ipisulu

Wauja

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.piˈsu.lu/

Noun

ipisulu (plural ipisulunaun)

1. lover, paramour, girlfriend (referring to a woman)

   Ipisulu tukawaKATapai yiu.

   His lover was really holding him tight.

   [Arutatumpa:] Inyaunaun — ukutakonawi, kitsimai. Ukutakona wi — tsik! Paa, ahamaitsawi ipisulu, onupajoTA —

   [Itsautaku:] Punupa, umejo iya kaliwhun, ipisulu ou, maityataitsawi.

   [Arutatumpa:] Maityawi, maityataitsawi panu wi. Irixulakuma maintyataitsa panu wi. Ahamaitsawi onu wi. Inain malanyain— umejo maintyataitsawi TUK! TUK! TUK! aka! aka! aka!

   [Itsautaku:] Punupa onukakonapai!

   [Arutatumpa:] Punupa onukakonapai ipisun wi whun! Yakaojokuma onukakonapai!

   [Principal storyteller:] First, everyone shot [the caiman spirit being] full of arrows. They shot him -- tsik! went their arrows. The women [who were his lovers] fled [in terror]. But [their husband] had seen [them] —

   [Second storyteller:] He ran after [them], and beat [them]. [He had lost control of himself.]

   [Principal storyteller:] He beat [his wives], he beat his wives without restraint. [The chief allowed his anger to show before all the people]. The women ran, [and] he ran after [them], striking them repeatedly: TUK! TUK! TUK! [resounded the blows] "Ow! ow! ow!" [the women shrieked]. [He abandoned all dignity in his fit of jealous rage].

   [Second storyteller:] Meanwhile they had killed [the women's lover]!

   [Principal storyteller:] They had killed [the] lover! They had killed [the] Caiman Spirit!

Usage notes

• In this traditional story, human beings in ancient times create jealousy, possessiveness, and stinginess for the first time. A chief who already has two wives takes two additional wives, and then neglects the first two in favor of the new ones. The two neglected wives feel intense jealousy, and decide to take a lover — who happens to be a fearsome caiman spirit being. The chief learns of the women's love affair, and experiences intense jealousy in turn. In the excerpt above, the chief exhibits appalling behavior, completely losing self-control and publicly striking his wives (a spectacle that would disgrace any chief, and that one does not see in actual Wauja daily life). This aspect of the story serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when people give themselves over to feelings of jealousy and possessiveness.

Inflection

    Possession of ipisulu

	singular	plural
first person	nipisulu	apisulu
second person	pipisulu	yipisulu
third person	ipisulu	ipisulu

Related terms

• ipisun (“male lover”)

References

• "Ipisulu tukawaKATapai" (transcript, p. 36), and "Inyaunaun — ukutakonawi" (pp. 66-67) uttered by Aruta, storyteller and elder, as he recounted the traditional tale, the "Caiman Spirit" (Yakaojokuma). Recorded in Piyulaga village in the presence of assembled elders and others, November 1989.