University of Pittsburgh- Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education

Riddles: Expressive Models of Interrogation

Author(s): John M. Roberts and Michael L. Forman
Source: Ethnology, Vol. 10, No. 4 (Oct., 1971), pp. 509-533
Published by: University of Pittsburgh- Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education
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Riddles:

Expressive
of

Models

Interrogation
JohnM. Roberts
University
of Pittsburgh
MichaelL. Forman
of Hawaii
University

culturejustas theydo in the

Riddleshavea placein Americanexpressive
expressiveculturesof manyothersocietiesthroughoutthe world.In the
recreational
activity,although
UnitedStatesriddlingis largelya children's
manyadultsretaina residualinterestin riddles.This patternof riddling
salientin the generalexpressivecomplex,;butit is so
is not particularly
generaland pervasivethat everyoneotherthan smallchildrenhas some
familiarity
with it. At leastit will be assumedherethateveryreaderof this
paperhasthisknowledge.
Riddles,however,do not occurin all culturesand evenwithinriddling
culturesindividualsandgroupsdifferbothin termsof theirinvolvements
in riddlesand riddlingand in termsof theircognitivecontrolsof these
theoryof riddlesand riddlingmustaccountfor
patternsA comprehensive
of riddlesin timeandspacein bothculture-historical
thisunevendistribution
andmeaningof theriddlingpatterns
andfunctional
termsforthe structure
of individualsand groupsin
for the involvements
and theircomponents,
by individuals.
thesepatternsandforthecognitivecontrolsof thesepatterns
of the view that riddles
No suchtheoryexistsnow, but an examination
to the development
may contribute
are expressive
modelsof interrogation
of thistheory.
riddleswill be regardedhere as expressivemodelsor
Morespecifically,
of subordinates
representations
of the seriousandevenformalinterrogation
by superordinates
suchas occurswithincultureswhena parentquestionsa
child,a teacherquestionsa pupil,an employerquestionsan employee,a
rankquestio-ns
a soldlerof
a soldlerof superior
Judgequestionsa defendant,
are
inferiorrank,and so on.2Usuallyin thesesituationsthe subordinates
deemedto have relativelylittle knowledgeand powerwhile the superordinatesare believedto possessgreaterknowledgeand power,at least
The degreeto which
withinthe specificcontextof anygiveninterrogation.
as belongingto this antecedent
shouldbe considered
writteninterrogation
culturalquestioningis not clear.Certainlythe basicpatternof questioning
byriddlesis an oralone
5o9

5IO ETHNOLOGY

For our purposesa standarddictionarydefinition(WebsterI967:I952)

be accepted:
can
be solved
a mystifying,misleading,or puzzlingquestionposedas a problemto
riddle:
guessedoftenas a game.
or

definition
of thedictionary
exist3buttheadvantage
definitions
technical
More
theheart
being
feature
this
question,
a
is
isits stressof thefactthata riddle
the
Secondarily,
concerned.
is
inquiry
present
the
ofthe matteras far as
quality.
its expressive
a riddleas a game,underscoring
describes
definition
questionnonexpressive
and
questioning
expressive
between
relationship
The
paper.
the
of
theremainder
throughout
ingwillbeconsidered
howeveris
"Question,"
Questions,of course,are linguisticphenomena.
discussions
Recent
formalize.
to
unable
been
yet
as
have
alabelthatlinguists
50, 70)
I966:
Greenberg
oflinguisticuniversals(WeinreichI963: I50-I5I;
claiming
of
step
the
take
quite
yet never
touchon aspectsof interrogation
untilquite
Fromthetimeof Jespersen
thequestionas a linguisticuniversal.4
(uttersentences
among
relations
on
writing
of
dearth
therewas a
recently
Bolinger
questions.
about
ances),and accordinglylittle was disco!vered
nor
thatneitherphonological
I68) haveasserted
(I957' 3) andPike (I945:
were
time)
the
at
used
were
(as the terms
characteristics
grammatical
of questions.
foridentificaiion
adequate
47;
(I952:
One definitionwhichhasbeenusedby othersis thatof Friesthose
utterof
arethe largestgroup
seealsoI952: 53, I42-I72). "Questions
elicitoralresponses."
andquestions)whichregularly
ances(calls,greetings,
theorymaywell
transformational
generative
by
Morerecentworkstimulated
the centerof
toward
back
relations
intersentence
as
bebringingtopicssuch
attention(KatzandPostalI964: 79-I2% I49I1; MaloneI+7; Wang
liIlguistic
All of theserecognizethe necessityof going beyond
I965; ChafeI968).5
between
of dialogueor setsof sentences
to a consideration
grammar
sentence
"senrecent:
most
the
of
best
the
as
us
strikes
Chafe'sdefinition
speakers.
response
tenceswhichare utteredfor the purposeof eliciting a 1inguistic
As
questions."
fromthe hearersandwhichon thatbasiscan be classedasspeech
behavior
of
exploration
the
into
ourown ilquirycarriesus "outward
the present.
and use" (HymesI962: I8), we acceptthis as adequatefor
of this
purposes
for
and
us,
to
put
are
they
when
questions
We all recognize
studywe shallbe contentwiththisjudgment.
settingsare anotherdimensionof the samematter.One
Interrogation
on thistopicis fromSamarin(I+7:
fromlinguistics
offering
rare
relatively
I44-I45):

is probablyrestricted
Sustainedquestioning(or whatwe call in EnglishInterrogation)
imaginebeingquescan
we
own
our
In
settings.
of
in all societiesto a limitednumber
controller,censustaker,persontionedby a physician,highwaypatrolman,incometax
points
and so on. This list of interrogators
nel manager,bankmortgagerepresentative
official
some
in
is
us
opposite
person
the
that
settings:
these
about
fact
out a significant
or other context.
capacity:his role is formallydefinedwithin a legal, occupational,
truewhen the questions
In this settingwe are passiveand vulnerable.This is no lessterms,
our parentsor our
are put by thosewith whom we are otherwiseon intimate
spouses,for example.

RIDDLES 5I I

Anthropologists
havegivenlittleformalattentionto informalandformal
interrogation
as culturalphenomena.
Liliesociologists,
however(cf. Hyman
I954),
anthropologists
havebeenconcerned
with
interviewing.
Frake(I964)
hasarguedfora newapproach
to "queries
in ethnography."
Traditionally,
he
says,theinvestigator's
ethnographic
recordis a listof questionsandanswers.
The questionsare broughtfromhomeand the answers
are soughtin the
field.The ethnography
Frake(I964: I32) arguesfor:
also includeslists of queriesand responses,but with
this difference:both the queries
and theirresponsesare to be discoveredin the
culture
of the peoplebeingstudied.The
problemis not simplyto find answersto questionsthe
bringsinto the
field, but also to find the questionsthat go with the ethnographer
responseshe observesafter his
arrival.

Thisis done(FrakeI964:

I43)

at leastpartlybylisteningfor:

queriesin use in the culturalsceneshe observes,

settings,e.g. childrenqueryingparents,medicalgiving specialattentionto query-rich
specialistsqueringpatients,legal authoritiesqueryingwitnesses,priestsqueryingthe gods.

The concernwith questioningin this particularstudy,

however,stems
froman examination
of the formalinterrogation
associated
with the use
of judicialoathsand ordeals(Roberts
Ig6sa)
and
with
the
development
ofthefieldtechnique
of dyadicelicitation(RobertsI966).6
If we musttreat"question"
as a primitiveconcept,we mustdo essentially
thesamethingwith "model,"
whichwe simplyregardas a representation
of something.Here,however,we areconcerned
with the"naturalmodels"
suchas games,portraits,
and maps,whichoccurin cultures,rather
than
theformalmodelsof mathematics
and science.Everynaturalmodelhas
expressive
and cognitivecomponents,
but usuallyone of the two is more
important:
chess,as a modelof war emphasizes
the expressive
component,
whilean aerialphotograph,
as a modelof a specificpieceof terrain,emphasizesthe cognitivecomponent.
Riddlesmaybe regardedas naturalmodels
whichrepresent
nonexpressive
interrogation
in anexpressive
way.
The generalapproach
to expressive
modelsusedherehasbeendeveloped
through
thestudyof gamesandrelatedphenomena.
A summary
statement
of
thisapproachhas not beenpublished,
but it is embodiedin a numberof
publications.7
In the mainthesestudieshavedealtwith interestin
expressivemodelsandwithcompetence
at usingthemor performing
withinthem.
Theseinvestigations
have supporteda conflict-enculturation
hypothesisof
modelinvolvement.
Someearlystatements
of thishypothesis
as
it pertained
togame playingby Americanadultsare the
following
(Sutton-Smith,
Roberts,
andKozelkaI963: I5):
Theserelationships
suggesteda confictencultaration
hypothesisof model involvement
whichstated(II, I2, I5) thatconflict
inducedby sociallearningin childhoodand later
(suchas those relatedto obedience,achievement,
and responsibility)lead to involvementin expressivemodels,such as games,through
which theseconflictsare assuaged
andas a resultof which a processof buffered
learningoccurswhich has enculturative
value
for the competences
requiredin the
styles
of strategy,physicalskill,or chance). culture(such as acquiringthe competitive

andagain(Sutton-Smith,
Roberts,andKozellaI963:

28):

5I2 ETHNOLOGY
In sum, the conflictenculturation
hypothesissays that child traininginducesconflict
which leadsto curiosityaboutrepresentations
(as in expressivemodels)of the dimensionsof this conflict.Involvement
in modelsfollowsbecausetheirmicrocosmic
representationreducesthe conflict'scomplexiiiesto cognitiveand emotionalcomprehensibility
and becausethe participantcan learn aboutthe cognitiveand emotionalaspectsof
winningin a modelin a way thathe cannotdo outsideof it, and becausehis successes
give him increasedconfidencethat he can managethe achievementpressuresin fullscale culturalparticipation.
The modelsthus have the generalculturalfunctionthat
they contributetc)the learningand adjustmentof personswho must maintaina high
level of achievement
motivationif the generalculturalnormsare to be sustained.

New researchindicatesthatthis hypothesis

mustbe restated,for thereare
relevantdifferences
betweeninterestand competence
and becauseit now
appears
thatthescale,representativeness
orverisimilitude,
andthecomplexity
of themodelareimportant
variables
in thegeneralsituation.
Most importantly,
however,it will be necessaryto take new research
into the psychology
of conflictinto account.For the presentwe arerelying
on thedefinition
by Berlyne(I960: IO):
. . . when two or more incompatible
responsesare arousedsimultaneously
in an organism,we shallsaythattheorganismis in conflict.

The relationships
betweenconflictandarousal,curiosity,
andotherrelevant
mattersis discussed
in his book(BerlyneI960). The matterof conflicthas
alsobeenapproached
fromthe anthropological
side,but the findingsmust
still be regardedas preliminary
(RobertsIg6sa;Roberts,and KoenigI967;
Roberts,Strand,and Burmeister
I97I; Meyersand RobertsI968). For the
present,though,we aresimplyassertingthatconflictcanbe measuredand
described
andthatit leadsto involvement
andcuriosity.
A revisedformulationwill appearin futurepublications.
A finaldimensionshouldbe mentioned.
Manyof the paperscitedabove
dealwith contestsor contesting(games,folktaleswhichrepresent
contests,
etc.),andtwoareconcerned
withexpressive
self-testing
(Roberts,
Thompson,
Sutton-Smith
I966;Roberts
andW;cke,I97I). A singlepaper(RobertsI965)
dealswithtesting.Thepresentpaperdealswithexpressive
testing,buttesting
of a naturewhichcanundercertainculturalconditions
be transformed
into
contesting(riddlingcontestsoccurin a numberof cultures)or self-tesiing
(as when an individualreadsprintedriddlesand attemptsto guessthe
answerIbefore
he turnsto theprintedanswer).
The designof thepresentstudyis verysimple,andtheentireinvestigation
mustbe regardedas an exploratory,
low-costventure.First,a preliminary
cross-cultural
studywas conductedin the HumanRelationsArea Files.8
Next,a smallstudyof Tagalogriddlingwasmadeby reviewingthe literatureon the Tagalogand by workingwith informants
availablein Ithaca,
New York.Finallyseveralsmallsurveysweremadeof Americanstudents
at Cornell.Eachof thesesub-studies
will be reviewedbelow,andthenthe
overallconclusions
and implicaiions
to be drawnfromthis researchwill
be discussed.
A PRELIMINARY
CROSS_CULTURAL
VIEW

Despitethe factthata substantial

comparative
literature
existson riddles

RIDDL1LS 5I3

and the fact that a few anthropologists

havemadebrilliantcontributions
to the studyof riddles,9
the cross-cultural
literature
is so uneventhatriddles
are not a good subjectfor conventional
cross-cultural
investigation.
The
interestin riddlesand riddlinghas not been generalenoughto insure
standardanthropological
coverage.Indeed,a greatdeal of intensiveand
extensivescholarship
wouldbe requiredto producea cross-cultural
study
of riddlesandriddlingwhichwouldbe definitiere
in its own right.
The authorslackedthe resources
to producesucha full studyof riddles.
Instead,a preliminary
andadmittedly
inadequate
cross-cultural
surveywas
usedto put riddlesinto cross-cultural
perspective,
to test somepreliminary
hypotheses,
and to framerevisedhypotheses
for furthertesting.Ithis use
of the cross-cultural
surveyto providethe first approximation
of a formulationhas not receivedthe attentionthatit deservesfromcross-cultural
methodologists,
largelybecausemostof them(withthe outstanding
exception of Whiting) have failed to considerthe possibilitiesof sub-system
replication
andvalidation.10
In anyevent,thisis theuseof the cross-cultural
surveywhichis madehere.
Initiallyit was thoughtthat riddleswere expressive,strategicmodels,
whichled to the hypothesis
thatriddlesshouldoccurin the samecultural
environments
as gamesof strategy.Sinceit wasnot convenient
to compare
theriddlingvariables
withthenumerous
additional
variables
published
in the
literature,
the authorsused a seriesof variablesselectedin termsof their
relevanceto the firsthypothesisAlthoughthe basichypothesiswas later
modifiedto someextent,thesesamevariablesstill have interest,and the
resultsof thesecomparisons
willbegivenhere.
In the autumnof I966 studentswho had been trainedto judge the
presenceand absenceof riddlessurveyedthe materialin the HRAF files.
Eachrevieweda limitednumberof cultures,
butthesurveywasmadein such
a waythateveryculturehad two judges.An attemptwas madeto correct
theirfile-based
entrieswheretheydisagreedor wherethe findingsdid not
makesense,but aftera few corrections
weremade,this attemptwas abandonedbecauseof lackof timeforadditional
research.
Thisjudgingtechnique
is certainlyfar fromideal,but it was adequatefor the presentpreliminary
orexploratory
purposes.
The surveyhad otherlimitations
whichoughtto be mentioned.Clearly
the mostadvancedrequirements
for ethnographic
samplinghavenot been
met and a puristmightarguethateventhe simplestatisticsusedhereare
not appropriate-riddles
for example,are clearlyconcentrated
in the Old
World.Practicalexperience
has shown,howeverthatworkwith unacceptablesamplesis oftenrobustin the sensethatacceptable
predictions
canbe
madeforsinglesystemor sub-system
replication.
Undoubtedly
therewas errorin the judging,but therewas even more
errorin the filedliterature.
A fEwcultureslackingriddlesmayhavebeen
reportedas havingthem.Muchmoreimportantly,
cultureswhichactually
haveriddleshaveeitherbeenreportedas lackingthemor,evenmoreproN
ably,the literatureon these culturessimplycontainsno informationon
riddles:If "no information"
is treatedas indicating"absence,"
erroris

E5I4 THNOLOGY

introduced
intothestudy,but,aswillbe seen,in themainthiserrormilitates
againstthe hypothesis
beingtested.This frustrating
lackof information
on
riddlesin cultureswhichreallyhavethemstemsfromthe factthatriddles
are a minorinterestfor manyethnographers,
with the resultthattheyare
not reported
evenwhentheyexist,andfromthe factthatriddlesareoften
reportedin obscure,highlyspecializedarticleswhichare too specificfor
generalinclusionin thefiles.Againfew ethnographers
statethatriddlesare
definitelyabsentevenwhentheyaregenuinelyabsent.All theseerrorsare
compounded,
of course,whenriddlesarecompared
withotherethnographic
variables,
for the judgmentsusedin producingthe othervariablesarealso
subjectto error.Still it is arguedthat the robustness
of the findingsis
greatenoughtopermitthetoleration
of a substantial
amountof error.
Turningnow to the ethnographic
distribution
of riddles,the following
cultures
werereported
as definitely
havingriddles:
Afghanistan,Amharic,Apayao,"Arabic,"
Austria,Aymara,Bemba,Bhil,Bisayan(Central), Bulgaria,BushNegroes,Callinago,Cambodia,Chagga,"China,"Cornish,Cuna,
Czechoslovakia,
Dard, Dhegiha,Eskimo(Central),Estonians,Fang, Fellahin,(Modern) Formosa,Gond,Greece,Gujerati,Hausa,Hottentot,Hungary,Iban,Ila,Indonesia,
Iran,Irish (rural),Kashmiri,Kikuyu,Kol, Korea,Kurd,Lapps,Lithuanians,
Lovedu,
Malays,Maori,Masai,Maya (Yucatan),Mbundu,Mongolia,Ngonde, Ngoni, Nuer,
Poland,Rumania,Rundi,Rwala,Samoa,Serbia,Somali,SovietUnion,Syria,Thonga,
Tibet,Tiv, Toda,Ukraine,Wolof,Yao,Yakut,Yugoslavia.

The followingcultureswerereportedas possiblyhavingriddles(hereafter

theywillbe classedwiththeriddles-present
group):
Aden, Burmese,Chukchee,Iraq, Jordan,Kuwait,Lebanon,Nahane,Nootka, Saudi
Arabia,Thailand,Tuareg,Yemen.

The followingculturesare thosein whichriddleswerereportedas being

definitely
absent:
Manus,Miao,Pukapuka.

The followingculturesare thosein whichthe presenceof riddlesis unreported:

Ainu, Albania,Aleut,Andamanese,
Azande,Aztec,BahrainIslands,Bambara,
Bedouin
Bellacoola,Burusho,Bushmen,Caingang,Carib,Caucasia,Cayapa,Choroti,Comanche
Creek,Crow, Delaware,Dorobo,EasterIslands,Eskimo (Copper),Ganda,Georgia,
Goaiiro,GrosVentre,Guana,Hadhramaut,
Ifugao,Inca,India,Iroquois,Jivaro,Kachin
Kamchadal,
Kapauku,Katab,Kazak,Khasi,Koryak,Laotians,Lepcha,Lolo,Luo,Manchuria,Mandan,Marquesas,
Massachusetts
(Historical),Mende,Micmac,Mongo,Monguor, Montagnais,Miskito,Mossi,Munduracu,
Murgnin,Nambicuara,
Navaho,New
Ireland,Nupe, Ojibwa,Orokaiva,Paiute (Northern),Papago,Pawnee,Pomo,Punjab
(East), Rif, Russia(Great),SamoyedSemang,Senegal,Seri,Siberia,Sinkiang,SinoTibetanborder,Shilluk,Siriono,Siwans,Talamanca,
Tallensi,Tanala,Tapirape,Tarahumara,Tarasco,Tehuelche,Tepoztlan,Tewa,Tikopia,Timbira,Tiwi, Tlingit,Tubatulabal,Tucuna,Turkestan,Tupinamba,
Twi, UttarPradesh,Yahgan,Yokuts,Yoruba,
Yumans(Plateau),Yumans(River),Yurok,Vedda,Wogeo,Zuni.

In the tableswhichfollow,thosesocietiesin whichriddlesaredefinitely

andprobably
absentarecompared
withall others.Foranyone comparison
though,the full rangeof cultureslistedaboveis not usedsincethe entries

RIDDLES 5I5

for otherculturalvariablesmay not exist.Indeed,manyof the probable

entriesarenotusedforjustthisreason.
erroneous
In thirteenof the 30 caseswhereit couldbe studied,riddlingwas a
truegame,andin thirteenof the28caseswherethemattercouldbe judged,
betweenriddlingandgaming
therewereriddlingcontests.The relationship
thanit will receiveherev
clearlymeritsmoreexamination
in the cultureand
In 22 of 33 casesriddleswerejudgedto be important
in 22 of 29 casesthe frequencyof riddlingwas judgedto be high. In
general,the judgementson importanceand frequencycould not be regardedas satisfactory.
In all of the eighteencaseswherethe presenceof bothrotelearningand
riddlescouldbe judged,rotelearningwasactuallypresent.In fifteenof these
It proved,however,to be
cases,rote learninghad a religiousconnection.
difficultto judgerotelearning.
exceptionally
Atlas (as
fromthe Ethnographic
weremadewith variables
Comparisons
it existedin the fall of I966)11(cf. MurdockI967). Thereis, for example,
an obviousrelationshipbetweenlevels of politicalintegrationand the
speaksfor itself,but if we omit the
presenceof riddles.This distribution
TABLE1
Riddlesand Political Integration
Level of Political Integration
Autonomous Peace Depen- Minimal Little
State State State
Absent local Groups dent
25
6
16
3
2
40
9
RiddlesAbsent
16
7
10
2
2
8
0
Riddles Present

the
Society"categories,
"PeaceGroup"and"Dependent
possiblyambiguous
of freedom(G = 429). Notethatthe
X2 = I3.92 p < .OI withfourdegrees
cell almostcertainlycontainsa largenumberof
"RiddleAbsent"-"State"
erroneousentries,but thesework againstthe hypothesisthat riddlesare
Again, if we contrastthe
interrogation.
associatedwith institutionalized
againstall others
categories
LocalCommunity"
and"Autonomous
"Absent"
Riddles
II.IO p < .OOI, G = .627.12
(e.g.,simpleagainstcomplex)thex
with highpoliticalintegration.
appearto be associated
the morelikelythe presence
The higherthe levelof politicalintegration
occursin all
Probablysomeinterrogation
interrogation.
of institutionalized
or absenceof riddleswiththe number
courts,so if we comparethe presence
we can
beyondthe localcommunity,
hierarchy
of levelsin the jurisdictional
speaksfor itself.The
The distribution
againsee the predictedassociation.
of freedom,p < .os (G - .456).Againif the
IO.8I withfourdegrees
X2 _
with all others,the x2= 8.go,
societieswith no andone levelarecompared
themore
hierarchy,
thejurisdictional
p < .OI, G-.553. Themoreelaborate
likelyriddles.

5I6 ETHNOLOGY
TABLE 2
Riddlesand Numberof JurisdictionalLevels
Numberof Levels In
JurisdictionalHierarchy
TranscendingLocal Community
4
3
2
1
O
2
9
13
28
47
2
4
14
11
7

RiddlesAbsent
Riddles Present

Judicialoathsand ordeals(RobertsI965a)are associatedwith formal

althoughthey can occurin othersettings.Table3
judicialinterrogation
is somewhatstrongerwith ordeals
The association
showsthe association.
thanit is withoaths,andthisis notsurprising.
This
as table4 illustrates:
withdomestication
Thereis alsoan association
and its relevancewill emergewhen
is probablyan importantassociation,
areconsidered.
thechildtrainingvariables
betweenthe presenceof gamesof strategy
Finally,thereis an association
and the presenceof riddles(see Table5). Talble5 has a xS 4 45)P <
is not as strongas those
.os, G .530.It will be notedthatthisassociation
association
thisparticular
witheitherordealsor cowsandcamels.Originally
it is presentbutweak.
strong,actually
to beexceptionally
hadbeenpredicted
childtrainingratingswere
The Barry,Bacon,and Childmimeographed
alsoused.Thesehavesincebeenpublished(Barry,Bacon,andChildI967)
formin Fcord(I967). Herethe samplesareevensmaller,but
in corrected
in Table6 haveobviousinterest.
theresultspresented
with
view suggeststhatriddlingis associated
The foregoingpreliminary
training,largedomesticanimals,rote learning,high
strongresponsibility
beyond
hierarchy
morethanone levelof jurisdictional
politicalintegration,
No doubta more
oaths,ordeals,andgamesof strategy.
thelocalcommunity,
but the abovefindings
elaboratesurveywould revealotherassociations,
afterthe
constitutea patternwhichis consistentand will be interpreted
to our
Contrary
studieshasbeenpresented:
evidenceof the two subsequent
thanwe had
trainingis moreimportant
responsibility
originalexpectations,
is lessimportant.
component
thoughtandthestrategy
TABLE 3
Riddlesand Oaths and Ordeals
Riddles
Absent

Present

Oaths Absent
Oaths Present

70
28

15
20

OrdealsAbsent
OrdealsPresent

78
18

17
20

x2

p <

7.94

.01

.538

10. 70

.01

.672

RIDDLES 5I7

TABLE 4
Riddlesand DomesticatedAnimals
Riddles
DomesticatedAnimalsAbsent
DomesticatedAnimalsPresent
DomesticatedAnimalsotherthan
large animals (cows, camels)
Present
DomesticatedLargeAnimals
Present

Absent
36
53

Present
4
35

65

12

34

27

x2

p <

10. 14 .01

12.4

G
. 712

.001 .612

THETAGALOG
STUDY
In orderto gain moreinsightinto riddlesand riddling,it was decided
to studyriddlesin Tagalogculture.The Tagalogare an ethnolinguistic
subclass
of Phillippine
peoplefoundchieflyin the centralandsouthernpart
of Luzon.The decisionto studyTagalogriddlingwas madein partbecausenativespeakerswereavailableon the CornellUniversitycampus,in
partbecauseof the stimulationof the recentanthropological
analysisof
Filipinoriddles(Hart I964),and in partbecauseof the greatersaliency
of riddlingin Tagalogculturethanin themajority
of riddlingcultures.
The
materialpresented
belowis basedon independent
fieldworkby the junior
author,workwithinformants,
anda surveyof the specificliterature.
Tagalogcultureappears
to havemostof thecharacteristics
of otherriddling
cultures.This culturehas beenhigh in politicalintegration;
thereis more
thanone levelof jurisdictional
heirarchy
beyondthe localcommunity;
rote
learningis veryimportant;largeanimalsare important;oathsexist;and
gamesof strategyoccur.Otherrelevantvariablesare discussedin brief
below.
A Filipinopsychologist,
JaimeBulatao(I962:52-75),using a thematic
analysisof storiescollectedfromgo subjects,has describedfour principal
valuesfor the Tagalog:familysolidarity,authority,economicsu;ciency,
and patience.Underthesevalueswerefoundrecurrent
themessuchas the
needfor parentsof olderchildrento makesacrifices
for the youngerfamily
members,or the necessityof respectingand obeyingauthorityfigures,alTABLE 5
Riddlesand Gamesof Strategy
Riddles
Gamesof StrategyAbsent
Gamesof Strategy Present

Absent

Present

47
21

11
16

TABLE 6
Riddlesand Child TrainingPractices
ContingencyTable Cells
(RiddlesAbsent)

(RiddlesPresent)

d
(High C
rating

Male
Female

a
(Low CT
rating)

b
(High CT
rating)

c
(Low CT
rating)

M
M
M
M
F

19
25
26
24
23

16
9
8
8
11

3
3
6
4
4

12
12
9
11
10

17

15

12

20

15

12

16

18

11

ChildTrainingVariable
Responsibility:
Rewardfor performance
Anxiety over nonperformance
Anxiety over performance
Frequencyof performance
Frequencyof performance
Obedience:
Rewardfor performance
Independence:
Anxietyover performance
NurturantAgent:
Constancyof presenceof

RIDDLES 5I9
thoughonly withinlimits.
When
not
discussedexplicitly,responsibility
interwoven
with the discussion
is
of familysolidarity,
city.
This is trueas well
authority,
and
reciprcs
of
other
studies(by Hollnsteiner
thesamevolume(Lynch
and Lynch)in
I962).
Certainly
thereis an emphasison
responsibility
in childtraining.Guthrie
andJacobs(I966: I05)
describe:

thewhole areaof
responsibility
into which the child is
on the particular
graduallyinitiated.Depending
familysituationand the age
torun, household
jobsto do, and younger he has reached,thereare alwayserrands
andpigs to feed, goatsor a
siblingsto be caredfor. There
are chickens
sweepup andburn,andwatercarabaoto pasture,yardcornersto weed,
dead leavesto
andfirewoodto carryto the
house.

Children
who are not old enoughto do
thesechorespreparefor them
playfully
imitatingtheirelders
by
(Abasolo-Domingo
I96I:
When a Tagalogchild fails
I50-I57).
to
meet
the
theperformance
of his eldersin
of thesetasks,he canexpect expectatiorls
a punishment,
one.
Thisis rarelyin theformof
usuallya verbal
ments
areteasing,joking,andthenagging.Someof themainverbalpunishthreatof sundrywitches.
are
extremelysensitiveto ridicule.
Tagalogchildren
Thatthesefactsarerelevant
seems
apparent.It is interestingto
to riddling
note that in ntarbyBorneo,
men
riddle
Dusun
97).13 in a toneotherwise
reserved
forteasingchildren
(WilliamsI963:
If a culturehasan
authoritysystem(e.g.,high
heavy
politicalintegration)and
responsibility
training
conjoinedwith oral questioning,
the
conditions
then it has
whichfavorriddling.That
Tagalogculturecontainsthe first
two
conditions
we haveillustrated
do
thisforthethirdcondition. fromthe literature.
It is morediSculttc)
Ethnographic
work
on
other
the
anthropological
literaturein lackingdiscussionofTagalogresembles
But
thereare settingsin Tagalog
oral
culturewhich might be questioning.
"query-rich"
(FrakeI+4: I43). A full
describedas
discussion
of thesewouldprobably
require
monographic
treatment.
Only a
Tagalog
informantsreportthat parentsfew can be mentiorled
Our
often questionedthemhere.
behavior.
Whentheyvisitedtheir
on
their
feast
days (e.g. Christmas),they baptismalgodparents
on the traditional
were also subjectedto many
Perhaps
moreimportantis the oral
questions.
interrogation
negotiation,
a questioning
throughout
a
marriage
which
is oftencouchedin
and
managedby a "go-between"
metaphoric
language
(MalayI957: 79).
Most
Tagalogareat leastnominally
RomanCatholic.Withinthe
of
the
church,oralinterrogation
context
existsin association
ism,
and confession.
with baptism,catechIn the baptismceremony
by
thereis ritualinterrogation
the
priestof the personbeing
baptized,or in the morecommon
infant
baptism,of the infant'sgodparent
caseof
sponsors.
ated
The interrogation
with catechism
is obvious.Perhapsless
associobviousis the interrogation
confession,
but Harthasprovidedus
in
with a Filipinoview in the
one
Cebuano
(the samecouldhavebeen
words
of
wedding
ceremonyI was led tO the saidby a Tagalog):"Beforethe
confessionario
padre
and beforelong the
beganbombarding
me with questions"
(I959:
(Hart
66-67)hasdescribed
I956:
275). Phelan
themissionary
confessors'
technique:

520 ETHNOLOGY
In orderto overcomethe Filipinos'fearand embarrassment,
the missionaries
developed
a simplequestionand answertechnique.Briefquestionswere phrased. . . [but], placing no faith in the veracityof their parishioners
. . . the confessorsaskedthe same
questson1na vartetyot ways.
.

A recent Philippine Undersecretary of Education (Corpuz I+5:

4>
has pointed out the tie between Spanish friar-dominated education and
the current practice of rote recitation in the schools. Besides this form of
question and answer, there are national examinations and periodic inspections
in the school system which subject both teachers and pupils to interrogation.
The Tagalog have a rich legal culture which is filled with interrogation.
Apparently this was also the case prior to Spanish contact. "In I599 the
Audiencia defined as customary law for the whole archipelago Tagalog
usages as codified by Friar Juan de Plasencia" (Phelan I959: I29). In some
ways Tagalog interrogative culture is epitomized in the social role of the
"go-between," a person of great verbal skill. Within this context, the political
function of the fiscal, a role that might ordinarily be viewed as legal, is
particularly interestirlg. When the Spaniards introduced the role, the fiscal
was at the national level a member of the court of the inquisition, and at
the local level he was an assistant to the parish priest with the task of
serving as intermediary between the priest and the people. His special duty
was drilling the children in their catechism. Today, the role of the fiscal
has been shifted from the arena of religion to that of the public courts and
politics. As of the coming of the American system, the fiscal is the public
defender at the provincial level; in addition, "fiscal" is a special title used
to honor a politician who functions as oppositionist. All in all, he must
be a man of great verbal skill, adept at questioning and answering.
It seems clear that there is formal interrogation of subordinates by superordinates in Tagalog culture. Now we can turn to Tagalog riddling. The
Filipino folkorist Manuel (I955: I52) states:
50)

While the bugtungan[Tagalogterm for contestin riddle-making]

is chieflythe pao
time of children,adultsarenot unknownto haveindulgedin it. In fact it is from the
old folks that boys and girls learnsomeof the enigmaticriddles.Youngwomenand
men are observedto enjoyit as practisedin night vigils over the dead,baptismalpariies,andothersocialgatherings.
Although content analysis is a common concern of riddle studies, it is
our purpose to apply this method to Tagalog riddles. Nevertheless, it
is relevent to mention an observation by Frake (I+6:
245) in his review
of Hart (I+4)
not

Certainprominentaspectsof CentralPhilippineculturesareweaklyrepresented:
malevolentsupernaturals,
politics,birth,marriage,sickness,crime,andcats.
The subject matter of Tagalog riddles is seldom that of the serious interro
gations. Malevolent supernaturals figure in the interrogations linked with
disease and death. The serious interrogations linked with politics, crimes
(e.g., in trials), birth, and marriage have already been noted. We suspect
that the taboo on cats relates to their part in witchcraft beliefs introduced by

RIDDLliS 52I

thatthe intermediary
butwe maybe wrong.It is notewcxrthy
theSpaniards,
situations.
these
of
all
in
serves
or go-l}etween
then,it wasdecidedto studyriddlecompetence
Againstthisbackground,
Theseinby twentyTagaloginformants.
attitudespossessed
andassociated
formantscamefromthe GreaterManilaareaor fromLaguna,a TagaloghadspokenTagalog
speakingprovincesouthof Manila.All the informants
as theirfirst language;this languagewas the currentlanguageof their
homesandthelanguageof theirchildhood.
hadengagedin nddling
all ourTagaloginformants
Witha loneexception
heardriddlesat wakes,
also
had
them
of
school.Some
whilein elementary
in theircourtship.
riddles
using
mentioned
riddlers
better
the
of
andthree
It would appear,however,that the locusof riddlingis steadilyshifting
andsettlingin the
awayfromthe oldersettingsof the wakeandcourtship
one of our in(not
declining
be
school.Althoughinterestin riddlingmay
enough
salient
remains
riddling
still
now),
riddling
in
formantsengages
in Tagalogculturethat our riddlinginstrumentinducednostalgiaand
Riddlesareclearly
broughttearsto the eyesof a numberof ourinformants.
culture.
moreimportantin Tagalogthanthey are in Americanexpressive
In
below.
presented
test
riddle
the
given
were
The Tagaloginformants
the test 26 riddleswere selectedfrom a popularcollection
constructing
of riddles
entitledIsanglJbo at IsangBugtong (SantosI958). Thiscollection
was readvery carefullyby an intelligentand highlymotivatedbilingual
whoselectedriddlesshefeltwouldhavemaximumgenerality(any
assistant,
Tagalogspeakerwouldfeel that he shouldhaveknownthe answerto a
generalriddleswerethanjudgedfor
riddleoncegivenit). The maximally
anda matchingsetof easyanddifficultriddles,26 in all
degreeof diW;culty
waschosen.14
wasadthepropersetting,theinstrument
In theinterestof approximating
were
in the Tagaloglanguage,even thoughall the informants
ministered
bilinguals.A scorewas computedby giving an informantone pointfor
informantansweredI7
answeredriddle.The mostsuccessful
eachcorrectly
averagefor the 20 inThe
riddles.
7
answered
successful
least
The
of 26.
wasI2.3, andthemedianwasI3.
formants
playedTickTack
Fromthisgroupof twenty,allthosewhohadpreviously
and
in Sutton-Smith
Toe (I8) weregiventheTickTackToe testdescribed
competence.16
strategic
of
measure
rough
a
as
Roberts(I967)
returnedto the Philippines
eightof the twentyinformants
Unfortunately
weregiven
subjects
butthetwelveremaining
beforethestudywascompleted,
thefollowingquesiions:
Try to remember,if you will, back to the time in your elementaryschoolwhen you
table.Now imaginethatone day ie academicsuperwere learningthe multiplication
oflicialin the Philippineschoolsystem)makesa surprisevisitvisor (a province-level
and this is one of thoseraretimeswhen it reallycatchesyourteacherby surprise.The
supervisor-andnoticewell, it is the supervisorand not your teacher-callson you to
multiplytwo numbersfor him. If youransweris correct,how HAPPYwouldyou be,
giving a scoreof I for completelyindigerentand a scoreof 7 for veryhappy?[CompletelyIndifferentI 2 3 4 5 6 7 Very Happy].How hiya (ashamed)would you be if
you got confusedandyouranswerwaswrong?

522

ETHNOLOGY

TABLE 7
Tagalog Riddle and StrategicCompetence

High Riddle Competence

Low R;ddleCompetence

High Strategic
Comp.
8
1

LowStrategic
Comp.
1
6

p < .01

The responses
to thetwoquestions
wereaddedandthe twelveinformants
wererankedin termsof the resultantscore.It wasthoughtthatthosewho
conflictnecessary
for riddle
scoredhighon bothwouldhavethe antecedent
and high avoidanceatinvolvement
in thattheyhad bothhigh approach
aregivenin Table8. Useof the
titudes.The relevantrankordercorrelations
KerldallPartialRank Correlation
Coe;cientshowedthat the correlation
conflictwasrelativelyindebetweenriddlecompetence
andinterrogational
pendentof strategic
competence.
Riddlingin modernTagalogsociety,then, conformswith the basic
study:riddlesarerelatedto training
complexsuggestedby thecross-cultural
of a complexsocietywith its asfor responsibiliter
and the maintenance
sociatedinterrogation.
But todaythe locusof Tagalogriddlingis shifting
to the settingof schools,andthis
fromthe settingsof wakesandcourtship
shiftraisesthematterof timeperspective.
and
Overan areaof insularSoutheast
Asiabroaderthanthe Philippines,
withwakesandharvests.
To
baclithroughtime,riddlinghasbeenassociated
superanswera riddleat othertimesmeantriskingdangerfrommalevolent
naturals.Cropstoo were subjectto such dangers,but ritualsexistedfor
wardingoff thisdangerto thespiritof thericeor millet.Perhapsthe life-ordeathquestionof successor failureat farmingwas modeledin the riddle.
for it providedan
Harvesttimeprovidedthe possibility
of othersuccesses,
we havenoted,
opportunity
foryoungmenandwomento court.Courtship,
for riddling.Andtoday,as fewer
remainsto someextentoneof thesettirlgs
peopleare involvedin harvestingmoreand morethe roadto successin
arein the schools.It seemsnot
generaland the opportunities
for courtship
withoutsignificance
that the settingof riddlinghas shiftedtowardthe
TABLE 8
Tagalog Riddle Competence,InterrogationConflict
and StrategicCompetence

Riddle Competence
InterrogationConflict
*p

< .01

**p < .02

*** p < .05

Interrogation
Conflict
.600*

Strategic
Competence
.406***
.460**

RIDDLES

523

schools.Clearlythe totalpatternis not well understood

but wouldmerit
turtnerexamlnat1on.
EvansandWilliamshavereported
differences
in maleandfemaleriddling
foroneSoutheast
Asiangroup,theDusun.Womenarereportedas showing
a preferencefor those riddleswhich use archaicwordsor syllablesnot
usuallymeaningfulin the language,a formsuggestiveof religiousritual.
Menseemnot to sharethepreference;
theirriddlesareof the moresimply
metaphoric
type.Womentoo bearthe heavierresponsibilities
for the chores
of wakes.Perhapsthis involvementis of significance
for explainingthe
component
of obscure
wordsin women'sriddles.
If, on theotherhand,menaremoreinterested
in harvestriddling,thismay
berelatedto thepossibility
thata successful
harvestcourtship
canleadto new
choresfor men for bride-service
is a not uncommonpreludeto marriagein thisareaof theworld.
In any case,althoughwe have not studiedthe matter,it seemsparticularlysignificant
to notethe metaphoric
natureof mostriddlequestions
andto considerthisin thelightof Malay'sdescription
of theintermediary:
a
personverballyskilledin the use of metaphoric
language.We offerthe
hypothesls
thatriddlingfunctionsas trainingfor the roleof intermediary,
a
roleof greatimportance
to the maintenance
of solidarity
in manySoutheast
,

aslan

socletles,

THEAMERICAN
STUDY

The Tagalogstudysuggestedthatinvollrement
in riddlesmightwell be
linkedwithattitudestowardoralinterrogation.
Someadditional
exploratory
surveyswere madewith Cornellstudentsto examinethis relationship
in
greaterdetail.As a pretest,members
of a largeundergraduate
classin sociologywereaskedto estimatetheirgeneralinterestin riddleson a scaleranging
fromI (IOWinterest)to 7 (highinterest)andto answera numberof questionsdealingwithoralinterrogation.
Thegenerallevelof reported
interestin
riddles,however,was so low that it was decidedto measurethis interest
moreprecisely.
Withthemembers
of a largeundergraduate
classin anthropology,
a different measureof riddleinvolvement
was used.Heretwentyriddleswereselectedrandomly(throughtheus-eof a randomnumbertable)froma general
bookon riddles(WithersandBenetIg54).16The twentyrandomlyselected
riddleswerethenarranged
in a randomorderfor presentation
in a written
instrument.
Eachstudentwasaskedto judgehisinterestin eachriddleon a
sealeof I (low interest)to 7 (high interest).An arrerage
of the twenty
riddleinterestscoreswasusedto arriveattheaverageinterestof eachstudent
in riddles.TheseaveragescoresrangedfromI.OO(the absoluteminimum)
to 5.40withthe nexthighestscorebeing4.80(well shortof the 7.oopossible
highestscore).Clearlythe generallevelof interestwaslow.Forpurposes
of
thestudythe69studentswithriddleinterestscoresof 2.89orlesswereplaced
in a "lowriddleinterest"
groupwhilethe 73 studentswith scoresof 2.90or
higherwereplacedin a "highriddleinterest"
group.
Eachstudentwas also;askedfourquestions designedto elicitpositive at-

524 ETHNOLOGY

titudestowardoralquestioning
andfourquestionsdesignedto elicitnegabythephrase,"Inthe
tiveattitudes.
Eachof theeightquestions
waspreceded
generalized
classroom
of yourchildhood(no earlierthanthe fifthor sixth
werethefollowing:
grade)."Withtheexception
of thisphrase,thequestions
how (eager) (uneager)were you to answera questionwhen the teacherselectedyou to answera moderately
difficultoralquestionin class?
3, 4 how (happy) (unhappy)were you when you answereda moderatelydifficult
oralquestionwhenit wasaskedby the teacherin class?
5, 6 how (proud) (ashamed)were you when you (answered)(failedto answer)
a moderately
difficultoralquestionaskedby the teacherin class?
7, 8 how (comfortable)(uncomfortable)were you when you answeredan oral
questioncorrectlywhich otherstudentsin the classhad failedto answer?
I, 2

number
Aftereachquestionthe studentwasaskedto circlethe appropriate
indicatinghis attituderangingfromI (low) to 7 (high).Hindsightallows
but stillthe four
us to say thatthesequestionscouldhavebeenimproved,
attitudestoward
positivequestionswereheldto be indicativeof approach
oralquestioning
andthe fournegativequestionswereheldto be indicative
of avoidance
attitudes
towardoralquestioning.
into
Varioustypesof analysiswereused.The divisionof the respondents
groupshasalreadybeende"highriddleinterest"
and"lowriddleinterest"
scribed.The distribution
of scoresfor eachof the eightoralinterrogation
questionswasplottedandtheresponses
to eachquestionweredividedintoa
permitted.
Each
high anda low group,as nearlyin halfas the distribution
respondent
wasthengivena scorerangingfromzeroto fourfor the numltr of approach
questionsto whichhis answerswereabovethe medianand
a likescorebasedon theavoidance
items.
at riddling
It is ourprovisional
formulation
thatthe greatestcompetence
byrespondents
falling
andthegreatestinterestin riddlesshouldbe displayed
competence
and
in theApproach Avoidance
category,
thattheintermediate
fallingin the Approach>
interestshouldbe displayedby the respondents
and interestshouldbe
Avoidancecategory;and that the leastcompetence
< Avoidance
category.
displayed
bytherespondents
fallingin theApproach
Subsequent
tables,therefore,havebeenarrangedwith the threecategories
listedin thatorderandtheyhavebeentreatedasanordinalscale.
The relationship
betweenhigh andlow riddleinterestandthe threeapproach-avoidance
categories
canbe seenin table9. The x2-7.44, p < oo5,
withthe othertwo cateG .352.If Approach< Avoidance
is compared
gories,theG-.45I.
TABLE 9
Riddlesand OralInterrogationAttitudes
Approach=
Avoidance
High Riddle Interest
Low Riddle Interest

12
8

Approach>
Avoidance
43
29

Approach<
Avoidance
18
32

RIDDLES

525

Althoughthesefindingsindicatethat avoidanceatiitudesare associated

of themaleandfemaledistribuwithlowinterestin riddling,anexamination
tionsshowsthatthisis largelytrueof the male(X2_ 7.55,p < .o5,G
(non-significant).
.598)andnotthefemalerespondents
was askedto list his favoritegame.Laterthese
Eachof the respondents
intogamesof physicalskillandstrategyandgamesof
gameswereclassified
strategy(cf. Roberts,Arth,andBushI959). Althoughit was thoughtthat
the high riddlerswouldfavorgamesof strategy,thereis noigeneralrelagamesof physical
tionshipof thiskind.()n the otherhandmalespreferring
malespreferring
than
riddles
in
interest
high
a
skillareless likelyto have
relationdirectional
a
is
there
and
.OI),
<
pi.
-.400,
(G
strategy
of
games
of oral
areavoiders
moreof thestrategists
shipwhichsuggeststhatrelatively
*

nterrogatlon.

but
for femalepotent-strategists,
Thereweresomepuzzlingrelationships
be
can
strategists
male
and
potent-strategists,
male
the
strategists,
thefemale
givenformales(G .602) asfar
to producethesamerelationship
combined
The sexualvariation
areconcerned.
as riddleinterestandoralinterrogation
research,for the
future
in
is importantand shouldbe examinedfurther
information.
enough
provide
not
does
presentinvestiganon
Finallya verysmallsurveywasmadeof the studentsin an introductory
to
was administered
lingtlisticsclassin whichthe sameriddleinstrument
of riddle
getherwith some additionalquestions.The samerelationships
however,
to hold.Moreimportantly,
appeared
interestandoralinterrogation
rated:
was
quesiion
each
questions;
following
the
asked
was
group
this
VeryLittleI 2 3 4 5 6 7 A GreatDeal.
Mostchildrenare expectedto performcertaintasksor choresfor which they are held
by adults.Thesetaskscan includethingssuchas performinghomeworkor
accountable
choresrangingto suchthingsas milkingthe cows.
household
doing
A. Whatis yourestimateof the amountof suchwork thatyou wereexpectedto do
as a child?
B. How much importancedid the adultswho assignedie work placeon yourresponsiblecompletionof it?
of iese tasksmonitoredthroughpersistent
C. To whatextentwas yourperformance
questioningor naggingby adults?
D. To whatextentdo youthinkthatyouwerenaggedin general?

in
to thesequestionsprovidenew insightintotinvolvement
The responses
riddles.
betweenthe responsesto
enoughtherewas no association
Interestingly
used,with entriesof
was
B
questionA and to questionB. Only question
C and D were
questions
The
importance."
"high
6 and 7 countingas
whohadentries
a singlenaggingscorewithrespondents
to produce
combined
of 3 or moreforeachof thetwoquestionsbeingplacedin thehighnagging
group.TableIO belowshowsthe results.The samegroupingof riddleinintohighandlow usedfor the largersurveywasused.
volvementresponses
betweenlow nagging
NotethatTableIO showsthatthereis an association
interest,however,is
riddle
High
andhighriddleinterest:X2 _ 4.0I, p < .o5.
are important(as
chores
when
nagging,
low
with
associated
particularly

526 ETHNOLOGY
TABLE 10
Responsibility(chores),Nagging,and Riddle Interest

Responsibility(chores)and Nagging
High Importanceof Choreswith Low Nagging
High Importanceof Choreswith High Nagging
Low Importanceof Choreswith Low Nagging
Low Importanceof Choreswith High Nagging

High
Riddle
Interest
9
1
3
3

Low
Riddle
Interest
2
11
7
4

againsttheotherthreecategories
combined):X2_ 8.78, p < .OI,G-.868.
If we consideronly the groupwith high importance
of chores,thereis a
definiteassociation
of high riddleinterestwith low nagging:x2 9.57,
P < .OOI,G
.960.Therewereno sex difTerences
of importance.
In the Americancollegestudentstudy,theirhigh riddleinterestwas associatedwith balancedor positiveattitudestowardoralquestioning,
with
low nagging,andparticularly
withthehighimportance
of choresconjoined
with the presenceof low nagging.The relationship
of riddleinterestto sex
and to gameinvolvements
is intriguing,butnot clearfromthe presentinquiry.

DISCUSSION

Eachof the threesuccessive

exploratory
studiesreportedherewithis tool
modestto be publishable
in its own right,but takentogetheras a seriesof
reinforcingand relatedinquiriesthey meritconsideration.
Certainlythey
serveto identifyculturaland psychological
variableswhich ought to be
considered
whena generaltheoryof riddlesandriddlingis finallyframed.
Someof thesevariables
arediscussed
below.
Pattern.This paperdoesnot dealwithl:helinguisticformsof riddles,but
both the Tagalogand Americanstudiessuggestthe importance
of such
analysis.Ourcollectionof Tagalogriddles,forexample,seemsto be separable intoa numberof types,at leastsomeof whicharemarkedlinguistically
by patternsof stressandrhyme.Someexploratory
workwiththe American
datasuggestedthatthe conundrum,
in contrastto otherriddles,has appeal
for respondents
with high approach-low
avoidanceattitudestowardoral
interrogation
andwith a slightpreference
for gamesof physicalskill,but
thisrelationship,
if it exists,mustbe testedin furtherresearch.
In anyevent,
it is highly probablethat riddleswith differentpatternshave different
psychological
and culturalsignificance
within a single cultureand that
thesedifferences
canbe mappedwithprofit.
CultureHistory.Riddlesappearto be primarily
an OldWorldphenomenonandsuchriddlesasdo occurin theNew Worldmaybelargelytheresult
of acculturation.
Thereareundoubtedly
culturalenvironments
in the New
Worldwhereriddlesarenot found,butwhereriddleswouldhavebeenacceptedif theyhaddidusedthereor if theyhadbeeninventedindependently
in thesesettings.Perhapstherearefunctional
equivalents
to riddlesin such

RIDDLES
527
settings,andthisis a problem
whichoughtto be studied.Again someriddles
may be peculiarto singlecommunities
or to smallgroups,but othersare
systemicpatternswith very wide culturaland
distributions.
The culturehistoryof bothtypesis interestingvgeographical
PanernLoad.The patternsof riddlesand riddlingmay
be nearlythe
samedescriptively
in twodifferent
cultureswithouthavingthesamesalience
orweightin both.The patternof riddlingis more
heavilyloadedin Tagalog
culturethanit is in the UnitedStatesalthough
admittedlythe two patternsarenot the same.The frequencyof riddling,
intensityof interestand
evaluation,differingcompetence,
differingbehavioralsettings,and other
variables
contributeto differences
in patternloading.The studyof such
loadingis a taskforthefuture.
CulturalComplenty.It wouldappearthatculturesmust
haveattaineda
minimallevelof culturalcomplexity
if riddlingis to existas a formof expressivebehavior.This conclusionis supportedby the
associationsreportedin thispaperof riddleswiththehigherlevelsof
political
integration,
withthe numberof levelsin the jurisdictional
hierarchy
transcending
th
localcommunityandwithoathsandordeals.More
indirectly
the linkswith
gamesof strategy,largedomesticanimals,and certain
patternsof child
training
havea similarsignificance.
It wouldnotbe diflicultto produceother
associations
withtraitsindicative
of culturalcomplexity.
In complexcultures,
too,thereis morelikelyto be institutionalized
formal
interrogation
in the
court)
schoolroom,temple,andelsewhere.
Heresuperordinates
do
question
subordinates.
Responsibility.Cross-culturally
the presenceof riddlesis associated
with
several
childtrainingvariables)
butthemoststrikingof thesearetheassociations with high responsibility
training(seeTable6). The largeanimaland
rotelearningfindingsare also pertinent.
Remarkably
enoughthe same
variable
seemsto be relevantin the intra-cultural
level
in
the UnitedStates
(seeTable IO). Perhapsthe responsible
performance
of
choresmay be
linked
with the responsible
answeringof questions,bothexpressively
and
nonexpressively
? In all probability
it is notaccidental
thatjudicialoathsand
ordeals
alsorevealassociations
with responsibility
training(RobertsIg6sa:
204).
Clearlythe definitionandthe measurement
of thisvariableshouldbe
improved.
OralSocialization.
Naggingwhich involvespersistentquestioningand
scolding
mustbe one formof oral socialization.
This studysuggeststhat
high
naggingleadsto high avoidancearldlow approach
attitudestoward
oral
interrogation
andto a low interestin riddles.A lesseramountof
nagging,
however,maycontribute
to the conflictoveroralinterrogation
which
contributes
to high involvementin riddles.Othertechniques
of oral sov
cialization, such as teasing,praiseS
ridicule,and rebuking,may be more
relevant
to a positiveinterestin riddles.At leastteasingis
important
in Tagalog
culture.
Furtherinformation
is neededonthisgroupof variables.
OralInterrogation.
The Tagalogstudysuggeststhat high approachattitudes
towardoralinterrogation
balancedby high avoidanceattitudestoW
ward
oralinterrogation
are linkedwith high riddlingcompetence.
In the

528 ETHNOLOGY

andin the laterwork

I+2),
secondgamestudy(RobertsandSutton-Smith
models,muchhasbeenmadeof
dealingwith gamesand otherexpressive
hypothesisfor game involvementwhich has
the "conflict-enculturation"
mayholdforcompetent
generalhypothesis
same
This
alreadybeendescribed.
modelsasriddles.
in suchexpressive
involvement
A highinterestin riddles,however,is not the sameas a highcompetence
to riddles,listeningto riddles,
at riddling,for a manmayenjoyresponding
in genuine
riddleseffectively
ask
to
able
being
andreadingriddleswithout
someone
Admittedly
number.
any
in
them
tell
to
even
or
situations
riddling
in them.
at riddlingis likelyto be highlyinterested
whois highlycompetent
with
dealt
investigation
In contrastto the Tagalogstudy,the American
"conflict-enculturation"
the
least,
at
Here,
interestandnot withcompetence.
mustbe modified.
hypothesis
field
The Americanstudy showsthat thereis an approach-avoidance
In thisfield,there
areconcerned.
towardoralquestioning
insofaras attitudes
and
in thatthereis alwayssomeapproach
is probablyconflictthroughout
with
linked
is
avoidance
by
balanced
approach
Still
avoidance.
alwayssome
On
whereit is greaterthanavoidance.
high riddleinterestas is approach
riddle
low
is
there
is less thanavoidance
the otherhand,when approach
interest.In otherwords,in additionto the link betweenconflictoveroral
riddle
and high riddleinterestpredictedby the hypothesis,
interrogation
interestis also foundwhereapproachattitudesoutweighavoidanceones.
and
Perhapsthe hypothesisshouldnow be termedthe conflict-approach
work:
at
be
to
seem
principles
motivational
fortwo
hypothesis
enculturation
The extremesmay be handledby a
and (2) simpleapproach.
(I) conflict
may accountfor lowerlevelsof
conflicttheory,but simplereinforcement
motivation.
showed
pride,andshamequestions
unhappiness,
Workwiththehappiness,
and
approach
high
by
characterized
group
conflict
that therewas a high
by
highavoidance(TypeI interest)anda low conflictgroupcharacterized
high approachand low avoidance(Type2 interest).The Type2 responandgamesof physicalskill,whilethe
dentsseemedto preferconundrums
otherriddlesandgamesof strategy.
the
prefer
to
seemed
TypeI respondent
anythingcanbe said,but thereis
before
here
done
be
must
work
Further
Posat least,that two typesof interestcan be distinguished.
a possibility,
2
Type
the
and
players)
siblythe Type I folk arethe active riddlers(i.e.,
tested.
be
must
This
spectators).
effect,
(in
involved
peoplearelessactively
with
It would appearin any casethat interestin riddlesis associated
Also if interestis to be considered
attitudestowardoral interrogation.
hypothesis
of the conflict-enculturation
broadly,the narrowinterpretation
modified.
be
must
existsin riddlesandriddling.Cross-culturcomponent
Strategy.A strategic
of riddlesand
betweenthe presence
association
allytherewasthe predicted
it was
however,
culture,
American
Within
strategy.
of
of games
thepresence
to other
thatpeoplewholikegamesof strategyin preference
notdetermined
gamesof physicalskillarealsomorelikelyto havea highinterestin riddles.
Sincemostof the gamesof physicalskilllistedweregamesof the "physical

RIDDLES
529
skillandstrategy"
subtype,
it
is
probable
that
eventhoseinvolvedwithgames
of physicalskillhadsome
in strategy.
It maybe moreinteresiing
considerthe gameinterestinterest
to
andthe powerstyleswhich
connection.
theyindicatein this
Competence.The level of
competence
amongthe
high,andit was obviously
riddlerswas
low
amongthe AmericanTagalog
variable
collegestudents.This
alsomeritsmorequantitative
study.
Enculturation.
Againit is arguedthat
in riddlingas an expressive
activityentailssomevaluable participation
learning,possiblyabouthowto
oneselfunderinterrogation
handle
and
variable
others.This important
wasnotstudiedat all. how to interrogate
Theoryof Riddle
sivemodelsof oralInvolvement.This paperassertsthatriddlesareexpresw
Such modelsshouldoccurin
suicientlycomplextointerrogation.
provide
patterns
of formalor seriousoral cultures
tionto be modeled.
interrogaFurthermorethere should be high
training
whichcontributes
responsibility
both
to
formance
caringabouthis perin oralinterrogation an individual's
situationsand to his interest
tions
in suchsitua(particularly
if he is in conflictabout
antecedent
responsibility).
If with these
conditionsan individual'sattitudes
are
towardoral interrogation
balancedbetweenapproach
and avoidance,
or if his attitudesare such
that
approach
outweighsavoidance,
sentation
of theareaof conflict(i.e.,ahe is likelyto be interested
in a represtronger
than approachattitudes,he riddle),butif avoidance
attitudes
are
shouldnot be interestedin
model.
Possiblythemorenearlyapproach
such
a
is balanced
likely
by avoidance
he is to be competentat
the
more
riddling
participation
in riddlingshouldprovideand to havehigh interest.Finally
useful
in
thattheymayimprove
to;the participants
theirabilityto askandlearning
variety
answer
of situations
oral
questionsin a
andtheymaylearnto deal
withenigmaticsituations.
sense
it is to the advantage
In
of the societyto provide
modelswhichassuage
conflict-induced
motivationandwhichcontribute
to learning.

NOTES
This
paperwas first presentedat
the SocialScienceResearch
on
Folklore
and SocialScienceheld at
Council'sConference
ical
Research
on NovemberII, I967 inthe Wenner-Gren
Foundationfor AnthropologNew
in
York
part
by PHS ResearchGrant
City.The researchwas
MH 08I6I-03. The authors
supported
William
W. Lambertand to Brian
are particularly
indebted
to
of
Sutton-Smith
for
riddles.
help
They are gratefulto Sheila
in dealingwith the theory
da
Silva
Tagalog
Forman
for her
study and to CynthiaBurton
and MaureenL;ebIfor aid in conductingthe
also
thankDonn V. Hart,Gerald
B.
Kelley,BerndLambert, assistance.They must
numerous
studentsandinformants
for
heIp
2.
andsuggestions. TerenceS. Turner,and
The
importanceof the
riddles
was first suggestedto superordinate-subordinate
relationshipin understanding
the seniorauthorby Brian
3.especially
See
the importantstudy
Sutton-Smith.
by
R.
A.
II8).
Georgesand Alan Dundes
They surveydefinitionsof the
(I963:
IIIprovide
one of theirown, which hasriddlefrom Aristotleto ArcherTaylor
and then
beenused sinceby others,
Another
suchsurveyhas been
e.g., Hart (I964: 25).
providedby C. T. Scott(I965:
cation
impliesa kind of definition,
I4-22).
we
might
dles
also note here that theInsofaras classifiundercategory524 Games,
HRAF lists ridQueries
(RoyalAntbropologicalunder the subheadof problemgames.Notes
InstituteI95I: 206) orders
and
riddlesunderKnowledge
I.

530 ETHNOLOGY
and Tradition:'sProverbs,
traditionalsayingsand riddlesmaybe educational
or a form
of intellectualrecreation."
4. See Bach (I97I ) .
5. Since this was written,a numberof linguisticstudiesof questionsas units or as
partsof largerunits have appeared:Baker(I968 I970), Bach (I97I), Labov (Ig70a,
tg70b), Lakof (ms), and Gordonand Lakof (ms). Chafe(I968) iS now availablein
modifiedormas ChapterI9 in Chafe(I970).
6. The seniorauthorhas also profitedfrom discussionsof this subjectwith Lindsey
Churchill,who is currentlystudyingquestioning.
7. Roberts?
Arth,and Bush (I959); Robertsand Sutton-Smith
(g62); Roberts,SuttonSmith,and Kendon(I963); Sutton-Smith,
Roberts,and Kozelka(I963); Sutton-Smith
and Roberts(I964); Sutton-Smith,
Roberts,and Rosenberg(I9X);
Roberts(I965);
Roberts,Hoffmannand Sutton-Smith
(I965);
Robertsand Sutton-Smith
(Ig66); RoN
erts, Thompson,and Sutton-Smith
(I966);
Sutton-Smith
and Roberts(Ig67); Roberts
and Koenig(I968); Roberts,Koenig,andStark(I969); RobertsandRidgeway(I969);
Sutton-Smith
andRoberts(I970)- RobertsandWicke(I97I).
8. The HumanRelationsAreaFiles at CornellUniversitywere searchedin the fall of
Ig66.Sincenew materialsare steadilyaddedto the files,it is alwaysnecessaryto give
the dateof the search.
9. ArcherTaylor'swork is perhapsthe best known.The outstandingstructuralstudy
is Georgesand Dundes(I9%). Notablefunctionalstudiesareby MeyerFortes(I967),
T. R. Williams(I963), D. Simmons(I958), and B. M. du Toit (I966). For a general
surveysee Potter(I950) and chaptersIII, IV, and V in Hart (I04).
See also the linguisticstudyby C. T. Scott(I965).
I0. This methodwas usedby Roberts
and Sutton-Smith
in severalstudies(c.f., Roberts
and Suttcxn-Smith
I962; Sutton-Smith,
Roberts,andKozelkaI9635.
II. The Atlasas it was published
in Ethnologywas used,but the completesummaryis
citedfor thereaders'convenience.
I2. G refersto Goodman
and Kruskel'scoefficient
of ordinalassociation.
I3. Comparethe similarsensitivity
to ridiculeand use of verbalpunishmentsin other
areasof the Philippines:Ilokos (Nydeggerand NydeggerI966: I67), Leyte (Nurge
I965: 79), and Sulu (EsIaoI962: 87). AbasoloDomingo
(I96I)
supportsthe conformity of Tagalogpracticesto this basicpattern.OtherPhilippines-Borneo
similaritiesare
to be foundin riddling.Evans(I95I, I954, I955) reportsthatat HahungSaraiyohand
at Kadamaianriddlesare to be heardat harvesttime (cf. Hart I964: 50-52) and at
KadamaianaIsoat marriages(see our discussionof Tagalogcourtshipand marriage
below). 0f furtherinterestis Evans'reportof male-female
differencesin riddlepreference.Womenare fond of riddleswhich employobscurelanguageof the sort otherwise reservedfor religiousceremonies(see our discussionof sex differencesbelow).
I4. The riddlesused in this instrument
are to be found as followsin Santos(I958).
They are here listedin the orderin which we presentedthem: #953, #724, #556
#442, #377, #383, #266, #gI, #75, #37, #5, #60, #57> #68 #777 #66I
#673 #427 #379, #277 #497, #4I8, #323 #3I4, #324, #295. An example
cf a riddleconsidered
easyis:
#724. Alingbungaang palibotng mata?
whichfruit (is) the one surrounded
by eyes?
Exampleof a difiicuItriddle:
#777. Sapagka't
lahatna ay nakahihipo
sinceeverybodyhandlesit
Walangkasindumi'e
kasimbaho,
nothingis dirtieror smellier
Bakitmahalnati'tipinakatatago?
why do we loveandtreasureit?

pinya
pineapple

salapingpapel
papermoney

RIDDLES 53I

I5. Scoreson the first stripewere judgedmore competentthan those on the second,
and so on. X scoreswere usedfor orderingwithineachstripe.Otherwiseno attention
was paid to the x and y scoresin and of themselves(cf. Robertsand Sutton-Smith
I967)
I6.

The specificriddlesselectedwere the following,in each instancebeing indicated

by the page numberin Withersand Benet (I954) togetherwith the numberof the
riddlecountingfrom the top of the page,followedby a letterindicatingthe orderof
presentation
in the test:p. I4 (4) K; p. I8 (7) D; p. 26 (2) H; p. 28 (6) 0; p. 30 (5)
T; p 3I (2) P; p 44 (5), Q; p. 45 (I) R; p. 47 (5) M; p 65 (2) F; p 76 (6) S; po
87 (3) G; p. 92 (I) A; p. 92 (2) C; p. I04 (I) I; p. II0 (7) E; p. III (6) L; p. II6
(8) J; andp. II8 (5) B.
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