TODAY'S CHAMORRO WORD : LÅHE

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LÅHE : male, son

Låhe na påtgon.  A male child.

Ai lahi-ho.  Oh, my son.

I lahi-mo as Jose.  Your son Jose.

I lalåhe.  The men.

Bula taotao, lao puro ha' lalåhe.  There are (were) many people, but they are (were) all men.

Håye gai' lahe este?  Whose son is this?

LAI

The expression lai is a contraction of låhe.  So, it isn't strictly correct to say lai to a woman.

Håfa, lai?  What's up, man?

More than biological son

Låhe can be applied to males who are not one's biological sons, but who have a son-like relationship with someone older.


So, there used to be a custom for the village priest, sometimes, to have a young man live as a companion and worker in the parish church.  He was called the låhen Påle', the priest's son.

Or, supervisors at work, or businessmen, sometimes called the young men working under them their sons or lalåhe.

Tågo' i lahi-mo ya u yute' i basula.  Tell your "son" (employee) to throw out the trash.

Austronesian Connections

Låhe is connected with a number of languages who are part of the Austronesian family, which stretches from Madagascar near Africa all the way to Hawaii.

"MALE"

CHAMORRO	LÅHE
TAGALOG	LALAKI
ILOCANO	LALAKI
INDONESIAN	LAKI-LAKI
PANGASINAN	LAKI