Home › Forums › Binisaya

sinso=chainsaw

Mon, 01/29/2024 - 19:52 — jankratochvil

My Cebuana wife says sinso is a chainsaw although she is not aware of the spelling. Neither this dictionary nor Google Translate knows it, though.

‹ What is the difference between Nia, Naa, and Tua (and Adunay) When do you add the suffix -ha ? ›
Thu, 02/15/2024 - 23:59 — JCH

It's probably the nativized form of "chainsaw"

We can see the phonology from chainsaw to sinsu:

Let's get their IPA forms first (for Chainsaw, I'll be using the US IPA):

Chainsaw -> [ˈt͡ʃeɪnˌsɔ]
Sinsu -> [ˈsiːnˌsʊ]

Vowel Changes:

  • the diphthong [eɪ] is approximated as [ɪː] in Cebuano.
  • the vowel [ɔ] is approximated as [ʊ] in Cebuano.

Consonant Changes:

  • the consonant [t͡ʃ] is approximated as [s] in Cebuano.

Applying what we got:

  • Applying the vowel changes: [ˈt͡ʃeɪnˌsɔ] -> [ˈt͡ʃɪnˌsʊ]
  • Applying the consonant changes: [ˈt͡ʃɪnˌsʊ] -> [ˈsiːnˌsʊ]

And thus, sinsu comes from chainsaw.