kalabaw

[potetjp]

Waruno,
I am puzzled by the passage from Pigafetta you are alluding to. It is in
Blair & Robertson (vol. 33: 137-139).
I have the impression the phrase "the interpreter" refers
- to Enrique, Magellan's Malay slave, whom he had taken to Spain, and who
was used by the expedition as Spanish-Malay-Spanish interpreter
- not to the Siamese merchant trading in slaves and gold, who happened to be
present at Cebu on that occasion.

Let us compare with the "official" version in French. Mine is _le manuscrit
de Montfaucon_/ the Montfaucon codex, Bibliothèque Nationale: #5650, edited
by Léonce PEILLARD (1984). This version is in French probably because
Pigafetta was a Knight of Rhodes & Malta, and French was the official
language of the order. The French doesn't suggest the Siamese merchant was
an interpreter. Anyway if such had been the case, he would probably have
been a Siamese-Malay-Siamese interpreter. I doubt very much he understood
Spanish.

"Le roi lui répondit qu'il était le bienvenu, mais que la coutume était que
tous les navires qui arrivaient à son port ou pays payaient tribut, et il
n'y avait pas quatre jours qu'un navire appelé jonque du Siam, chargé d'or
et d'esclaves, lui avait payé son tribut. Et pour prouver ce qu'il disait,
il leur montra un marchand du dit Siam qui était demeuré là pour faire
marchandise de l'or et d'esclaves. L'interprète lui répondit que [...]"
(Peillard 1984: 147)
To me _L'interprète_ refers to Enrique, not to the Siamese merchant.
_____________
If I understand you well Siam. _khwaaj (tua)_ (Haas 1955: 266) "water
buffalo" is the native Siamese term, whereas _Siam. _kràbyy, kra- (tua)_
(Haas 1955: 221) is a borrowing from Khmer.
Thanks
_____________
I'll deal with the rest of your message later.
Best
Jean-Paul