An Ethnosemantic Study Of Taste Terms In Bisu

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the structure of taste terms and its categorization in Bisu language.  The data used in this research was done by asking informants to identify the tastes.  The results show that there are two structures: simple and compound terms.  The simple taste terms convey the structure and syntactic relation in the form Head-Modifier, Modifier-Head-Modifier.The compound taste terms are found that Head-Head and Head-Connective-Head.

​The categorization of taste terms can be divided into 2 groups: prototype taste terms and non-prototype taste terms.  There are 8 basic taste terms are/aŋʧaw/: sweet, /aŋblə/ : watery, /aŋʧɨ/:rich, /aŋʧen/:sour, /aŋkhà/:bitter, /aŋjáŋ/:salty, /aŋphan/:acidulous and /aŋphi/:spicy.  There 14 non-basic taste terms categories in 4 categories: attitude (/aŋʦabɨ/:delicious and /kampɔ/:mellow), smell (/aŋhɔm/:scented, /aŋhnam/:stench,/aŋkhiw/:rank and /aŋsap/: fishy), sensation (/aŋʦɨ/:cool, /aŋhlɔŋ/:hot, /aŋhjàŋ/:itchy, /aŋsɨn/:moist, and /aŋhjam/: senseless) and texture (/aŋphɔj/:crispy, /aŋhnəŋ/:sticky and /aŋdɔ/:mild). Studies have shown that the Bisu people do not prioritize the main taste of their food. but pay more attention to the attitude towards this type of food and tend to eat foods based on their natural flavours and less food additives.