MOUNT JAMALAMLAM

What a surprise many years ago when we were all told we had been climbing the wrong mountain.

For years people said we were taking the cross up Mount Lamlam on Good Friday, only to find out it wasn't Mount Lamlam.  It was called....Mount Jama....Jama....never mind.

The name is Humuyong Månglo'.  Here's how the Chamorro language authorities spell it :

guampdn.com

Huyong means "to exit, to come out of."  But that can also mean "to result in, to become," as "You came out alive!"  So Mount Humuyong Månglo' could mean "where the wind exits" or "what became wind."

So why does the PDN spell it...JUMULLONG MANGLO?

guampdn.com

Well...back in the good ole Spanish days, many places in the Marianas were spelled the way a Spaniard would spell it.  You know....Sinajaña, Inarajan, Merizo.  The J in Spanish sounds like an H, like Jose and Juan.  The double L sounds exactly like a Y, which in Chamorro sounds like an English J.  As in Yoña or Yigo.

That's why we have that double L thing going on in AcfaLLe and TajaLLe.  Those are Chamorro names, but for the Spaniards LL and Y sound the same.  And for Chamorros, LL and Y sound the same : like an English J, or better, like a DZ.

SO WHERE IS LAMLAM?

As you can see on the map, Lamlam is due north of --- there we go again --- Jumullong Manglo.

Due to the confusion - which mountain we're climbing on Good Friday - some young guy from Agat that I know calls it Mount Jamalamlam - a mix of Lamlam and how a young generation Chamorro thinks Jumullong is pronounced - the American way.