Words of Nuanced Peace in Iduna, a Daily Dose of Peace in Papua New Guinea
A Daily Dose of Peace. Each week, I focus on Love, Joy, and Peace in the world languages. January’s first week focuses on Papua New Guinea in Oceania.
Word Order and Kindness
In the Papua New Guinea language of Iduna
“nuwa” means mind
“nuwayamumu” is one way to say
peace, happiness and pleasure
“alavenuwanana” is defined as talk round
the subject and not get to the point
for fear of causing offence
or speak in wrong word order
How do you use words to kindly avoid causing offense?
Words of Nuanced Peace in Iduna
What are we using our fists for?
The Iduna have more than a dozen words for peace
including a word “lutubatuba” which means
to perpetuate with words or fists
a quarrel when other person wants peace
“debala-yeweyewena” also means perpetuate a quarrel when
other person wants peace
Look up peace in an Iduna dictionary
there are five words listed in this language
spoken in Papua New Guinea
conveying peace
but not a straight translation
each is nuanced
laced with complementary meanings
“Nuwayamumu” peace
happiness and pleasure
“Veyao” peace
covenant friendship
and reconciliation
“Nuwami” or “Niwalova” peace
calm and stillness
“Kukuya” peace
and peacefulness
“Aseniwalova” peace
or “Waniwalovina” peace
and peaceable
Originally Published in Peace Poetry Dictionary, The Meaning of Peace and Calm in 5000 Languages on January 7, 2021.
