Slightly incorrect English definitions? BUBUU and MANGIDAB

[johnbent]

Both BUBUU and MANGIDAB have 'spider' as their English definition. That suggests they can be used to describe all spiders. Even the Kerresel sort of suggest this:

mysql> select pdef from all_words3 where pal like 'bubuu' or pal like 'mangidab';
+----------------------------------------------+
| pdef                                         |
+----------------------------------------------+
| bubuu a ta er a bedengel a charm; mengidab.  |
| mangidab a ta er a bedengel a bubuu.         |
+----------------------------------------------+

However, I was talking to Allen today about a spider and I asked if it was MANGIDAB and he said no, that MANGIDAB are larger. So, I said, "Oh, it must be BUBUU then," and he said, "No, I forgot what it's called but it's not BUBUU either."

So, that suggests that BUBUU and MANGIDAB are either the specific names of just two particular spiders or they are general names for some types of spiders but not all.

Thoughts?

[Gnalu]

Bubuu: spider Mangidab or mengidab: web.

On Thu, Sep 21, 2023 at 02:13 John Bent @.***> wrote:

Both BUBUU and MANGIDAB have 'spider' as their English definition. That suggests they can be used to describe all spiders. Even the Kerresel sort of suggest this:

mysql> select pdef from all_words3 where pal like 'bubuu' or pal like 'mangidab'; +----------------------------------------------+ | pdef | +----------------------------------------------+ | bubuu a ta er a bedengel a charm; mengidab. | | mangidab a ta er a bedengel a bubuu. | +----------------------------------------------+

However, I was talking to Allen today about a spider and I asked if it was MANGIDAB and he said no, that MANGIDAB are larger. So, I said, "Oh, it must be BUBUU then," and he said, "No, I forgot what it's called but it's not BUBUU either."

So, that suggests that BUBUU and MANGIDAB are either the specific names of just two particular spiders or they are general names for some types of spiders but not all.

Thoughts?

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[jesseseeem]

Alii! Sorry this isn't an exact answer for this question, but just popping in to say that I worked with Alan Olsen at the Belau National Museum for a few years, and, although he wasn't Palauan, he spoke a fair amount and knew a lot about spiders. He generally used "bubuu" for all spiders and Mengidabrutkoel for the largest web-weaving spider in Palau, which is in the genus Nephila (more in the Micronesica article linked below) https://micronesica.org/sites/default/files/262_article_08ed.pdf

I went by Ngirabubuu for a while, and referred to spiders as "bubuu" when talking to Palauans, and, for what it's worth, I don't think anyone ever corrected me and said, "no, that one is a mengidab," ... but maybe they were just trying to not hurt my feelings, so take that with a grain of salt.

-Jesse Czekanski-Moir jesse.emrys@gmail.com

[johnbent]

Hello @jesseseeem . Thanks for joining the conversation! Always excited to have more folks helping out! How did you find out about us by the way?

Thanks so much for the info about Mengidabrutkoel. I just confirmed that with a native speaker so I'll start a new issue so we can add that word. We already have it defined as apparently it's the name of someone from legend but we don't have it as the spider.

So cool that you were Ngirabubuu. That's an awesome DUI I think.

[jesseseeem]

Thanks for the welcome, @johnbent ! Happy to be here! I think I stumbled upon tekinged probably around 2018 or so while I was googling some Palauan words? But honestly I don't remember. Either way, it's a frequent reference when I'm trying to refresh my very limited Palauan, so thanks so much to you and all who have contributed! At some point around 2007 I started focusing more on ants than spiders, so some folks at the BNM started calling me "Ngirabembangch," which I still use sometimes (e.g., on iNat), but "bubuu" is still a very special Palauan word to me because it was my first Palauan nickname