*sarampang* 'to break'

[Phil Quick]

Danny and other Austronesian friends,

I was quite surprised to see this lexical word appear.  In Pendau (a
language in the Tomini-Tolitoli group of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia) the
word <sarampang> has a different meaning.  It means:  "a 2-pronged barbed
fishing spear".

Also I note in my dictionary database <sarapong> which means:  "a 7-pronged
barbless fishing spear".
Also:  <paringa>  "3-pronged barbed fishing spear"

I won't list the other kinds of fishing spears (and words for barbs, etc.)
unless someone else would like to know.

Sincerely,

Phil Quick

At 20:07 17/11/99 +0900, you wrote:
>I am working on contact languages which developed between Japanese and
>other languages.  (There aren't many.)   A 19th century pidgin used in
>Yokohama contains the word "serampan" or "sarampan" meaning "ruin,
>break, destoy".  It is said to have come from Malay "sarampang".  (But
>the only Malay dictionary I have been able to consult did not list this
>word.)  This Yokohama pidgin appears to have some relationship to
>Chinese pidgin English varieties.  So, I was wondering if this word has
>found its way into any other Pacific (contact) languages.
>
>Your help would be appreciated.
>Danny Long
>--
>Daniel Long, Associate Professor     tel  +81-426-77-2184
>Japanese Language and Literature Dept.    fax  +81-426-77-2140
>Tokyo Metropolitan University
>1-1 Minami Osawa, Hachioji-shi, Tokyo  192-0397 Japan
>mailto:dlong at bcomp.metro-u.ac.jp
>http://nihongo.human.metro-u.ac.jp/long/
>
>