Cebuano language

Cebuano
Cebuano
Sinugboanon
Native to	Philippines
Region	Central Visayas, and some parts of Mindanao.
Native speakers	about 20 million
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Central Philippine Visayan Cebuano; ; ; ; ;
Writing system	Latin (Cebuano or Filipino variant);; Historically written in Baybayin.
Official status
Official language in	Regional language in the Philippines.
Regulated by	Visayan Academy of Arts and Letters, Commission on the Filipino Language
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ceb
ISO 639-3	ceb

Cebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Philippines by about 20 million people. It is the most widely spoken member of the Visayan languages. Its name comes from the 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.

Distribution

Cebuano is spoken by the people of Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, western parts of Leyte, some parts of Samar, Biliran islands, southern region of Masbate island, and some parts of Mindanao. Some dialects of Cebuano give different names to the language. Native people from 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 Bisaya.

Orthography and phonology

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.

Vowels

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, 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.

The vowels are:

/a/ an open front unrounded vowel similar to English "father"
/ɛ/ an open-mid front unrounded vowel similar to English "bed"
/i/ a close front unrounded vowel similar to English "machine"
/o/ a close-mid back rounded vowel similar to English "forty"
/u/ a close back unrounded vowel similar to English "flute"

Consonants

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
Plosive	Voiced	b	d		ɡ
Fricative			s			h
Flap			ɾ
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

Stress

Stress accent is phonemic, 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.

Grammar

Cebuano is a language with the Verb Subject Object sentence order. Nouns and adjectives are joined by the nga connector with their order arbitrary as long as the nga connector is in between them.

Nouns

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 (oblique).

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:

Gigutom si Ramón.
hungry is Ramón
"Ramón is hungry."

Tagalog: Nagugutom si Ramón.

Mangadto silang Isabela ug Gloria sa balay ni Juan.
Will-go Isabela and Gloria to-the house of Juan
"Isabela and Gloria will go to Juan's houses"

Tagalog: Pupunta sina Isabela at Gloria sa bahay ni Juan.

Hain/Asa ang mga libro?
At-where the those book(s)
"Where are the books?"

Tagalog: Nasaan ang mga libro?

To-a kang Carlos ang yawe.
At with Carlos the keys
"Carlos has the keys."

Tagalog: Nan doon ang susi ni Carlos.

Murag Butong si Paolo.
Like Coconut is Paolo.
"Paolo is like a coconut."

Tagalog: Parang buko si Paolo.

Lami nga pagkaon.
"Food is delicious"

Tagalog: Masarap ang pagkain.

Pronouns

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 means 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."

Amigo 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 mi 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.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Cebuano demonstrative pronouns are as follows.

	Kinsa	Tag-iya	Gitagan-an
Nearest to speaker (this, here)	kiri(ri)	niiri	ngari
Near speaker and addressee (this, here)	kini(ni)	niini	nganhi
Nearest addressee (that, there)	kana(na)	niana	nganha
Remote (yon, yonder)	kadto(to)	niadto	ngadto

*The nga- form can be replaced with the di- form so instead 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."

Verbs

Cebuano verbs are morphologically complex and take on a variety of affixes reflecting focus, aspect, mode, and others.

Aspect

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.

imperative aspect - for giving commands
incepted aspect - past actions and present actions that are not habitual. While habitual may have been started somewhere in the past or the present, the fact that you are still have to start it again in the future make it in the incepting aspect.
incepting aspect - future actions and habitual actions

Examples on INCEPTED ASPECT:

Past actions
The Festival was fun.
The act had been started in the past therefore the Cebuano translation is:
Alegre kaayo ang fiesta.

Present actions
I'm going to the festival in San Fernando.
The act has been started before the statement is spoken therefore the Cebuano translation is:
Mo adto ko sa Fiesta sa San Fernando.

Examples of Incepting Aspect

Future actions
My friend and I are going to Europe.
The act has not happened yet; therefore it has not yet started:
Ako ug ako-ang amigo mo-adto mi sa Europa.

Habitual actions
We feast on delicious food and drunk on beer.
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:
Ni ka-on mi ug maayo sa lami nga pagkaon ug ni inom sad mi ug beer.

Focus

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.

um verbs

Form

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
-(um)-	mi-	mo-	mo-

Function - this form is used for either of the following conditions

one is emphasising that the action happen in an instance
one is emphasising that the doer willed the act

Type of topic - the doer is the topic.

pag verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
pag-	nag-	mag-	mag-

Functions - expresses actions that either

happen for a duration of time
do not imply doer intention

Type of topic - talks about the doer

pang verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
pang-	nang-	mang-	mang-

Function - pluritive form of um verbs
Type of topic - talks about the doer

ka verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
ka-	na-	ma-	ma-

Function - talks about changes
Type of topic - the topic is the one who undergoes the change

magka verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
none	nagka-	magka-	magka-

Function - talks about a slow but steady change
Type of topic - the topic is the one who undergoes the change

reciprocating verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
pag-in-ay	nag-in-ay	mag-in-ay	mag-in-ay

Function - reciprocating actions
Type of topic - at least two persons/things doing reciprocating actions to each other

on verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
-a	gi-	-on	-a

Function - the direct object is often the topic, mostly misunderstood as similar to English passive voice

an verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
-i	gi-an	-an	-i

Function - the indirect object is often the topic, mostly misunderstood as similar to English passive voice

i verbs

Forms

imperative	incepted	incepting	wala base
i-	gi-	i-	i-

Function - the instrument used is often the topic, mostly misunderstood as similar to English passive voice

moods

There three moods in Cebuano: intuitive, non-intuitive, and aptative

intuitive - the intuitive mood is the normal mood of the verb, the one whose form you have just learned.
non-intuitive - the non-intuitive mood is used to express unexpected or unintended actions. It has no imperative aspect.

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 - the aptative mood expresses the possibility of an action. Like the non-intuitive mood, it has no imperative aspect. In the incepted aspect it implies the English perfect tenses or the have form. In the incepting aspect it implies the English can/could form.

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

Modifiers

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/ daghang tawo = 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/ pinaka-gwapa = the most pretty

Comparative are express by adding the particle mas or labawng.

Enclitic Particles

Cebuano has enclitic particles that have important information conveying difference nuances in meaning.

Below is a list of some enclitic particles.

na and pa
- na: now, already, yet
- pa: still, else, in addition, yet
man: particle used for disregarding reasons or results; even, even if, although
pud,sad: too, also
lamang (lang): limiting particle; only or just
daw, kuno: a reporting particle that expresses that the information in the sentence is second-hand; they say, he said, reportedly, supposedly, etc.
gyud: politeness particle
ba: used in yes-and-no questions and optionally in other types of questions
sa: for now, for a minute and yet (in negative sentences).
kaha: expresses wonder; I wonder; perhaps (we should do something) (also optionally used in yes-and-no questions and other forms of questions)
kay: expresses cause; because
diay: expresses that the speaker has realized or suddenly remembered something; realization particle
tingali: expresses uncertainty; probably, perhaps, seems
unta: expresses hope, unrealized condition (with verb in incepting aspect), used in conditional sentences.

Ten types of sentences

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 bought 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/Naay bitin 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^[1] koy ilimnon sa balay."            = (I had wine at home.)

5) locative sentence ~ this type of sentence tells the location of a thing

  a) "Ania/Naara 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/Mingaw kaayo dadto sa plaza."   = (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) "Ako nang gi sugba."                   = (I already grilled it!)

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?

Negation

There are three negation words: dili, wala, and ayaw.

Dili negates adjectives, nouns, and incepting verbs.

Dili ko mo trabaho ugma.
"I will not work tomorrow."

Dili datu tong babayhana.
"The woman is not rich."

Wala negates existentials and incepted verbs.

Wala koy kwarta.
"I do not have money."

Wala ko mo trabaho 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."

Interrogative Words

Unsa? What?
Asa? Where? (for a place or person - present, future)
Diin?, Dis-a? Where? (past)
Hain?, Saa? Where? (for an object- present)
Kinsa? Who?
Ngano? Why?
Kangkinsa? To whom?
Giunsa? How?
Kanus-a? When? (past)
Anus-a? When? (future)
Pila ka buok?, Pila? How many?
Tagpila? How much?
Diay ba? Really?

The use of asa and hain

Asa and hain—both mean where—have distinct uses in formal Cebuano usage.

Asa is used when asking about a place.

- Asa ka padulong? (Where are you going?)
- Asa ta molarga? (Where are we traveling to?)

Hain is used when asking about a person or thing.

- Hain na ang gunting? (Where is the pair of scissor?)
- Hain na ang papel? (Where is the paper?)

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.

Vocabulary and borrowed words

Cebuano has long borrowed words from Spanish, such as krus [cruz] (cross), swerte (originally suerte, meaning "luck"), gwapa (originally 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.

Numbers

	Cardinal	Ordinal
1	usà / uno	úna
2	duhà / dos	ika-duhà
3	tulò / tres	ika-tulò
4	upàt / quatro	ika-upàt
5	limà / cinco	ika-limà
6	unòm / seis	ika-unòm
7	pitò / siete	ika-pitò
8	walò / ocho	ika-walò
9	siyàm / nueve	ika-siyàm
10	napú'ô / napulo / diez	ika-napú'ô / ika-napulo
11	napú'ô'g usá / napulo'g / napulo ug usá /once	ika-napú'ô'g usá / ika-napulo'g usá / ika-napulo ug usá / ika-once
20	kawhaan / veinte
30	katlo-an / treinta
100	usa ka gatos / ciento
1000	usa ka libo / mil
100,000	usa ka gatos ka libo / ciento mil
500,000	lima ka gatos ka libo / tunga sa milyon / cinco ciento mil
1000000	usa ka milyon / milliones

Note: Shorter terms are the one mostly used.

Common expressions

May I ask a question? Mahimo bang mangutana? or Puwede ko mangutana?
How are you? Kumusta ka?
Good. (I am well.) Maayo.
How old are you? Unsay edad nimo? or more commonly Pila'y edad nimo
How much? Pila?
How much each? Tagpila?
How many? Pila kabook?
I don't know. Wala ko kahibalo. or Ambot.
Good day! Maayong adlaw!
Good morning! Maayong buntag!
Good noon! Maayong udto!
Good afternoon! Maayong hapon! or Maayong palis!
Good evening! Maayong gabi-i!
Who are you? Kinsa ka? (Informal)
When did Kanus-â ang
When is Anus-â ang
Where do you live? Asa ka nagpuyô?
Where are you from? Taga-asa ka?
Where are you going? Asa ka paingon?
Where are they going? "Asa sila paingon?"
Where is the toilet? Asa man ang kasilyas? or Asa man ang CR? (CR = English "Comfort Room")
Where is the market? Asa man ang merkado?
What? Unsa
What's this? Unsa ni?/Unsa man ni?
What's that? Unsa nâ?/Unsa man na?
What was that? Unsa to?/Kinsa man to
What should we do? Unsay among buhaton? or Unsay atong buhaton? or Unsay angay namong buhaton? or Unsay angay natong buhaton
What is your name? Unsay ngalan nimo? Unsay imong ngalan?, or colloquially, Kinsay ngalan nimo?
What number of child are you in your family? Ikapila ka sa imong pamilya? (Firstborn, secondborn, etc.; common expression in Cebuano, not English)
I would like to buy that. Gusto ko mopalit anâ.
I would like two of those. Gusto kog duha anâ.
Hello, my name is Miguel. Kumusta, Miguel akong ngalan., or colloquially, Ako si Miguel.
Shut up Hilom! or Saba! although "saba" means loud and sometimes people ridicule this word by being louder instead of being silent.
Help Me! Tabangi ko!
Help! Tabang!
Please, help me! Palihug tabangi ko! or Palihug tabangi ako!
Wait a minute Kadiyot lang or Huwat sâ
What time is it? Unsa nang (namang) orasa?
It's five o'clock Alas cinco na
I love you. Gihigugma ko ikaw. or Nahigugma ko nimo. or Gihigugma tika. or Gimahal ko ikaw
Take care. Pag-ayo-ayo! or Pag-amping
Take that! (slang) Usapa na! (literally "Chew it!")
Ouch! Agay!
Don't! Ayaw!
Yes Oo
No Dili
Okay sige
Great! Ayos!

References

^ Naa often replaces aduna/duna.

External links

Ethnologue report for Cebuano
John U. Wolff, A dictionary of Cebuano Visayan: Volume I, Volume II, at Project Gutenberg's Distributed Proofreaders
Ang Dila Natong Bisaya
Cebuano Lessons Online
English to Cebuano Dictionary Online

[naa-1] Naa often replaces aduna/duna.

[1]