There are two words in the Marquesan language for dog: peto, used in the Northern Marquesas, and nuhe, used in the Southern Marquesas.
The former might have been an English loanword from pet or a Spanish loanword from perro (dog), although pero was an alternative for dog (kurī) in the related Māori language.
According to another theory supporting its foreign origin, the name came from a New Haven dog named Pato left on Nuku Hiva by the American sea captain Edmund Fanning from 1798 to 1803.
The South Marquesan Nuhe is unique in the Polynesian languages, but may have some connection to wanuhe, the word for dog in the Papuan language of the Brumer Islands.
French Catholic missionary René-Ildefonse Dordillon listed two other forms: mohoʻio and mohokio in his 1904 dictionary Grammaire et dictionnaire de la langue des iles Marquises.
There are two words in the Marquesan language for dog: peto, used in the Northern Marquesas, and nuhe, used in the Southern Marquesas. The former might have been an English loanword from pet or a Spanish loanword from perro (dog), although pero was an alternative for dog (kurī) in the related Māori language. According to another theory supporting its foreign origin, the name came from a New Haven dog named Pato left on Nuku Hiva by the American sea captain Edmund Fanning from 1798 to 1803. The South Marquesan Nuhe is unique in the Polynesian languages, but may have some connection to wanuhe, the word for dog in the Papuan language of the Brumer Islands. French Catholic missionary René-Ildefonse Dordillon listed two other forms: mohoʻio and mohokio in his 1904 dictionary Grammaire et dictionnaire de la langue des iles Marquises.
Marquesan Dog