dugong

[Waruno Mahdi]

>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,

Some g/y alternation could result from borrowing between languages which
reflect PAN *R as _g_ (e.g. Tagalog, Bisaya, Bikol, etc.) and such which
reflect it as _y_ (particularly Kapampangan, but note also Sambal, Ivatan,
Itbayaten, and perhaps some South Mangyan isolects).

However, this does not help us in the case of _duyung_ "dugong", where
the medial glide does not apparently reflect *R. The answer to the riddle
perhaps lies in the 18th century gothic-style print types. Trying to
discern between alternative letters in 17th and 18th century books always
causes me lots of headache :-(

Aloha,   Waruno