collecting authentic dugong stories

[Jim Rader]

Speaking of dugongs, does anyone on the list know the precise origin of the
word <dugong>?  It first appears as <dugung> in German, it seems, in
Ernst Christoph Barchewitz' _Neu-vermehrte Ost-Indianische
Reise-Beschreibung_ (Erfurt, 1752).  I have not examined this book,
but according to the _Oxford English Dictionary_, Barchewitz gives
<dugung> as the name of the animal on Leyte.  I believe the Malay
word--with close cognates in a number of other Austronesian
languages--is <duyung>.  Whence the <g>?  A simple printing error?
If so, it's strange that both the Latin taxonomic name and the general
European name perpetuate a form that doesn't exist in any
Austronesian language.

Jim Rader
Merriam-Webster, Inc.


> Dear Subscribers,
>
> Associate Prof.Masayuki Onishi, who works on Motuna, a Pauan language in
> Bougainville Island, is collecting authentic dugong stories in different
> parts of Oceania. If you are generous to give him your information on
> literatures about such stories in your languages, hopefully with original
> texts (and recorded materials, if available.), he would really appreciate
> it.
>
>