TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : GUIHAN

GUIHAN : fish.  A good word for a Friday in Lent.  This is one of those words that show our links with the entire Austronesian family of peoples, from Indonesia, through the Philippines all the way to Hawai'i.  In Indonesian the word for "fish" is "ikan."  Notice the pattern : the vowel of the first syllable is "i," the vowel in the second syllable is "a."  That's the crucial part.  "Ikan" also ends in "n" like in "guihan," and the "k" is softened in Chamorro to an "h."  In Ilokano, "ikan" also means "fish."  In Chuukese, the word is shortened to "iik."  In Tonga, it is likewise shortend to "ika" and in Hawai'i even further shortened to "i'a."

DON'T SAY "FISH" TODAY.  ORDER GUIHAN! 





TATAGA' SLAM!