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 Periodical article |
 Leiden University catalogue |
 WorldCat |
| Title: | The Herero riddle ('ovihakwa') |
| Author: | Ohly, Rajmund |
| Year: | 1997 |
| Periodical: | Africana Bulletin |
| Issue: | 45 |
| Pages: | 7-22 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Namibia |
| Subjects: | Herero riddles |
| Abstract: | Herero riddles expose numerous methods which aim at introducing ambiguities while maintaining a reasonable linkage between the topic and the vehicle or proposition. Herero riddles employ two main fields of reference reflecting the natural and the artificial human environment. The natural environment may be divided into three dominating semantic fields: the human body, natural phenomena and animals. The artificial environment concerns mainly household utensils. Concepts and notions of action seldom occur as topics in Herero riddles. Nonsense riddles, riddles which attempt to mislead the listener through contradictory assumptions, are often used in Herero. Each category is illustrated with examples collected by the Ecology Project team in Namibia in 1992 under the author's supervision. Bibliogr., ref. |