Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases, and of Kindred Terms, Etymological, Historical, Geographical and Discursive c10.15791

c10.15791

[On this Professor Giles writes: "'Whang' clearly stands for 'yellow,' as in *Whangpoo* and like combinations. The difficulty is with *ee*, which should stand for some word of that sound in the Cantonese dialect. There is such a word in 'clothes, skin, sheath'; and 'yellow skin (or sheath)' would form just such a combination as the Chinese would be likely to employ. The suggestion of Terrien de la Couperie is not to the purpose." So Mr. C. M. Gardner writes: "The word *hwang* has many meanings in Chinese according to the tone in which it is said. *Hwang-chi téng* or *hwangee-téng* might be 'yellow-corticled cane.' The word *chuh* means 'bamboo,' and *hwang-chuh* might be 'yellow or Imperial bamboo.' *Wan* means a 'myriad,' *ch'i* 'utensil'; *wan-chi téng* might mean a kind of cane 'good for all kinds of uses.' *Wan-chuh* is a particular kind of bamboo from which paper is made in W. Hapei."]