penguin

[potet]

We associate penguins with the Antarctic, yet some species can be found in
as tropical places as the Galapagos. They even dwelt farther up north; I
read somewhere that there used to be penguins on the coasts of Provence,
France, and that they became extinct there in the 18th Century [reference
lost]. This must be a discovery by modern scholars because the fact is not
mentioned in Diderot & d'Alembert's _Encyclopédie_ (1751-1772).

Besides, the discovery of the bird seems to be attributed to Magellan in so
far as it was then known as "_pengouin, pinguin, oie de Magellan_
[Magellan's goose] (Batavorum, seu anser Magellanicus Clusii, Wil.)". They
say the bird was thus called because it was very fat without explaining in
what language penguin means "fatty". Modern French dictionaries say the term
was borrowed from Dutch (_pinguyn_ 1598). Today's French spelling is
_pingouin_. The OED has a different view: the penguin was "found by Drake at
Magellan's Straits in 1578" and the origin of the name is obscure, being
first used to refer to another bird, the great auk of Newfoundland.

Whatever ...

Classical Tagalog (Luzon, Philippines) had a term for penguin: _kanáway_
(Noceda & Sanlucar 1860: 81). The corresponding Spanish term is _pájaro
bobo_ "bird stupid > stupid bird". Its synonym is _pingüino_.

No penguin can be seen nowadays in the Philippines. Today's Tagalog have no
term for this bird, and probably use the English term should they want to
refer to it.

The bird must have been fairly well known in the past for its name was used
as a reproach or an insult (ibid.)
kumanáway ang X nang Y / kanawáyin nang X ang Y "X to call Y 'a penguin'"
Kanáway ka. "You, penguin."

_Payápay_ (Noceda & Sanlucar 1860: 250) could also mean "penguin", but the
term is ambiguous for it is also synonymous to_ palangá_ (ibid. 228), a
synonym of _palakáw_ (ibid. 227), itself a synonym of _páhat_ (ibid. 226)
"bird of prey". [Cross-references without glosses in Noceda & Sanlucar can
be a source of great confusion.]

Now, are there terms for "penguin" (whatever the species) in other
Austronesian languages?

Jean-Paul G. POTET. B. P. 46. 92114 CLICHY CEDEX. FRANCE.