Language fascinates me. Even among Bisaya speakers, a word comes up every now and then that someone does not recognize. This time it was “huwaw.”
“What’s that?” said Therese. We were on our way back from our aborted picnic at Mahayahay Falls, now a collection of rocks where there used to be a wall of water.
“Huwaw?” I replied. “It means ‘drought.’”
“Really? First time I’ve heard of that word.”
“Then what’s drought in Cebuano?”
“Init,” she offered.
“Init is ‘hot.’ Huwaw refers to a prolonged dry spell.”
That’s me trying to be precise. On the other hand, there are times I find myself grasping for a word sitting on my tongue that just won’t let go. Well, there’s a handy word on such occasions, too. Which was why I was amused by this article about the use of “jawn” in Philadelphia. Until I came to this:
The word “jawn” is, according to the experts that I spoke to, unlike any other word in any other language. It is an all-purpose noun, a stand-in for objects, concepts, events, places, individual people, and groups of people. It is a completely acceptable statement in Philadelphia to ask someone to “remember to bring that jawn to the jawn.”
Apparently the author has yet to hear of the Filipino k’wan — which is not only an all-purpose noun, but an all-purpose verb as well. Ask someone to elaborate on a recipe and it is not uncommon to be told, “Oh, just k’wan the k’wan.” Or a bit of gossip to start thus: “Hoy, si k’wan kin’wan ni k’wan.” It’s a linguistic quirk that would be useful if it weren’t so indeterminate — and yet we get by with it. We should be misunderstanding each other all over the place, but somehow we’re not. “What’s huwaw?” “Ay, k’wan gud.” Then you see we’re both sweating and get it. We proceed to nearby Hitoog Cave with the underground spring. Brrr.
Photo: Esquieres Travel
This post has no comments.
Post a Comment