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Three Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu) Marriage Prayers: Lahu Texts and Ethnographic Notes
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 March 2011
Extract
During the course of my anthropological fieldwork among the Lahu people in the hills of north Thailand, I devoted much time to the recording and translation of ritual prayers and chants. Analysis of these texts was of fundamental importance in my studies of Lahu religious ideas, for often the ritual word made clear what remained nebulous in the ritual act or in everyday language. But apart from their usefulness in explanation, the ritual texts are intrinsically valuable as a contemporary expression of the cultural heritage of this preliterate mountain folk. It is for this reason that I record here, both in translation and in the original language, the texts of marriage prayers given to me by three elders of my study village. A brief description of the ceremony suggests the setting for these recitations. The Lahu text is given for language scholars and for future generations of Lahu, who for the most part are still unable to record their own cultural heritage. I hope my translations will give some idea of the beauty of Lahu oral poetry.
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- Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 1974
References
1 For further ethnographic data on the Lahu Nyi people see Walker, Anthony R., “Red Lahu village society: An introductory survey”, in Hinton, Peter (ed.), Tribesmen and peasants in north Thailand, Chiang Mai, Tribal Research Centre, 1969, 41–52Google Scholar; and Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu) village society and economy in north Thailand, Chiang Mai, Tribal Research Centre, 1970 (2 vols. mimeo)Google Scholar.
2 Other examples of Lahu ritual texts can be found in Walker, , “The Laˇ Huˍ Nyiˉ (Red Laˇ Huˍ) New Year celebrations”, J. Siam Soc., LVIII, 1, 1970, 1–44Google Scholar (English translations only); “Blessing feasts and ancestor propitiation among the Lahu Nyi (Red Lahu)”, J. Siam Soc., LX, 1, 1972, 345–373Google Scholar (Lahu texts and English translations); “Awˇ ha hku ve: the Lahu Nyi rite for the recall of a wandering soul”, JRAS, 1972, 1, 16–29Google Scholar (Lahu and English).
3 See below, “The texts”.
4 Hk'aˆ “village”, sheh¯ hpaˇ “expert, master”. To from awˇ to “body”, bo from awˇ bon “blessing, merit”; i.e. “blessed or meritorious body”; paˍ is the male suffix.
5 Tcuh from tcuh ve “to send on an errand” (cf. tcuh yaˇ “messenger”), ka “between”.
6 Tying a string around someone's wrist sometimes represents the binding of the person's soul into his body (see Walker, “Awˇ ha hku ve”, 19–20); in other ceremonies it signifies the bestowal of blessing or merit (awˇ bon) by one person on another (see Walker, “Blessing feasts”, 359–60).
7 My notes do not make it clear whether the boy's parents, if they lived in the same village as the bride, would also attend the meal.
8 For additional information and linguistic references pertaining to this orthography, see Walker, “Awˇ ha hku ve”, 20–1 and notes.
9 Of the seven tones of Lahu, five are open (long vowel) and two are checked (short vowel, ending in a glottal stop). In the orthography used here the open mid-level tone is unmarked (e.g. ca), and the other tones are indicated as follows:
superscript straight line (caˉ): high-rising open tone
superscript wedge (caˇ): high-falling open tone
superscript circumflex (caˆ): high tone, checked
subscript straight line (caˍ): very-low open tone
subscript wedge (caˇ): low-falling open tone
subscript circumflex (caˆ): low tone, checked
10 Caˇ Naˆ (Mr. Black) and Na Hpu (Miss White) are common Lahu personal names. They generally refer to the colour of the person's complexion. Mr. Black would be a man of dark (but certainly not black) skin while Miss White would have a rather light brown complexion.
11 I have failed to identify these trees. Both are noted for their plentiful fruit, but there were none growing in my immediate research area.
12 The small bamboo spoon is used for serving relishes; the large for stirring and serving rice.
13 To possess many animals (tethered under the house since Lahu houses are raised on stilts) and many children are signs of awˇ bon (merit, blessing) in a Lahu village community.
14 Caˇ Vaˆ (Mr. Pig) is a common personal name and indicates that the bearer was born on pig day (vaˆ nyi). The Lahu follow the Chinese calendar and have a twelve-day cycle, each day taking the name of a particular animal.
15 G'uiˇ huˍ (sometimes called G'uiˇ fuˍ) is worshipped at a small altar inside the village temple or hawˉ yehˇ. Addressed also as “neˇ lonˉ” or “great spirit”, G'uiˇ huˍ is a supernatural intermediary between the people and the supreme Lahu supernatural, G'uiˇ sha.
16 I have been unable to identify these two trees. The elder's reference to nearby locations was poetic licence.
17 Na Lonˉ Ma (Miss Big) indicates that the girl has a large body. Caˇ G'aˆ (Mr. Chicken) indicates that the man was born on chicken day (g'aˆ nyi).
18 Caˇ Faˆ (Mr. Rat) indicates that the man was born on rat day (faˆ nyi). He is the father of Miss Big. The text refers to the period of bride service: immediately after marriage a man goes to live with his bride in his father-in-law's house, where he must serve for an initial period of two years.