Put On The Dog: The Case of the Cebuano for "Dog" and Other Visayan languages

In this article we'll investigate where the Cebuano word "Iro" came from.

Introduction

Cebuano or informally Bisaya is the language originating from Cebu hence the name, is the second major language after Tagalog when it comes to the number of native speakers as it is spoken in many parts of the Visayas and Mindanao. The Cebuano word for "dog" is "Iro" or informally "Iru", since some people pronounce it that way, it doesn't really matter though since in Cebuano "o" and "u" are generally allophones of each other, meaning whether you pronounced it as "o" or "u" it doesn't really change the meaning.

Looking back at its Austronesian origins

There is a theory that all Austronesian languages are from one single language called Proto Austronesian (PAN), of course, that includes Philippine languages such as Tagalog, Cebuano, and Maranao. The idea of Proto Austronesian is similar with Proto Indo European where to oversimplify the theory, it implies that English is related to Indian languages i.e. Sanskrit, Hindu, etc. The Proto Austronesian (PAN) word for "dog" is "*asu" which is retained by some languages or where it is the etymon, the word which the current word is derived from.

Language	Term	Meaning	Origin
Proto Austronesian (PAN)	*asu	Dog	Etymon
Bontok, Kapampangan, Western Bukidnon Manobo, Yakan	Asu	Dog	PAN
Kankanaey, Ifuntok,Pangasinan, Tagalog,Maranao	Aso	Dog	PAN
Isneg	Ato	Dog	PAN
Itawis, Ilongot	Atu	Dog	PAN

Notes:

The mark * indicates that the word is a reconstruction

Etymon means it is where the derivatives are derived from.

The words in the table above shows where Asu/Aso/Ato/Atu is derived from and the Cebuano term "iro" is nowhere near them. It is too far-fetched to think that "iro" is a corruption of the word since there is no words for dog that sounds like "isu", iso" or "aru", "aro" thus the sound "s" to "r" and "a" to "i" is rather unlikely.

While the word *asu makes sense to some languages, it doesn't fully explain the whole picture. Why does many Bikol and other Visayan languages use "ayam" as their word for "dog"? It turns out that "ayam" is derived from the Proto Western Malayo Polynesian *ayam though it originally meant "domesticated animal". Proto Western Malayo Polynesian is a subset of Proto Austronesian (PAN) which excludes Taiwanese languages, as implied by its name.

Language	Term	Meaning	Origin
Proto Western Malayo Polynesian (PWMP)	*ayam	Domesticated animal	Etymol
Gaddang, Tiruray	Ayam	Domesticated animal	PWMP
Isneg, Maranaw	Ayam	Animal	PWMP
Western Bukidnon Manobo	Ayam	Pet	PWMP
Sarangani Manobo	Ayam-ayam	Pet	PWMP
Bikol Naga, Rinconada, Pandan Bikol, Daraga Bikol, Kinaray-a, Waray, Onhan, Aklanon	Atu	Dog	PWMP
Cebuano, Hiligaynon	Ayam	For a dog to chase	PWMP

Notes:

The mark * indicates that the word is a reconstruction

Etymon means it is where the derivatives are derived from.

Still, it doesn't explain "Iro" and "Ayam" is nowhere near "Iro". Why does Waray use "ayam" as its word for "dog" even though it is closely related with "Cebuano" both being Visayan? More so, other Visayan languages such as Kinaray-a, Onhan and Aklanon follows the trend for "ayam". Though, it i worth mentioning that "ayam" in both Cebuano and Hiligaynon is a word that has something to do with a "dog".

Clash of Cultures

If the Cebuano word "Iro" is not Austronesian of origin then where did it came from? It is quite possible that the word "Iro" is a loan word since it is not found in any Austronesian language. In Old Cebuano, the word "Ayam" was actually used to mean "dog". It was actually recorded in 1521 by the Italian scholar who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan himself, Antonio Pigafetta. Furthermore, the Old Cebuano word "Ayam" which meant "dog" still appeared in a 1895 dictionary by Antonio Sanchez de la Rosa, O.S.F. which was entitled Diccionario Hispano-Bisaya y Bisaya-Español.

Since "Iro" does not seem to be Austronesian in origin, we can exclude Malay in our search. Since the word "Iro" seem to be a loan word that is not Austronesian, we can choose from Arabic, Hokkien, Sanskrit, and Spanish since Cebuano actually did borrow words from those languages because of historical interactions such as trade, occupation, etc. The table below shows Cebuano words that have foreign origin.

Cebuano word	Meaning	Original word	Original meaning	Origin
Sangka	Fight	Sanka	Fight	Sanskrit
Bahandi	Wealth	Bhandi	Wealth	Sanskrit
Karma	Spiritual principle of cause and effect.	Karm (कर्म)	Spiritual principle of cause and effect mainly present in many religions originating from India i.e. Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc.	Hindi
Bisaya	Demonym for someone in the Visayas region, or informally someone who speaks Cebuano, or refers to Cebuano language itself	Vijaya (विजय)	Victory	Sanskrit
Salamat	Thank you	Salama (سلامات)	Peace (Greeting)	Arabic
Hukum	Judge, verdict	Hukim (حَكِيم‏)	Wise, learned	Arabic
Ate	Older sister	a-chi / a-ci (阿姊)	Older sister	Hokkien Chinese
Tsa	Tea	Cha (茶)	Tea	Mandarin Chinese
Swerte	Luck	Suerte	Luck	Castilian Spanish
Gwapa	Beautiful / Handsome	Guapa	Beautiful	Castilian Spanish

Cebuano language and contractions

To understand where the word "Iro' come from, we must understand Cebuano itself. Originally, it is said that Cebuano only had three vowels which are A-I-U which is why today "I" and "E", "O" and "U" are mainly allophones in Cebuano, meaning the word doesn't really change meaning whether you pronounce it a bit differently.

Cebuano word	Pronunciation	Meaning
Babaye	Ba.ba.yi	Woman
Brilyante	Bril.yan.ti	Jewel
Padayon	Pa.da.yun	Persist, carry on, etc.
Balod	Ba.lud	Wave

Also, it is worth noting that Cebuano speakers has more often than not has a trait of contracting its words. The table shows a few example of a few words that are often contracted.

Original Cebuano word	Contracted word	Meaning
Balay	Bay	House
Sagabay	Bay (Bai)	Friend
Balod	Baod	Wave
Halang	Hang	Spicy

The Theory

Since we already established somethings, we can now go to where exactly "Iro" came from. It is highly probable that the Cebuano word for dog which is "Iro" came from the Spanish word for dog which is "Perro".

The evidence being:

1) Originally, as mentioned earlier, the Old Cebuano word for "Dog" was "Ayam" as written by Antonio Pigafetta in 1521 . This implies that before the Spanish contact, the word "Iro" did not exist hence the only logical conclusion is that it is indeed a loan word.

2) Supporting this theory, the word "Iro" only started to appear in 1885 as documented by Juan Felix de la Encarnacion, O.S.A. in the Diccionario Hispano-Bisaya y Bisaya-Español though it was only a synonym for "ayam".

3) Although, pronounce as "Iru" it is formally spelled as "Iro". More so, as mentioned the vowels "E" and "I" are allophones of each other. To which, they could have pronounced the Spanish word "Perro" like "Perro", "Pirro", "Perru", and "Pirru".

4) It could have been a contraction of the Spanish word "Perro" or simply it evolved from "Perro" to "Iro".

Thus it can be said that:

Castilian Spanish : Perro > (P)er(r)o > Cebuano: Iro

Conclusion

With all the evidence presented it is highly probable that the Cebuano word "Iro" is from the Castilian Spanish word "Perro". Either it was deliberately contracted that resulted to the consonant "P" being dropped or it naturally dropped as the word evolved to "Iro". Although, this is just a theory it is actually the only thing that makes sense, at least until proven otherwise. The only thing for sure is, "Iro" isn't Austronesian.

References:

1. Blust, Robert. 1969.Some new Proto-Austronesian trisyllables. Oceanic Linguistics

2. Pigafetta and Robertson, 1906. Magellan's voyage around the world.

2. Juan Felix de la Encarnboacion O.S.A., Juan Felix. 1885. Diccionario Hispano-Bisaya y Bisaya-Español

3. Antonio Sanchez de la Rosa, O.S.F. 1895. Diccionario Hispano-Bisaya y Bisaya-Español

4. Kuizon, Jose. The Sanskrit loan-words in the Cebuano-Visayan language (University of San Carlos)

5. Binisaya.com

Luzvimindan Project