Bisaya 101

Wanna learn Bisayâ in a practical, informal and come-what-may kind-of-way? Then this might be the blog for you. Target audiences are Tag/Lish speaking people. Feel free to comment on the lessons. Enjoy!

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Ako Ay Pinoy

Tagalog: Ako ay Pilipino.
English: I am Filipino
Bisaya: Ako kay Pilipino.

This sentence order is seldom used because it is awkward to use it this way in Bisaya. It is more common to construct it this way:

Bisaya: Pilipino ko.
Tagalog: Pilipino ako.

A verb and an adverb could also be used in the sentence this way, i.e.,:

[Verb | Adverb] [Subject].

E.g.,

Bisaya: Nalipay ko.
Tagalog: Masaya ako.
English: I am happy. (Literally "Happy I am." --> a la Yoda)

Bisaya: Patay ka.
Tagalog: Patay ka.
English: You're dead. (Literally, "Dead you are.")

Bisaya: Nanga-on sila.
Tagalog: Kumakain sila.
English: They are eating. (Literally, "Eating they are.")

"Kay" is more commonly used as a contracted form of the cuse type of adverb clause, placed before the dependent clause:

Bisaya: Tungod kay
Tagalog: Dahil | Kasi
English: Because

Usage: [Subject] [kay | tungod kay] [Dependent Clause]

e.g.:

Bisaya: Nanga-on sila kay gigutom [sila].
Tagalog: Kumain sila dahil gutom [sila].
English: They ate because they're hungry.

Bisaya: Natulog ang iring kay gikapoy [siya].
Tagalog: Natulog ang pusa dahil napagod [siya].
English: The cat slept because it is tired.

Well, that's it for now. It's been more than a year since my last post. My gosh! :O Maybe it wold be better for me to post short lessons rather than longer ones.