QUOTE
1. Etymology of Cagayan
By Dr. Lawrence A. Reid
"The word 'cagayan' is reconstructible, possibly, to one of the early proto-languages of the Philippines if not for Proto-Philippines itself, as *kaRayan "river", where *R represents the proto-phoneme with g reflexes in the Northern Cordilleran languages, such as Ibanag and Itawis, as well as in Tagalog and other Central Philippine languages, as r in Ilokano, as y in Batanic languages, Kapampangan and Bolinao, and as l in Central and Southern Cordilleran languages such as Kalinga, Bontok, Ifugaw, Inibaloi and Pangasinan, and in the southern Philippine languages, Tboli and Blaan. Of course the term *kaRayan is not reflected in all of these languages.
"... In Proto-Philippines there were two words for 'water'. The term for 'fresh water' was *wa'iR, hence Bontok, etc, wa'il 'stream'; Manobo languages wayig, and similar forms; T'boli 'el; Maguindanao 'ig 'water', all of which reflect the reconstructed term faithfully, according to the phonological developments of each language. The general term for 'water' was *Danum, hence Bontok, etc., danum; Sambalic languages lanom 'water'. There are no languages in the Philippines that reflect a term 'ag'. Lists of terms for 'water' and also 'river' from around 50 Philippine languages can be found in my 1971 book, Philippine Minor Languages: Word Lists and Phonologies (Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 8. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.)
"The word that has been reconstructed for Proto-Philippines by Himes, and also Blust for 'to flow, of a river' is *bulus. None has reconstructed *agus with this, or any other meaning. In fact it is doubtful that there was a *g phoneme in the Proto-Philippine language. The g sound in Philippine languages usually developed from a voiced velar fricative, represented as *R in reconstructions.
"The evidence for the Proto-Philippine word reconstructable for river, *kaRayan, comes from Ilokano karayan, Central Cagayan Agta kahayan, Itawis kayan, etc. Note that in all the languages that have a reflex of this form, it simply means 'river', it is not a morphologically complex form. There is no language that reflects a form 'kagay'. Nor is there any evidence that either the final -an was a suffix, or for that matter that the initial ka- was a prefix. At some early stage, it is possible that the -an was a locative suffix. But perhaps *kaRay was the name of a plant that typically grew in the river where the term first developed, or the name of a kind of fish. These are far more likely than to assume that *kaRay meant 'river'. But to go beyond the evidence presented above is pure speculation, and any person's guess is as good as any others ...."
By Dr. Lawrence A. Reid
"The word 'cagayan' is reconstructible, possibly, to one of the early proto-languages of the Philippines if not for Proto-Philippines itself, as *kaRayan "river", where *R represents the proto-phoneme with g reflexes in the Northern Cordilleran languages, such as Ibanag and Itawis, as well as in Tagalog and other Central Philippine languages, as r in Ilokano, as y in Batanic languages, Kapampangan and Bolinao, and as l in Central and Southern Cordilleran languages such as Kalinga, Bontok, Ifugaw, Inibaloi and Pangasinan, and in the southern Philippine languages, Tboli and Blaan. Of course the term *kaRayan is not reflected in all of these languages.
"... In Proto-Philippines there were two words for 'water'. The term for 'fresh water' was *wa'iR, hence Bontok, etc, wa'il 'stream'; Manobo languages wayig, and similar forms; T'boli 'el; Maguindanao 'ig 'water', all of which reflect the reconstructed term faithfully, according to the phonological developments of each language. The general term for 'water' was *Danum, hence Bontok, etc., danum; Sambalic languages lanom 'water'. There are no languages in the Philippines that reflect a term 'ag'. Lists of terms for 'water' and also 'river' from around 50 Philippine languages can be found in my 1971 book, Philippine Minor Languages: Word Lists and Phonologies (Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 8. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.)
"The word that has been reconstructed for Proto-Philippines by Himes, and also Blust for 'to flow, of a river' is *bulus. None has reconstructed *agus with this, or any other meaning. In fact it is doubtful that there was a *g phoneme in the Proto-Philippine language. The g sound in Philippine languages usually developed from a voiced velar fricative, represented as *R in reconstructions.
"The evidence for the Proto-Philippine word reconstructable for river, *kaRayan, comes from Ilokano karayan, Central Cagayan Agta kahayan, Itawis kayan, etc. Note that in all the languages that have a reflex of this form, it simply means 'river', it is not a morphologically complex form. There is no language that reflects a form 'kagay'. Nor is there any evidence that either the final -an was a suffix, or for that matter that the initial ka- was a prefix. At some early stage, it is possible that the -an was a locative suffix. But perhaps *kaRay was the name of a plant that typically grew in the river where the term first developed, or the name of a kind of fish. These are far more likely than to assume that *kaRay meant 'river'. But to go beyond the evidence presented above is pure speculation, and any person's guess is as good as any others ...."
http://cagayan.sni.ph/appendix.html
Cagayan-Cagayan River,Cagayan De Oro
