613.4 Patterns in Solega Plant Classifi cation
As mentioned above, the majority of Solega plant name s are two- or three-part com-
pounds, making them secondary lexemes ( sensu [ 9 ]), much in the same way as
described by Hunn for Zapotec [ 147 ]. Moreover, the fi nal element is almost always
one of four superordinate category labels that indicate whether the plant in question
is a tree, vine, herb or grass. There are some exceptions to this rule, which normally
manifest themselves when certain edible plants are being talked about. In spontane-
ous speech (as opposed to a formal elicitation of plant names), yams , edible greens
and some medicinal roots and corms are referred to by alternative terms, such as
geṇasu , soppu and be:ru/geḍḍe respectively. The fi rst of the following examples,
nu:re geṇasu , is a commonly eaten yam , that grows deep underground, and has a
long, vertically oriented tuber. Geṇasu is the Solega word for all edible underground
tubers and corms (except for the exotic potato), and this culinary label is often used
to refer to the whole plant, whose name, strictly speaking, should be nu:re ambu
‘ nu:re vine’, in reference to its growth habit.
nu:re geṇasu/ambu
nela go:ṇi soppu/giḍa
a:sa:ḍi be:ru/ambu
The fi rst element of a two-part name is usually unanalysable, whereas in the case
of three-part names, the fi rst element is often a descriptive epithet. Possible words
that can be found in this position include those that describe overall size ( doḍḍa
‘big’, saṇṇa ‘small’), habitat or substrate ( ka:ḍu ‘forest’, ka:nu evergreen forest ’,
beṭṭa ‘mountain’, na:ḍu ‘lowland’, kallu ‘rock’, aḷḷa ‘stream’, arre ‘ rock platform ’,
nela ‘ground’, ni:ru ‘water’), taste ( kaĩye ‘bitter’), anatomy ( muḷḷu ‘thorny’) and
supernatural associations ( daiya ‘witch’). The uccu ‘mad’ epithet mentioned above
also belongs to this class. Plants that belong to the three-part name category are
almost always grouped (and contrasted) with at least one other plant that either has
a different epithet as a fi rst element, or lack an epithet altogether. Thus, kaĩye suṇḍe
giḍa ‘bitter suṇḍe plant’ is said to belong to the group that also includes muḷḷu suṇḍe
giḍa ‘thorny suṇḍe plant’ and suṇḍe giḍa ‘ suṇḍe plant’.
Two Part Names:
kakke mara Cassia fi stula
poṭle ambu Passifl ora subpeltata
iṇḍãna giḍa Pterolobium hexapetalum
Three Part Names:
kaĩye suṇḍe giḍa ‘bitter suṇḍe plant’
beṭṭa ko:li mara ‘mountain ko:li tree’
doḍḍa puḷḷuḷi giḍa ‘big puḷḷuḷi plant’
A third category of plant name s consist of noun or verb phrases that describe a
salient feature of the plant or its medicinal (or other) uses. Some of the references
3.4 Patterns in Solega Plant Classifi cation