Celebes, you may not pronounce the names of your father, mother, grandparents, and other near relations. But the strictest taboo is on the names of parents-in-law. A son-in-law and a daughter-in-law may not only never mention the names of their parents-in-law, but if the names happen to be ordinary words of the language, they may never allow the words in their common significance to pass their lips. For example, if my father is called Njara (“horse”), I may not speak of him by that name; but in speaking of the animal I am free to use the word horse (_njara_). But if my father-in-law is called Njara, the case is different, for then not only may I not refer to him by his name, but I may not even call a horse a horse; in speaking of the animal I must use some other word. The missionary who reports the custom is acquainted with a man whose mother-in-law rejoices in the name of Ringgi (“rixdollar”). When this man has occasion to refer to real rixdollars, he alludes to them delicately as “large guilders” (_roepia bose_). Another man may not use the ordinary word for water (_oewe_); in speaking of water he employs a word (_owai_) taken from a different dialect. Indeed, among these Alfoors it is the common practice in such cases to replace the forbidden word by a kindred word of the same significance borrowed from another dialect. In this way many fresh terms or new forms of an old word pass into general circulation.(1286) Among the Alfoors of Minahassa, in northern Celebes, the custom is carried still further so as to forbid the use even of words which merely resemble the personal names in sound. It is especially the name of a father-in-law which is thus laid under an interdict. If he, for example, is called Kalala, his son-in-law may not speak of a horse by its common name _kawalo_; he must call it a “riding-beast” (_sasakajan_).(1287) So among the Alfoors of the island of Buru it is taboo to mention the names of parents and parents-in-law, or even to speak of common objects by words which resemble these names in sound. Thus, if your mother-in-law is called Dalu, which means “betel,” you may not ask for betel by its ordinary name, you must ask for “red mouth” (_mue miha_); if you want betel-leaf, you may not say betel-leaf (_dalu ’mun_), you must say _karon fenna_. In the same island it is also taboo to mention the name of an elder brother in his presence.(1288) Transgressions of these rules are punished with fines.(1289) In Bolang Mongondo, a district in the west of Celebes, the unmentionable names are those of parents, parents-in-law, uncles and aunts.(1290) Among the Alfoors of Halmahera a son-in-law may never use his father-in-law’s name in speaking to him; he must simply address him as “Father-in-law.”(1291) In Sunda it is thought that a particular crop would be spoilt if a man were to mention the names of his father and mother.(1292)