bahaghari

See also: Bahaghari

Tagalog

isang bahaghari

Alternative forms

• bahag-hari
• balaghari — Rizal, eastern Marinduque

Etymology

Commonly believed to be from bahag (“loincloth”) +‎ hari (“king”). For this etymology, scholars have alternative suggestions where the latter component may be from Malay hari (“day”), according to Wolff (1976), or from Sanskrit हरि (hari, “the sun”), according to Potet (2016). Compare Kapampangan pinanari.

However, Zorc (1979) posits an alternative etymology from Southern Luzon axis *balaghadi (“rainbow”) with elision of /l/. Compare Casiguran Dumagat Agta balaghari and Remontado Agta balaghadi.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /bahaɡˈhaɾiʔ/ [bɐ.hɐɡˈhaː.ɾɪʔ]
• Rhymes: -aɾiʔ
• Syllabification: ba‧hag‧ha‧ri

Noun

bahagharì (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜑᜄ᜔ᜑᜇᜒ)

1. rainbow (multicoloured arch in the sky)

   Synonyms: balangaw, balantok, arkuiris, (rare) bahagsubay

Further reading

• “bahaghari”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
• “bahaghari”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• San Buena Ventura, Fr. Pedro de (1613) Juan de Silva, editor, Vocabulario de lengua tagala: El romance castellano puesto primero‎^[1], La Noble Villa de Pila, page 71: “Arco) Bahaghari (pp) del çielo o faja del Rey”
• Wolff, John U. (1976) “Malay borrowings in Tagalog”, in C.D. Cowan & O.W. Wolters, editors, Southeast Asian History and Historiography: Essays Presented to D. G. E. Hall‎^[2], Ithaca: Cornell University Press, page 356
• Potet, Jean-Paul G. (2016) Tagalog Borrowings and Cognates, Lulu Press, →ISBN, page 283
• Zorc, David Paul (1979–1983) Core Etymological Dictionary of Filipino: Part 1, page 33