Mapulon

Tagalog

Alternative forms

• Apolon, Apulon
• Mapolon, Mapolong — archaic, Spanish-based orthography
• Mapulong

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibilities are:

• From ma- + pulong (“meeting”), because the seven “animals” of the constellation seem to meet together.
• From Mapulon, god of seasons in Tagalog mythology.
• Possibly from or related to Ivatan mapolon, an authority in the barangays of Batanes during the pre-historic period. The souls of the social upper class after death were said to enter the heavens and become stars.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /maˈpulon/ [mɐˈpuː.lon̪]
• Rhymes: -ulon
• Syllabification: Ma‧pu‧lon

Proper noun

Mapulon (Baybayin spelling ᜋᜉᜓᜎᜓᜈ᜔)

1. (astronomy) the star cluster Pleiades, reckoned as a constellation of seven goats

   Synonyms: Pulon-Pulon, Supot ni Hudas, Rosaryo

References

• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves‎^[1] (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎^[2], La Noble Villa de Pila, page 130: “Cabrillas) Mapolon ([pp]) ſiete eſtrellas [en el] çielo, metaf) de polon que es jũta por q̃ andan juntas.”
• Serrano-Laktaw, Pedro (1914) Diccionario tagálog-hispano, Ateneo de Manila, page 48: “Apulon. astron. Cabrillas. f. pl.”.
• Dante L. Ambrosio (2005) “BALATIK: Katutubong Bituin ng mga Pilipino”, in Philippine Social Sciences Review‎^[3], volume 57, number 1
• Plansecia, Juan de (1589) “Customs of the Tagalogs”, in The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898, volume vii, →ISBN, pages 178-179
• F. Landa Jocano (1969) Outline of Philippine Mythology‎^[4], Centro Escolar University Research and Development Center
• Florentino H. Hornedo (2000) Taming the Wind: Ethno-cultural History on the Ivatan of the Batanes Isles‎^[5], University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, →ISBN
• Florentino H. Hornedo (1994) “Death and After Death: Ivatan Beliefs and Practices”, in Philippine Studies‎^[6], volume 42, number 4, →ISSN, pages 509–527
• “Mapolong”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018