ONRA? PAT ONRO?

 

How does one say HONOR in Chamorro?

When we sing the Fanohge Chamorro, we say ONRA. "For the honor" is "Para i onra."

When we are at Mass, we say ONRO. "For yours is all the honor" is "todo i onro."

If we look at Spanish, there is a Spanish word honra, but no Spanish word honro. Honra means "honor, esteem, respect" and so on.

Påle' Román (1932) says onra means "honor," and Padre Ibáñez says the same thing in 1865.

In Chamorro, onra is also a verb. Ma onra i taotao. The person is honored.

Påle' Román says that the noun "honor" is inenra. One can turn almost any word into a noun by adding the -IN infix. The adjective "good" or "maolek" becomes the noun "goodness" or "minaolek."

So where does onro come from?

My guess is that when a word is seldom used, as "honor" is I would submit, the word is more likely to undergo transformations based on personal whim or leaning. Frequent usage sets a sort of standard you are held to. But rare usage opens one up to more freedom to modify.