Tuesday, December 13, 2011

TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : KATSÅDA


KATSÅDA : road

Almost everyone is familiar with chålan.  That's a more familiar term for "road" or "street" because we use it more often, as in Chalan Pago or Chalan Kanoa.  You will often find village streets called Chålan this-or-that, but I have never seen a street called Katsåda this-or-that.

Chålan is purely Chamorro and is related to the word for "street" or "road" in many Austronesian languages.

Katsåda is borrowed from the Spanish word calzada, meaning "road."  Even in Spanish, calzada usually refers to a gravel road, and in Chamorro, some people (not all) think of a road, rather than a proper street, when saying katsåda.

Calzada itself comes from the Latin word calceus, meaning shoe.  We tend to think of Chamorro as being influenced by Spanish, but forget that Chamorro is also influenced by Latin, by way of Spanish.

Ha totpe i karetå-ho gi katsåda.  S/he hit my car on the road.

Måtai si fulåno gi katsåda.  So-and-so died on the road.

Chule' i katsåda para luchan.  Take the road going to the left of the sea.

Gaige i gimå'-ña gi otro båndan i katsåda.  His/her house is on the other side of the road.

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