Sema (Sumi) Naga
names 10objects 10ISO 639-3 nsm
Spoken in the Sema country, Naga Hills (now Nagaland).
tribal 10
See the Sema (Sumi) Naga sky on the chart →
The sky in Sema (Sumi) Naga
| Name | Object | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| aye; ayesü (small stars); ayepu (big stars and planets) | 'Star' as a word | The stars are believed to be, in some cases at least, men translated to the heavens after death. No distinction other than size is drawn between the smaller stars and the planets. | tribal |
| Tushyepu | Mercury | 'the Tushomi Star' | tribal |
| ayeba | Meteors and shooting stars | 'star-dung' | tribal |
| Phoghwosülesipfemi | Orion's Belt | 'the Rooftree-carriers' Three men killed by their enemies as they carried a tree to make the roof-beam of a house. The small stars forming the sword or scabbard are sometimes the enemies who ambushed them. | tribal |
| Phoghwosülesipfemi (the Belt, used as a calendar) | Seasonal and agricultural star-markers | Sowing of paddy is reckoned to begin when Orion stands in the zenith, or when it has reached the position the sun holds at about 2 p.m. — a time of day the Semas name, lubagholo. The other sign is the call of the kasupapo, a cuckoo. Hutton adds that the whole Sema calendar depends on the time of sowing, and that in some eastern villages there is no real calendar at all, only names for the times of year. | tribal |
| Azüghongu, Aïzüghongu | The Milky Way | 'the Soul-River' | tribal |
| akhi | The Moon | The same word serves for 'month'. | tribal |
| Ayenikilimi | The Pleiades | 'the Star Princesses' (aye 'star' + kinilimi, 'rich girls') A company of pretty girls spinning and making liquor in a rich man's house, killed in a sudden raid on the village. They still dance in the heavens as they did on the earth. | tribal |
| tsükinhye | The Sun | possibly 'eye of heaven's house' The sun and moon are invoked in the most solemn asseverations and cannot be falsely called on with impunity. | tribal |
| Siyepu | Venus | 'the Sema Star' Its identity as morning star with its appearance as evening star seems to be realised. | tribal |
Sources
- J.H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas (London: Macmillan, 1921), p. 250–252 link
- J.H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas (London: Macmillan, 1921), p. 252 link
- J.H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas (London: Macmillan, 1921), p. 251 link
- J.H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas (London: Macmillan, 1921), p. 62, 220, 251 link
- J.H. Hutton, The Sema Nagas (London: Macmillan, 1921), p. 250 link