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large numbers of hejje:nu ( Apis dorsata ) beehives every year; namely, that it be a
je: nu mara ‘ bee tree ’ (this phenomenon is discussed in the context of Solega honey-
bee knowledge in Chap. 7 ). Trees can also be named for being sacred, for possess-
ing unusual morphological characteristics, or for being associated with a dangerous
animal, like a tiger (Sect. 3.8.4 ).
3.3 General Naming Conventions
Very broad patterns in the naming of plants and animals are fi rst presented in this
section. The reader will notice that while a small number of naming conventions are
common to all plant and animal groups, key differences do exist in the naming of
categories such as trees, birds and mammals. The differences are systematic, and
they make it diffi cult to formulate a general, unifi ed ‘Solega nomenclature ’ that
might apply to the members of all ethnotaxa.
3.3.1 The Prefi x he ◽-
This prefi x plays a limited, but signifi cant, role of singling out a particular organism
as the largest of a contrast set. Its role is limited, because it is not a very productive
prefi x, having so far been documented in only a handful of words. These include
hejje:nu ‘giant honeybee’ ( Apis dorsata ) from je: nu ‘bee’ , hebbidiru ‘thorny bam-
boo ’ ( Bambusa arundinacea ) from bidiru ‘bamboo’ , hebbe:vu ‘Indian Mahogany’
( Toona ciliata ) from be:vu ‘ Azidirachta indica ’ , hebbaddu ‘?vulture’ from haddu
‘raptor’ and possibly heggaṇa ‘a kind of shrew’ (although there appears to be no
kaṇa or gaṇa in Solega as it is currently spoken). Rarely, this prefi x is also used
for inanimate objects, as in the case of heggave ‘king beam’ (i.e. the two load bear-
ing posts, or kave , of a construction that hold up the roof).
3.3.2 The Epithet uccu
This epithet uccu is only used in the botanical domain, to denote plants (and fungi)
that are of no utility to humans. Literally meaning ‘mad’ or ‘crazy’ (as in the phrase
uccu mansa ‘crazy person’), it can label inedible mushrooms ( uccaṇabe ), a non-
native, non-utilised species of Indigofera ( uccu maruḷi ), and a handful of other non-
utilised plants, such as uccu eḷḷu and uccu tagate —the latter two have yet to be
identifi ed scientifi cally. Interestingly, this pattern also extends into the meteorologi-
cal domain, as ‘heavy rain with large raindrops that can fl atten crops’ is called uccu
maḷe ‘crazy rain’.