Cebuano Grammar # 5
Today we will look at several things that will be helpful to know how to use. Some of these you may have already figured out. I will make the stressed syllable bold and put an * to show a glottal.
First of all, let’s look at how to say, ‘this, that, these and those’. These are pronouns (taking the place of a person or place, or thing) and will either be first or second class in our sentences.
First class words are the main focus of the sentence:
Kini = this, these right here, that I am or could be touching.
Kini ang akong anak. This is my child.
Kini (1st class pronoun) ang (1st class marker for the preceeding pronoun) akong (2nd class posessive pronoun, my) anak (child).
Paliton nako kini. I will buy this. Paliton (will buy, object focus) nako (2nd class personal pronoun, I) kini (1st class, this).
Kana*= that, those that we can see, over there, or farther from the speaker but near to the listener. Can also refer to a point or thought.
Kana* ang picture sa iyang asawa. That is the picture of his wife.
Kana* (1st class pronoun) ang (1st class marker for the following noun) picture sa (2nd class marker for asawa) iyang (2nd class posessive pronoun, his) asawa (object of the picture)
Kana* ang akong hunahuna! That is my thought! (I agree, we have the same thought)
Oo, kana*! Yes, that! =Yes, exactly! (You have hit the nail on the head!)
Kadto = that over there, those over there, far from both speaker and listener, can be out of sight.
Adtua kadtong balay nga blue ang gate. Go to that house that has a blue gate.
Adtua (command, direction focus ) ang (1st class marker) balay (1 st class noun) nga (linker; that) blue (ajective, describing) ang (1st class, focusing the gate which is blue) gate.
Kadtong sakyanan nga luyo sa balay nga iya ni Jim. [Telling the man which car you are refering to] That car behind the house that belongs to Jim.
Kadtong (that + linker, nga = kadtong) sakyanan (vehicle) nga (linker) luyo (behind) sa (2nd class marker focusing balay) balay (house) nga (linker) iya (2nd class possesive pronoun, ‘thing belonging to’) ni (2nd class possesive marker, showing ownership) Jim. (Jim, the guy who owns the car, is in this case less important than the car itself. Jim is just a way to identify the car.)
Whew! Now for the second class words for ‘this, that, these and those.’
Niini = this, these right here, that I am or could be touching.
Mopalit ako niini. I will buy this. Mopalit (will buy, actor focus) ako (1st class personal pronoun, I) niini (2nd class, this).
Kinsa ang tag-iya niini? Who is the owner of this? Whose is this?
Kinsa (who) ang (1st class marker for the answer to the ‘kinsa’ queston) tag-iya (owner) niini (2nd class pronoun, this)
Niana = that, those that we can see, over there, or farther from the speaker but near to the listener.
Wala* ko nakasabot niana. I didn’t understand that.
Wala* (did not) ko (shortened form of ako, 1st class personal pronoun) nakasabot (able to understand, actor potentiality focus) niana (2nd class pronoun, that).
Niadto= that over there, those over there, far from both speaker and listener, can be out of sight, or a long time ago.
Nagpalit ka ba niadtong auto nga inyong gitan-aw? Did you buy that car you looked at?
Nagpalit (did buy, actor focus) ka (1st class personal pronoun, you) ba (question particle) niadtong (that, out of sight, 2nd class pronoun) auto (car) nga (linker) inyong (you, plural, 2nd class) gitan-aw (looked at, object focus on the car)?
While we are at it, to refer to a time in the past, like last week, or last month or last year, you use, “Niadtong niaging” (That which has gone-by)
Niadtong niaging Sabado. Last Saturday
Niadtong niaging bulan. Last month.
Niadtong niaging tuig. Last year.
Niadtong niaging usa ka simana. Week before last.
Niadtong niaging pag-adto namo sa Estets. The last time we went to the States.
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Hi AmericanLola – Maybe I have not gone far enough in my lessons yet, but I haven’t heard of this “niini” is that just too advanced for me to know yet? For example, when you said, “Mopalit ako niini.” I would have said “Mopalit ako ni.” Can you explain what the difference is there? Is it a regional thing, or am I still at an elementary level?
Good question! I should have metioned that ‘niini’ is often abbreviated to ‘ni.’ But you wouldn’t say, “Ni ang akong anak.” For that you need the whole word. But you would say, “Unsa man ni? (What is this?) So you already learned that one! Kana is shortend to ‘na*’ (don’t forget the glottal stop!).’ “Unsa man-na*?”( What is that?) The two ‘n’s are run together.
Hi AmericanLola – OK…. I see what you are saying. But, for me, the “ni” would be an abbreviation for “kani” or “kini.” I asked Feyma about this, and she said that Niini, Kini or Kani are all acceptable. That’s one thing about Bisaya – there are many ways to say the same thing. Another thing is that you can say the same word with the accident in a different place, or with a glottal stop, or without and mean two totally different things!
There technically is no ‘kani’, only ‘kana,’ and ‘kini’. People say, ‘ani’ and that is short for ‘niani,’ and ‘ana’ which is short for ‘niana.’ It is more obvious when writing than when speaking.
Yes, the accent makes a difference! Have you noticed that ‘Ako’ is 2nd class for I, while ‘akO’ is 1st class for I?
HI AmericanLola – Hmm… the Kani is really on my vocabulary list, and is listed as interchangeable for kini. Maybe it’s just a regional difference.
Now, that is interesting about Ako and akO – that is something that I was (as yet) unaware of! You learn something new everyday!
Bob,
Just ask Feyma for the proper pronunciation for Ako (I) vs. AkO (mine) to save my time in explaining. Anyway…
Ako – i.e. Ako ang tag-iya aning balay. (I am the owner of this house).
AkO – i.e. AkO ning balay. (This house is mine).
And yes, Davao or Gensan vs. CDO’s Cebuano have some differences. When I spent a year in college in Iligan (close to CDO), there are some Cebuano words that were not familiar to me, and some have different meaning.
Hi Lea – Thanks for that explanation. I know that Cebuano in Cebu can have major differences from Cebuano in Mindanao as well.
Hi AmericanLola- I’m always excited to read your grammar lessons! Your presentation is very detailed.
Hi Bob- Wow, I’m impressed.
Ako (first personal pronoun-singular) ; AkO (First possesive pronoun-singular) as shown in Lea’s sentences.
If I may add, I heard the usage of niini and niana more often in speeches (by politicians ) and in cebuano literary compositions, else the shortened forms “ani” or “ana” are used in ordinary conversations.
Maybe niini/niana are considered more formal than regional. Just a thought…
I agree that kani and kini is interchangeable.
Here’s another tip.
kInI or InI for thIs (note the “I”)
kAnA or nA or AnA for thAt (note the “A”)
niinI or nI for thIs (note the “I”)
niana or nA for thAt (note the “A”)
Note whether the action word has a prefix or suffix. For example – “Palit” – to buy or “Gamit” – to use:
Mo”palit” ako niini/niana or ini/ana – I’m going to buy this/that.
“Palit”on nako kini/kana or ni/na – I will buy this/that.
Mo”gamit” siya niini/niana or ini/ana – He is going to use this/that.
“Gamit”on niya kini/kana or ni/na – He will use this/that.
Sorry if I have confused everybody. It’s Saturday – my brain is not in gear
Anyway, here’s my correction for the previous comment.
3rd line should be Kini or ni.
4th line shouldbe kana or na.
5th line should be niini or ini.
6th line should be niana or ana.
you are so amazing americanlola. i actually learned something from reading this, but its kind of ironic that im a native speaker of cebuano and i learned something from you instead. now i live in the US, this ss just a great cultural exchange. kudos and thanks for loving/liking my country.
Even though I’m a native speaker, I’ve only recently started to find out of more of Cebuano grammar. I think Cebuano speakers should read this coz most of them are so clueless.
Enrich your Cebuano vocabulary.
Beta testing for the Cebuano Dictionary/Thesaurus is now available at http://www.binisaya.com.
Traditional printed dictionary is quite cumbersome and often not available. There are also online Cebuano dictionaries however, it doesn’t offer anything better than the printed dictionaries. It assumes that the user already know how to derive the root word, a daunting task indeed.
A new Cebuano stemming algorithm have been design and implemented.
If an exact lexical entry for the word is not found, the meaning of the root word is offered.
The Cebuano stemming algorithm can be seen here in action: http://www.binisaya.com/node/21
Web Reader:
The web reader provides an online word look. No need type, just move the mouse pointer. I have tested this with my American colleague who had no previous Cebuano knowledge, and he was able to read and understand Cebuano news.
You may try reading the online Cebuano news using this link:
http://www.binisaya.com/node/22?url=www.sunstar.com.ph/superbalita/
Supported browsers are IE 7 and FireFox 2. It may work with other browsers too but I haven’t tested it with other browsers.