IT'S ALWAYS "TECHA"

Even he is a techa.

Yesterday a young man lead (tucha) the nobena prayers. He was our techa.

Some people mistakenly think that he should be called a techo. After all, he's a male and should be called a techo, so they think.

It's like the word sottero, or "bachelor." That's for a male. A single woman, however, is a sottera.

See? O for male, A for female.

So here's what people think :

"THE RULE"
IF MALE ---O	IF FEMALE ---A

This O for male, A for female rule is used in the Spanish language, from which Chamorro borrowed many words.

But what people may not understand is that this rule is not UNIVERSALLY applied even in Spanish. That is to say, it is not used in EVERY case.

RULE NOT ALWAYS FOLLOWED IN SPANISH
A male Communist is a Comunista.	A female Communist is a Comunista.
A male idiot is an idiota.	A female idiot is an idiota.
A male psychiatrist is a psiquiatra.	A female psychiatrist is a psiquiatra.

In Chamorro, we use the O for male, A for female rule in SOME Spanish words :

SPANISH RULE SOMETIMES used in Chamorro when using SOME Spanish words
BONITO (Attractive, pretty, nice, beautiful)
An attractive male is BONITO	A pretty lady is BONITA
PÍCARO (Chamorro PÍKARO) (Rascal, scoundrel, trickster, mischievous, sneaky)
A mischievous male is PÍKARO	A mischievous lady is PÍKARA
MAESTRO (Teacher)
A male teacher is MAESTRO	A female teacher is MAESTRA

But there are times when, even when the word is Spanish, we do NOT apply the Spanish rule in Chamorro. In many cases, Chamorro ends the word in O for BOTH male or female.

SPANISH RULE NOT USED when using SOME Spanish words
BARATO (Chamorro BARÅTO) (Cheap, inexpensive)
A male bull that sells for $1 is BARÅTO	A female cow that sells for $1 is also BARÅTO
TRANQUILO (Chamorro TRANGKILO) (Peaceful, calm, serene, quiet)
A calm male is TRANGKILO	A calm lady is also TRANGKILO
ÚLTIMO (Chamorro UTTIMO) (Last, final)
The last male to arrive is the UTTIMO	The last lady to arrive is also the UTTIMO

And when it comes to truly Chamorro words, we do not use the O/A rule AT ALL.

CHAMORRO WORDS Do NOT distinguish male or female gender

SAINA (Elder, superior, lord) A male is a SAINA, not a SAINO

BÅBA (Bad) A bad man is BÅBA, not BÅBO

DINGA (Twin) A male twin is a DINGA, not a DINGO

TECHA is a truly Chamorro word. It is NOT borrowed from Spanish. Therefore, the O/A rule does not apply at all to this word.

Techa comes from the Chamorro word tucha, which means "to lead a public prayer."

The person who tucha is i titicha, which then gets shortened to techa.

We see this in other Chamorro words like pekno'. That comes from the Chamorro word puno', or "to kill." Someone murderous is i pipino', which becomes shortened as pekno'.

So, when you look at a male who is leading public prayer and you are tempted to call him a techo, just ask yourself : Is techa a Spanish word? Or is it truly a Chamorro word? Once you remember that it is a truly Chamorro word, coming from the Chamorro word tucha, then you'll decide not to apply a Spanish rule to techa; a rule that isn't even applied in Spanish in every single case.

Would you call your father a SAINO? Would you call a tall man LOKKO'? I didn't think so.

BY THE WAY....

There IS a Chamorro word techo, and it's borrowed from Spanish. It means "roof" or "ceiling." It's rarely used, though, since we have a Chamorro word for roof, åtof. The usual word for "ceiling" in Chamorro is kísame, which is borrowed from the Spanish word "zaquizamí" which means "attic."