Tongan honorifics and their underlying concepts of mana and tapu

Abstract

Abstract The Tongan language has honorific registers, called a ‘language of respect’ (Churchward 1953). These are two limited sets of lexemes used to refer to people of chiefly and kingly rank and thus honour the societal stratification. Anthropological-linguistic research reveals that these honorifics are a tapu-motivated linguistic practice. The Polynesian concept of tapu (source of the loanword taboo) means that entities with more mana (‘supernatural power’) such as persons of higher rank and their personal belongings are ‘sacred’, and it is ‘forbidden’ to get in physical touch with them. The respectful terminology (hou‘eiki and tu‘i) is restricted to such tapu entities (signifiers), and its generic character shows that direct verbal contact with the common kakai signifier is avoided. Thus, the honorific registers function as a verbal taboo in its emic sense.