WITH HELEN J. CATALBAS
(2nd of 2 parts)
WE ARE reprinting the last two paragraphs of the first part of this column last Monday to supply the missing word, NOT, in the last paragraph. This little word makes a big difference in the meaning of the sentence.
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We take notice that dictionaries are not gender-sensitive. If they are, why the absence of such words as foremothers and forepersons? If ever there is the presence of the foremother and foreperson in dictionaries, why are these words not used in mass, literary and/or legalese communication?
We are not raising the red flag and marching to and fro here because certainly doing so is not our cup of coffee or any other order of the day.
Family names or last names are sometimes the key to knowing the roots of certain groups of people, families or clans.
Sometimes the first letter of family names of locals corresponds to the first letter of the name of the place where they come from.
Certain provinces or municipalities were assigned their names by conquerors and tyrants as their original identification and so were the family names of their natives. This, to our mind, resembles the present day letter coding system.
As places rewrote their history, changes in the name of places occurred. As this historical detail happened, discrepancy occurred in the first letter of the name of the place and that of family names of people living in it.
As of now, it has become difficult to trace back certain families’ roots as there are places with names that start with letter L but their locals’ family names start with letter C or any other letter.
Tourism is one of the reasons that make family roots spread to other continents.
As many tourists grow in love with the places they visit, their desire to stay longer and establish residence becomes stronger also. They procreate there and they die there but their roots spread meanwhile./PN
