Mongo

[Dennis R. Preston]

Several jazz histories say that Ramon Santamaria's father nicknamed
him "Mongo" after a Senegalese Chief. "Mongo" is indeed a West
African name, and African traditions are quite strong in Cuba. Is the
derivation of "Mongo" from "Ramon" (based on the phonology of the
last syllable, indeed accurate for Cuban Spanish) attested?

dInIs

>On Jul 15, 2004, at 3:29 PM, Barnhart wrote:
>
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>Poster:       Barnhart <barnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
>>Subject:      Re: Mongo
>>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>--------
>>
>>Page Stephens <hpst at earthlink.net> on Thursday, July 15, 2004 at 1:35
>>PM
>>-0500 wrote:
>>>
>>>PS I do not have any idea where he got his name.
>>
>>Or, when???
>
>Probably at birth. "Mongo" is one of several possible Cuban-Spanish
>nicknames based upon the the standard name, "Ramon," pronounced
>approximately [rra-MOANG], hence [MOANG-go].
>
>-Wilson Gray


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
A-740 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-3099
Fax: (517) 432-2736
preston at msu.edu