I was talking to a linguist some years ago and he was telling me about his time in the Pacific.
He arrived on the island and immediately set to work familiarising himself with his surroundings.
He had a guide with him who told him the local names for things...
They saw a cat and the linguist asked "What's the name for that?"...
"Siipu", said the guide...
"That's a short S, a long I and a short P and U?".
The guide thought for a moment then said "Yes... It's not a local word, we learnt it from a missionary who used to live here...".
"Interesting", said the linguist... "I wonder what language it originates from...".
"I'm not sure", said the guide, "But every evening he'd stand on the verandah and call them - Siipu, Siipu, Siipu, Siipu, Siipu...".
I suspect I might have been on the receiving end of a good yarn, but it was a good yarn all the same, ha ha.
🙂
