| Cebuano Sinugboanon |
||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Philippines | |
| Region: | Central Visayas and most of Mindanao | |
| Total speakers: | first language: 20 million (ethnologue) second language: 11 million (est.) |
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| Ranking: | 47 | |
| Language family: | Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Borneo-Philippines Central Philippine Bisayan Cebuan Cebuano |
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| Writing system: | Latin (Cebuano variant); Historically written in Baybayin |
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| Official status | ||
| Official language in: | Regional language in the Philippines | |
| Regulated by: | Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (Commission on the Filipino Language) |
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| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | ceb | |
| ISO 639-3: | ceb | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Cebuano (Cebuano: Sinugbuanon, "language of the Cebuanos") is an Austronesian language (Malayo Polynesian language) spoken in the Philippines by about 20,000,000 people (according to Ethnologue). It is a member of the Visayan languages, and is thus also commonly referred to as Visayan (Cebuano: Binisaya, "language of the Visayans"). The name came from the Philippine island of Cebu, the site of the second-largest metropolitan area in the country. Cebuano is given the ISO 639-2 three letter code ceb, but has no ISO 639-1 two letter code.
Cebuano is spoken natively by the inhabitants of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, western parts of Leyte and Biliran islands, southern third of Masbate island and throughout the most of Mindanao. It is also spoken in a few towns and islands in Samar. Until 1975, Cebuano surpassed Tagalog in terms of total number of speakers, but Cebuano still has more native speakers than Tagalog. Migrations from Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental mostly to Mindanao and vice versa increase the Cebuano-speaking population of the Philippines. Some dialects of Cebuano give different names to the language. Residents of Bohol may refer to Cebuano as Bol-anon while Cebuano-speakers in Leyte may call their dialect Kana. Speakers in Mindanao and Metro Manila refer to the language simply as Binisaya or Bisaya.
Cebuano is also spoken by Warays in Samar and Leyte, Porohanon in Poro, Ilonggos in Negros Oriental, Eskaya in Bohol, and by native (like Atas, Bagobos, Butuanons, Maranaos, and Tausugs) and migrant Filipino ethnic groups (like Ilocanos and Ilonggos), foreign ethnic groups (like Spaniards, Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans), and other peoples in Mindanao as second language. Cebuano is a language with the Verb Subject Object sentence order, in which the first term in the sentence is the term given emphasis. Nouns and adjectives are joined by the nga connector with their order arbitrary as long as the nga connector is in between them.
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Cebuano has 21 phonemes. There are sixteen consonants: p, t, k, ʔ (the glottal stop), b, d, g, m, n, ng, s, h, w, l, r, and y. There are five vowels: i, e, a, o, and u.
Before the arrival of the Spanish, 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, complement), "parayeg" (loving), and "pangadye" (prayer) and only in last syllables as "E" was mostly an allophone of "I" in final syllables. With the influence of Spanish, more words with e has been added with the introduction of loanwords.
The vowels are:
Below is a chart of Cebuano consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.
| Bilabial | Dental | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | Voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| Voiced | b | d | g | |||
| Fricative | s | h | ||||
| Flap | ɾ | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
Accent is also a distinguisher of words, so that dápit means "to invite", while dapít means "near" or "nearby place". Consonants [d] and [ɾ] were once allophones, but cannot interchange, like kabungturan (uplands) [from bungtód, mountain] is correct but not *kabungtudan and tagadihá (from there) [from dihá, there] is correct but not *tagarihá.
While Cebuano nouns are not inflected, they are usually preceded by case markers. There are three types of case markers: kinsa (nominative), tag-iya (genitive), and gitagan-an.
Unlike English or Spanish which are nominative-accusative languages, Cebuano is an ergative-absolutive language. This may have led to a misconception about Cebuano as being often spoken in a passive voice.
Kinsa or nominative markers mark the topic of most sentences and both the topic and complementary predicate of an equational sentence. Tag-iya or genitive markers mark the owner of the thing or the doer of an action. Gitagan-an markers are similar to prepositions in English. They mark things such as location and direction. Furthermore, noun markers are divided into two classes: one for names of people (personal) and the second for everything else (general).
Below is a chart of case markers. Mga (pronounced [maˈŋa]) marks the plural.
| Kinsa | Tag-iya | Gitagan-an | |
|---|---|---|---|
| general singular | ang | sa | sa |
| general plural | ang mga | sa mga | sa mga |
| personal singular | si | ni* | kang |
| Personal plural | sila si/ silang | nila ni/ nilang* | kanila ni/ kanilang |
*Tag-iya case functions like an adjective. Sometimes an adjective acts as a complementary predicate. When a tag-iya case noun is a complementary predicate it uses kang in singular and ila ni/ilang in plural.
Examples:
Miabot si Manang Kcy.
has-arrived Manang Kcy
"Manang Kcy has arrived."
Gwapo si Roland Christian.
Handsome is Roland Christian.
"Roland Christian is Handsome."
Nakit-an ni Nicoy si Janx.
did-see Nicoy Janx
"Nicoy saw Janx."
Mangadto silang Karlatoot ug Susiedear sa balay ni Jedd.
Will-go Karlatoot and Susiedear to-the house of Jedd
"Karlatoot and Susiedear will go to Jedd's house."
Hain ang mga libro?
At-where the those book(s)
"Where are the books?"
To-a kang Williever ang yawe.
At with Williever the keys
"Williever has the keys."
Like nouns, personal pronouns are categorized by case.
| Kinsa | Tag-iya(primary)* | Tag-iya(modifier)** | Oblique | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | ako | akoa*** | nako | kanako |
| 2nd person singular | ikaw | imoha | nimo | kanimo |
| 3rd person singular | siya / sya | iyaha /iya | niya | kaniya |
| 1st person plural inclusive | kita | atoa / ato | nato | kanato |
| 1st person plural exclusive | kami | amoa / amo | namo | kanamo |
| 2nd person plural | kamo | inyoha | ninyo | kaninyo |
| 3rd person plural | sila | ilaha | nila | kanila |
*There are two sets of tag-iya case and they function similarly except that the primary tag-iya would need the unifying linker nga and...
**the modifier tag-iya cannot be used as complementary adjective.
***The final syllable of a primary tag-iya pronoun is mostly dropped.
When the pronoun is not the first word of the sentence, the short form is more commonly used than the full form.
| Kinsa | Tag-iya(primary) | Tag-iya(modifier) | Oblique | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | ko* | ako | ko | nako |
| 2nd person singular | ka | imo | mo | nimo |
| 3rd person singular | siya | iya | niya | niya |
| 1st person plural inclusive | ta** | ato | nato | nato |
| 1st person plural exclusive | mi | amo | namo | namo |
| 2nd person plural | kamo | inyo | ninyo | ninyo |
| 3rd person plural | sila | ila | nila | nila |
*When the object is a second person pronoun do not use ko, use ta instead.
**When the object is a second person pronoun ta means first person singular.
Examples:
Misulat ko.
"I wrote."
Gisulatan ko niya.
"He/She wrote me a letter."
Akong ihatag niya.
"I will give it to him/her."
Modifier tag-iya pronouns follow the word they modify. Primary tag-iya pronouns can take the place of the modifier tag-iya pronoun but they precede the word they modify.
Ang balay nako.
Ang akong balay.
"My house."
Especial attention should be given to the short form ta. When the subject is second person it mean first person singular.
Gihigugma ta ka.
"I love you."
Tagaan ta mo og kwarta.
"I will give you money."
Nakit-an ta mo gahapon sa tindahan.
"I saw you at the store yesterday."
Higala ta ka.
"You are my friend."
The inclusive pronoun kita refers to the first and second persons. It may also refer to a third person(s).
The exclusive pronoun kamí refers to the first and third persons but excludes the second.
Wala tay bugas.
"We (you and I) don't have rice."
Wala miy bugas.
"We (someone else and I, but not you) don't have rice."
The short form is often used when the pronoun is not the first word in the sentence.
The pronouns are gender neutral, hence siyá means either he or she.
Cebuano demonstrative pronouns are as follows.
| Kinsa | Tag-iya | Gitagan-an* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearest to speaker (this, here) | kiri(ri)** | iri | ngari |
| Near speaker and addressee (this, here) | kini(ni) | ini | nganhi |
| Nearest addressee (that, there) | kana(na) | ana | nganha |
| Remote (yon, yonder) | kadto(to) | ato | ngadto |
*The nga- form can be replaced with the di- form so intead of ngari, nganhi, nganha, ngadto one can use diri, dinhi, dinha, didto.
**The one in parenthesis is the short form which is often used when a pronoun is not the first word in the sentence.
Examples:
Unsa ni?
What this? "What's this?"
Kinsa nang tawhana?
Who that man? "Who is that man?"
Gikan ni Pedro ning sulata.
From (ni=adjective) Pedro this letter "This letter is from Pedro."
Mangaon sila didto.
Will-eat they there "They will eat there."
Mikaon ana ang bata.
Ate that the child. "The child ate (some of) that."
Cebuano verbs are morphologically complex and take on a variety of affixes reflecting focus, aspect, mode, and others.
Cebuano verbs conjugate for aspect rather than for tense. Cebuano verbs indicate whether you are still going to start the act or not going to start it anymore. There are three types of aspect: imperative, incepted, and incepting.
Examples on INCEPTED ASPECT:
Past actions
1. I went to Europe.
The act had been started in the past therefore the Cebuano translation is:
Miadto ko sa Uropa .
2. I finally found you,
The act had been started in the past therefore the Cebuano translation is:
Nakaplagan ra gyud[1] ta ka.
Present actions
1. I am going to the kitchen.
The act has been started before the statement is spoken therefore the Cebuano translation is:
Nagpadulong ko sa kusina.
2. Peter finds Miriam.
The act has been started before the statement is spoken therefore the Cebuano translation is:
Nakaplagan ni Pedro si Miriam.
Examples of INCEPTING ASPECT
Future actions
1. I will return this Christmas.
The act has not happen yet therefore is has not yet started:
Mobalik ko karong Pasko.
2. She will find you.
The act has not happen yet therefore is has not yet started:
Iya kang makit-an.
Habitual actions
1. She goes to the shore every morning.
Although the act had already happened she will still have to start the same act again and again (every morning) so the act itself is still to be started or pagasugdan pa and therefore:
Moadto siya matag buntag sa baybayon.
2. He always finds her there. Although the act had already happened she will still have to start the same act again and again (always) so the act itself is still to be started or pagasugdan pa and therefore:
Kanunay siya niyang makaplagan didto.
An interesting feature of verbs in Cebuano and in other Philippine languages is its orientation (focus) system. This means that the role or relationship of the topic (marked by the absolutive marker) is reflected in the verb.
There are nine common orientation types: um verbs, pag verbs, pang verbs, ka verbs, magka verbs, on verbs, an verbs, i verbs and reciprocative.
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| -(um)- | mi- | mo- | mo- |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| pag- | nag- | mag- | mag- |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| pang- | nang- | mang- | mang- |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| ka- | na- | ma- | ma- |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| none | nagka- | magka- | magka- |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| pag-in-ay | nag-in-ay | mag-in-ay | mag-in-ay |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| -a | gi- | -on | -a |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| -i | gi-an | -an | -i |
| imperative | incepted | incepting | wala base |
|---|---|---|---|
| i- | gi- | i- | i- |
There three moods in Cebuano: intuitive, non-intuitive, and aptative
| NON_INTUITIVE | incepted aspect | incepting aspect | wala form |
|---|---|---|---|
| um verbs | nahi- | mahi- | mahi- |
| pag verbs | nahi- | mahi- | mahi- |
| pang verbs | nahipang- | mahipang- | mahipang- |
| ka verbs | naha- | maha- | maha- |
| magka verbs | none | none | none |
| reciprocating verbs | nagka-in-ay | magka-in-ay | magka-in-ay |
| on verbs | na- | ma- | ma- |
| an verbs | hing-an | mahi-an | hing-i |
| i verbs | nai- | mai- | mai- |
| APTATIVE | incepted aspect | incepting aspect | wala form |
|---|---|---|---|
| um verbs | naka- | maka- | maka- |
| pag verbs | naka- | maka- | maka- |
| pang verbs | nakapang- | makapang- | makapang- |
| ka verbs | none | none | none |
| magka verbs | none | none | none |
| reciprocating verbs | none | none | none |
| on verbs | na- | ma- | ma- |
| an verbs | na-an | ma-an | ma-i |
| i verbs | gika- | ika- | ikaw |
Cebuano adjectives (and also nouns) are linked to the word they modify by the unifying linker nga. However if nga follows a word ending in a vowel or glottal stop or the letter N, then it becomes suffixed to that word as -ng. The adjective often come before the word it modifies but it can also come after it.
Ex:
maayong buntag = a good morning
dakong panon = a large crowd
mga matang malulot = beautiful eyes
A noun however always comes after the word it modifies.
Ex:
balay nga bato = stone house
hangin nga habagat = southeast monsoon
Superlative are expressed by adding the affix kina--an or the particle labing Ex:
kinamaayohan = best
kinadak-an = largest
labing malulot = the most pretty
Comparative are express by adding the particle mas or labawng.
Cebuano has enclitic particles that have important information conveying difference nuances in meaning.
Below is a list of some enclitic particles.
1) equational ( topic = predicate ) ~ in this sentence type you can interchange the topic and the predicate without changing the thought of the sentence
a) "Mao kini ang Kabisay-an". = This is the Visayas. b) "Siya si Oscar." = He is Oscar. c) "Mao na ang amoang balay" = That is our house.
2) non-equational ( topic < predicate ) ~ in this sentence type the topic and the predicate are not interchangeable
a) "Pilipino ang mga Bisaya." = Visayans are Filipinos. b) "Pula ang iyang gisul-ob." = The one he wears is red. (He is wearing red.) c) "Gipalitan ka niya og balay." = (He buys a house for you.)
3) existential sentence of presence ~ sentences of this type tells the existence of a thing or idea
a) "Adunay Diyos sa langit." = (There is) God in heaven. b) "Didtoy halas sa kahoy." = (There was) a snake in the tree.
4) existential sentence of possession ~ sentences of this type tell about someone or something possessing something
a) "Ang mga anghel sa langit adunay diyos." = (The angels in heaven have a God.) b) "Naa[2] koy ilimnon sa balay." = (I had wine at home.)
5) locative sentence ~ this type of sentence tells the location of a thing
a) "Ania ang kwarta." = Here is the money. b) "Toa siya sa bukid." = S/he is in the mountain.
6) meteorologic sentence ~ this type of sentence tells about weather condition, noise level, etc., of a place
a) "Tugnaw dinhi sa Baguio." = (It is) cold here in Baguio. b) "Hilom kaganiha sa plasa." = (It was) calm in the square.
7) exclamatory remark ~ praises and unexpected discoveries belong here
a) "Kadaghan man nimo og sakyanan!" = (Wow! You have a lot of cars.) b) "Gwapaha nimo oy!" = (You are pretty!) c) "Kasaba ba ninyo!" = (You are so noisy!)
8) imperatives ~ commands and requests
a) "Isugba kanang isda." = (Grill that fish.) b) "Umari ka." = Come here. c) "Ayaw mo pagkinopyahay." = (Do not share your answers among yourselves.)
9) interrogatives ~ questions that are not answerable by yes or no
a) "Kinsa ka?" = Who are you? b) "Unsay imong ngalan?" = What is your name? <see more on interrogative words>
10) confirmation ~ questions that are basically answered by yes or no. constructed like the first 6 sentence type with the insertion of the particle "ba" as a second term
a) "Kini ba ang Kabisay-an?" = Is this the Visayas? b) "Pula ba ang iyang gisul-ob?" = (Does he wear red?) c) "Aduna bay Diyos?" = (Does God exist?) d) "Isugba ba kining isda?" = Shall this fish be grilled?
There are three negation words: dili, wala, and ayaw.
Dili negates adjectives, nouns, and incepting verbs.
Dili ko motrabaho ugma.
"I will not work tomorrow."
Dili dato tong babayhana.
"The woman is not rich."
Wala negates existentials and incepted verbs.
Wala koy kwarta.
"I do not have money."
Wala ko motrabaho tibuok adlaw. "I did not work the whole day."
Ayaw is used in expressing negative commands.
Ayaw og hilak.
"Don't cry."
Ayaw mo pagdagan-dagan dinhi.
"Don't run here."
Asa and hain—both mean where—have distinct uses in formal Cebuano usage.
Asa is used when asking about a place.
Hain is used when asking about a person or thing.
In spoken Cebuano, however, asa is commonly used to replace hain. You rarely hear hain being used, except by older generations of Cebuano-speakers. This phenomenon is analogous to Tagalog-speakers not distinguishing between saan (asa) and nasaan (hain) in colloquial speech and instead using saan for both.
Cebuano has long borrowed words from Spanish, such as krus [cruz] (cross), swerte (originally suerte, meaning "luck"), guapa (meaning "beautiful"), merkado (originally mercado, meaning "market"), and brilyante (originally brillante, which translates as "brilliant"). It has several hundred loan words from English as well, which are altered to conform to the limited phonemic inventory of Cebuano: brislit (bracelet), hayskul (high school), syápin (shopping), and dráyber (driver). There are also words from other languages like Arabic like Salámat (meaning "thanks"), or Hukom (originally from "Hukm", meaning "judge") and Islamic words used in Mindanao like Imam, Syarip, dyihad, and Islam, and Sanskrit Mahárlika (from Mahardikka, meaning "nobility") and Karma.
| Cardinal | Ordinal | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | usà | úna |
| 2 | duhà | ika-duhà |
| 3 | tulò | ika-tulò |
| 4 | upàt | ika-upàt |
| 5 | limà | ika-limà |
| 6 | unòm | ika-unòm |
| 7 | pitò | ika-pitò |
| 8 | walò | ika-walò |
| 9 | siyàm | ika-siyàm |
| 10 | napú'ô/napulo | ika-napú'ô/ika-napulo |
| 11 | napú'ô'g usá/napulo'g/napulo ug usá/onse (Spanish words are used for numbers greater than 10) | ika-napú'ô'g usá/ika-napulo'g usá/ika-napulo ug usá/ika-onse |
| 20 | kawhaan/bente | |
| 30 | katlo-an/trenta | |
| 100 | usa ka gatos/syento | |
| 1000 | usa ka libo/mil | |
| 100,000 | usa ka gatos ka libo/syento-mil | |
| 500,000 | lima ka gatos ka libo/tunga sa milyon/singko-syento-mil | |
| 1000000 | usa ka milyon |
Note: Shorter terms are the one mostly used.
Amahan namo
Nga anaa sa mga langit
Pagdayegon ang imong ngalan
Umabot kanamo
Ang imong gingharian
Matuman ang imong pagbuot
Dinhi sa yuta
Maingon sa langit
Ang kalan-on namo sa matag adlaw
Ihatag kanamo karong adlawa
Ug pasayloa kami sa mong mga sala
Maingon nga kami nagapasaylo
Sa nakasala kanamo
Ug dili mo kami itugyan
Sa mga pagsulay
Hinunoa luwasa kami sa kadaotan
Kay imo man
Ang ginghrian
Ang gahom ug ang himaya
Hangtod sa kahangtoran
Amen...
The use of Tagalog as a basis for Filipino drew criticism from other Philippine linguistic groups. To some extent, there was active resistance shown against its usage. For instance, the Philippine national anthem is sometimes sung in Cebuano and not in Filipino in the island province of Cebu. This resistance does not aim to threaten the country's national sovereignty and in fact is often done as a patriotic act by Cebuano-speaking Filipinos.
