dugong

[potetjp]

In Tagalog the word is _dúyong_ (Noceda & Sanlucar 1754: 196; 1860: 116).
In the Spanish-Tagalog part _pexe/pez mulier_ is translated as _diuong_ (N&S
1754: 142; 1860: 578) probably the compiler's misinterpretation of _duiong_.
I couldn't find the word in San Buenaventura (1613).
Miguel Ruiz (+ 1630) has it.
The entry _pexe/pez mulier_ is lacking in the Vienna manuscript.
The entry _duyong_  is lacking in the Manila (Santo Tomas) manuscript.

The word is about the same (_duyung_) in 6 other Philippine languages:
- Bikol, Hiligaynon, Kapampangan, Magindanao and Pangasinan (Panganiban
1971)
- Tausug (Hassan et al., SIL, 1994)
For "Visayan", Makabenta (_Binisaya_ 1979), glosses _duyong_  as "young
whale; a cetacean".

I looked the word up in my old (1951) Merriam -Webster's. Interestingly the
entry DUGONG is contrasted with MANATEE. Indeed the G is regarded as wrong
"From Malay _duyung_, Jav. _duyung_, with erroneous _g_ for _y_."  (NG is
represented by an N with dot above.)

If this spelling is not due to a confusion of  _y_ and the gamma-like _g_
fairly common in manuscripts,  _dugong_  could be a rare, obsolete form in
so far as /g/ and /y/ sometimes alternate. I don't know if this will help,
but I briefly dealt with the g/y alternance in Tagalog
p. 352 (§ 6) of
Jean-Paul G. POTET
"Tagalog monosyllabic roots"
_Oceanic Linguistics_, Vol. 34, No. 2, December 1995

Best regards
Jean-Paul