Learn Cebuano

Update!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 1 Mar 2014 21:40:00 +0800

Maayong adlaw sa inyong tanan!

Pasaylua intawon ko nga wala nako ma-update ni nga site kay nabusy ko pag-ayo. Nagtuon ko karun ug Catalan ug nakadesisyon ko nga ipadayon ni nako nga site. Akong i-base ang mga umaabot nga mga post sa akong mga natun.an sa Catalan.

Ang istilo sa mga posts base sa pinulungan sa Cebuano. Nagpasidaan lang ko ninyo nga makabantay mo ug mga sentence nga sagol Cebuano ug English.

Salamat.

Hello everybody!

I'm very sorry for not being able to update this site because I've been very busy. I'm studying Catalan now and I've decided to continue this site. I'll pattern my upcoming posts from what I've learned in Catalan.

The styles of the posts would be based on spoken Cebuano. I'm warning you that you will notice some sentences that are mixed Cebuano and English.

Thanks.

Song : Rosas Pandan

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:45:00 +0800

This is a Cebuano classic song.
Rosas Pandan is the mythic Bisaya maiden, symbol of rustic beauty and virtue.
This song has been performed in choirs both local and international.
This is Asin version.

Ania si Rosas Pandan
Gikan pa intawon sa kabukiran
Kaninyo makiguban-uban
Sa gisaulog nga kalingawan

Balitaw day akong puhunan
Maoy kabilin sa akong ginikanan
Awit nga labing karaan
Awit nga gikan sa kabungturan

Ayayay ayayay ayayay
Aya-ay sa akong balitaw
Kanindot ba mosayaw
Daw yamog ang kabugnaw

Tigadong tigadong tigadong
Intawon usab si Dodong
Nagtan-aw kang Inday
Nagtabisay ang laway

Ayayay ayayay ayayay
Aya-ay sa akong balitaw
Kanindot ba mosayaw
Daw yamog ang kabugnaw

Tigadong tigadong tigadong
Intawon usab si Dodong
Nagtan-aw kang Inday
Nagtabisay ang laway

Tigadong tigadong tigadong
Intawon usab si Dodong
Nagtan-aw kang Inday
Nagtabisay ang laway
Nagtan-aw kang Inday
Nagtabisay ang laway

Direct translation:

Here is Rosas Pandan
Just arrived from the mountains
To be with all of you
To celebrate the fiesta

This song is my livelihood
An inheritance from my parents
A most ancient song
The pride of our hill country

Ayayay ayayay ayayay
Hey!, my song
Is nice to dance to
Like fog on a cold day

Tigadong tigadong tigadong
Look at Dodong (young man)
He's looking at the young lady
His drool is falling

Ayayay ayayay ayayay
Hey!, my song
Is it nice to dance to
Like fog on a cold day

Tigadong tigadong tigadong
Hey!, also the young man
He's looking at the young lady
His drool is falling

Tigadong tigadong tigadong
Hey!, also the young man
He's looking at the young lady
His drool is falling
He's looking at the young lady
His drool is falling

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Disclaimer:

I do not own the song and the lyrics. All copyright is reserved to it's rightful owners.

Song: Rosas Pandan

Artist: Asin

Songwriter: Domingo "Minggoy" Lopez
Translation: Tom and Cathy Marking

Exercise 1 - Noun Modifiers.

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:37:00 +0800

Exercises.

Fill in the blanks with ang, ang mga, si, silang, ni, nilang, ug, ug mga, sa and sa mga and then translate the sentences into English.

1. ________ balay ________ akong amigo kay naa ______ Talamban.

2. Atbang _______ Country Mall ______ eskwelahan ______ babae.

3. _________ Juliet ________ pares ________ Romeo.

4. _________ ngalan _________ igsoon nako kay John.

5. _________ ngalan _________ igsoon nako kay John ug Joan.

6. Gikaon __________ bata ___________ mansanas.

7. Miinom _________ duha _________ botelya _________ gatas ___________ anak ___________ among silingan.

8. Nagkaon _________ utan __________ anak ____________ Joan.

9. Pila ka estudyante ___________ nagtuon __________ Bisaya?

10. Nagkaun __________ mangga __________ babaye __________ tindahan.

Translations.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

Vocabulary List
balay	house	mansanas	apple
amigo	friend	inom	drink
atbang	in front of	gatas	milk
eskwelahan	school	anak	baby
pares	partner	silingan	neighbor
igsoon	sibling	utan	vegetables
estudyante	student	tindahan	store
nagtuon	studying	ngalan	name
mangga	mango	pila?	how many? / how much

Sentence Formation

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:27:00 +0800

There are two basic ways to form a sentence in Bisaya. These are the subject-predicate word order where the subject appears at the beginning of the sentence and the inverted or transposed word order where the predicate comes before the subject. The subject may be omitted.

The inverted word order is used more often in everyday speech.

1. THE SUBJECT-PREDICATE SENTENCE ORDER

A sentence is in this order when the subject is the most important element in the sentence and it comes first within the sentence. In this order, the word kay (equivalent the verb be) is used.

S + V + O / S + V + C.

Ang balay kay dako.	The house is big	The house is big.
Si Inday kay buotan.	Inday is kind.	Inday is kind.
Silang Inday ug Dodong kay managsuon.	Inday and Dodong are siblings.	Inday and Dodong are siblings.
Ang among silingan kay naminaw ug radyo.	Our neighbour is listening to the radio.	Our neighbour is listening to the radio.
Si Juan kay basin dili moadto.	Juan is maybe not go.	Juan might not go.
Si Pedro kay gusto molakaw.	Pedro is like/want go out.	Pedro wants/likes to go out.

The emphasis in this type of sentence is on the subject – meaning that the speaker wishes to focus attention to the subject. The word kay in sentences 1, 2 and 3 links the subject to what is said about the subject. The kay in sentences 4, 5 and 6 is a helping verb that accompanies the principal verb.

2. THE INVERTED OR TRANSPOSED SENTENCE ORDER

A sentence is in the inverted order when the predicate comes at the beginning of the sentence. The word kay is not used here. Subject and object can be interchanged depending on the focus.

C + S / V + S + O / V + O + S

Dako ang balay.	Big the house.	The house is big.
Buotan si Inday.	Kind Inday.	Inday is kind.
Managsuon silang Inday ug Dodong.	Siblings Inday and Dodong.	Inday and Dodong are siblings.
Naminaw ug radyo ang among silingan.	Listening to the radio our neighbour.	Our neighbour is listening to the radio.
Naminaw (ang) among silingan ug radio.	Listening our neighbour the radio.	Our neighbour is listening to the radio
Basin dili moadto si Juan.	Maybe not go Juan.	Juan might not go.
Gusto molakaw si Pedro.	Like/Want go out Pedro.	Pedro wants/likes to go out.

The focus or emphasis in such sentences is on the predicate rather than on the subject.

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(ref. Aspillera, Paraluman E. Basic Tagalog for Foreigners and Non-Tagalogs. HK: Tuttle Publishing, 2007.)

Song: Gugmang Giatay

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Sat, 4 Jun 2011 04:06:00 +0800

Buot kong ikaw masayud
Paminawon mo
Kay kung pananglit
Yam-iran mo
Mga panumpa ug pasalig ko
Kung ugaling kalit kang mubiya
Di ko kapugngan akong mga luha
Kay ikaw akong himaya
Handumon ko matag karun ug unya
Ikaw ang langit ug yuta, akong pinangga ahhh
Ohhhhhhh aahhhh

Unya mihabol ang kangitngit
Nga giduyugan sa ulan
Ug sa kalit lang nahanaw
Ang bidlisiw sa adlaw

Oh kahayag sa imong panagway
Nga naulipon sa gugmang giatay
Inday paminawa kabus kong gugma
Nga kanimo akong igasa
Dili ko man mahatag
Ang tanang bahandi ning kalibutan
Apan inday dungga intawon

ang alaot nga naulipon sa gugmang giatay

Ohhhh ....

Direct translation:

Want I you know
Listen you
Because if
Refuse you
The promises and vows me
If ever suddenly you leave
Can't I hold my the tears
Because you my glory
Hope I every now and then
You the heaven and earth, my darling. ahhh
Ohhhhh ahhhhhh

Then cover the darkness
Together with rain
And suddenly gone
The rays of the sun

Oh bright the your face
That is slaved the love f%#k
Girl listen poor my love
That to you I give
Can't I give
The all thing this world
But girl listen please

the poor that is slaved the love f%#k

ohhhh,.....

Translation (of meaning):

I want you to listen to this

Because if you neglect the promises and the vows,

If you leave suddenly,

I won't be able to hold back my tears.

Because you're my glory, the one I want every now and then.

You're my heaven and earth, my darling. ahhhhh

Ohhhh Ahhhhh.,

Then suddenly the darkness came

Together with the rain

Then the rays of the sun were gone.

Oh. You're face is so bright

Which is enslaved by this f**ing love

Girl, please listen,

This simple love of mine, to you I am giving

I can never give you all the things in the world

But please listen to this loser enslaved by this f**king love.

ohhhh.

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Disclaimer:

I do not own the song and the lyrics. All copyright is reserved to it's rightful owners.

Song: Gugmang Giatay

Artist: The Ambassadors

Noun Modifiers

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Tue, 31 May 2011 16:50:00 +0800

1. Si and Sila(ng)

The modifier si is singular and used before the name of the person and the plural sila(ng) is used before the names of two or more persons.

Babae si Joan.	Girl Joan.	Joan is a girl.
Lalaki si Jose.	Boy Jose.	Jose is a boy.
Silang Jose ug Joan.	Jose and Joan.	Jose and Joan.

2. Ni and Nila(ng)

The modifier ni is singular and used before the name of the person and the plural nila(ng) is used before the names of two or more persons.

Gikaon ni Joan ang bayabas.	Ate Joan the guava.	Joan ate the guava.
Giadto ni Jose ang balay.	Went Jose the house.	Jose went to the house.
Giuli nilang Jose ug Joan ang CD.	Returned Jose and Joan the CD.	Jose and Joan returned the CD.

Note: Passive and active forms. (Refer to passive and active form of the verb chapter.)

Gikaon ni Joan ang bayabas.	Ate Joan the guava.	Joan ate the guava. (active)
Ang bayabas kay gikaon ni Joan.	The guava is eaten by Joan.	The guava is eaten by Joan. (passive)
Giuli nilang Jose ug Joan ang CD.	Returned Jose and Joan the CD.	Jose and Joan returned the CD. (active)
Ang CD kay giuli nilang Jose ug Joan.	The CD is returned by Jose and Joan	The CD is returned by Jose and Joan. (passive)

3. Ang and Ang mga

The modifier ang is used before the name of a single thing or place and ang mga is used before the names of two or more things or places.

Gikaon ni Joan ang bayabas.	Ate Joan the guava.	Joan ate the guava.
Gbisita ni Jose ang mga balay.	Visited Jose the houses.	Jose visited the houses.
Giuli nilang Jose ug Joan ang mga CD.	Returned Jose and Joan the CDs.	Jose and Joan returned the CDs.
Ang libro ug ang mga lapis.	The book and the pencils.	The book and the pencils.
Ang mga libro ug mga lapis.	The books and the pencils.	The books and the pencils.
Mga libro ug mga lapis.	Books and pencils.	Books and pencils.
Ang Manila ug ang Cebu kay mga siyudad. *	The Manila and the Cebu are cities.	Manila and Cebu are cities.
Ang Manila ug Cebu kay mga siyudad. *	The Manila and Cebu are cities.	Manila and Cebu are cities.

* It is acceptable to delete the second ang before the second name of a place and the meaning of the sentence remains unchanged.

Note: Ang is used when referring to a specific thing. It is equivalent to The in English. While A would be usa ka in Bisaya. The sentence pattern would be changed.

Pagtahal ug usa ka lapis.	Sharpen a pencil.	Sharpen a pencil.
Tahali ang lapis.	Sharpen the pencil.	Sharpen the pencil.
Tahali ang mga lapis.	Sharpen the pencils.	Sharpen the pencils.

4. Ang, Ug and Sa

Ang is used:

a. To introduce a common noun as the subject of the sentence (ang is similar to the English definite article the in this case)

Ang bata kay nagdagan.	The child running.	The child is running.
Nagdagan ang bata.	Running the child.	The child is running.

b. To emphasise the identity or the action of the doer.

Gisulat nako ang ngalan.	Wrote I the name.	I wrote the name.
Ako ang nagsulat sa ngalan.	I the write the name.	I was the one who wrote the name.
Naay sakit ang bata.	Have illness the child.	The child is sick.
Ang bata ang naay sakit.	The child the have illness.	The child is the one who is sick.

Ug is used:

a. To introduce the receiver of the action.

Nagpalit ug sud-an ang babae.	Bought food the woman.	The woman bought food.
Ang babae ang nagpalit ug sud-an	The woman the bought food.	The woman is the one who bought the food.

Note: Ug mga is used for plural receiver.

Sa is used:

a. To indicate association or possession.

Ang balay sa lalaki kay bag-o.	The house of the man is new.	The man’s house is new.
Nibisita sa balay ang asawa sa mayor .	Visited the house the wife of the mayor.	The mayor’s wife visited the house.

Note: Sa mga is used for 2 or more owners.

b. To introduce the doer of the passive action.

Gikaon sa iro ang pan.	Eaten the dog the bread.	The dog ate the bread. The bread was eaten by the dog.
Gipalit sa bata ang lapis.	Bought the child the pencil.	The child bought the pencil. The pencil was bought by the child.
Gipalit sa bata.	Bought the child.	The child bought it.
Gipalit ang lapis.	Bought the pencil.	The pencil was bought.

Note: Sa mga is used for 2 or more doers.

5. Ka and Nga

Ka is used after a number then a common noun to indicate the number of the said noun. The nouns are not inflected. Nga is equivalent to the preposition of in English to indicate amount.

Usa ka ulo.	One head.	A head.
Duha ka kamot.	Two hand.	Two hands.
(Na)pulo ka tudlo.	Ten finger.	Ten fingers.
Lima ka kilo nga bugas.	Five kilo of rice.	Five kilos of rice.
Tulo ka botelya nga mantika.	Three bottle of oil.	Three bottles of oil.

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(ref. Aspillera, Paraluman E. Basic Tagalog for Foreigners and Non-Tagalogs. HK: Tuttle Publishing, 2007.)

Greetings

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Mon, 23 May 2011 16:11:00 +0800

I. GREETINGS AND COMMON EXPRESSIONS

We use the following expressions to greet in Bisaya.

Maayong buntag.	Good morning.
Maayong adlaw.	Good day.
Maayong udto.	Good afternoon. (noon or midday)
Maayong hapon.	Good afternoon.
Maayong gabii.	Good evening.

‘Maayong’ is the contraction of ‘Maayo nga’ which means ‘a good’.

‘Maayong adlaw.’ & ‘Maayo nga adlaw.’ both mean ‘Good morning’.

We add ‘nimo’ or ‘ninyo’ and ‘diha’ to sound polite. ‘Nimo’ means ‘you’ (singular) and ‘Ninyo’ means ‘you’ (plural). ‘Diha’ means there.

Maayong buntag nimo diha.

Good morning to you there.

To answer these expressions, we add the word ‘pud’ or 'sab' or 'sad' which means ‘too’.

A: Maayong buntag nimo diha.	Good morning to you there.
B: Maayong buntag pud.	Good morning, too.

Note: Bisaya doesn’t have a polite word form. We only address the person we are talking to to be polite.

II. GREETINGS – HOW ARE YOU?

Just like Tagalog, Bisaya uses the expression derived from the Spanish, ‘como esta’. ‘Kumusta’.

Kumusta?

How are you?

'Kumusta’ is used in different ways depending on the situation. It is also used to anybody, any age, any gender, relative or friend, etc.

Kumusta?	(used when meeting a relative, friend, acquaintance, etc.)
Kumusta na man ka?	(used especially when you haven’t seen the person you are talking to for a long time)
Kumusta na?	(used in general; the person you are talking to had been sick, had a bad experience,

To answer, we say ‘Maayo man’, or ‘Ok lang’ which means ‘I’m ok’ or 'I'm fine'. We also add the word 'Salamat' at the end of the sentence. But this is optional.

A: Kumusta na?	How are you?
B: Maayo man. Salamat	I'm fine. Thanks.

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(ref. Aspillera, Paraluman E. Basic Tagalog for Foreigners and Non-Tagalogs. HK: Tuttle Publishing, 2007.)

Alphabets, Syllables and Stress

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Fri, 20 May 2011 04:01:00 +0800

ALPHABETS

Vowels:

A, I and U

E and O

During the pre-colonial and Spanish period, Cebuano had three vowel phonemes: /a/, /i/ and /u/. This was later expanded to five vowels with the introduction of Spanish words. The vowels o and u are still mostly allophones, however, with u always being used when it is the beginning of a syllable and o always used when it ends a syllable. But there are some exceptions, like kamatuoran (truth) and hangtúd (until). E originally appeared only in a few words such as "babaye" (girl/woman), "dayeg" (praise, compliment), "parayeg" (loving), and "pangadye" (prayer) and only in last syllables as E was mostly an allophone of I in final syllables. Under the influence of Spanish, more words with e have been added with the introduction of loanwords. (ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebuano_language)

However the vowels are spelt, they are pronounced in the same way.

Consonants:

B, K, D, G, H, L, M, N, NG, P, R, S, T, W and Y

C, F, J, Q, V and X

Cebuano doesn't usually have the C, F, J, Q, V and X. We only use these letters to facilitate the writing of new words and terms borrowed from other languages, although before, C is used instead of K.

The pronunciation of NG is very difficult for foreigners particularly when it appears at the beginning of the word. A good practice would be ang . Say ang. Then prolong it. aaaaaaaang.......... Now you have the idea of how NG sounds.

Another consonant that may pose difficulty for foreigners is R. Unlike English, the R is rather strong and somewhat trilled.

Diphthongs:

AY, OY, AW and IW

These diphthongs appear mostly in the middle or at the end of the word..

SYLLABLES

Cebuano is syllabic. It is pronounced just as it is spelled. But sometimes it could be confusing for learners. Like the word basa.

Ba-sa = (read, v.)

Ba-sá = (wet, adj.)

Bas-á = (to wet, v.)

There are four kinds of syllables in Cebuano.

1. (V) = only one vowel.

Bas-á = (to wet, v.)

Tun-i = (study, v. imperative)

U-ling = (charcaol, n.)

2. (CV) = consonant + vowel.

Ba-sa = (read, v.)

Ba-sá = (wet, adj.)

Pu-ni-ta = (pick, v. imperative)

3. (VC) = vowel + consonant.

Ut-ro = (again, adv.)

Pan-os = (rancid, adj.)

Ok-ok = (cockroach, n.)

4. (CVC) = consonant + vowel + consonant.

Das-mag = (trip/fall, v.)

Dug-mok = (crushed, adj./ v.)

A-li-bang-bang = (butterfly, n.)

It's not so hard, is it? As we go on with the next posts, you will start to understand the types of syllables that exist and the possible combinations of the vowels and consonants. This will help you learn pronounce any words correctly.

STRESS

In Cebuano, like Tagalog, the use of stress on a particular syllable in a word can make a difference in the meaning.

1. oO. The last syllable of the word has the strongest emphasis.

si-lá = (they, pn.)

ku-sog = (strength, n. / strong/loud, adj.)

sa-log = (floor, n.)

2. (o)Oo. The middle or first syllable has the strongest emphasis.

am-po = (pray, wish, n./v.)

la-me-sa = (table, n.)

ba-ba-ye = (woman/girl, n.)

3. Glottal Catch. The glottal catch is often mistaken as that of k sound. This is produced by an abrupt closing of the throat to block the air stream in both the mouth and voice box.

a.(o)Oo with glottal catch. It is pronounced with a stress and a glottal catch at the end. The mark (`) is used above the vowel of the last syllable to indicate a strong emphasis.

a-kò = (mine, pn.)

ba-tà = (child, n.)

kan-di-là = (candle, n.)

b. End Glottal Catch. It is pronounced without any stress but with a glottal catch at the end. The mark (^) is used above the vowel of the last syllable when it is pronounced with a glottal catch but no stress.

pu-nô = (full, adj.)

pu-sô = (hanging rice, n.) (click here for image)

mu-bô = (short, adj.)

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(ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebuano_language)

(ref. Aspillera, Paraluman E. Basic Tagalog for Foreigners and Non-Tagalogs. HK: Tuttle Publishing, 2007.)

What is Cebuano? Why learn Cebuano?

noreply@blogger.com (...wanderer...) — Thu, 19 May 2011 05:28:00 +0800

The aim of this blog is to provide reference for those who want to study conversational/practical Cebuano.

What is Cebuano? Why learn Cebuano?

Cebuano speaking regions in the Philippines .
(photo: Wikipedia)

Cebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people, that is about 25% of the population. It is the most widely spoken member of the Visayan languages; a language closely related to Bahasa Melayu, Bahasa Indonesia, and other Filipino languages. It has the largest native language speaking population of the Philippines despite not being taught formally in schools and universities. It is the lingua franca of the Central Visayas and Mindanao. (ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebuano_language)

It is spoken in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, western parts of Leyte, some parts of Samar,Negros Occidental, Biliran islands, southern region of Masbate island and Mindanao. Some dialects of Cebuano have different names for the language. Ethnic groups from Bohol may refer to Cebuano as Bol-anon while Cebuano speakers in Leyte identify their dialect as Kana. Speakers in Mindanao and Luzon refer to the language simply as Bisaya. (ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebuano_language)

Because it is spoken in many different regions, the spelling might/would/could differ depending on the resources or region where you are but you can still be understood.

Although some words might be different from region to region, this is minimal and nothing to worry about. It's just like British English and American English. Some of the words used are different, such as aubergine and eggplant. An example in Visayan is the word for dragonfly. In some regions, they say tapirot , while in others they call it alindahaw . We'll talk about the differences in the coming posts.

I'll be posting audio files for pronunciation of vocabulary, conversations, exercises for follow ups, short stories, poems and songs. Plus a lot more to help you learn Cebuano.

Different resources have been used to make this blog happen. They will be noted at the end of every post.

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(ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cebuano_language)