Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian
No disrespect intended in using the word "chicken" to describe the sarimanok. Manok means chicken in many Philippine dialects. If you prefer to substitute "bird" that works for me too.
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I didn't mean to say you were being "disrespectful" when i used the word "dismissive". It is true the the word "manok" has come to mean "chicken" in many, if not most Filipino dialects. But originally the word just meant "bird". "Sari" is a garment of multiple colours. Unfortunately the common modern usage of manok has made most modern depictions of this legendary bird look more like a chicken (rooster). I believe initially, while this bird may have has certain features such as a comb that are rooster-like, this bird was not intended to be considered a chicken.
This bird had a very strong spiritual position in Maranao culture, being a link between the seen and unseen worlds, which is part of why i endorse the theory that the junggayan pommel was intended to be a representation of this mythical bird.