Pala gives me a new assignment.

Bill Martino

Bill Martino

Joined
Mar 5, 1999
Messages
34,096
Pala gives me credit "for teaching the world how to spell khukuri properly."

But now he wants me to teach the world how to spell "Gurkha" -- and properly it is spelled Gorkha -- just like in "Ayo Gorkhalis." If you notice Sonam, who was raised by Gorkhas, spells it properly. If you will also notice I have started using the proper spelling in the forum at Pala's insistence.

I reminded him that even the Queen of England spelled it "Gurkha" and Pala said that was because she didn't know any better.

So, boys from now on it's Gorkha. I have to update my website -- misery, misery, as if I didn't have enough to do.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
More work for Uncle Bill. Kami Sherpa seems to make a habit of finding things for you to do!
smile.gif


Transliteration seems to be a somewhat less-than-exact science.

So now we have "khukuri", "gorkha", and "ayo gorkhalis".

I think I have also seen it spelled as "aayo gorkhali" ?

Is "gorkhalis" the Nepalese plural form of "gorkha" or is it "gorkhali"?

(I am confused as ever.)

-Dave

------------------
"I'm not a complete idiot; some parts are missing."

 
:
Kinda puts me in mind of a story I read the other day.
smile.gif


This Buddhist monk goes into a Pizza Prlor and orders a nice pizza.When it is ready he pays with a $20.00 bill.The cashier puts it in the cash register and closes the drawer.

After a bit .....


The monk asks,"Where is my change?"

The cashier says,"Change comes from within."

I suppose that Uncle has to change the H.I. website from within.....ainnit?
smile.gif


ainnit?,innit?,ennit?.a shortcut meaning I agree or doesn't it or hunh and /or several other such things.You can say it is an intertribal thang.I think that the people on this forum would be welcomed on any rez once the people talked to any of y'all fer 10 minutes.
smile.gif


------------------


>>>>---¥vsa---->®
Cornbread ain't s'possed ta be sweet!....Dagnabit gurl,whut did they teach you way up north in ....;) hehehe.


 
(trying to perform Heimlich manure-ver on self)

[This message has been edited by Rusty (edited 29 September 1999).]
 
It can`t hurt, but probably won`nt change much.Words have a life of their own.Lariet came from riata,buckaroo from vaquero.Most know this,but Americanize it anyway,I do.Tapaderos and chaperos stayed, but became taps and chaps.
Canada offically calls their Indins "First People".Native doesn`t work.No one says that.Indins still say Indins, and so does every one else.This might get confusing as we get more immigrants from India.
------------------


[This message has been edited by ghostsix (edited 29 September 1999).]
 
"Plural of Gorkha is Gorkhaharu."

Okay, okay, I'll spell it right -- I am an English professor after all (on Wednesdays) -- but nobody is going to have a clue what I'm talking about!

Can Pala stand it if I write "Gorkhaharu (Ghurkas)" just so people know what I'm talking about?

-Cougar Allen :{)
 
Cougar makes a point.You will have to explain it all the time.His interest is in communicating.

------------------
 
Transliteration is a pain in the arse.

-Dave

------------------
"I'm not a complete idiot; some parts are missing."

 
Granted, it may seem to be a pain in the posterior, but consider this: transliteration did not exist as an organized discipline back in the 1800s when many places, people, etc. received English names. Now transliteration is more organized and serves to more closely correllate the spelling of the native word to the English equivalent. Examples are Peking -> Bejing, Kiev -> Kyiv. I think that Pala and other Gorhkas have good reason to ask that they be known as Gorkhas, not Ghurkas. After all, they are the ultimate authority on what they should be called and to not comply would be disrespectful.

Just my opinion.

Harry
 
Just wanted to say that I never intended any disrespect for Pala or Ghorkas in general.

If anything, it is kind and honorable of Pala to attempt to dispel our ignorance.

-Dave
 
I suppose we might equate it to something like this. I wonder if a Navy Seal some of whom I've known and hold in very high regard would like it if we called him a "seel"?

And, after all, Pala was a Gorkha and the originals came from GORKHA. I think he has a valid point.

------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
I have posted this elsewhere but it belongs here, too.


Pala's points about proper spelling of Gorkha.

The first Gorkhaharu were men who fought for the king of Gorkha, Prithivi Narayan
Shah, in an effort to unite Nepal into a single cohesive country. They succeeded and
Prithivi can be rightfully called the George Washington of Nepal. He put Nepal together.

The first Gorkhas to serve under the British flag were recruited by Lt. Frederick Young,
who had been held captive earlier by the Gorkhas. They were Gorkhas, men of Gorkha.
Their battle cry was "Ayo Gorkhali!"

Pala points out that there is not a place called Gurkha in Nepal but there is a place
called Gorkha. He further points out that in Nepal, the home of the Gorkha, they are
not called Gurkha but Gorkha.

Gorkha harks back to the first highly organized fighting men of Nepal and means
something both historically and geographically. Gurkha is a British corruption of the
word and in actuality means nothing.

Again, I apologize for miscommunicating Pala's request as a "dictate." That was my
mistake. Pala is much too polite to dictate anything to anybody -- except me, Yangdu
and the kamis, but let's face it, he's the boss.


------------------
Uncle Bill
Himalayan Imports Website
http://members.aol.com/himimp/index.html
 
Pala will succeed here,I have used Gorkha myself.You said yourself,that the extra ku is hard to hear.All that I am saying is that there is way to much Gurkah in common usage to change it now,for most of the world.The sheer volume of printed error would dictate otherwise.As it is,the name is well respected.What more can you want?I don`t care what you call me,so long as you call me for dinner.What`s in a name?A royal decree would have no effect,on a broader scale.No disrespect intended.

------------------
 
It is also worth pointing out that the reputation was made by Britsh Ghurkas.The Army can name a unit anything they want.Perhaps some of Merrill`s Marauders didn`t care to be called marauders,tough.
 
:
I have to agree with Pala.
I personaly don't like the term Native American.
Most of us Indins feel that a few of them Native Americans is gonna get a bunch of us Indins killed again or still,one of these days.
I don't bother with the N-A too much though,because it is termed PC for the world.

I really don't like the terms redskin,injun,and a few others that some people seem to think are innocent.The term redskin came from when there was a bounty on us red colored folk and it was easier to haul a bunch of redskins than it was the whole human being.It seemed the skin of the womens breast and the
scrotum of the men were popular pieces to make tobacco pouches from.

I can almost guarantee you that if some of the sports teams had other races portrayed they wouldn't be around long.We managed to get one high school team in the east to drop the term squaw from thier girls team.The warriors I think it was stayed.

You may not change the world,but a journey around it begins with one footstep.


------------------


>>>>---¥vsa---->®
Cornbread ain't s'possed ta be sweet!....Dagnabit gurl,whut did they teach you way up north in ....;) hehehe.


 
As for native,there are no humans native to the Americas.They are Asians who probably followed the Bison,which is also not native,across the Bering straight.Tom`s Indin is the best that I have heard.As I told Cliff once;if you are missing an insult,please give me more info,and I`ll be happy to think of something.Rember the MD thing Cliff?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top