Comparing and Contrasting Waray and Ilocano Dialect
Contrastive Analysis is studying two different languages to identify their structural differences and similarities. It is an inductive investigative approach based on the distinctive elements in a language. There are over 170 dialects here in the Philippines which about 12 dialects belong to the MalayoPolenesian language family. Of all these languages, only Filipino and English are onsidered to be the official dialect of our country. For this project, I am going to study the difference and similarities between Waray and Ilocano dialect. Wáray -Wáray or Samarnon is a dialect commonly used in the provinces of Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, some parts of Leyte and Biliran in the Philippines The Waray-Waray language spoken by the Waray people of Samar Island and in most part of Leyte and in some parts of Biliran Island has dialectical variations. This dialectical variation is spoken in some parts of Masbate, particularly in the island of Ticao which is adjacent to Samar Island. Ilocano Dialect is the third most-spoken language of the Republic of the Philippines. Ilocano was originally written with the Baybayin syllabary, which is also used to write Tagalog, but this was gradually replaced by the Latin alphabet the Spanish arrived in the Philippines in the 16th century. One of the first publications in Ilocano was the Doctrina Cristiana of 1621. The language is also known as Ilocano, Iluko, Iloco, and Iloko, and the Ilocano people call themselves Samtoy, a contraction from the Ilokano phrase saö mi ditoy, meaning "our language here".
Comparing and Contrasting Waray and Ilocano Language Here are the Waray Language grammatical components: Pronunciation and Alphabet The pure Waray-waray alphabet had 18 letters which are: A B K D E G H I L M N NG O P R S T U W Y These days there are 28 letters in the alphabet, in order to accommodate words of Spanish and English origin. The letters include: ABCDEFGHIJKLMNÑOPQRSTUVWXYZ Each syllable normally contains a consonant and a vowel plotted in a pattern called clustering, where vowels come in between consonants. Stress is placed on the second-to-the-last syllable of a word. However, sometimes the stress is moved to change the meaning of a word. Examples: Salâ = sin Sâla = living room Bâsa = wet Basâ = read (â = where the stress should be placed) Waraywaray is a harsh sounding language that somebody from other culture hearing the native speaker of Waray-waray speaking would mistook him/her being angry. There are three main vowels: [a], [ɛ]/[i], and [ɔ]/[u]. [i]/[ɛ] and [ɔ]/[u] sound the same, but [ɔ] is still an allophone of [u] in final syllables. In some other areas especially those uptowns, though they have same lexicons of their dialects, the [ɔ] or [u] sound in some words are being substituted by the [ə] sound. Example: Waray downtown: Bulad [bulad] = dried fish, Surâ [sura] = viand Waray uptown: Bulad [bəlad] = dried fish, Surâ [səra] = viand
Vowels are pronounced the same way the Spanish vowels are. Examples:
English – man [mæn] Waray - man [m^n] Ilokano Grammar is very different from any other Filipino languages with respect to the IndoEuropean languages. Ilokano is agglutinating. New words can be created from a simple root. This agglutinating characteristic is most apparent in its verbal morphology which has a Philippine-type voice system..(Wikipedia) Word Classes Ilocano has two different determiners, the articles and Demonstratives. Articles are similar to “the” and “a/an” in English language. Demonstratives are similar to this and that which refers to space and time or something that is previously mentioned. Pronouns In Waray language, there are two kinds of pronouns used: 1.) Personal Pronouns (I, you, we, my, your) 2.) General Pronouns (this, that, those, here, there, etc) There are three classes of personal pronouns in waray.The fist class, second class and third class. In waray, the personal pronoun Ikaw is shortened as Ka. However, the pronouns Kita and Kami are used the same way as the other Filipino Languages. The first class personal pronouns mark the topic of the sentence. In English, the speaker usually says it louder to emphasize particular words. In waray, words in a sentence are given importance by marking it with an “I” class personal pronouns which sometimes act as the subject of the sentence.
Singular
Plural
Akó
I You
kitá kamí Kamó
We (inl) We (excl) You
Ikáw/ká Hiyá
He/she
Hira
They
Example Pilipino ka. Estudyante hiyá
You are a filipino He/She is a student
Class Markers Waray language also has a class marker. It marks the TOPIC, or the emphasized word, of the sentence w/proper nouns w/common nouns
Singular Hi An
Plural Hira An mga
General Pronouns in Waray functions as the TOPIC, or the emphasized word, of the sentence. It is also used to describe things around the user of the language. Full Form
Meaning
Ini
This (very near)
Iton
than
Adto
That “Over There”
Example: Tubig ini - This is water. (Very near)
Nga linker There is a word called “nga” [ŋa] in the Waray language. It links the adjective and other object together. To illustrate the function of “ nga” here are some example. You say for example, if you say a toy, you will say the following: “ Uyagan ini” ( as you hold it) “Ini an uyagan” “Ini nga uyagan” (not
a complete sentence) However saying “Ini nga uyagan” is not a complete sentence though it looks like one, since Ini functions like this(near the speaker) in English language and one might mistook nga in the sentence to function like verb be. That is wrong. “Ini nga uyagan” when stated in Waray will not make sense if spoken plainly. To make it a complete sentence, use of descriptive word first or adjective before the phrase is a must. To illustrate this, we use the word “ mahusay” or beautiful as a word to describe the “uyagan” (toy). Now we have: “Mahusay ini nga uyagan”, which now means: This toy is beautiful. Descriptive Words in Equational Sentences When descriptive words which use the nga linker are used in equational sentences, the word order is as follows: W/ I Class Markers (an,hi) Descriptive word + nga + noun + I Cl Marker + rest… Examples: 1. Hataas nga babaye hi Ruth. Ruth is a tall woman.
When I Class Personal Pronouns or I Class General Pronouns are used, they come between the descriptive word and the nga. The personal pronouns, however, are not usually contracted. The nga remains in its full form. w/ I Class Personal/ General Pronouns Descriptive word + I Cl Per. Pro./ I Cl GEN. Pro. + nga + noun + rest 1. Makusog hiya nga lalake. He is a strong man. Verbal Sentences / Focuses and ma- Actor Focus Waray language also makes sentences with the use of verb. We call these “verbal sentences”. Verbal sentences, which contain a subject a verb and an actor, are expanded by adding an object, a direction/location, a beneficiary, or an instrument.
In English, words are emphasized by the raising of
the voice or by prolonging the word. In Waray, however, words are given emphasis by what is called “Verb Focuses”. There are several different verb forms, or focuses, in Waray. These are as follows: Verb Actor Focus Object Focus Beneficiary/ Direction Focus Instrument Focus Waray verbs also have tenses like English. There are past, present, and future tenses. There is also a command form, or imperative of the verbs. Ma – Actor Focus In Actor Focus, the emphasis is on the doer of the action (the subject of the verb). Ma – is the prefix used before the verb root in the future tense. The past is – inm m infix and present tense is na – prefix. MA ACTOR FOCUS Root
Past Tense
Inm+root Sakay Simakay Palit Pinmalit Hatag Hinmatag Ma – Actor Focus (w/Object and Location)
Present tense
Future Tense
Na+root Nasakay Napalit Nahatag
Ma+root Masakay Mapalit mahatag
II Class General Pronouns Ma – Actor Focus Many times, ma- actor focus verbs have an Object. These objects will be marked by the II Class Markers han or hin. There will also sometimes be a LOCATION/DIRECTION, or BENEFICIARY (L/D/B) added. The word order of the sentence will usually be as follows:
Formula Ma- Verb + I Cl Actor + II Cl Object + III Cl L/D/B Examples: (Ma- Actor Focus sentence) (I will buy a banana at the store.) 1. Mapalit ako hin saging ha tindahan. Ma-verb + I Cl A. + II Cl O. + III Cl L/D/B (location) Particles – na and pa The small particles na and pa are often confusing to non Filipino speakers of Waray. However, if one learns how to correctly use them and practice them, they will not be confused. NA – means “now” or “already” Na shows that the action is being done now, or that the action has already been done. PA – means “still” or “yet” First Full Word + ka + ba + rest of the sentence Pa shows that the action is still being done, or that action has not yet begun. The na or pa is placed after the first full word of the sentence. (Except with ka). If other particles are also used, the na/pa always comes FIRST. They are VIP particles.
Na First Full Word + na + rest of the sentence Example (na after the first full word) 1. Makaon na hi Lusie. Lusie has already eaten. Pa First Full Word + pa + rest of the sentence
Example (pa after the first full word) 1. Nakanta pa hiya. She is still singing. Waray and diri negators w/ ma- Actor Focus Waray and Diri. These are two of the most confusing words for non-native Waray speakers. However, each is to be used with a specific form. In ma- actor focus sentence, both Waray and Diri means NOT or NO. WARAY is used when referring to PAST or Present Action. DIRI is used when referring to FUTURE action.
In Ilocano language, there are five sets of pronouns: independent absolutives, independent possessives, enclitic absolutives, enclitic ergatives, and the obliques. A pronoun in Ilocano encodes person and a number. First person plural pronouns differentiate inclusivity (including the addressee: I/we + you) and exclusivity (excluding the addressee: we, but not you).Second person pronouns denotes respect. The pronouns in Ilocano do not mark gender distinctions. Ilocano Personal Pronouns Absolutive Disjunctive Enclitik (-
Eregative Enclitik (-ko)
Oblique Disjunctive
ka) st
1 person singular 1st personal dual 2nd person singular 3rd person singular
síak Data, sitá siká Isú(na)
-ak -ak -ka -ø
-k(o) -ta -m(o) -na
kaniák kadatá kenká Kenkuána
1st person plural inclusive 2nd person plural exclusive 2nd person plural 3rd person plural
Datayó,Sitayó
-tayó
-tayó
ladatayó
dakami,sikami
-kami
-mi
Kadakami
Dakayo,sikayo -kayo Isuda
-yo -da
Kadakayo kadakuada
1.1 The independent absolutive pronouns are the following: Siák – First person singular (I) Siká – Second person singular (you) Isú(na) – Third person singular (he,she, it) Datá – First person dual inclusive (you and I) Dakamí – First person exclusive (we not you) Datayó – First person inclusive (we and you) Dakayó – Second person plural; second person singular formal (you sir/maam) Isúda – Third person plural (they) Independent pronouns may stand alone in an utterance as full predicates. In Ilocano language, there is a change in spelling on how a pronoun or what set of pronoun is used in a sentence where as in the Waray language; they use class markers to show emphasis on the subject. Borrowings Ilokano's vocabulary has a closer affinity to languages from Borneo. Foreign accretion comes largely from Spanish, followed by English and smatterings of Hokkien (Min Nan), Arabic and Sanskrit. Examples of Borrowing Word
Source
Original Meaning
Ilokano meaning
arak
Arabic
drink similar to sake
generic alcoholic drink
karma
Sanskrit
deed (see Buddhism)
spirit
Sanglay
Hokkien
to deliver goods
to deliver/Chinese merchant
agbuldos
English
to bulldoze
to bulldoze
kuarta
Spanish
copper coin
money
kumusta
Spanish
greeting "How are you?"
how are you
Nouns Nouns in Ilocano are classified either common or personal nouns. Personal nouns are introduced by an article ni (example: Ni Juan). Nouns can be made plural by using the right form of article. Plurality in Ilocano language can be indicated in the noun form. It is indicated using open or closed reduplication of the frist syllable of the root. Example: kayong – brother-in-law
kakayong – brothers-in law
Adjectives Root Adjectives are recognized as not having any of the common derivational affixes such as a and na. Derived Adjectives The most common prefix for deriving adjectives: Root
Gloss
alsem bitterness, acidity
Adjective
Gloss
naalsem sour, acid
gasang spice, spiciness, heat nagasang spicy, hot (taste)
•
MA
Some roots have a derived adjective form that begins with ma-. A number of roots have derived adjectives in ma- and na-. However, the difference between the forms can be subtle. Root
Gloss
na-
ma-
sakit sickness,pain,disease nasakit painful masakit ill, sick
Verbs Normally, Waray verbs do not appear to have tense marking, but are often prefixed for both aspect and transitivity. Tense is inferred from context and adverbial modifiers such as kakuluk (yesterday) or búwas (tomorrow). Mag – Actor Focus and Verbalizing Nouns This focus is used the same way as Ma – Actor Focus, the Topic of the Mag – Actor Focus sentence is the actor, or the doer of the action (the subject of the verb). The following chart shows the verb root, the past/present form, the future form, and the command form of some common mag- actor focus verbs. Some verbs in Waray usually use the mag- prefix, while other verbs usually use the ma- prefix. However, some verbs use either of the two prefixes depending on the intended meaning. The ma- verbs usually intend to show action that is of short duration. Many times, these are related to motion or movement. For example: matindog, malingkod, madagan, or malakat. The mag-verbs, on the other hand, usually intend to show action that is being done over a longer period of time. Verbs are about as morphologically complex in the Ilocano languge just like the classic Indo-European languages of Latin, Ancient Greek or Sanskrit. Ilokano verb forms are characterized by reduplication and heavy prefixation.
