slit-log drum, mee

Slit-log drumming system of the Kwoma people of the Sepik District of Papua New Guinea, described in Zemp and Kaufmann (1969). The instrument itself is a slit-log drum (mee in Kwoma) suspended above the ground, measuring between 2 and 4 meters in length and 0.3-1 meters in diameter. It is struck with two wooden sticks, typically only in one location on the drum’s lip, producing a single note (1303). The language is non-tonal, and the system is lexical/symbolic rather than abridging (1308): there are a variety of standard signals with distinct meanings, unconnected to the phonological structure of the Kwoma language. Signals are primarily distinguishable by contrasts in the complex rhythmic timing of strikes, with little evidence of contrastive variation in pitch or intensity (1313).  Each signal has a unique name: “Chaque signé frappé possède un nom qui diffère parfois du terme kwoma habituel désignant l’object, l’action ou le group social en question. … il existe un lien entre les textes chantés pour des cérémonies et la denomination des signes frappés pour les patri-clans. D’autres noms … pourraient êtres des paraphrases [Each drummed signal has a name which sometimes differs from the everyday Kwoma term for the object, action, or social group in question… there is a link between chanted ceremonial texts and the names of drummed signals referring to clans. Other names … may be paraphrases]” (1306). Signals are combined and repeated to create complex utterances, especially to specify the addressees or subjects of the message: e.g., “Pour announcer que Togorshe est malade, le tambourinaire a frappé les signes suivants: ‘malade’ Kᵊlawa (clan du père), Ngəlei (clan de la mère), ‘malade’. [To announce that Togorshe is sick, the drummer beat the following signals: ‘sick’ Kᵊlawa ( father’s clan), Ngəlei (mother’s clan), ‘sick’”] (1245). Evidently, some syntactic operations are represented in the system, including a negation signal (1333) and a question-marking signal (1322). Individual lexical items like ‘dog’ and ‘water’ have unique signals, alongside more sentence-level items like ‘enemy man killed in combat’ (1331).Content includes long-distance communication, especially between those in the village and those working in the fields; public announcements about war, danger, sorcery, illness, hunting, and arrivals; and the names of plants, plants, people, and kinship/lineage groups.

Zemp, H., & Kaufmann, C. (1969). Pour une transcription automatique des" langages tambourinés" mélanésiens:(Un exemple kwoma, Nouvelle-Guinée). L’Homme, 38–88. In Sebeok & Umiker-Sebeok (1976), Speech Surrogates: Drum and Whistle Systems.