“Junk” is a term that Americans still use to refer to “traditional” Asian boats. The origin of this term is
probably a transliteration* that a missionary from the Order of Friars Minor in Italy (mid 14th century), used in his writing about his voyage to China via the Indian Ocean during the Yuan dynasty; a Muslim traveler referred to ships seen in the Indian Ocean and along the Chinese coasts as “Gonku” or “Chunko.” It is believed that the word ‘Junk’ came from the Malay-Javanese word jung or ajung (hard ‘g’) which could have been derived from the Chinese word jung meaning “floating house”.
A *transliteration, put in simple terms, doesn’t tell you the meaning of a word, but it gives you an idea of how the word is pronounced in a foreign language. And now you know.
