Ulit a Shamanic Healing Ritual following the Commemoration of the Master of Flowers Tamwäy ät Ämpuq ät Burak in Palawan Highlands. Dialogism, Polyglossy, Plurivocality, Spectral analysis

International audienceTo commemorate the Master of Flowers, the Pala’wan have an annual ritual making and drinkingthe Mead, Simbug. On June 26-27, 1983, in the large meeting-house of Taruwän in the Highlandsof Mt. Mantalingayan - named by them Käbätangan, “The Trunks” - it was performed and I wasa witness of it.Using ethnography of the spoken word and ethno-pragmatics, I propose to focus on the motionsand speech acts of Panu, the Elder in the community. Followed by a healing session of a veryyoung maiden, Rusi, in the presence of her mother Carmen, the plaintiff, Panu officiated as ashaman with Kälulut, his acolyte. The three of them attempted by speech to relate to invisibleaddressees, and negociate the return of Rusi’s captive soul.The verbal and co-verbal communication process is the focus of our attention in this analysisintertwining dialogues between the genuine Human Beings Taw banar, and other Beings,Benevolents/Malevolents, living in the same realm, in order to successfully conduct a discussionaccording to the rules of a negociation, come to an agreement and be successful in bringing backRusi’s soul-double.What are the distinctive features at the kinetic, vocalic and linguistic levels, characterizing thevarious interacting ways of speaking in this ritual context?If one considers that the sound production in singing or speaking contributes to the meaning of anutterance, it is important to take into account the acoustic features of the prosody, its intonationpattern, intensity and tempo. A spectral analysis of Lumbaga, Bulikata, performed by Panuaccording to his style and Bisara performed by Carmen, will bring to light at a physical level, theprosodic characterisitics and quality of each of these three vocal styles and the semanticintentionality of the shaman in his esoteric discourse