MENHALOM OR MEHNALOM?

 

PÅLE' ROMÁN'S 1932 CHAMORRO-SPANISH DICTIONARY

Almost everybody nowadays who speaks some Chamorro says MENHALOM.

I remember hearing the man åmko' say MEHNALOM.

The word means any number of things, but all similar. It can mean prudent, wise, discerning and so on. It occurs in many places in some Chamorro nobenas and hymns, but for us who grew up with a lot of rosaries, it is said in the Litany of Loreto when in English we say VIRGIN MOST PRUDENT, in Chamorro we say BITHEN SEN MEHNALOM.

And here are two more examples from hymns to San José.

The word is formed by joining the prefix MI, which means "abundant," to HINALOM, which means "inside, interior."

HINALOM is then shortened and the word becomes MEHNALOM.

We see this with other words, too.

Someone who is persevering and long-enduring is MI+SUNGON or MESNGON.

Someone who talkative or eloquent is MI+FINO' or MEFNO'.

See how SUNGON and FINO' are shortened? Just like HINALOM is shortened, too.

A prudent person who knows how to observe things and then make good judgments about things does all of these inside his or her own mind. They spend the necessary time thinking within (hålom) themselves to make a good decision.

MENHALOM

The modern way of saying MENHALOM instead of MEHNALOM is an example of switching letters in order to say the word more easily.

This is called METATHESIS and it is found in many languages.

In English, a lot of people find it easier to say AKS instead of ASK. "Hey, can I aks you something?"

The S and the K are reversed (metathesis).

Another example is when some people say PERSCRIPTION instead of PRESCRIPTION. They just find it easier to say PERSCRIPTION.

More than likely this is why some Chamorros said MENHALOM instead of MEHNALOM and people hear others say it, copy it and it becomes a trend.

An 1865 Spanish-Chamorro dictionary has MEJNALOM. Spanish J sounds like H, like Juan or José. Spanish JUICIOSO means "judicious," or having good judgment or sense.

A 1918 English-Chamorro dictionary has MEJNALOM meaning "prudent."

WHY I PREFER MEHNALOM

Quite simply because mehnalom shows the origin and formation of the word. If one can picture

ME+H(I)+NALOM

one can see the MI+HINALOM more clearly than with menhalom.

Mi hinalom is why mehnalom exists at all.

It's also very Chamorro. By that I mean it preserves sounds that don't often occur in other languages. The H sound made with an exhalation before a consonant is a very Chamorro sound.

And yet so many modern people are dropping it, because it does require more physical effort to make that sound.

Notice how many people say MAMÅLAO and not the original MAMÅHLAO.

Or how people say MALOLO instead of MALOHLOH.

Listen to the way people say TOHGE (to stand) or SOHYO' (to urge).

It's the same with MEHNALOM. Very Chamorro sound.

KOSTUMBRE : KÅNTAN AGRADESIMIENTO

An old custom among our grandparents' generation which has pretty much died out now is the composing of songs specifically for certain occasions. Someone's arrival or departure or anniversary or achievement was celebrated by a singer or group of singers telling the story in song.

In 1991, a priest in Santa Rita, Guam was leaving the parish for a new assignment in Saipan.

Angelina Camacho Anderson, at age 72, composed a kåntan agradesimiento (appreciation song) which she sang at the priest's farewell party at the parish. Here's how the song went. I will spell it my way.

1. Gi durånte i sumagå-mo na un setbe ham, i boniton che'cho'-mo man sen na'manman.

(During your time that you served us, your beautiful works were very wonderful.)

Mit beses yan mås in saluda hao in gofli'e' na påle'-måme un dingu ham.

(A thousand times and more we salute you, you are leaving us our beloved priest.)

2. I bonito na memorias ni un setbe Santa Rita man åmko' yan man hoben ti in fan maleffa.

(The beautiful memories of you serving in Santa Rita, the old and young we will never forget.)

Mit beses yan mås in saluda hao in gofli'e' na påle'-måme si Yu'us ma'åse'.

(A thousand times and more we salute you, thank you our beloved priest.)

ANGELINA CAMACHO ANDERSON

1919-1999

AGUEDA JOHNSTON ON COLLABORATORS

 

No one could ever say Agueda Johnston didn't earn her right to say what she had to say about Chamorro collaborators of the Japanese.

She, like many others, suffered much from the hands of the Japanese during the Occupation, who were aided in part by some Chamorro interpreters from Saipan and Luta, and by some collaborators from Guam.

She was beaten and whipped by the Japanese and made to understand in no uncertain terms that her life was just an inch from being lost if the Japanese came up with harder evidence against her for aiding Tweed, the American fugitive. Besides this, her American husband had been shipped off to prison camp in Japan. He died there due to weakened health.

Yet, Agueda did not yield to the Japanese. Even when she felt it would be better for Tweed to turn himself in, rather than see more Chamorro blood run, Agueda did not turn in Tweed herself, nor did she give the Japanese the information they wanted, despite the beating they gave her.

So it's remarkable that Agueda felt compassion and mercy for those local people who did buckle under the strong arm of the Japanese and who did collaborate.

Agueda wrote, "I am inclined to believe most of those accused of collaborating with the Japs were doing it to protect their own skin."

Agueda claimed to know the names of local people who gave the Japanese information that lead to Chamorro deaths, but "since they (the informants) were victims of severe torture and are no longer in the world, I shall not mention their names."

"There were a few who seemed to lose their good sense; on the other hand, there were those who had no choice. We must remember that one of the greatest tragedies of war is its effect on the human mind. People would do things that in ordinary times they would never think of doing."

And so we see that Agueda, like many others, understood that self-preservation is like the first law of nature. We should not be too hasty in condemning others for it. Agueda also said, "Don't be inclined to believe everything you hear." Right after the war, fingers were quick to be pointed; true or false, rumors abounded and people gossiped. Old scores were eager to be settled. You could get back at a prewar enemy by (falsely) accusing them of collaborating with the Japanese.

Even Agueda admitted that she and her family feigned friendliness to the Japanese in order to save their lives. She said she and her children bowed and smiled to the Japanese so much, it was a game they played, in order to avoid being put on a black list by the Japanese. They used flattery and false promises of cooperation to fool the Japanese.

Agueda, who was responsible for the start of Liberation Day celebrations, saw that observance as not only a day of gratitude for liberation from the Japanese, but as a way the Chamorro people of Guam could bury the bad memories of the Occupation, including any desire for retribution even among each other. She wanted those who had "shown delinquencies" during the war to be forgiven and to be allowed to truly live again.

They say never judge someone until you've walked in their shoes.

Agueda walked in the shoes of those abused by the Japanese. She did not cave in. She could have condemned those who did. But she didn't. And so we see another way of interpreting Liberation Day. It also sought liberation from vengeance and retaliation.

Guam Chamorros accused of collaborating with the Japanese; some Japanese residents of Guam; some Chamorro/Japanese mixed race Guam residents; Chamorros from the Northern Marianas were put by the US in a separate stockade in Agaña Heights (present Naval Hospital grounds) after the war.