siyokoy

Tagalog

FWOTD – 7 December 2024

Alternative forms

• siyukoy
• shokoy
• syokoy — superseded, pre-2007

Etymology

A metathesis of Hokkien 水鬼 (chúi-kúi, “sea monster; water goblin”). For the second sense, coined by Virgilio S. Almario, possibly an analogy of something neither sea creature nor man.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /siˈokoj/ [ˈʃoː.xoɪ̯]
  • IPA^(key): (no yod coalescence) /siˈokoj/ [ˈsjoː.xoɪ̯]
• Rhymes: -okoj
• Syllabification: si‧yo‧koy

Noun

siyokoy (Baybayin spelling ᜐᜒᜌᜓᜃᜓᜌ᜔)

1. (folklore) siyokoy; merman (especially the Philippine version)
2. (linguistics) siyokoy, a pseudo-loan or hybrid word seemingly derived from both English and Spanish; a pseudo-Hispanism
   • 2019 April 18, Leo Fordán, “Sa Láwas ng mga Salita”, in Samot-Sari‎^[1], archived from the original on March 3, 2024:

     Gayumpaman, ibá sa mga salitâng siyokoy ang "neolohísmo" o sinasadyang eskperimento sa pagbuo ng salita

     However, words that are a "neologism" or a coined word are different from a siyokoy.

Related terms

• punsoy

See also

• batsoy
• sirena
• sireno

Further reading

• “siyokoy”, in KWF Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, 2024
• “siyokoy”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1948) Chinese elements in the Tagalog language: with some indication of Chinese influence on other Philippine languages and cultures and an excursion into Austronesian linguistics, Manila: Filipiniana Publications, page 55
• Chan-Yap, Gloria (1980) “Hokkien Chinese borrowings in Tagalog”, in Pacific Linguistics, volume B, number 71 (PDF), Canberra, A.C.T. 2600.: The Australian National University, page 146