Re: english words absorbed into Asian languages during WW2


Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> Seán O'Leathlóbhair wrote:
> >
> > John Atkinson wrote:
> > > "Peter T. Daniels" <grammatim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote...
> > > > John Atkinson wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Boondocks was borrowed into English by American soldiers
stationed in
> > > > > the Philippines following the Spanish-American War (1898).
(There was a
> > > > > thread on it here some months ago)
> > > > > John.
> > > >
> > > > And the New Yorker writer, E. J. Kahn, in A Reporter in
Micronesia (or
> > > > else another journalist looking into the aftermath of the War
there),
> > > > stated that it came into English from one of the Caroline
Islands
> > > > languages during WWII.
> > >
> > > You brought that up last time. I thought it was pretty well
established
> > > in that thread that Kahn didn't know his arse from a hole in the
ground.
> > > It's from Tagalog, and was used in English, especially by the USA
> > > military, for several decades before WWII.
> > >
> > > J.
> >
> > I don't know Kahn and cannot comment on his claims but my Tagalog
> > dictionary lists "bundo'k" as if it is a native word. I checked
with a
> > couple of Filipinos today and they do not regard it as foreign. It
> > participates in Tagalog grammar as if it were native e.g.
> > "ma'mumundo'k" = "mountaineer". (The ' marks should be read as
acute
> > accents on the preceding vowel).
>
> Why would a Tagalog word not have a cognate in a Micronesian
language?
> I.e., what's your point? No one is suggesting Tagalog borrowed it
from
> English or anywhere else.

I was not making a point, is that required? I was just supplying some
data that others may find useful.

Of course, the Tagalog word could be a cognate of your unspecified word
in an unspecified Micronesian language. On the other hand, it could
also be the source of "boondocks" itself. If it is a cognate of the
real source then it is one that matches the English word at least as
well.

What is the actual word and language that you believe to be the source
of "boondocks"? Why are you so confident that it is the source rather
than the Tagalog word? There were a lot of Americans in the
Philippines before, during, and after the war.

Is there necessarily only one correct answer? Is it not possible that
some Americans took it from one place and others from another?

> > The meaning is "mountain" or "large hill". It can be used in a
similar
> > sense to "from the boondocks" but it is also used in a more prosaic
> > manner.
> >
> > "Boondocks" does not appear to be common in UK English. I learnt
the
> > word in Tagalog before I learnt it in English.
>
> Were there British soldiers in the North Pacific during WWII?

I am not familiar with that area of WWII history. My guess would be
that few, if any, British soldiers were in the area. Certainly much
fewer than Americans. Anyway, even if there were many Brits there,
they may not have found this a useful word to import into their own
language. The only fact that I am claiming here is that I heard this
word in Tagalog before I heard it in English. When later, I heard it
from an American, I was surprised since he did not have any connection
to the Philippines. It turned out that he was unaware of a Filipino
connection or its true source (if different).

> --
> Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx

--
Seán O'Leathlóbhair

.

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