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- / SPECIAL REPORT OF THB RELATING TO THE GEOGRAPHIC NAMES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. , ' X? . ■ I i 9 , ' '*■ *■ ' * , • . - i ■ uj.j). lotrzuids ' SPECIAL REPORT P03 nr RELATING TO THE GEOGRAPHIC NAMES IN THE . PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. May, 1901. In the Senate of the United States, February 28, 1901. Resolved, That there be printed fifteen thousand copies of the special report of the United States Board on Geographic Names relating to geographic names in the Philippine Islands, transmitted to Congress by the President February twenty-first, nineteen hundred and one; three thousand copies of which shall be for the use of the Senate, five thousand copies for the use of the House of Representatives, and seven thousand copies for distribution by said board among the Government Depart¬ ments, public libraries, and other suitable depositories. Attest: Charles G. Bennett, Secretary, 2 To the Seriate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith for the information of the Congress and with a view to its publication in suitable form, if such action is deemed desirable, a special report of the United States Board on Geographic Names, relating to geographic names in the Philippine Islands, and invite attention to the recommendation of the board: “That in addition to the usual number there be printed 15,000 copies; 2,000 cop¬ ies for the use of the Senate; 3,000 copies for the use of the House of Representatives, and 10,000 copies for distribution by the board to the Executive Departments and the public.” William McKinley. Executive Mansion, February 21. 1901. LIST OF COASTWISE NAMES, PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO, AS COMPILED IN THE U. S. HYDROGRPHIC OFFICE, 1901. To the President: I have the honor to lay before you a special report of the United States Board on Geographic Names relative to geographic names in the Philippine Islands. It consists of a list showing the approved spelling of about 4,000 coastwise names in the Philippine Archipelago, and its printing and distribution is urgently needed by the Executive Departments. The board respectfully recommends: That in addition to the usual number there be printed 15,000 copies; 2,000 copies for the use of the Senate, 3,000 copies for the use of the House of Representatives, and 10,000 copies for distribution by the board to the Executive Departments and to the public. Respectfully submitted. Henry Gannett, Chairman. Washington, D. C., February 21, 1901. 7 . NAMES OF COASTWISE FEATURES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. INTRODUCTION. Upon the acquisition of the Philippine Islands by the United States in 1898, the Hydrographic Office was promptly called upon for charts, sailing directions, etc., of these new possessions. To meet this demand it nt once began their preparation. At the outset it met much diffi¬ culty with the names. Existing charts, books, maps, and publications disagreed, both as to names and their spelling. Spanish charts con¬ tained either all Spanish names or Spanish names ana also Malay names written according to Spanish methods. On English charts the spelling of some of the Malay names had been altered to conform to English and American methods of writing native names. In doing this, errors and confusion had arisen. In this confusion the Hydrographic Office appealed to the Board on Geographic Names and asked for advice. The Board considered the general question at some length, and then recommended that the names in current use and their spelling, as shown on the best Spanish official maps and charts, should be followed. The Hydrographic Office fol-' lowed this advice, and under the direction of Capt. C. C. Todd, hydrog- rapher, U. S. N., prepared, chiefly from Spanish official charts, the fol¬ lowing list of about 4,000 coastwise names. Meanwhile another list of about 6,000 Philippine geographic names had been prepared in Manila, and in Washington, D. C., under the direction of Rev. Jose Algue, S. J., director of the Jesuit Observatory at Manila. Those names, arranged in three groups and accompanied by 30 maps, were submitted to the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and have recently been printed by that Survey as an intro¬ duction to its Special Publication No. 3, Atlas of the Philippine Islands. While this Coast Survey publication was going through the press, Father Algue was in Washington and read the proof. Several hun¬ dred of the names contained in it are also contained in this list. On the other hand, this list is much fuller for coastwise names, containing about 2,600 names not found in the Coast Survey atlas. After Father Algue had read and corrected the proofs of the names in the Coast Survey atlas, he kindly undertook to revise the manuscript of this list, and thus to bring the two into harmony. In such revision, only 33 differences of spelling were detected, and these for the most part trifling. In this list the spelling of those 33 names has been made to agree with the Coast Survey atlas, and accordingly the spelling of names in that atlas and in this list are, errors excepted, the same. Pronunciation is not considered in this report, which was prepared as a reference list for spelling only. Therefore all accents and diacrit¬ ical marks, since they relate to pronunciation only, are here omitted. 9 10 GEOGRAPHIC NAMES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. Such is not the case, however, with the Coast Survey atlas, which con¬ tains accents and is preceded by a note (p. 7) written by Father Algue and entitled The Pronunciation of Spanish. That note is as follows: THE PRONUNCIATION OF SPANISH. The Spanish language has but one accent, called acenlo agudo, which is placed over the vowels a, e, i, o, u; it serves to lengthen the syllable and to accentuate it more distinctly and forcibly than the other vowels. As a general rule, all Spanish words ending in a vowel are accentuated on the penultimate, or the last syllable but one; they do not, therefore, require the accent, but if any other syllable is to be accented it is indicated. With the exception of proper names and adverbs, most words ending in a conso- ^ nant have the accent on the last syllable. The Spanish a always has the sound of the English a in father; the e that of a\j in English; the i that of ee; the o that of oh; and the u that of oo, as in hoot, root, etc. The vowels in Spanish must always be fully and distinctly pronounced, but the u is silent in the syllables gue, gui, que, qui, which are pronounced gay, gee, kay, kee. The Spanish y has a sound nearly equivalent to the English j; the 2 exactly that of English th, as also the Spanish c when it comes before e or t. All the other conso¬ nants are sounded as in English except II, which is pronounced as ly in English. In the English interpretation of the sound of the Spanish words the th has always the lisping sound of these letters in thin, path, etc. The main difficulty in pronouncing Spanish is the j (hoetah), which has the sound of h very strongly aspirated. The relation of the United States Board on Geographic Names to the names in the Coast Survey atlas is set forth in the following extract from a report adopted by the Board on February 20, 1001: Whereas the Coast and Geodetic Survey is about to issue an atlas of the Philippine Islands composed of maps made at the Manila Observatory under the direction of Rev. Father Algue, S. J.; and Whereas this atlas contains in its introduction three lists of geographic names, aggregating about 6,000, whose spelling has been carefully revised by Father Algue to bring it into harmony with local Spanish usage in the Philippines; and Whereas the Coast and Geodetic Survey has, by its superintendent, asked that these names be adopted by the Board as the standard for Government publications in so far as they affect the charts of the Philippines; and Whereas the Board, after careful consideration, is of opinion that these lists, together with the list prepared by the Hydrographic Office, constitute the most trustworthy information now obtainable as to the spelling of these names: Therefore Resolved, That the Board provisionally approve the spelling as given in these lists, this approval extending to spelling only and not to pronunciation or accents by which pronunciation is indicated; it being understood that such provisional adoption shall be final, except as to such of them as shall hereafter be presented to the Board as disputed cases, these disputed cases to be treated as in effect wholly new. NAMES OF COASTWISE FEATURES IN THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. Note.—The names are in black-iace type. These are followed by the Spanish designations of the features named. The meaning of most of them is apparent. For convenience their translation is given herewith: aguada.watering place. islote. alto.height. lago. .lake. archipielago.archipelago. laguna. arrecife.reef. loma. .hill. arroyo.gulch. mar. atol.atoll. monte. .mountain. bahia.bay. paso. bajo.shoal. penon. .rock. baluarte...bastion. peligro. banco.bank. pico. .peak. bantay.signal station. piedra. .rock. barra.bar. provincia. .province. barrio.ward. pueblo. .town. cabo.cape. puerto. canal .canal. pulo. casa hacienda.mansion. punta. caseada.1_waterfall. rada. caseria.tenant house. rancheria. cerro.ridge. rancho. colina.hill. restinga. comandancia.commander’s district. rio. cordillera.mountain system. roca. distrito.district. seno . ensenada...creek. sierra. estrecho.strait. torre . fondeadero.anchorage. villaje. .village. fucrte.fort. villeta. golfo.gulf. visita. grupo.group. volcan activo. isla.island. volcan apagado. isleta.islet. y. Aanosa, villaje.

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