The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-01-21
WHIT D GILL THEN
Light on the Dark Places of
Filipino Nomenclature.
JAWBREAKERS MADE EASY
Or Every Man His Own Pro-
nouncing Gazetteer.

Chicago Jan. 1s-The fact that the sol
diers and sailors out here, writes Mania
CORRESPONDENT Of the Record, are strug-
Cling with the pronunciation OF Philip
pine names suggests that possibly fe"
examples will interest Americans who are
reading up our newly acquired possessions
in the East Indies. There are hundreds
of men here who are struggling with the
name '-Cay1te," although they have been
here several weeks. A prominent officer
calls it Cavity, asst it were hole, and
those who stick to Ca-veet are numbered
by the hundreds. Occasionally man IS
found who refers with flulilarity 70 the
place as Cavity. But the real way, the
way the old settlers pronounce il, is Kay
veety," with the accent on the wet
Corregidor. the island at the entrance to
the bay, which played a star part in the
accounts of the battle in May, is another
hard one. AA good many dodge II and
refer to it as that island out at the end
of the bay" But others sail in boldly
and call it Ker-ridgey-dor. Kor-redg-a
dor is a favorite but the Spanish way is
Kor-reck-a-dor. with the ''reck' softened
little bit. as if you started to say ''reck, "
but quit on a second thought.
The Spanish say philippines as If the
last syllable were pronounced poems,
but the English call IT pines" Martveles
does not rhyme with steals" but with
fellies." and Malacanan. the suberb where
the Governor General lived in Manila
iy Luzon, but 1t doesn't rhyme with
'boozin." Lingayan doesn't rhyme eta
'boozin." Lingayan is pronounced as If
It were rhyming with "sighin." .BoIinao,
here the cap is. and for which the Ad-
mirars fleet sailed when 1t left China last
April, is Bolinow. like how" Caribao
the water buffalo and principal beast Of
burden here, ends the same way-that is.
Caribow. Callao, the captured gunboat.
whose captain hadn't been reading the
extras" and didn't know war had been
declared. sounds if it were spelled Cal
yow," the Cal ryhming with sal and
the VOW rhyming with how"
Mndanao belongs to the same class.
just as If It had always been spelled Min
denow" and there had never had been an
"ao" to IT. Following Mindanao are sew
eraI other queer isian that are queer in
the way they spell their names. NE
groes, the great sugar island, is easy.
the one pronouncing it keeping in mind
the simple fact that the me" is spoken
as if it were "ney.' Psnay, the home of
hard words TO pronounce, is called Pa
nigh" with the accent on the nigh"
Leyte is "Lay-ty," and Guimaras is Gin
mer-as, with the accent on the end. Bu-
tuan, in Mindanao, where the gold comes
from. is very much disguised. Little would
one think that in every day life in these
parts it is called "Boo-too-an," with the
accent on the to- Iligan, also, in Min
danao, is nigan, strongly suggesting bad
health in an Irish family. Ililio is Eel-O-
cello. Why such a name was selected is
hard TO imagin, when there are such
charming ames as Roselawn, Kenilworth
Bellevue and Enslewood TO choose. from.
1t was evidently named by a person de-
void of imagination and ingenuity, and
who was further afflicted by the misfor-
tune of suffering. Camarines is Cam
mar-eenies. and Albay is Abby" the
latter suggesting a request made TO a man
named AL
Malate and Masbate in the same class
the former being Malatty, and the lat
ter MaSsbatty. Antique. one of the pro-
vinces of Psnay. is called "Anticky." and
1t was appropriate that in that particu-
lar place the insurgents should play such
havoc with the gallant Cstilin host of two
hundred men who had sailed forth to
stay their progress.
Benguet, in Luzon. Is just plain Benget,
evidently the friendly adnonition of a
proud Tagala father who objected 10 a
young sitting on the front poarch too late
with his daughter. Bsmambang Is BY,
umbang, a very charming name, indeed.
Tagalas and Vasayas, the two great tribes
of the Philippines. are Tag-ollas and Viss-
eye-us.
The great volcano OF Taal, in Bantsnges.
is called Towel" and. the big lake in
L1zon is 'Lay-goona de buy" although
II is correctly written Laguna de bay.
There are lots of names that can't be
pronounced, and should be changed 20
Deweyville. Schleyborough and Sampson
Rest, or other catchy names, Let the Span
iards and natives wrestle with nafe Ike
SchleyborougF for while and they'll be
sorry they picked out such names for the
Philippines as Parsnaque and Gale de
Bayambsyang.
THROUGH TICKETs-BAGGAGE
CHECKED
Maps, Time Tables and full information
about the Santa Fe Route and Frisco