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<a href="http://www.mvariety.com/cnmi/cnmi-news/local/106052-chamorro-english-dictionary-now-has-over-10-000-entries">
Chamorro-English dictionary now has over 10,000 entries</a>
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<span class="gmail-date">18</span>
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<strong>Jul</strong>
<strong>2018</strong>
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By Lori Lyn C. Lirio - <a href="mailto:lyn@mvariety.com">lyn@mvariety.com</a> - Variety News Staff </dd>
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<p style="text-align:justify">THERE are now 10,530 entries in the revised Chamorro-English dictionary, according to Dr. Elizabeth D. Rechebei.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">She said over 100 Chamorro speakers were
involved in providing information and new words in the ongoing revision
of the 1975 Topping, Ogo and Dungca dictionary.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Rechebei, Manny Borja and Tita Hocog are the editors of the revised dictionary.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">She said each entry now includes several definitions and at least two or three example sentences.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">She added that the entries came from
thematic work groups with knowledge of traditional healing, local
government and politics, food, cultural practices such as marriage
customs, Chamorro family names and nicknames, names of places, borrowed
Japanese, English and other foreign words, types of fish, fishing
techniques, sailing, weather patterns, and other things.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The dictionary editors also consulted
Chamorro speakers in Guam, including the aging centers in almost all of
the villages there as well as some families and individuals, Rechebei
said.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">They also consulted people on Tinian,
Rota and Saipan regarding words the editors were not sure about. “The
editors continue to reach out to many Chamorro speakers for specific
information such as the local names of certain plants, fish or abstract
terms.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The people involved in the project are
all volunteers, she said, adding that the revision of the
Chamorro-English dictionary started in 2009.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">Rechebei said the July 2009 revised
orthography was adopted by the CNMI Legislature in December 2010. It is
now the official Chamorro Orthography for the Northern Mariana Islands.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">“It has been adopted by the Public
School System and is the orthography used for all government
translations by the CNMI Chamorro/Carolinian Language Policy Commission
and the ongoing revision of the 1975 Chamorro-English Dictionary.”</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The CNMI Legislature provided funding
through the Inetnun Amutyan Kuttura, a non-profit group, to cover
travel, supplies/materials, and related costs including the initial
publication of the dictionary when completed.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The project was initially funded by the
National Science Foundation through a grant by Dr. Sandra Chung,
professor of linguistics at the University of California, Santa Cruz,
and Dr. Elizabeth D. Rechebei.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">The Northern Marianas Humanities Council
sponsored the project for three years, and also funded the workshop to
revise the orthography led by the language commission under the
chairmanship of William Macaranas and the dictionary workgroups whose
members included Carmen Taimanao, Bernadita Sablan, Rita Guerrero, Cindy
Reyes, Dr. Sandra Chung, and other former Chamorro teachers.</p>
<p style="text-align:justify">“The people who were involved in the
early work on this dictionary realized the need to revise the Chamorro
orthography to be consistent with the way the language is actually
spoken,” Rechebei said.</p>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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