Part 3

Verbs of class C refer to an action which two or more agents engage in mutually. Verbs in this class usually have a long penult and shift the stress to the penult if the final syllable of the unaffixed root is stressed. Verbs of this class occur with the durative prefixes, mag-1, (nag-, etc.), meaning 5, with the potential prefix magka-1 (nagka-), and with the prefix makig- (nakig-). The entry for sábut ‘come to an understanding’ (under sabut (←)) illustrates a verb of class C conjugation.

7.131 Subclasses of the class C conjugation

The symbol C1 refers to verbs which lack the durative set, mag-. The symbol C2 refers to verbs which lack the potential set, magka-. The symbol C3 refers to verbs which lack the set makig-. The listing for balíus ‘miss each other’ exemplifies a verb of class C13 (missing both mag-1 and makig-). The entry púyù ‘live together’ illustrates a verb of class C2 (lacking the potential form magka-1).

7.2 Passive verb classes

7.21 Class a verbs

Verbs of class a occur with direct passive affixes (see the entry for -un1), and the direct passive verb refers to a FOCUS [27] which is the recipient of the action (see -un1, meaning 1). Verbs of class a normally also occur with the local passive affixes (see -an1) referring to a focus which is the place or beneficiary of the action (-an1, meaning 1). They also occur with the instrumental passive affixes (see i-1) in the instrumental, beneficial, and temporal meanings (i-1, meanings 2, 3, and 4). Palit ‘buy’ illustrates a verb of class a. Hapit ‘drop in’ and dalágan ‘run’ illustrate verbs of class a that refer to motion. Ábut (under ábut) ‘meet with each other’ illustrates a verb of class a conjugation referring to mutual action. Dakù illustrates an adjective with class a conjugation. Bisiklíta and duktur illustrate two different kinds of nouns with class a conjugation.

7.211 Subclasses of the class a conjugation

Verbs in class a1 lack a local passive; verbs in class a2 lack an instrumental passive (except in the benefactive and temporal meanings [-i1, meanings 3 and 4], to which all verbs in the language are subject). Verbs in class a12 lack both the local and the instrumental passive. The verb daug, 1 ‘overcome’ exemplifies this conjugation. Verbs in class a3 have only potential passive affixes, e.g. dungug, 1 ‘hear’. Verbs in class a4 refer to a focus which is the thing suffering from or affected by the thing referred to by the verb (-un1, meaning 2), e.g. malarya ‘get malaria’.

7.22 Class b verbs

Verbs of class b occur with a local passive affix, and the local passive refers to a focus which is the recipient of the action (see -an1, meaning 2). Verbs of this class also normally occur with the instrumental passive affixes (see i-1) in the instrumental, beneficial, and temporal meanings (i-1, meanings 2, 3, and 4). Haluk ‘kiss’ illustrates a verb of class b conjugation.

7.221 Subclasses of class b

The symbol b(1) indicates verbs of class b which lack the instrumental passive conjugation (in any but the benefactive and temporal meanings [i-1, meanings 3 and 4], to which all verbs in Cebuano are subject). An example of a b(1) verb is bantay ‘watch’.

The symbol b1 indicates verbs the local passives of which refer to a focus which is the place of the action (-an1, meaning 1) or, in another meaning, to the recipient of the action (-an1, in meaning 2). Laba ‘wash’ illustrates a verb of this type.

The symbol b2 indicates verbs of the a conjugation, the local passive of which refers to the place of the action, but which also occur with the affix hi-an(→) (hi-i), meaning 2, to refer to the accidental recipient of the action. Bása ‘read’ illustrates a verb in class ab2.

The symbol b3 indicates verbs the local passive of which refers to the reason for the action (-an1, meaning 5). Dalágan ‘run’ illustrates this class. The symbol b3(1) indicates verbs of class b3 which occur only with potential affixes (ma-/na-an/-i or, alternatively, gika-/ka-an/-i). Hadluk ‘be afraid’ illustrates a verb of b3(1).

The symbol b4 indicates verbs the local passive of which refers to a focus which is the thing affected by the action or the thing this verb refers to (-an1, meaning 4). Buntag, 3 ‘be overtaken by morning’ illustrates a verb of this class. The symbol b4(1) indicates verbs of class b4 which have only potential affixes. Walà ‘lose’ illustrates a verb of this class.

The symbol b5 refers to verbs the local passive and the direct passive of which are synonymous, i.e. occur with -un1, in meaning 1, and -an1, in meaning 2, where there is no difference between the two sets of affixation. [28] Abli,2 ‘open’ illustrates a verb of this class.

The symbol b6 refers to verbs which have no passive other than the local passive and the instrumental passive in the benefactive or temporal meanings (-i1, meanings 3 and 4), and, further, the local passive refers to a focus which is the place or the beneficiary of the action (-an1, meaning 1), or, in the case of adjectives, refers to a focus which is the person who considered s.o. to be [adjective]. Kulumbítay ‘hang’ is an example of a verb of class b6. The symbol b6(1) refers to verbs of this sort which also occur with an instrumental passive in the instrumental meaning—i.e. the focus of the instrumental passive is the instrument with which the action of the verb is carried out (i-1, meaning 2). Dagkut, 1 ‘light’ is an example of a verb of class b6(1).

The symbol b7 indicates verbs the local passive of which refers to a focus which is s.t. diminished or added to (-an1, meaning 2a). Kúhà ‘take’ illustrates a verb of this conjugation.

The symbol b8 indicates verbs which have only potential local passives. Kamau ‘know’ (listed under mau) is a verb of class b8.

7.23 Class c verbs

Verbs of class c have instrumental passive affixes which refer to a focus which is the thing conveyed by the action or the direct recipient of the action (see i-1, meaning 1). Verbs of class c normally also occur with the local passive affixes (-an1) referring to a focus which is the place or the beneficiary of the action (-an1, meaning 1). Lábay ‘throw away’ illustrates a verb of this type. Dalágan,1 illustrates a verb of class c which refers to motion.

7.231 Subclasses of class c verbs

The symbol c1 indicates verbs for which the direct and the instrumental passive are synonymous (i.e. occur with -un1 in meaning 1 and with i-1 in meaning 1; and the meaning of the form composed of i- plus the base is synonymous with -un plus the base). [29] Most verbs derived from adjectives are in class c1.

The symbol c2 indicates verbs for which the local and the instrumental passive forms are synonymous, where with the local passive and the instrumental passive forms refer to a focus which is the recipient of the action (-an1, meaning 2, and i-1, meaning 1). An example of a verb in class c2 is dusù ‘shove’.

The symbol c3 indicates verbs the instrumental passive of which refers to a focus which is the recipient of the action (i-, meaning 2), but which occur only with the potential affixes ika-, gika-. A verb in class c3 is isturya ‘talk to’.

The symbol c4 refers to verbs which optionally take a prefix ig-1 for the future instrumental passive nonpotential form and igka-1 for the future instrumental passive potential form. Dúngug,3 (listed under dungug (←)) ‘hear from’ is an example of a verb in class c4.

The symbol c5 refers to verbs the instrumental passive of which refers to a focus which is the reason on account of which the agent came into [such-and-such] a state (-i, meaning 5, and ika-1, meaning 2). Lípay ‘be happy’ is an example of a verb with c5 conjugation.

The symbol c6 refers to verbs of class c which do not occur with local passive affixes.

NOTES

[1] We arrive at this figure by totalling the population of towns and villages in Cebuano-speaking areas in the Census of 1960 (about seven and a half million). There are no accurate figures as to language affiliation for the population in the Philippines.

[2] Use of English and to some extent, Spanish, has the function of distinguishing the upper classes from the ordinary folks, rather than class dialect.

[3] Thus, for example, in our definition of danggit (a name given to a small fish) we define as follows: 1 name given to small species of Teuthis with dots. 2 by extension, name given to any small specimen or any species of Teuthis. This definition reflects the usage of fishermen who call any small dotted species of Teuthis, genuine danggit (danggit nga pyúr), but any species of Teuthis with no dots are called aberrant forms of the danggit—other related fish are called danggit sa hunásan ‘the danggit of the tidal flats’ or danggit nga ngisingisi ‘the danggit like the ngisingisi fish’, etc.) Further, by fishermen these other species of Teuthis are given their own names: danghili and lilu kan; but among housewives and in the market all these fish are called danggit.

[4] Just as in an English dictionary we must indicate that the term ‘vagina’ is appropriate to a family-planning lecture, whereas, ‘cunt’ is not, so in Cebuano we must indicate that the term kinatáwu sa babáyi ‘female genitalia’ is fine for a family planning lecture but bilat ‘cunt’ is not. We do this by characterizing kinatáwu sa babáyi as a euphemism and characterizing bilat as coarse. We do not wish to say that one of these alternative forms is better than the other, nor do we mean to say that ‘coarse’ forms in Cebuano are taboo. (They are not taboo in the same way that the English four-letter words are, even though for formal occasions they are avoided.)

[5] Aside from a few catechisms and novenas, there are practically no specimens of Cebuano extant which antedate this century, and even prewar literary productions are extremely difficult to come by. Aside from the forms marked ‘Biblical’, everything here listed is contemporary speech.

[6] Approximately five percent of our data is not included for lack of reliable informants. These are mainly forms of only local currency, a large portion of them from Bohol.

[7] In the Cebuano of Cebu City and most Cebuano-speaking areas, the mid-central vowel falls together with /u/. Nice as it would have been to include information on which forms with /u/ are with a mid-central vowel dialectally, such information is extremely difficult to come by, and so we reluctantly had to leave this information to be supplied in future editions.

[8] The glottal stop in post-consonantal position is usually indicated in Cebuano publications by a hyphen (as we do): tan-aw /tánʔaw/ ‘see’, spelled tan-aw (but sometimes also as tanaw). Between vowels a glottal stop is occasionally indicated, again with a hyphen: maáyu /maʔáyu/ ‘good’, spelled maayu, maayo, ma-ayo, or ma-ayu.

[9] In initial position there is no contrast between /ʔ/ and its absence, and phonetically the [ʔ] is always articulated. Intervocalically there is no contrast between successive like vowels and like vowels separated by a /ʔ/ (between [aa] and [aʔa]; [uu] and [uʔu]; [ii] and [iʔi]), and phonetically the [ʔ] is always present. Between unlike vowels there is either a [ʔ] or a [w] or [y] glide.

[10] [ts] does not contrast with [c]. Morphologically, when a suffix -s is added to a base which ends in /t/ the combination ts automatically becomes [c]: Rit ‘name’ plus -s ‘diminutive suffix’ = Rits [ric].

[11] A sequence [ds] or [dy] does not occur in final position. When a suffix -s is added to a base ending with d the combination ds automatically becomes [j]: Pid ‘name’ plus -s ‘diminutive suffix’ = Pids [pij].

[12] Our transcription of diy for /dy/ is unequivocal, as I have come across no case where [diy] occurs in contrast to [dy].

[13] The exception to this rule is forms which contain dead affixes—affixes which are not part of the productive or even live Cebuano morphological (inflectional and derivational) systems. Examples are takílid ‘turn the back’, bakilid ‘slope’, which obviously have prefixes ta- and ba- respectively and are connected with the root kílid ‘side’. But since ba- and ta- are not part of the active Cebuano derivational system, we list them under takílid and bakilid (with a cross reference to the root kílid). Such forms behave like roots, and it would only complicate the task of the user if they were not to be listed with their dead affix.

[14] One difference which sets off roots that are basically verbs from roots that are basically nouns and adjectives is that verb roots may occur unaffixed with the meaning ‘action of [doing so-and-so]’ whereas nouns and adjectives may not: Thus, lakaw ‘walk’, túyuk ‘turn’ are verbs because they occur unaffixed as nouns meaning the action of walking, turning: káda lakaw níya, ‘each time he walked’; káda túyuk níya, ‘each time he turned around’; but karsúnis ‘trousers’, ayruplánu ‘airplane’ are not because they do not occur in this meaning. (To express ‘action of wearing trousers’ the prefix pag- must be added to the noun karsúnis: Gidilì ang pagkarsúnis dinhi, ‘It is forbidden to wear pants here.’ Similarly a pag- must be added to ayruplánu to make a noun meaning ‘action of ...’: Ang pag-ayruplánu makapadali sa byáhi, ‘Taking a plane hastens the trip.’

Roots that are basically adjectives are distinguished from noun roots in that they occur with a prefix ka- in exclamations to mean ‘how very [adjective]!’ whereas nouns do not. Thus buguy ‘tramp’ is an adjective because it occurs with ka- in this meaning: kabuguy níya ‘what a tramp he is’, whereas kutsi ‘car’ is not. (To express, ‘what a car!’ the suffix -a(←) is used, not ka-: Ngilngígang kutsíha uy! ‘My! What a car!’)

[15] The root is taken to be inum because the form containing mu- is muinum ‘will drink’.

[16] However, this is true only of the Cebu City dialect. Other dialects retain /ʔC/: kàna /káʔna/ ‘eat it’.

[17] Dialectally they change to /d/: hadkan, padngan.

[18] In the strictest sense, of course, no two forms are the same in meaning: in English, for example, rather pronounced to rhyme with father is different in meaning from rather pronounced [ræd̵ər]. One is a strange or affected word and the other is a normal word. But which form is normal is all a matter of what part of the country one comes from, and a dictionary which is not regionally biased must list them as synonymous. Similarly, in Cebuano for any given speaker, where several forms compete, usually only one form is normal; but, as in the case of the two rather’s in English, the two competing forms are most often synonymous from the dictionary’s point of view.

[19] The existence of forms similar in meaning with initial l and initial vowel, e.g. lárag—árag ‘for leaves to fall off’, shows that this sound change also crossed morphological boundaries when it was in effect.

[20] Thus, for example: salámat ‘thanks’ is everywhere with /l/ and a notation to this effect is made in the listing of salámat. But for balay ‘house’, for example, we make no entry for báy because from the listing of balay with no further comment alone the reader may deduce a form báy.

[21] There are also forms with dy (/j/) which do not come from an older /y/, e.g. pangadyi ‘pray’.

[22] The occurrence of the tense affixation is predictable: a verb form which occurs with a given voice-mode affix in one tense occurs also in the same voice and mode in the other tenses. The voice, mode, and aspect affixes, however, are not predictable. Some verbs occur in one, some in two, some in three, some in all four voices; some occur only in the potential mode, some with only durative active affixes, and so forth.

[23] These affixes are the future forms shown in the chart of this section. The entries define the voice and mode differences exhaustively. The difference in tense meanings (between future, past, and subjunctive) are described in this note. The forms designated FUTURE refer to future time (as the name suggests):

Palitun ku ang isdà, I will buy the fish. Akuy mupalit ug isdà, I will buy some fish. Kinahanglang palitun nímu, You must buy it.

They also may refer to habitual actions and general statements.

Maáyu siyang mulútug kík, He bakes cakes well. Mupalit kug isdà káda adlaw, I buy fish every day. Mupula ug lutúun, If you cook it, it will turn red or When you cook it, it turns red.

They may also refer to exhortations:

Palitun ta! Let’s buy it! Mupalit tag isdà, Let’s buy some fish.

The forms designated PAST refer to past actions.

Gipalit ku ang isdà, I bought the fish. Nakatilaw na kug isdà, I have already tasted fish. Sa nagpalit kug isdà, As I was buying fish.

They also refer to actions still going on.

Naghilak ang bátà, The child is crying. Naglútù pa siya sa isdà, He is still cooking the fish.

The forms designated as SUBJUNCTIVE occur in a phrase and following a form which itself indicates time: e.g. kagahápun ‘yesterday’, walà ‘not (past)’, anus-a ‘when (future)’, sa miáging Duminggu ‘last Sunday’, adtu ‘there (future)’, túa ‘there (present)’, and the like.

Ugmà níya palita, He will buy it tomorrow. Anus-a nímu palita ang isdà? When will you buy the fish? Didtu níya palita, He bought it there. Sunud Duminggu níya palita, He will buy it next Sunday. Walà níya palita, He did not buy it.

The passive subjunctive forms are also used as imperative forms:

Palita ang isdà! Buy the fish! Ayaw lutúa, Don’t cook it. Limpiyúhi ninyu! You (plural) clean it.

Further examples of the tense differences can be found in the definitions of the future case-mode affixes listed as entries in the dictionary. The listing under untà, 2a illustrates the use of the future and past in the apodosis of conditions contrary to fact.

[24] The phonemic value of the morphophonemic symbol N is given in the following chart:

For roots beginning with N plus the initial consonant after root produces

p, b m t, d, s n k, ʔ (written as initial vowel), ng ng l ngl or, alternatively, nl other consonants or clusters of consonants ng plus initial consonant

Examples: palit + paN- = pamalit ‘buy’; baligyà + paN- = pamaligyà ‘sell’; tindug + paN- = panindug ‘stand’; dala + paN- = panala ‘bring’; sulud + paN- = panulud ‘enter’; kúhà + paN- = pangúhà ‘take’; ábang + paN- = pangábang ‘rent’; ngisi + paN- = pangisi ‘be intent on’; lútù + paN- = panglútù, panlútù ‘cook’; hisus + paN- = panghisus ‘exclaim Jesus!’.

[25] See the entry for mu-.

[26] maN- is analyzed morphophonemically as mu- plus paN-, and naN- as mi- plus paN-. See Section 6.2.

[27] The term FOCUS is given to the word to which the verb refers. If the verb is the head of the predicate of the sentence, the FOCUS is the subject (in bold face in the following examples):

Gipalit níya ang pán, He bought the bread.

If the verb is the subject of the sentence, the FOCUS is the predicate:

Pán ang íyang gipalit, It was bread that he bought.

If the verb modifies a noun (is attribute to a noun), the noun is the FOCUS:

Ang pán nga íyang gipalit, The bread he bought.

[28] In cases of bases which occur with direct passive affixes in the direct meaning (-un1, 1) and with local passives in the direct meaning (-an1, in meaning 1), but the two are not synonymous, the verb is classed ab.

[29] If a base occurs with the direct and the instrumental passive, where i- has the meaning 1, but the direct and instrumental passive forms are not synonymous, the verb is said to be in class ac, e.g. lábay ‘throw’. Dalágan ‘run’ is an example of a verb referring to motion in the ac conjugation.

=== A ===

a n letter A. walay — illiterate.

-a subjunctive direct passive affix. see -un.

-a(←) {1} affix added to nouns forming words which refer to a specific one of several: Kanang isdáa, dílì kadtu, That fish there, not that one further over. Háing baláya ang íla? Which house is theirs? {1a} added to possessive pronouns: the particular one that belongs to [so-and-so]. Dakù ang amúang balay, gamay tung iláha, Our house is large, and theirs is small. {2} affix added to adjectives to form exclamation. Dakúa uy! My! How big it is! Patyun tikaw, irúa ka! I’ll kill you, you dog you! Ngilngígang awtúha à! That’s some car!

á particle used as a pause word before starting to speak. {1} as a filler. Á, muanhi ka ugmà? Um, are you going to come here tomorrow? {2} deprecating or showing unimportance of what just preceded. Á, paríha ra nákù, Oh, it’s all the same to me. Á, nagkumidiya lang siya, Oh, he’s just joking. {3} showing mild disapproval. Á, dì nà mahímù, Oh, you can’t do that. {4} recalling or conceding s.t. Á, duha diay tu, Oh, yes. There were two of them, weren’t there. {4a} preceding s.t. just found out. Á, Lítu diay ímung ngálan, Oh, so your name is Lito. Á, kanindut, Oh, how nice! {5} expressing relief. Á, nahuwasan ku, Ah, what a relief!

à particle preceding or following a sentence with an adjective predicate. {1} dismissing s.t. as impractical, too easy, impossible, etc. À, mu ra diay nà? Kasayun à! Oh, is that all there is to it? How easy it is! À, ása man ku mutúu nímu, Hm, you think I could believe you? {2} showing disapproval. À, hináya nímung mulíhuk, Hm! You sure work slowly! {3} showing surprise. À, kanindut nímug sinínà, How come you have such a beautiful dress on!

ā̀ = álà.

aba_1 n breast of fowls.

aba_2 exclamation of pleasure and surprise. Aba! Nakadaug ku, My! I won!

ábà tuy (from sábà dihà untuy) shut up! Ábà tuy, maáyu ka lang sa tayáda, wà kay tadtad, Shut up! You’re great at talking, but let’s see you do s.t.

abaa particle indicating disapproval (literary). Abaa! Mahū́g ka gánì dihà! Stop that! You might fall!

*abab taga- n hillbilly. pakataga- v [A13; a12] act, treat like, consider a hillbilly. Gipakatagaabab lang ku ninyu. Ihása, You just think I’m a hillbilly. Don’t try to fool me. — disáya a be the boss and not henpecked.

ab-ab v [A; a] {1} chew to pieces. Ab-ábun sa irù ang íyang hikut, The dog will chew up his rope. {2} eat away, erode. Ang pagluib ni Maríya nag-ab-ab sa íyang balatían, Maria’s infidelity ate away at his insides. Giab-ab ang íyang pinútì sa tayà, His sword was eaten away by rust. {3} fester. Ang nag-ab-ab kung núka, My festering wound.†

abad n abbot.

ábag v [A; b] give material help, help do work. Kinsa may mag-ábag nímu sa ímung pag-iskuyla? Who will help pay for your schooling? Abági ku áring pagsilhig, Help me sweep. n help given. ka- n helper.

abaga n sweet potatoes growing from the outer vines and not from the main root.

abága n shoulder. v [A2SN; b5] {1} take financial responsibility. Abagáhun (pangabagáhun, pangabagáhan) ni Mánuy níya ang galastúhan sa pag-iskuyla, His brother will shoulder his school expenses. {2} take responsibility for accomplishing s.t. Kita giyuy muabága (mangabága) áning prugramáha, We must undertake to carry out this program. (→) = abága, v. paN- n right-hand-man. abagáhun a broad-shouldered.

*abáhu — kunsidirasiyun, dispusisiyun n bound by s.o.’s will. Abáhu (báhu) kunsidirasiyun ku sa ákung bána, I am bound by my husband’s decisions.

abaka n {1} abaca plant: Musa textilis. {2} abaca fiber. abakahan, abakanhan, abakal n abaca plantation. v [A3] own an abaca plantation.

abakáda n alphabet.

abakal see abaka.

abal n = balbal. v = abat.

abalu n assessed value. v [AB56; b5c] assess, be assessed at. Ug ikaw muabalu sa ákung yútà, ayawg dak-a, If you assess my land, don’t set it too high. Ang yútà miabalu (giabalu, giabaluhan) ug singkwinta mil, The land was assessed at fifty thousand pesos.

abalwasiyun n assessment. Purus dagkug abalwasiyun ang mga yútà dinhi sa syudad, The lots in the city all have high assessments.