266 The Tinguian 



winnower, and an old man or woman gives it the name it is to bear. 

 The winnower is raised a few inches above the ground, and the 

 woman asks the child its name, then drops it. Again she raises it, 

 pronounces the name, and lets it fall. A third time it is raised and 

 dropped, with the injuction, "When your mother sends you, you go," 

 or "You must not be lazy." If it is a boy, it may be instructed, "When 

 your father sends you to plow, you go." 



Among the Tinguian of Ilocos Norte it is customary for the person 

 who is giving the name to wave a burning torch beneath the winnower, 

 meanwhile saying, if to a boy, "Here is your light when you go to 

 fight. Here is your light when you go to other towns." If the child 

 is a girl, she says, "Here is your light when you go to sell things." 



In the San Juan district, the fire is made of pine sticks; for "the 

 burning pine gives a bright light, and thus makes it clear to the spirits 

 that the child is born. The heat and smoke make the child hard and 

 sturdy." Just before the naming, the rice winnower is circled above 

 the fire and the person officiating calls to the spirits, saying, "Come 

 and take this child, or I shall take it." Then, as the infant still remains 

 alive, she proceeds to give it its name. 1 



A Tinguian child is nearly always named after a dead ancestor; 

 often it receives two names — one for a relative in the father's family, 

 and one in the mother's. A third name commemorating the day or 

 some event, or perhaps the name of a spirit, is frequently added. 2 

 Certain names, such as Abacas ("worthless"), Inaknam ("taken up"), 

 and Dolso ("rice-chaff") are common. If the infant is ailing, or if 

 the family has been unfortunate in raising children, the newborn is 

 named in the regular way, then is placed on an old rice winnower, 

 and is carried to a refuse heap and left. Evil spirits witnessing this 

 will think that the child is dead, and will pay no more heed to it. 

 After a time, a woman from another house will pick the child up and 

 carry it back to the dwelling, where it is renamed. In such a case it 

 is probable that the new name will recall the event. 3 



1 This may be related to the Malay custom of fumigating the infant (see 

 Skeat, op. cit., p. 338). 



2 The following names are typical of this last class. For boys : Ab'beng, 

 a child's song; Agdalpen, name of a spirit; Baguio, a storm; Bakileg, a glutton; 

 Kabato, from bato, a stone ; Tabau, this name is a slur, yet is not uncommon ; 

 it signifies "a man who is a little crazy, who is sexually impotent, and who will 

 mind all the women say;" Otang, the sprout of a vine; Zapalan, from sapal, 

 the crotch of a tree. For girls : Bangonan, from bangon, "to rise, to get up ;" 

 Igai, from nlgai, a fish ; Giaben, a song ; Magilai, from gilai the identifying 

 slit made in an animal's ear; Sabak, a flower; Ugot, the new leaf. 



* In Madagascar children are oftentimes called depreciative names, such 

 as Rat, with the hope that evil spirits will leave tranquil an infant for which 

 the parents have so little consideration (Grandidier, Ethnologie de Madagas- 

 car, Vol. II). 



