belo

[Mesulam Aisoli]

"belo" Mihalic might be right, many coconut plantations in the islands and
coastal region were used for rearing cows in great numbers. I had heard
those who looked after cows talking about the animals were "belo-ing" in the
bush, rightly from the English "bellow". Thus "belo" is not the "bell" as
such. It is the sound that is important, coming from the "bell" and the
"cow".

mesu.

> ----------
> From: 	BURTON John[SMTP:john.burton at tsra.gov.au]
> Sent: 	Friday, 12 April 2002 4:39pm
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	RE: belo
> 
> Yes from "bell" is much more convincing. Mihalic had 'bellow' but we don't
> have to believe in it.
> On the subject of early pidgin, I am taking steps to flag entries that are
> candidate Pacific Pidgin English (PPE) words dating to the 1840-1860
> period.
> There are plenty (exactly! - "planti"/"plenti") of easy ones but many more
> that we will never know because of English's continued companionship of
> the
> Pacific Pidgins ever since.
> 
> (Incidentally "early Melanesian Pidgin" would be a misnomer, would it not,
> because most of its speakers were in fact from the central Pacific.)
> 
> John Burton
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ross Clark (FOA DALSL) [mailto:r.clark at auckland.ac.nz]
> Sent: Friday, 12 April 2002 3:09 PM
> To: Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: RE: belo
> 
> 
> 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
>