The Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the Solega A Linguistic Perspective

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Solapa inkura tappu sikkittu enda:ga a:ne elli iddarue bandu uṭṭadde, avana se:rika. A:ga

bandattu endale gedda:du gela:dondu, avã sattale ondu, tappu bandale ma:tra. Tappu ille

endu o:tu enda:ga alli biddareluve a:ne e:nu ma:ḍa:dille.

When an elephant detects even a bit of wrongdoing, it will turn up to meet [the offender],

no matter where he is. Once it arrives, it may kill him, but only if he has done wrong. If he

is innocent, the elephant will not do anything, even if he falls (while trying to run away).

Excursus 6.3: Elephant Names

Solega has around 25–30 lexemes for elephant types, based on age, gender,

tusk morphology , or combinations of two or more features. The following

image shows a handful of these elephant terms—such terms are frequently

used in naturalistic speech , as it is customary to indicate, when describing

encounters with elephants (or informing others of the presence of elephants

nearby), the type of animal being talked about.

6.2 Types of Signs