belo

[Ross Clark (FOA DALSL)]

I agree that "bellow" is a red herring. It's from "bell", but where does the
"-o" come from?
I think the closest thing is "selo" (an exclamation to announce sight of a
ship, a plane or the new moon), from English "sail ho!". Both "belo" and
"selo" occur in Bislama, hence go back to early Melanesian Pidgin. Both have
to do with signs or signals seen or heard over long distances. The "o" may
function mainly to provide additional length and volume to the word. Note
Mihalic's o.2 "...added to the end of words...especially...when calling
another or giving information from a distance". The Australian National
Dictionary mentions "-oh" in street vendors' cries like "milk-oh!", and in
"rush-oh" (an exclamatory call announcing the discovery of a new gold
field).

Ross Clark

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jerry Jacka [mailto:jacka at OREGON.UOREGON.EDU]
> Sent: Thursday, 4 April 2002 4:15 a.m.
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: belo
> 
> 
> John,
> 
> 'belo' is quite common usage where I was in Porgera as church 
> services are 
> announced by blowing through a long PVC tube making a 
> trumpeting sound, 
> 'taim long go harim lotu, ol i winim belo nau'
> 
> you ask if the source word is the English 'bellow', but I had always 
> (perhaps mistakenly) thought that 'belo' was from the English 
> 'bell' due to 
> the church related usage.
> 
> Jerry
>