samsam

Source language unclear: any clues?

Origin unclear but suggested possibilities are ‘jump-jump’ (English) and a relation with sam (Yabem: a pig market).

Can we be more precise about the difference between singsing and samsam as dances? Is it a simply a dialect thing?

. See List discussion. ® sam.

Noun forms

  1. Culture: dance; term distinguished from singsing in the New Guinea islands; especially a dance where hopping or jumping is involved
    ol i wokim wanpela kain pasin, ol i kolim samsam they are doing what is called a samsam

Intransitive verb forms

  1. Culture: to dance, especially a dance where hopping or jumping is involved
    ol i samsam long ples they are dancing in the village

  1. Culture: to dodge about, especially in reference to a technique for avoiding enemy arrows (Sepik); Tuzin (1997: 222) defines samsam as ‘a stylized battle prance in which the warrior brandishes his spear while executing lunging motions’ and adds that it is also performed empty-handed during oratory
    em i samsam na abrusim spia bilong ol he dodged their arrows

  1. to vibrate, move up and down/back and forth, work loose, e.g. of an object
    em i samsam i go i kam, na nau lus olgeta it (bracket on a vehicle) worked itself loose and now it’s fallen off

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