* Coming Soon
Acknowledgments
Like the revised dictionary itself, acknowledging everyone and everything involved in sustaining this revision is a work in progress. To date, many individuals, organizations, and agencies in the Mariana Islands and beyond have contributed so much, and in so many ways. Future contributors will be acknowledged as we continue to update this section.
Here is our best attempt to recognize all those who have been involved so far.
In the Mariana Islands
First and foremost, we want to recognize and thank the working groups from Rota, Saipan, and Tinian who, during the first years of the project, did the crucial work of checking and revising the spelling and definitions of the 1975 dictionary entries and adding illustrative sentences. Initially, there were seven working groups: Gilita Ham (Rota), Attu’åsi (Saipan), Guinifi (Saipan), Langat (Saipan), Sussupi (Saipan), Dåddao (Tinian), and the general Tinian group. Later, a general Saipan group was added. The members of these groups are listed below, with the group leaders identified by an asterisk.
Gilita Ham (Luta): Tita A. Hocog*, Daisy A. Quitugua*, Magdalena SN. Mesngon, Leslie M. Barcinas, Ann Marie M. Rosario, Rebecca T. Cuevas, Lorna Mae Calvo-King.
Attu’åsi (Saipan): Viola S. De Leon Guerrero, Jose DLG. Sanchez*, Bernadita P. Sanchez, Pedro P. Castro, William I. Macaranas.
Guinifi (Saipan): William I. Macaranas, Frances M. Sablan, Carmen S. Taimanao*.
Langat (Saipan): Rosalina M. Magofna, Bernadita P. Sablan*, Esther M. San Nicholas, Maggie C. Untalan.
Sussupi (Saipan): Vicente S. Borja*, Rita C. Guerrero, Glenn H. Manglona.
General Saipan Group: Ana C. Baer, Elizabeth DLG. Concepcion.
Daddao (Tinian): Ester Basa, Angelina C. Fitial*, Bertha M. Pangelinan.
General Tinian Group: Arsene M. Borja, Diana H. Borja, Florine M. Hofschneider*, Leon Masga.
Each working group had one or more individuals who helped with data entry. Among them, we especially acknowledge Ana C. Baer, Viola S. Deleon Guerrero, Daisy A. Quitugua, and Frances M. Sablan. In addition to the data entry by the working groups, other community members assisted in this process: Jose M. Limes, Ana Somol and Cameron Fruit.
We also recognize and thank the thematic groups, which were formed to focus on traditional practices, such as fishing, hunting, agriculture, food, religion, medicine, and so on. Those who participated in these groups, or otherwise helped to identify words from specialized areas, include:
On Rota: Aniceto H. Mundo, Concepcion SN. Ulloa, Rufino C. Maratita, Victorina T. Barcinas, Julita A. Calvo, Lorna D. Calvo, Rosita A. Hocog, Lou T. Manglona, Milagro H. Manglona, Martin T. Mendiola, Tomas D. Mendiola, Ann M. Rosario, Ray T. Sablan, Balbina DLG. Taisacan.
On Saipan: Illuminada R. Bermudes, Vicente S. Borja, Isidoro T. Cabrera, Lorenzo DLG. Cabrera, Jose Ch. Camacho, Juan S. Castro, John O. Gonzales, Victorino C. De Leon Guerrero, Herman Q. De Leon Guerrero (Eru’), Susana Blas De Leon Guerrero, Howard I. Macaranas, Donald B. Mendiola, Glenn H. Manglona Daniel O. Quitugua, Noel B. Quitugua, Gonzalo Q. Santos, Herbert M. Del Rosario, Jesus DLG. Sanchez, Herman C. Tudela, Anicia Q. Tomokane.
On Tinian: Consolacion Aquiningoc, Jose Atalig, Martha Bantilino, Ignacio Barcinas, Esther B. Basa, Arthur Hofschneider, Julian Hofschneider, Lucia B. Maratita, David Q. Maratita, Rufino Mendiola, Jesse Mundo, Bertha M. Pangelinan, Maria Rios.
In addition, in the last 7 to 8 years, after the working groups completed their assignments, numerous Chamorro speakers from the community, including former working and thematic group members, contributed their knowledge of specific words and checked with the editors about whether certain words were included in the revised dictionary. New words continue to be added whenever we encounter them during cultural events, meetings, talk shows (Marianas Agupa’), funerals, community events, family gatherings, etc. We acknowledge their contributions here: Escolastica T. Cabrera, Isaac M. Calvo, Marie Soledad C. Castro, Francisco S. Chong, Francisco D. Diaz, Francisco M. Diaz, Juan Guerrero, Luise B. Quitugua, Turkuatu B. Tudela, Tomas A. Camacho (Bishop), Zita D. Pangelinan, Melissa Aguiningoc, Tito H. Atalig, Maria Q. Babauta, Leslie M. Barcinas, Auria A. Borja, Joseph N. Camacho, Estefania C. Chong, Rebecca T. Cuevas, David T. Diaz, Edward T. Diaz, Patrick C. Guerrero, Debra P. Diaz, Mary Margaret S. Sablan, Nicolas D. Sablan, Juanette S. Sablan, Nicolas S. Sablan, Maria (Frica) T. Pangelinan, Joseph I. Pangelinan, Jeffrey G. Concepcion, Magdalena S. George, Fermin Atalig, Larry B. Hocog, Pia T. Hocog, Chris S. Inos, Joseph S. Inos, Oton T. Mendiola, Marie Reyes, Henry I. Sablan, Agnes M. McPhetres, Rosa (Chailang) T. Palacios, Sabina San Nicholas, Juanita I. Takai, Juan C. Tudela, Margarita D. Tudela, Paz C. Younis, Ina S. Taimanao, Rufino C. Maratita, Maria K. Mesngon, Anita K. Jacob, Carmen T. Cabrera, Virginia T. De Jesus, Elizabeth C. Barcinas, Joaquina M. Barcinas, Carleen O. Atalig, Mary Elizabeth S. San Nicolas, Merlyn B. Ogo, Rosita S. Atalig, Maria O. Ayuyu, Evelyn M. Atalig, Gordon (Figu’) B. Salas, Emilio A. Ayuyu, Antonia De Gracia Castro, Maria P. Crisostimo, John Oliver De Los Reyes, Gonzales, William I. Macaranas, Dolores I. Marciano, Edward C. Sablan, Frances Mary M. Sablan, Pedro Pablo C. Sablan, Regina L. Sablan, Matias A. Taisacan, Lucia SN. Masga, Belta M. Pangelinan, Deborah A. Fleming, Leon G. Masga, Jose Mendiola, Herman C. Tudela, Tito H. Atalig, Maria Q. Babauta, Pia T. Hocog, Christobal S. Inos, Jonas Barcinas, Jackie A. Quitugua, Roman C. Benavente, Mario (Sakman) F. Borja, Peter P. Perez, Jesus Castro, Tomas Cruz, Principia C. Cruz, William Jones, John Diego Palacios, Pricilla San Nicolas, Vicente Santos, and Pete A. Tenorio.
Several government agencies, organizations and individuals in the CNMI and in Guam contributed valuable resources, such as funding support, facilities, materials, and personnel. Here, there are many groups to acknowledge.
In the CNMI:
– the Northern Marianas Humanities Council (Scott Russell, Honora Tenorio)
– the Saipan, Northern Islands Delegation (18th & 19th SNILD) of the CNMI legislature and Speaker Raphael S. Demapan
– the Chamorro/Carolinian Language Policy Commission (David Omar, Melvin Faisao, Cindy P. Reyes, Alejandro Agulto)
– the Office of Indigenous Affairs (Gonzalo Q. Santos, Roman Tudela Jr., Chris (Kuri’) Ogo)
– the office of the Mayor of Rota
– the office of the Mayor of Tinian
– Marianas Agupa’ (Glenn H. Manglona)
– Joeten-Kiyu Public Library (Erlinda C. Naputi)
– the CNMI office of the Pacific Regional Educational Laboratory (Evelyn Ulloa)
– the Marianas Alliance of Non-Governmental Organizations (MANGO) (Frances M. Sablan
– Ricky Sanchez, Webmaster
In Guam:
– the Kumisión I Fino’ CHamoru / Chamorro Language Commission
– the Senior Citizen Centers
– the office of the Mayor of Guam
– families and friends who graciously shared with us the meanings of certain words
– Dr. Bernadita (Benit) Camacho Dungca for sharing her experience during the time she was working with Dr. Topping and Mr. Pedro M. Ogo as one of the editors of the Chamorro-English Dictionary (1975).
Outside the Mariana Islands
We knew when we began planning this revision that the work would be far easier if we had access to the digital files of the 1975 dictionary entries. Byron W. Bender, Robert Hsu, and Kenneth Rehg – Dr. Topping’s colleagues at the University of Hawaii – helped locate these files, and generously give us access to them. We are particularly grateful to Dr. Rehg, who extracted the files from floppy disks and sent them to Dr. Chung, and to Dr. Hsu, who provided information about how the original entries were formatted.
The data management tool used for this revision is SIL’s Toolbox. Albert Bickford and Ed Quigley, both from SIL, generously advised Dr. Chung as she converted the original files to a database in Toolbox format. Cameron Fruit provided tireless technical support to the dictionary project in its first years, installing Toolbox in many computers, teaching us to use it, troubleshooting, and encouraging us with his patience, optimism, and good humor. His support was invaluable.
James McCloskey, from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), and Boris Harizanov, then a UCSC graduate student, pushed the digital aspects of the project further. Dr. McCloskey pointed out that we needed a version control system for the dictionary database, and then installed one. Without his service as system administrator, our work could not have moved forward. Dr. Harizanov developed a search engine and parser that enables the dictionary database to be searched online. Harizanov’s suite of programs is exciting: it does some morphological analysis, neutralizes the differences between the CNMI’s and Guam’s orthographies, and does not require ‘exact match’ – a user can look up a word without knowing exactly how to spell it. The hope is that when the dictionary revision is complete, Harizanov’s search and parser will be made publicly available and hosted somewhere in the Mariana Islands.
Oher UCSC graduate students contributed to the dictionary revision. Karl DeVries and Scarlett Clothier-Goldschmidt worked on converting Harizanov’s Perl programs into Python. Ruth Kramer checked the scientific names in the original entries; so did Cameron Fruit and his son, Colin Fruit. Boris Harizanov, Mira Hess, Anie Thompson, and Jake Vincent, and undergraduates Richard Bibbs, Francisco Delgado, and Christopher Garcia, worked on identifying Spanish loanwords in the dictionary database. Finally, Kendra Buchanan and Anie Thompson helped develop the morphological analysis implemented by Harizanov’s search engine and parser.
Work on the dictionary database was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants No. BCS-0753594 to the Northern Mariana Islands Council of the Humanities and No. BCS-0753240 to the University of California, Santa Cruz, and by a 2008-09 Special Research Grant from the Academic Senate Committee on Research at the University of California, Santa Cruz.