The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-05-23
PIDGIN, A NEW DIALECT
USED EY OUR TRocFs TO con.
VERSE WITH FlLiPNos

The cQlller-InlE 81 toH Eaili npi mes a
Neither English Nor Spanish. nor
Mere Mixture uf the Two How the
LAnro Was Eura-
II trained phllnlogist could have
begn win cur army from the occupa-
tion Until now he would have had AZ
opportunity 10 observe the entire
growth q a Language. or at least q dia-
lect from nothing 10 Etupendous pro-
portion. He would also be able 10
speak q polyglot lingo born in August
1898 and now almost 1T maturity.
The soldier-talk. or pidgin. III use
III the PHILIPPINES must be classed by
itself as II is neither English nor
Spanish nor a mere mixture Of the
two In some cases a nucleus was
furnished by veterans who had served
il fbe Southwest and knew a little
Spanish. but this was q little serv.
ice Ia the interior. where the natives
a. not speak Spanish So. Just as our
first ancestors did. the soldier who had
money to spend and the native who
had things to sell slowly and painful
j devised 8 vehicle for the exchange
Of thought. ramkhackle affair. 10 be
sure, with many Etoppages. Avt stil
serviceable. At the present day. I
hear il clalrned. i Is possible 10 make
love with It,
Probably the first thing that soldiers
asked the natives for was water.
Their Red Cross handbooks told them
to say ~agua," and aqua did very well
around Manila. But as the lines ex-
tended into the provinces we had TO
learn other words. and in PampaDga
we said -tubig." while IN Pangasinan
we say "duDum@ A new word is
taking root. and in the course OF time
VIII prevail-'Awate' or ''watty-" At
ter water. food was Of next import
anee. and for lack Of other words the
Chinese English '4chow-ehOwv reignE
supreme. From the same language
comes the universal word for washing.
'.washee- washee.7 Our English "gotY
serves to express all applications Of
to have and 10 be; thus. ''got San Fer
nandO~ means to be In San Fernando,
and mo got Egpanolv means II do not
understand Spanish" "Matrimony."
being very similar in Spanish. serves
for all phases Of the marital condition.
Thus the state OF marriage. the husband
or wife. the wedding, are all expressed
By "matrimony." as a noun and the
act Of marrying by the same word as
a gerb. Conversation along this line.
however. SO far as soldiers are con-
cerned, is more theoretical than prac-
tical.
Two very remarkable words Of the
yernacular are ~upshecomes7 and
''jawbone7 The first Of these was
adopted by natives from hearing the
cry Of the chuck-a-luck man, IAN
down-up she comesr' and is the gen
eric aud universal name Of every kind
Of gambling. "Jawbone' also origin
ated in gambling or betting without
money. but has extended until 1t is
used by every one for every kind Of
credit or debt And the amenities Of
'jawbone" business are very nicely |
conducted between pay days.
The average soldier can order an |
extensive dinner at a restaurant bv |
using three or four languages. Thus
be asks for ''babuy" pig. Pangasian).
or 'manukS (chicken); but II his de- |
sire extends to beef or eggs he resorts
u Spanish. These are the staples-if |
he should require anything else. he
would probably have to draw a picture
of 1t. When he has finished he asks.
"Quanto valeY and pays so many |
pesos" "pesetas" or ''centavos." The
last mentioned coin Is copper or iron
and In this province is called "sake
baIug."
"Boom-boom Is a word commonly |
heard in this langGage and is applied /
to every appurteaance Of battle-Tifes.
cannon. cartridge, pistol, or to the bat
tie itself, although "eombatev is more \
commonly used for the last. Combate
also means fight, personal or even
a quarrel "Manuk- -combate" is a
chicken fight.
'Yamoose" is probably more used
than any other word. 1t means to
go or TO come. and, transitively. to
bring, take, remove. steal or carry.
Taus conversation between a soldier
and native might run as follows:
Donde got you? Where were your
Me vamOse won i went tn voftr |