Sunday, April 10, 2011

GUAM'S THREE SEASONS

Some say there are three seasons of the year on Guam :

Dry season
Rainy season
and the campaign

How do you say "dry season" and "rainy season" in Chamorro?

The short answer : 

Dry Season = FAÑOMNAGAN

Wet Season = FANUCHÅNAN

The basic construct of these two words is based on the prefix FAN and the suffix AN.

Put a word in between FAN and AN, and the word takes on the meaning "place of" or "time of."

For example, "hålom" means "to enter." 

FAN+HÅLOM+AN = FANHALUMAN or ENTRANCE.

With FAÑOMNAGAN, the base word is SOMNAK, meaning "sunshine."

FAN+SOMNAK+AN = FAÑOMNAGAN, meaning the "time of sunshine."  Dry season.  Voila!

With FANUCHÅNAN, the base word is UCHAN, which you should now know means "rain."

FAN+UCHAN+AN = FANUCHÅNAN, the "time of rain."

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