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.