's for rudeness I ask for a piimisi.

forgiveness.' -Mi begi a piimisi 'I ask for forgiveness out of fu lespeki ... respect ...' -Ma mi taki kabiten A., ... 'But I say kabiten A., ...' -Baala A. [kabiten A.] 'Mr. A.[ kabiten A] gi mi bigi sen.

he greatly embarrassed me.'

Respectful speech also excludes vulgar language use, which in the EM community is generally considered to derive from the coastal creole Sranan Tongo, the language associated with street life and "cultural deprivation". Participants in a kuutu thus tend to refrain from using Sranan Tongo-related terms, which evoke non prestigious identities and values considered inappropriate and offensive in formal settings.

Expressions from Dutch or French -the official languages of Suriname and Guyane, respectively -, or another maroon creole such as Saamaka , do not carry such negative connotations. While the two European languages are associated with external social power and learning, maroon languages like Saamaka are associated with maroon power and traditions. However, code-switching involving any of these languages or other varieties of the EMC is minimal since undue use of varieties other than the local EMC variety is perceived as an attempt to disassociate oneself from the local community.

4. 3. Address forms

In a kuutu, people's positional identities such as their social status, standing and function within the community play a very important role. They determine a person's speaking rights and overall power. In order to show the utmost respect and overtly acknowledge status differences, and social positions, participants in a kuutu always use official titles when addressing or referring to others. These titles mark official rather than personal identities, and thus carry high social prestige. In the EMC, there are two types of titles: titles of courtesy and function titles. Titles of courtesy codify differences in gender, social status, and age. Traditional function titles are not gender differentiated, whereas terms referring to modern professional titles are often gender-sensitive, as in the source languages (Dutch and French). Table 2 provides a non-exhaustive list of EM function titles and titles of courtesy. These official titles are combined with the person's public or official EM name rather than their European first name or their last name. The official EM name is most closely associated with the bearer's self and carries the greatest respect.9 When participants in a kuutu refer to themselves, they tend to use 'diminutive' terms ( 14) since it is considered rude to openly display one's status or power.

The speech event kuutu in the Eastern Maroon community (14) a. Mi na wan pikin fesiman fu a bee. 'I am a little leader of the lineage.' b. Mi a pikin man.

'I am only an unimportant person.' c. Mi a pikinnenge.

'I am but a child.'

Figures of speech

Another linguistic property that is characteristic of language use in a kuutu is the use of figures of speech, locally known as nongo. These are deemed "a central repository of moral wisdom and values" (Price & Price 1999: 241). Figures of speech permit the expression of confrontational and offensive issues, as well as criticism, accusation, and so forth, but they do so in a veiled and relatively non-offensive manner. Maroon cultures have a rich set of such figures of speech, which are obligatorily employed to save kuutu participants' face. Code-structuring and code-consistency provide strategies to avoid face threatening speech acts. The same code conventions also project the image of a good takiman 'speaker (in a formal event)'. This mechanism "represents the ultimate achievement in the verbal arts" (Price & Price 1999: 241). Without appropriate use of nongos, a speaker cannot be recognized as a dignified and important person.

Nongo is essentially a cover term for different categories of rhetorical figures of speech. 10 Some nongos are proverbs, that is, shorter or longer sayings that embody general truths. 11 For reasons of space, I omit the responses of the pikiman in the longer examples. Price & Price (1999: 240-241) mentions that rather than fully presenting the figures of speech (proverbs, folktales), skilled speakers prefer to make cryptic allusions to them. They expect their interlocutors/audience to complete them mentally for themselves. While I have often encountered such allusions, the data used for this study did not, to my knowledge, include any such ellipsis.

(15) a. Ala pii tifi a ná lafu.

'Things aren't always as they seem. ' [lit. = all The speech event kuutu in the Eastern Maroon community den diki den mma poti a their mother on their baka.

back.' -Neen den diki poti,neen 'They lift her on their back den go, moi silli, neen and went nicely, they set den poti den mma, neen down their mother and den gi a sabana faya.

set the savanna on fire.' -Da a wan fu den di diki a olo, 'Then the one who dug the hole a taagi en taki: told her: "Mma, luku wan olo ya.

"Mother, look there is a hole. Te a faya e waka e kon u, When the fire comes towards you, o gwe a wan se." go to one side." -Neen den gi a sabana faya.

'Then they set the savanna on fire.' -Di den boon te a kaba 'When they had finished burning, moii(n), den djombo go piisii. they jumped happily, went to see. Oh!! Biya, a mma, My friend, look, at the mother, luku ya a dede, a dede.

she is dead.' -Den de, den de te, dei e pasa. 'After some time, Wan fu den taki, oh biya, one of them said: Oh, my friend, mi e si wan sama a ini i osu I see someone in your house, ini de, sama de ape?

who is there?' -A go luku, a taki, biya, 'He went to look, he said, friend, na i mma de ape?

is that your mother? A taki, eeye! He affirmed. -A taki, aah! We, u be taki, He said: Didn't we say u o kii u mma?

we'll kill her?' -Ma mi án be fii fu kii en.

'But I did not feel like killing her, Da na so a waka.

that's all.' -Neen a taki, iya. Neen mi taki, 'He affirmed. I said, da na Anainsi anga Sensen, it's like Anainsi and Sensen, a den tu man de. these two men are like them.' -Anansi anga Sensen.

'Anainsi and Sensen.' -Ma Anainsi koni, ma 'Anainsi is intelligent, but Sensen puu en mma.

Sensen helped his mother.' -Neen mi taagi den taki, 'I told them [the other gaaman] u án mu pee we should not play Anainsi anga Sensen.

Anainsi and Sensen.' -Te u taki u o du wan sani, 'When we say we'll do something,' -U e du fu leti, u e du fu leti.

'We aim to do it right.' -Ma a án mu kon fu 'It should not turn into Anainsi anga Sensen.

Anainsi and Sensen.'

5. Conclusion

In this paper I discussed in some detail the social and linguistic properties of kuutu events among the Eastern Maroons of Suriname and Guyane. My discussion suggests that the kuutu is a wellstructured social event.

Relatively fixed procedures determine the organization of a kuutu, and participation in this kind of event is based on social rank. Active participation is restricted to people who hold high social status, and high ranking dignitaries are granted speaking rights prior to low(er) ranking elders and titled persons.

Linguistic form is highly regulated as well. There is a relatively fixed procedure for requesting and granting turns, a fixed internal structure of turns, and a special lexicon (words, expressions, names/titles) associated with respectful speech. This structuring of social and linguistic practices in the conduct of a kuutu serves to save face, and to highlight the dignity and importance of the participants, and of the topics they discuss.

Social and linguistic practices also play an important role in the construction of local social identities [START_REF] Irvine | Style as distinctiveness: The culture and ideology of linguistic differentiation[END_REF]. Participation privileges in a kuutu construct two broad, hierarchically ordered social groups that are indexed with different social attributes. One group consists of male titled members and elders. Since they regularly engage in formal events and in the social and linguistic practices that characterize them, these practices and their social meanings are mapped onto this group of people. In the EM ideology, titled persons and elders are consequently said to be powerful, dignified, respectful and verbally skilled.

The other group includes all the untitled young women and men who are generally not allowed to participate actively in prestigious and formal community events. Because of their non-participation untitled members are assumed to be sociopolitically inexperienced, undignified, disrespectful, and lacking in vital social and verbal skills.

This discussion suggests that a speech genre analysis that focuses on situated social events, i.e., events that are part of the community repertoire, is essential to a full understanding of the

  10

  ) a. TM: […] I e si en boo fu ati? Do you see his heart?

	A sani ya, i e si en?	This thing, do you see it?
	PM: No, no.	'No, no.'
	b. TM: I sabi san pasa?	'Do you know what happened?'
	PM: San pasa?	What happened?'

Table 1 . Respectful expressions in the Eastern Maroon Creole

 1

	Respectful expression	Common expression	English gloss
	tia sama, boliman	uman, folou, frou	'wife, woman'
	dda sama, goniman	man, masra	'husband, man'
	koo sama,sama fu sileti konde	dede sama	'ancestors'
	waka anga wan uman,	soki	'have sex'
	mankeli/piimisi anga wan uman
	de anga sikin, de tu fasi, a lasi mun	de anga bee	'be pregnant'
	de ne en futu, kii dia, go a se	go a doo	'menstruate'
	man peesi, taku pisi	pipi	'penis'
	uman peesi	popoi	'vagina'
	gadu yeepi a uman	meki	'give birth'
	saanti	kosi, gaan mofu	'curse'
	poti wan sani gi wan sama, de anga	koloi, wisi	'bewitch'
	faya a baka
	abi wan sidon, sidon makandi	kuutu	'meeting'

Table 2 . Common titles of address in the EMC

 2

			[For details see Migge (2001)]
	Female		Gloss	Male		Gloss
			Titles of courtesy
	Sa +	Name	'Ms for woman of lower	Ba + Name		'Mr. (low social
			social status/age'	Baala (+ Name)	status/age)'
	Tia	(+Name) 'Ms for women of	Tii/Tiu (+Name)	'Mr. (intermediate
			intermediate status/age'			status/age)'
	Mma	(+Name) 'Ms for women of high	Dda,	p(a)pa	'Mr. (high social
			social status/age'	(+Name)		status/age)'
			Function titles
				Gaaman		'head of EM
						community'
	Kabiten (+Name) '(sub)lineage head'	same
	Basia (+Name) 'assistant to kabiten or	same
			gaaman'
	Yefrow (+Name)	'female teacher'	Mesta (+Name)	'male teacher'
	Met(r)es (+Name)		Met (+Name)
	Siste	(+Name) 'female nurse'	Opasi (+Name)	'male nurse'
	Data	(+Name) 'medical personnel'	Same

  A wan boto, a ná a fa a bigi. 'A boat, it's not about its size.' -Luku fa a masini e daai de. 'Look how the motor turns/runs.' -A wan kodo man e tii en. 'It's only one person who steers. 17) [The leaders of the Maroon and Amerindian governments had unanimously decided not to sell part of their rainforest to Asian wood logging companies. The gaaman of the Pamaka is now telling his lanti that he told the other gaaman to be honest and determined] 12

	Some nongo are fables or folktales locally called mato.
			bearing of teeth
			isn't laughter.]
		b. [Introducing the topic of a kuutu that deals with the nature of the
		leadership of the gold mining area, i.e. whether one or two persons
		should be in charge]
		-Soo! Da tu biya be de,	'Okay! There were two young
	men,	-Fa a de, wan boto ná abi tu (si)tiiman. den be abi mma. -Ma den mma gaandi. -Neen den taki, biya! I sa san u o du? -U mma e muliki, --Ma a omen man e de na a u ná e man waka fa u wani, boto ede. eeye, a mma gaandi, ala ten -Anga kodeli, u mu e solugu u mma -Ma i si pe a man de namo, i sa san u o du? a lasi de? -Kon u tja a mma go kii. -Ne en tii en. -U o tja en go na a gaan sabana 'We'll bring her to the big savanna 'The way it is, a boat does not they had a mother.' have two leaders.' 'But their mother was old.' 'Then they said: well, friend, you know what we'll do?' 'Our mother is a strain, we cannot do what we want to, 'But many people are in the yes, mother is old, all the time front part of the boat.' we have to take care of our mother, 'in an ordered fashion,' you know what we'll do?' 'But you see where the man 'Come, let's go and kill mother.' is in the back there?' 'It's he who steers it.' ini anda, da u gi en faya boon. and burn her there.'
	-Den taki, ai! I taki bun, biya, 'They say: You spoke well friend, Some nongos resemble metaphors. They compare people and ma i sa san u o du? but you know what we'll do?' their actions or situations to objects or plants (16). -U o luku wan dei moo. 'We'll wait another day.'
	-Neen di a dei doo, (16) [Talking about the continuation of a controversial arbitration process 'Then when the day came,' -Da wan fu den, a komoto, 'Then one of them, he went to the
		that was temporarily suspended by one of the disputing parties a go na a sabana pe den savanna where they wanted to burn
		involved] o poti na a sabana, pe den o the mother.'
		poti den mma fu boon.
		-Mi no man taki mi no o de. -Neen a diki wan olo, [...]	'I cannot say I won't take part 'Then he dug a hole,'
		a ini. -Neen di a kaba diki a olo, ... 'Then when he had finished ( i n t h e kuutu).'
		-Bika mi na napi.	'Because I am a napi digging the hole, ...'
		-Mooi, neen a taa wan kon.	(a type of ground vegetable).' 'Nicely! Then the other one came.
		-Pe den e paandi mi, mi A taki, we baya, we,	'I don't root where they plant He said, well my friend, well,
		ná e beli de, mi e gwe te u taki wan sani	me, I go over there to root.' we talk about it,
		so go beli. ma i ná e piki!,	but you don't reply.
		-Da kande te den o kaba Neen a taki, we,	'Maybe when they are ready Then he said, well,
		fu kon a gaaman. a yuu doo, a dei di i wani,	to come to the gaaman.' the time is now, the day you want
		-Da mi a napi, di mi án beli, da i meki u go. Neen a taki,	'Since I do not root there, let's go. Then he said,
		de da ná mi sa du. a bun, da u o go!	then I may not participate.' okay, then let's go.'
		-Bika na a bun pisi doti -Den poti dei, te a kaba,	'Because I did not find the 'They set the day and lift
		mi án feni de.	good planting ground there.'
		-Mi a wakaman.	'I am a traveler.'

(

Of the roughly fifteen kuutu events I observed, eight were tape recorded.

For information on the makeup of the Pamaka community, see alsoLenoir (1973: 18-50).

For a list of respectful or formal greetings in the EMC, seeGoury & Migge (to appear).

See also[START_REF] Huttar | A humorous Paramaccan text[END_REF] for a discussion of a staged formal event as language play.

See also[START_REF] Price | Saramaka onomastics: An Afro-American naming system[END_REF] for a discussion of naming practices among the Saamaka.

[START_REF] Koanting | I de, i mu abi! Dii ondoo feifitenti Nongo Taki fu Okanisi[END_REF] provides 350 short proverbs.

An anonymous reviewer notes that it is a very well known Anansi story. It is often told in other contexts such as wakes and related death rites.

* I thank two anonymous reviewers, Jack Sidnell, and the editors for valuable comments and criticisms. The research was supported by the IRD Cayenne (Laboratoire linguistique) and the Délégation générale à la langue française under the project Langues, pratiques et ressources linguistiques en Guyane.

1

(3) a. TM: We, mi wani begi piimisi. 'Well, I want to ask for permission to speak.' P M : Ya, dda.

'Yes, elder.' T M : Mi wani taki wan sani.

'I'd like to say something.' P M : Ya, dda.

'Yes, elder.' T M : Mi sa taki?

'May I speak?' PM: Dda, kula kon.

'Elder, present your matter.' b. TM: We, basia. 'Well, assistant' PM: Abii, kabiten.

' Y e s , kabiten.' TM: Da a de so.

'Then it is like that.' PM: A so a de, kabiten.

'That's right, kabiten.' c. Lanti: Iya, u yee, baa.

'Yes, we heard.' [end of turn] T M : A moi so.

'It's nice like that.' P M : Eeya, dda.

'Yes, elder.' T M : A moi so yee! 'It's nice like that!' P M : Ya, dda.

'Yes, elder.'

The end of a turn is formally announced by the takiman using one of the phrases in (4).

(4) a. (Iya,) u boo de, (papa). '(Yes), we breathe there (elder).' b. Kwolon/gbolon! 'It's finished.' [idiophone] c. (Gbolon/kwolon), da u tapu de 'It's finished, so we stop here (fosi).

(for now).'

The pikiman 'ritual responder' then confirms the end of the turn by asking the other participants if they have heard and understood (yee) the speech. The latter generally respond affirmatively. The pikiman usually addresses all the participants. In addition, he may also single out the people who were addressed by the takiman's speech (5). Only after the turn has been officially ended as described above is it permissible to begin a new turn (3).

The speech event kuutu in the Eastern Maroon community (5) TM:

Lanti, u án yee, papa? 'Public, didn't you hear and understand, elders?' Lanti:

Ya, u yee, aiyoo! 'Yes, we heard and understood!' PM:

Baala S., u yee? 'Mr. S., did you hear and understand?' Baa S.: Papa, u yee 'Elder, I heard and understood.' PM:

Baala B., i yee. 'Mr. B., did you hear and understand?' Baa B.: U yee, papa.

'I heard and understood, elder.'

Once a takiman has obtained the right to speak, he generally comments on the form and content of the previous speaker's turn, particularly if the previous speaker has a high social rank. His comments are generally positive (6), in order to respect the previous speaker's face wants.

(6) a.

A moi so yee! 'It's nice like that!' b .

A taki moi fu toko. 'The speech is/was very nice.' c.

I taki moi. 'You spoke well.' d.

Eee, u gi gaaman 'We thank the gaaman for his gaantangi fu a taki.

speech.'

In some cases, especially if the current speaker has a high social rank and disagrees with the previous speaker, he directly responds to the turn (3c). However, he usually prefaces his speech with a hedge, i.e., he apologizes in advance for the possible offence that his speech may cause.

(7) A, a pisi fu a taki de, 'That part of the speech, ma a u mu taki en ma… we have to discuss it, but (in that way?).'

Although the above-described format clearly prevails during a kuutu, two participants may engage in direct exchanges (12). These exchanges are usually of a combative nature, and constitute a violation of the norm that stipulates that participants should behave in a reserved manner and abstain from direct confrontation. They are quickly discouraged (TM3).

(12) [The basia (TM1) had just openly accused the kabiten (TM2) of forcing his people off the bee's gold-mining concession in order to install outsiders from whom he can collect a percentage of their exploits. TM1 now tells TM2 that his actions will have consequences. TM2 interprets this to mean that TM1 is threatening to use physical violence against him.] TM1:

U án be poti en de 'We did not make him kabiten fu toon fetiman. so he becomes a trouble maker.' PM:

Leti so. 'Right.' TM1:

A taanga fu feti, 'He's hard to fight, ma koni de tu. but there's help.' 7 PM:

Leti so, dda. A taanga fu feti refers to the fact that it is extremely difficult to remove a kabiten from his position since it is believed that the person replacing him would be killed by his predecessor's avenging spirit. Koni de means that there are also other ways of dealing with the situation, such as to remove him and to leave the position vacant until his death.