Hunting for Your Language

I have been asked repeatedly in recent weeks about the use of the prefix e- or o- in Chamoru meaning to look for or hunt for things. People have been asking me in the context of how to say things that we know we've practiced for centuries if not millennia, but no longer have explicit words for in our language, or at some point adopted Spanish or English words to express it, likely displacing an older way and the cosmological and metaphorical dimensions attached.

Some good examples of this are words like energy, where most of the words we use today are all borrowed from Spanish, but no doubt Chamorus would have had some word or many words prior to colonization. In this case, we can find an example in the word kåhna, where 100 years ago, perhaps no Chamorus used this word on its own to express energy, strength or essence, power. But the word lived on in other forms, to cast spells, the one who cast spells, and so there is a clear link that indicates that this is a likely candidate. 

Or take for instance a word for bird. While we have the names for all the birds that were here prior to colonization, the words that we use for bird itself are all borrowed from Spanish. This is in contrast to the words for fish, where we have the names for many fish, but then also a word that predates colonization as well. Some argue that the word gekpu which means flyer or capable of flight was the word used prior to colonization for bird. That is a possibility, but it is also possible that Chamorus just has a word for things that fly and not every word has to fit into a puzzle neatly for us to make sense of today. There will be pieces that don't fit, there will be things that are lost, taiguini ha' lina'la' yan lengguåhi. 

Returning to the e- prefix,  what I remind people about is that language shifts, influences happen in so many ways, and they are not simply about replacing words, or losing this or losing that. They can happen in deep ways and how grammar is impacted because of the gravity of larger languages in close proximity. They can happen in terms of word choices or pronunciations meant to reflect something in relation to a dominant language. It is there when speakers make decisions over rules to apply for their language and whether those rules mirror those of the larger and more pervasive language or not. So many of these are tied to how languages can enter a space and a community, and even if they have not replaced a language or a community has yet to give up their own language, this colonial tongue can still take up so much space and more importantly become the template by which even speakers of their own language begin to understand what a language is supposed to be, look like or sound like. 

 It could even emerge the choices over word and conceptual adoption versus generation through existing linguistic tools. This is where we encounter the e- prefix. We do see evidence that Chamorus for several generations likely encountered Spanish, may have learned and used Spanish to some extent, especially in a religious context (although Latin may have done alot of that work for them), but that Chamoru remained independent from that, and so Spanish and its influence on Chamoru and how Chamorus speak remained limited. But at a certain point, around 200 years ago, Chamorus began to accept Spanish as a central language in their lives, whether they could speak it or not, it was a model for was a language was to be. Their own language would be judged against it. We see this in many mixed language spaces when complicated counting or naming systems give way to simplified ones. We see it when language communities feel the need to adopt more words for colors and things that you can find in other languages. In the case of Chamoru, we see something like vowel harmony pulled back and no longer potentially used as freely and regularly as new words are incorporated or borrowed from Spanish and later English. Because the sense of what words are itself has started to shift. 

Their own sense of words, how you create value would be judged against it. Chamoru could remain something spoken in a healthy way, but Chamoru choices about their own language would be heavily influenced by Spanish has being a larger, more valuable language, that offered more in terms of possibility and connections. 

 So as the world changes, evolves. The colonizer imports and integrates things. It offers words for them, and Chamorus adopt Spanish words for them, and to the detriment of the Austronesian origins of their language, do not actively make use of the features they have to create their own terms.  This is one of the reasons why some linguistics would argue that Chamoru is primarily Spanish or just a Spanish creole, because when you look at the dictionary, it is dominated by Spanish terms, especially for education, for government, for the judicial system, and many other things introduced in recent centuries. While there are some examples of Chamorus using the features of their language prior to colonization to capture these changes, most of it comes down to just Spanish words said with a Chamoru accent or sound changes. 

 So while fluent Chamoru speakers can understand what the e- prefix means, and may even use it in a dozen or so generally established ways. E- joins a list of other affixes that exist in the language, but over time have been diminished in their potential, as Chamoru speaker have left the evolution of our language up to the simple integration of more Spanish and now English words. 

It is never too late to change this, but it takes time and it takes more than just a single person or a small group of people invoking it. The wide array of affixes that define the type of language that Chamoru is, which are not actively used today, but may be understood, are left unused because of that shift in the blueprint for what a language is meant to be. This is not something that we can chalk up to the 20th century and the history of language suppression, it has been building for much longer. Shifting this mindset, requires liberating the Chamoru language and its features. 

 What makes it most difficult however is not the simply use of these features. Anyone who is motivated enough can speak in archaic ways. But what is difficult is to encourage and promote widespread adoption again. That is what remains difficult today. Is that while you may have some who are very interested in revitalizing things like Fino' Håya or speaking Chamoru in deeper or older ways. That process will remain largely academic or limited by cliques, unless it comes with some means, some mechanisms for wider adoption. Where it isn't about the pretentiousness, the elitism, the feeling of speaking a language in the right or true way. All of these things might hold power for some, but they rarely get speakers to shift their preferences and they might change attitudes or feelings about language, but they rarely get people to acquire, use and then pass on languages. 

It has to be more accessible, more practical. It is a different type of challenge, a more difficult one, but not an impossible one. 

In my classes, when I've taught or discussed the e- prefix, I usually return to a few different stories that utilize it in familiar and established contexts. For example umelimot, meaning to look for the moss that is used for the traditional bilen or nativity scene during Christmas. Or umeguihan, which is another way to refer to fishing, if you don't want to say peska. Or one of my personal favorites umefresko, meaning to take a break or look for freshness, meaning go outside and get some fresh air. 

Here is another one that I often use, focusing on ume'ayuyu or hunting for coconut crabs in the jungle. It was originally a story used in a GDOE book and over time I've edited and added on to it.  

***************** 

 

Un puengi kuåtro ham na mangga’chong mameskan tåno’, mane’ayuyu ham giya Yigo.

 

Manggof chaddek ham mameska sa’ gi una ora in sedda’ yan in kenne’ dies na ayuyu.

 

Ti åpmam hu li’e’ gi me’nå-hu i mås dångkolo’ na ayuyu ni’ lini’e’-hu ya duru di hu kekonne’.

 

Gigon para bai go’te, kanna’ ha åkka’ yu’ pues hu gacha’ para bai konne’.

 

Lao sen makkat påpa’ i ginacha’-hu sa’ hu puno’ ha’ i ga’ga’.

 

Gigon måtai i ayuyu hu siente un dångkolon manengheng gi enteru gi tahtaotao-hu.

 

Mumasahalom i fasu-hu ya todu yu’ fugu esta manachu pilu-hu.

 

Humomhomhom mås i halomtåno’ ya todu ham manma’å’ñao.

 

In pikura lumoffan i dies kinennen-måmi ya duru manmalågu ham tåtte’ para i trak-måmi ni’ ti gef chågo’ huyong gi halomtåno’.

 

Lao ti in sedda’ i chalan-måmi huyong.

 

Ti in kemprende gi minagåhet sa’ ti gof mappot i chalan, lao manabak ham.

 

Kalan mohon åpmamam i hinanao-måmi lao sigi ham ha’ ma na’fanabak.

 

Puti lokkue’ todu i pietnå-ku ya annai hu håtsa hulo’ i katsunes-hu annok un dångkolon dinigridon kånnai taotao gi satnot-hu.

 

Gi mina’tres biahi ham tåtte gi lugåt annai hu gacha’ i ayuyu, hu tungo’ ha’ håfa para bidå-hu.

 

Manggagao yu’ dångkolo’ na asi’i na ti hu håsngon pumuno’ i ga’ga’.

 

Ti munhåhayan yu’ manggagao asi’i hu hungok un bos na ilelek-ña para bei in seta i dies na ayuyu, bei in fanhånao ya adahi na in bira ham ta’lo tåtte.

 

Magåhet na annai in setta i dies ayuyu chaddedek in sedda’ huyong i karetan-måmi ya huggan uttimo biahi na in bira ham tåtte guihi na lugåt.

 

Mås di tres diha sagå-ña i dinigridu gi petnå-ku ya hu hongge na i taotaomo’na chumo’gue ayu giya Guahu.