1
A PEDAGOGIC GRAMMAR
FOR CEBUANO-VISAYAN
Dr. Angel O. Pesirla
VPAA, Cebu Normal University
Introduction: the Need for
Adequate and Powerful Linear Description
of Cebuano-Visayan
This academic paper is premised on the need for a Cebuano-Visayan pedagogic
grammar based on descriptively adequate and powerful linear description as a required
academic component in the General Education Curriculum for B.A. and B.S. programs per
CNU B.O.R. approval in 2000 of the CMO # 44, s. 1997 full implementation.
A pedagogic grammar presents the structural description of a language for teachinglearning purposes. This includes basically the making of descriptive statements about the
target language to be learned through teaching in such a form that its structures (sound,
word, sentence) will be more readily learned (Corder, 1973).
This grammatical description must be observationally adequate (a measure of the
degree to which the statements of a description accord with the observed relevant facts), and
descriptively adequate (a measure of the degree to which it succeeds in corporating all the
facts which the goals of the description consider relevant). Furthermore, it must be more
economical or powerful in the degree to which it accounts for the same facts with a smaller
number of statements or rules, or alternatively, more facts with the same number of rules
(1973).
The adequate linguistic description of Cebuano-Visayan is basically anchored on its
natural linear structure as Malayo-Polynesian language belonging to the Austronesian family
of languages spoken throughout Southeast Asia across the Pacific and Indian Oceans toward
Continental Asia (http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Melayu), thus, closely, through phylogenetic
variation, relating to the linear linguistic characteristics of Bahasa Malay (Pesirla 2007).
The observationally adequate and powerful linear description of Cebuano-Visayan
concretizes the following comprehensive instructional components of its pedagogic
grammar:
A. Phonology-Orthography Correspondence: Sound-Letter System;
B. Morphology: Word System;
C. Syntax: Sentence System.
Each structural component reflects a corresponding “teaching implication” for the
applied linguist (teacher of language) to utilize in constructing learning tasks with a learning
text, focusing on the specific linguistic / grammatical unit.
Basically, the three instructional components delved into by this pedagogic grammar
of Cebuano-Visayan reflects these universal commonalities with its mother tongue (Bahasa
Malay):
2
● A phonetic language, Cebuano-Visayan phonology needs to follow the
alphabetic phonetic spelling system (spelled as sounded) observing phonemegrapheme correspondence of three vowels and fifteen consonant sounds.
● An agglutinative language, Cebuano-Visayan morphology shares common
characteristics with Bahasa Malay where affixes and particles dictate meaning,
function, form class of words.
● The predicate construct in Cebuano-Visayan syntax, as in all Austronesian /
Malayo-Polynesian and Philippine languages, assumes the linear marker for its
basic unit of thought. Hence, Cebuano-Visayan sentences begin with the predicate
and end with the subject. Thus, Cebuano-Visayan sentences are introduced by
noun predicates, adjective predicates, adverb predicates, prepositional phrase
predicates, intransitive verb predicates, transitive verb predicates.
Hence, Cebuano-Visayan should be linguistically and pedagogically described as such
for accuracy and adequacy.
Phonology-Orthography Correspondence:
Sound-Letter System
A phonetic language, Cebuano-Visayan is spelled as sounded – each phoneme (vowel
as well as consonant) corresponds to a particular grapheme (letter of the alphabet), hence
the alphabetic spelling system is the most appropriate, observationally and descriptively
adequate powerful linear description of its orthography in correspondence to its phonology.
Cebuano-Visayan phonology contains only three vowel phonemes which are spelled as
such, as shown below.
Vowels Phonemes Graphemes
Key Words
ILIS ilis
DILI dili
LIKIT likit
Front
/i/
Ii
Center
/a/
Aa
Back
/u/
Uu
(change)
(no)
(roll)
BANA bana
SAKSAK saksak
ASA asa
(husband)
(stab)
(where)
ULU ulu
SUKUD sukud
(head)
(measure)
TUKUD tukud
(build)
Cebuano-Visayan has three dipthongs or vowel combinations: / a / + / u /
/ aw /;
/a/ + /i/
/ ay /; / u / + / i /
/ uy / as reflected below.
Phonemes Graphemes
Key Words
AYAW ayaw
YAWYAW yawyaw
KAGAW kagaw
/ aw /
AW aw
/ ay /
/ uy /
AY ay
UY uy
(no)
(mumble)
(germ)
TATAY tatay
PATAY patay
KAMAY kamay
(father)
(dead)
(sugar)
KAHUY kahuy
TUMUY tumuy
LAHUY lahuy
(tree)
(tip)
(through)
Cebuano-Visayan also contains a semi-vowel phoneme, the glottal stop, after each of
the three vowels in both stressed and unstressed final positions. Because glottal stops are not
pure vowels, they do not have graphemic symbols (letters), thus they are marked as accents
over their preceding vowels ( ) in unstressed position and ( ^ ) in stressed position, as
follows.
Preceding
Post-vocalic Glottal Stop in
Post-vocalic Glottal Stop in
Vowels in final
unstressed final position
stressed final position
position
Accent Marks
Key Words
Accent Mark
Key Word
BAGÀ bagà
BAGÂ bagâ
/a/
Àà
Ââ
(lung)
/i/
Ìì
DILÌ dilì
/u/
Ùù
ATÙ atù
(not)
(our)
(thick)
Îî
Ûû
PUTÎ putî
(white)
MUBÛ mubû
(short)
3
A glottal stop in medial position is marked as a hyphen ( - ), either between two
vowels or between a consonant and a vowel, as exemplified below.
Glottal Stop Between Two Vowels
PA-A pa-a
(thigh)
TI-IL
ti-il
(foot)
HA-IN ha-in
(where)
SU-UN su-un
(imitate)
LUY-A luy-a
(ginger)
Glottal Stop Between a Consonant and a Vowel
SUD-AN
sud-an
(food)
NAKIT-AN
nakit-an
(seen)
TIMAN-I
timan-i
(remember)
DAD-A
dad-a
(bring)
PAG-ANTUS pag-antus
(sacrifice)
SAD-AN
sad-an
(guilty)
Cebuano-Visayan has fifteen consonant morphemes which are written out using the
same consonant graphemes, as shown below.
Consonant
Phonemes
/p/
/t/
Consonant
Graphemes
Pp
Tt
/k/
Kk
/b/
Bb
/d/
Dd
/g/
Gg
/m/
Mm
/n/
Nn
/ ng /
Ng ng
/l /
Ll
/r/
Rr
/s/
Ss
/h/
Hh
/w/
Ww
/y/
Yy
Key Words
PAPA
papa
PAPAS
papas
PAPIL
papil
(daddy)
(erase)
(paper)
TUTUK tutuk
TADTAD tadtad
TITIK
(stare)
(chop)
KATKAT katkat
KITKIT
(climb)
(nibble)
(spider)
BABUY babuy
BABAYI babayi
BATBAT batbat
(pig)
(female)
(discuss)
DAKDAK dakdak
DUTDUT dutdut
DAD-A dad-a
(thrown down)
(push)
(bring)
GANTI
GAMIT
ganti
titik
(letter)
kitkit
KAKÂ
gamit
kakâ
GUGMA gugma
(prize)
(use)
(love)
MAMA mama
TANUM tanum
HUMAN human
(mommy)
(plant)
(finish)
NINDUT nindut
ANDAM andam
TANAN tanan
(nice)
(ready)
(all)
NGITNGIT ngitngit
SINGGIT singgit
IRING iring
(dark)
(shout)
(cat)
LALUM lalum
LALAKI lalaki
LALIK lalik
(deep)
(male)
(sculpt)
SARING saring
BARAW baraw
LARUT
(classroom)
(knife)
(pull out)
USISA usisa
SAKSI saksi
SUSU susu
(investigate)
(witness)
(breast)
HAYHAY hayhay
HAKUT hakut
HAPIT hapit
(hang)
(gather)
(almost)
HAWAN hawan
WALU walu
WAL Â
walâ
(none)
(empty)
YUGYUG yugyug
YUTÀ
(shake)
(land)
(eight)
yutà
YAMUG yamug
(mist)
The consonant digraph (two-letter combination) MG mg and the vowel grapheme Aa, when
combined, become MGA mga, sounded as /manga/, a particle to a noun indicating plurality.
BALAY balay
MGA BALAY mga balay
(house)
(houses)
TAWU tawu
MGA TAWU mga tawu
(man)
(men)
4
Teaching Implication
◙ Text:
● Let the learners bring to class CLIPPINGS of Cebuano-Visayan editorials, feature articles
of their choices.
● Let the learners explain in Cebuano-Visayan the RATIONALE of their choices of TEXTS;
● Let the class interact with these choices in Cebuano-Visayan.
◙ Tasks:
● Let each learner read orally in good and correct Cebuano-Visayan pronunciation each
clipping / text chosen, sounding like a reporter / broadcaster.
● Let each learner (working specific chosen text) underline the misspelled CebuanoVisayan words based on the lessons on phoneme-grapheme correspondence
principles.
● Let each learner rewrite each chosen text using the standards set by the lessons on
Cebuano-Visayan phoneme-grapheme correspondence.
Morphology: Word System
The word structure of a language is made up of morphemes, the basic unit of form and
meaning. When the morpheme is meaningful by itself, it is a free morpheme (commonly
called root). When the morpheme can only be meaningful when attached to a free
morpheme, it is a bound morpheme (the prefix, suffix, infix-affixes). Cebuano-Visayan
morphemes are exemplified below.
Free Morphemes
Bound Morphemes
Words
(Roots)
(Affixes)
PINAKATAM-ISAN
TAM-IS
PINAKA – (prefix)
(sweetest)
(Adj – sweet)
– AN
(suffix)
PAGMINAHALAY
MAHAL
PAG – (prefix)
(mutual loving)
(V – love)
– IN –
(infix)
– AY
(suffix)
MALINAWUN
LINAW
MA –
(prefix)
(peaceful)
(N – peace)
– UN
(suffix)
Free morphemes can be lexical when meaningful alone and grammatical when they
specify the relationship among lexical morphemes in a sentence. Lexical morphemes are parts
of speech that are called content words (N,V,ADJ,ADV) and grammatical morphemes are parts
of speech that are called function words (PRON, PREP, CONJ, INTJ).Cebuano-Visayan lexical
and grammatical free morphemes are exemplified as follows.
CONTENT WORDS (LEXICAL FREE MORPHEMES)
Parts of Speech
DAGWAY
BUKTUN
BUHUK
(face)
(arm)
(hair)
KATKAT
SULAT
BASA
(climb)
(write)
(read)
NOUN
(NGALANPULUNG)
VERB
(PULUNGDIWÀ)
ADJECTIVE
(DAGWAYNGALAN)
ADVERB
(DAGWAYDIWÀ)
LAPAD
PULA
NIPIS
(wide)
(red)
(thin)
KA-AYU
(very)
KUSUG
(fast)
TAMBUK
(fat)
HINAY
(slow)
FUNCTION WORDS (GRAMMATICAL FREE MORPHEMES)
AKU
IKAW
SILA
(I)
(you)
(they)
SA
NI
KANG
(in / of / at)
(of – person)
(of –person)
UG
APAN
HINU-UN
(and)
(but)
(however)
HALA!
HUY!
UY!
(Watch out!)
(Hey!)
(Oh!)
PRONOUN
(HULIPNGALAN)
PREPOSITION
(BAHINPULUNG)
CONJUNCTION
(DUGTUNGPULUNG)
INTERJECTION
(TUWAWPULUNG)
5
Bound morphemes are inflectional when they are affixed to free morphemes without
changing their parts of speech. In Cebuano-Visayan, bound morphemes are either attached as
affixes or detached as particles, as exemplified below.
Parts of
Speech
Words
KINADAKU-AN
Adj.
(biggest)
NAGKA-UN
(eat)
Verb
MIKA-UN
NIKA-UN
NAKAKA-UN
Verb
Verb
Verb
(ate)
Free
Morphemes
DAKU
(big)
KA-UN
Bound
Morphemes
KINA –
– AN
NAG –
(eat)
KA-UN
KA-UN
KA-UN
Inflection
Superlative Degree of
Comparison of Adjectives
Simple Present tense
form of the verb
MI –
NI –
NAKA –
Simple Past tense form of
the verb
MU –
MAG –
MAKA –
Simple Future tense form
of the verb
(eat)
MUKA-UN
MAGKA-UN
MAKAKA-UN
Verb
Verb
Verb
(will eat)
KA-UN
KA-UN
KA-UN
(eat)
NAKA-UN
Verb
GIKA-UN
Verb
KA-UNUN
MAKA-UN
SULTI-I
Verb
Verb
KA-UN
NA -
(eat)
KA-UN
GI –
(eat)
KA-UN
– UN
MA –
–I
(eat)
SULTI
Verb
PAMATI-A
(tell)
PAMATI
NANAGKA-UN
Verb
MANAGKA-UN
Verb
NANGHUGAS
Verb
MANGHUGAS
Verb
Imperative of the verb
–A
(listen)
KA-UN
NANAG –
(eat)
KA-UN
MANAG –
(eat)
HUGAS
NANG –
(wash)
HUGAS
Passive Voice:
Present tense of the Verb
Passive Voice:
Past tense of the verb
Passive Voice:
Future tense of the verb
MANG –
(wash)
Plurality of Doer:
Paste tense
Plurality Doer:
Future tense
Frequentive Action in
the Past
Frequentive Action in
the Future
With C-V nouns, the inflectional bound morpheme of plurality MGA is detached as a
particle, as follows.
SINGULAR
BATA
bata
PLURAL
MGA BATA
(child)
(children)
BULAK
bulak
MGA BULAK mga bulak
(flower)
TANUM
mga bata
(flowers)
tanum
MGA TANUM mga tanum
(plant)
(plants)
Bound morphemes that change the parts of speech of the content words when attached
to them are derivational. Cebuano-Visayan derivational bound morphemes are shown below.
Derivative
Words
KAHILAKUN
(sad)
IKASULTI
(statement)
Parts of
Speech
Adj.
Noun
Roots
HILAK
(cry)
SULTI
(say)
Parts of Derivational Bound
Speech
Morphemes
KA –
– UN
Verb
Verb
IKA –
6
PASIDAD-AN
Noun
(warning)
KATARUNG
Noun
(righteousness)
NAGSAPATOS
Verb
(wore shoes)
DA-AN
(old)
TARUNG
(right)
SAPATUS
Adj.
Adj.
PASI –
KA –
Noun
NAG –
Noun
MAG –
Adj.
MA –
– AN
Adj.
NAGMA –
– UN
Adj.
MAGMA –
– UN
(shoes)
MAGSANINA
(will dress up)
MAKUYAWAN
Verb
SANINA
Verb
KUYAW
(will be scared)
(clothes)
(scary)
NAGMALIPAYUN
(enjoying)
MAGMALIPAYUN
(will enjoy)
Verb
LIPAY
Verb
LIPAY
(happy)
(happy)
Particles in Cebuano-Visayan are actually detached bound morphemes which are said as
separate words before the content words that they are grammatically linked as markers, as
shown below.
Content Words
Content Words with Particle-markers
Functions
NOUNS
• Part. + Proper Nouns
SI
RAMON
SILA NI RAMON UG JOSE
SILA SI RAMON UG JOSE
KAMI NI RAMON UG JOSE
• Noun
+ Part. + Adj. Modifier
BABAYI
NGA
MATAHUM
• Adj. Mod. + Part. + Noun
MATAHUM NGA
BABAYI
• Verb
+ Part. + Object
MUKA-UN
UG
UTAN
MIPILI
UG
PALITUNUN
• Verb
+ Part. + Adv.
NIKANTA
UG
PADAYUN
NILAMUY
UG
WALA’Y HUNUNG
• Counters + Part. + Noun
USA
KA
BATA
DUHA
KA
MGA BATA
markers for person’s
names (no English
equivalents)
ADJECTIVE
OBJECTS OF VERBS
ADVERBS
NOUNS WITH
ARTICLES /
COUNTERS
markers for adjectival
modification (no
English equivalents)
markers for objects of
verbs (no English
equivalents)
markers for adverbial
modification (no
English equivalents)
markers for counters
of nouns (no English
equivalents)
Teaching Implication
◙ Text:
● Let each of the learners copy a long paragraph from a Cebuano-Visayan magazine of
their own choices and bring it to class.
● Let the learner support his / her choice of text by discussing it in class in CebuanoVisayan.
● Let the class interact with these varied choices in Cebuano-Visayan.
◙ Tasks:
● Let each learner read orally the chosen Cebuano-Visayan text to the class.
● Let each learner analyze the morphologic constructs of the content and function words
used in the chosen text using the linguistic morphologic standards for CebuanoVisayan.
● Let each learner rewrite each chosen text based on the standards set by the lessons on
Cebuano-Visayan morphology.
7
Syntax: Sentence
In Cebuano-Visayan (as in all Philippine languages), the predicate assumes various
sentence constructions. This predicate may be a noun, adjective, adverb, prepositional phase,
transitive verb, intransitive verb with various complements. Therefore, Cebuano-Visayan
sentences always begin with the predicate and end with the subject as their natural sentence
patterning.
Sentence Pattern 1: Noun Predicate (N + N)
N
Magtutudlu
Puthaw
Ang tabanug
+
N
si Ramon.
ang haligi.
papel.
English Equivalents
Ramon (is) a teacher.
(The) pillar (is) iron.
(The) kite (is) paper.
• Notice that C-V sentence pattern N + N is verbless: merely N complement + N subject.
Sentence Pattern 2: Adjective Predicate (ADJ + N)
ADJ
Ma-anyag
Humut
+
N
si Emma.
ang bulak.
English Equivalents
Emma (is) lovely.
The flower (is) fragrant.
• Notice again that the C-V sentence pattern ADJ + N is verbless: merely ADJ complement
/ modifier + N subject.
Sentence Pattern 3: Adverb Predicate (ADV + N)
ADV
+
Sunud adlaw
Unya na lang
N
ang bunyag.
ang bayad.
English Equivalents
The baptism (is) next day.
The payment (is) just later on.
• Again, this C-V sentence pattern ADV + N has no verb: merely ADV modifier + N
subject.
Sentence Pattern 4: Prepositional Phrase Predicate (PP + N)
PP
Mahitungud sa gugma
Bahin kang Pepe
Ilawum sa Kahuy
+
N
ang saysay.
ang tigmu.
ang bugnù.
English Equivalents
The story (is) about love.
The riddle (is) on Pepe.
The fight (is) under the tree.
• Notice again these verbless PP + N sentences: merely preposition phrase predicates +
noun subjects.
Sentence Pattern 5: Intransive Verb Predicate (Vin + S + Com)
Vin
Nagsabut
+
S
mi
+
PP
bahin sa panaghi-usa.
English Equivalents
We agreed about the union.
• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the subject + prepositional phrase modifier.
Vin
Nihilak
+
S
siya
+
Adv P
tungud nimu.
English Equivalents
He/She cried because of you.
• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the subject + adverbial phrase modifier.
8
Vin
Nikulù
+
C
ug tulu ka purgada
+
S
ang panaptun.
English Equivalents
The cloth shrank by three inches.
• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the complement + the subject.
Vin
Nikatawa
+
S
ang bata.
English Equivalents
The child laughed.
• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the subject.
Sentence Pattern 6: Transitive Verb Predicate (Vt + Comp + S)
Vt
Nika-un
+
O
ug pan
+
S
ang bata.
English Equivalents
The child ate bread.
• The Transitive verb predicate is followed by the direct object + the subject.
Vt
+
Nihatag
S
siya
+
DO
+
IO
ug kwarta
sa anak.
English Equivalents
He/She gave money to the child.
• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the subject, ending with the direct and
indirect objects.
Vt
Nanghulam
+
OC
kanaku
+
O
ug kwarta
+
S
si Sandra.
English Equivalents
Sandra borrowed money from me.
• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the objective complement and the object,
ending with the subject.
Vt
Nipalit
+
S
ku
+
O
+
OC
ug singsing
alang nimu.
English Equivalent
I bought a ring for you.
• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the subject and the object, ending with the
objective complement.
Vt
Muka-un
+
S
ku
+
O
ug pansit
+
PP
pina-agi sa mga tsapstik.
English Equivalents
I will eat noodles through chop-sticks.
• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the subject and object, ending with a
prepositional phrase.
Teaching Implication
◙ Text:
● Let each of the learners choose a book and copy the PREFACE, or else a newspaper and
copy the EDITORIAL article (both should be English texts).
● Let each learner defend his / her choice of text (preface or editorial) in class in (CebuanoVisayan discourse.
● Let the class interact orally to these myriad choices in Cebuano-Visayan discourse.
◙ Tasks:
● Let the learners TRANSLATE their respective chosen texts (prefaces and editorials) from
English to Cebuano-Visayan following the standards set by the linear grammar
description of Cebuano-Visayan syntax.
● Let them recite / read orally akin to public speech the Cebuano-Visayan versions of their
chosen prefaces or editorials to class.
● Let them write a discursive analytical explanation of the process they undertook in
textual translation from English to Cebuano-Visayan.
9
Conclusion: the Cebuano-Visayan
Speaking Filipino deserves to be
Educated in Cebuano-Visayan
Every Cebuano-Visayan native speaker (from mainstream to geographical variations)
deserves to be educated in Cebuano-Visayan, the first language of the populace of Central
Visayas and the lingua franca of the Visayas and Mindanao in the Philippine archipelago,
while being taught to master English as an international lingua franca and to master Filipino
(Tagalog) as the national language of the Republic of the Philippines.
The Cebuano-Visayan native speaker, thus needs a pedagogic grammar of CebuanoVisayan, which is the instructional version of the adequate and powerful linear description
actualized by this research-based paper, focused on: the phoneme-grapheme correspondence
of Cebuano-Visayan speech-writing system; the agglutinative morphologic affixation,
composition, reduplication of Cebuano-Visayan word system; the predicate structure of
Cebuano-Visayan sentence patterning system.
Therefore, the Cebuano-Visayan native speaker should be the LITERATE, EDUCATED,
INFORMED Filipino who talks and writes in his / her first language at par with the world’s
intellectuals without losing his own regional nativeness, national identity and global dignity.
References
Books and Journals
Corder, S. Pit. 1973. Introducing Applied Linguistics. Baltimore: Penguin Education.
Cubar, Nelly and Ernesto Cubar. 1994. Writing Filipino Grammar. Quezon City: New Day Publishers.
Gonzales, A.B., FSC. 1985. Bilingual Communities: National/Regional Profiles and Verbal Review of Applied Linguistics.
MacFarland, C. 1994. “Subgrouping and number of the Phil. Languages or How Many Languages Are There?” Phil.
Journal of Linguistics 25, 1-2; 75-84.
Otanes, F and Sabangan, B. 1969. Language Policy Survey of the Philippine. Manila: LSC, PNU.
Pesirla, Angel. 2003. A Linguistic Description of Cebuano-Visayan. Cebu City: CNU Research Center.
Santas, E. 1969. “A Study of Language, use and attitudes Toward Language, in the Phil.” In Ohannessian et al, (Ed.)
Language Surveys in Developing Nations. Washington D.C. Center for Applied Linguistics.
Sibayan, B. 1978. “Bilingual education in the Phil.: Strategy and Structure.” In J. Alatis (Ed). International Dimensions
and Bilingual Education. Washington D.C., Georgetown.
Yabes, L. 1973. “Let’s Study the New Constitution: the Language Provision.” Phil. Social Sciences and Humanities
Review, 33.
Website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Melayu