whale

[potetjp]

Dear all,
I must confess now that I launched my query on crocodiles and whales because
I had come up with the theory that these terms might not be Austronesian,
but compounds coined in the lingua franca used in Insulindia from the
Middle-Ages to the Renaissance.

I thought these involved the Arabic term _bu_ "father" used in the creation
of nicknames in dialects, e.g. bu + jni:b "(sea)side" > bujni:b "crab".
This item would have been prefixed to Austronesian stems.
bu + áya > Tag. buwáya "crocodile"
bu + hákag > Tag. buhákag "whale"
dang- + bu + hála > Tag. dambuhála "whale".

Now it seems to me that  _*bu_ is a genuine Austronesian root in so far as
it is also found at the end of words, e.g.
Flores _embu-ngembu_ "whale" (Louise Baird)
Sama Sitangkay _kahumbu_ "whale"
Maguindanao _kumbo_ "whale"
Yami _amumubu_ "whale"

Best
Jean-Paul POTET