Etymology
The ancient people in Mainland Mindanao were called Iranun, also spelled Iranon, of the coastal area of Illana Bay (Ilian in Maranao) and Iranaon of the people in Bembaran or Bukidnon and Kiaranda Area, a ragat or ranao, a lake, in local language.
The Iranon is the people of the constant flow of rivers and creeks from the mountains to the coastal areas. A volcanic eruption developed a flat land surface little-by-little. In modern science describes and illustrates this process as results of sedimentary formation and residual remains that forms the low and flat land surface in the coastal areas. The Maranao vernacular called it “ira” which means remains.
Thus, the name of the people in the coastal area of Illana Bay was derived from the root word “ira” plus “ranao” forms the word Iranaon which means people living the residual remains in the coastal areas.
In present days, the Maranao refers the word Iranaon “tao sa ragat” or the people of Lanao who migrated to sea area, while the Maranaos are people who dwelled around the lake of Lanao. These peoples belong to same genealogy, lineages, culture and history. They are called Maranao in general term.
Read more about this topic: Maranao People
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)