Pronunciation is important. If you are in a country that is new to you, they might pronounce words differently than they do back home.
Over the years, I have learned pretty well how to pronounce words in the Philippines. Mostly that is due to my language lessons when I learned how to speak Bisaya. My teacher, Bebe, was very strict in making me pronounce words correctly.
In Philippine languages, even a very slight difference in the way a word is pronounced can make a big difference in the meaning of the word. Some of these sound differences almost cannot even be heard by the western ear, because we do not have such differences in our countries, or such differences are only rarely used in the English language.
I learned a real lesson about this one time when I was having Bisaya lessons with a friend. This was with a different teacher than I have ever talked about here on LiP. I had studied Bisaya for a few months previously, but it did not work out, so I quit. A very close friend and I decided to take lessons together, hoping that we could practice with each other to achieve our desire of learning to speak the language.
Anyway, one day we were having a lesson together, and the teacher was teaching us how to convert a word from an action into a place. For example, in Bisaya the word “kaon” means to eat. A restaurant can be called a “kaonan” – a place to eat, simply by adding the “an” at the end. This is true for many action words, verbs, can be changed into places by simply adding the “an” at the end.
So, as our Bisaya teacher was teaching us about how to change verbs into places, we were all coming up with different examples. I said that “langoy” means to swim, so “langoyan” would be a pool or a swimming hole.
My friend blurted out that “lolo” means grandfather, so “loloan” would mean a place where grandfathers congregate. The teacher got a very red face and broke out laughing!
What was so funny?
Well, “lolo” does mean grandfather. However, my friend pronounced “lolo” in a slightly different way, he put a hard stop on the second “O”, which technically is called a “glotal stop“. By making the second O in the word end quickly, it changed the meaning of the word. “Lolo” with a hard stop at the end means to masturbate. So, a “loloan” is a place to… well, you get the meaning….
What a laugh we had that day, and the teacher got a real kick out of it. Totally unexpected!
So, if you try speaking Bisaya or Tagalog to impress friends or family, it can be quite important to make sure you are pronouncing the words correctly. If you don’t, you might be saying something completely different than you thought!
Well I keep my attempts to “speaking the language” to simple words because my family always laughs at me for my “slang”
But still, Lolo is a pretty simple word!
Haha!
lolo man jud Bob!
😉 Oliver!
lmao sa “lolo”
Tinuod, ako pud, Ann.
I sit here laughing hysterically at this article Bob. Not because of that one mispronunciation of that on word, but because I have had very similar experiences myself. I have come to the conclusion that in addition to written texts for learning any language, a Language teacher is also needed to correct such guffaws. Even in the English language some words can have a different meaning in another English speaking Country. I learned this the hard way during a visit to England!
I think we’ve all been there and done that, Joe! Just maybe to different extents.
Your article made me smile for an additional reason. My wife and I try to take a walk each day and pass by a small nipa house where a young couple have a very cute little girl. The little girl would greet us with the only english she knew “good morning” pronounced “moanen”. We grew quite fond of her, gave her a doll for Christmas, and started bringing her small treats from the local sari sari store. Now when she sees us walking, her “moanen” has changed to kaon!
Wonderful story, Mike. I have experienced many similar situations in the Philippines, and it makes me smile to think about them.
Hi Bob – I said to a good Filipino friend “Hubog kaayo se dong”. He looked at me weird and asked me to repeat, so I did. Apparently my pronunciation sounded like “Hubag kaayo se dong”. Instead of saying he was very drunk I was telling him that he had a large crack. Apparently a woman could be grossly offended if you said it to her. Or when learning to say “dili ko malibak” my pronunciation at times sounded more like “dili ko malibang”. Crazy but fun cultural/language learning. Essentially the pronunciation of many letters of the alphabet is different and that’s hard to adjust. But the same for Filipinos, most speak English using the Philippine alphabet pronunciation and it sounds weird.
Hi Brenton – Yep, it just goes to show that you gotta be careful in what you say! As foreigners, we are given leeway, and it is understood that we make mistakes… but still…. 😉
Hi Bob – Also the different languages here are unusual what words get used where. Example travel 150 km north from Dumaguete and “Dili ko kasabot” means “I have no pubic hair”. Crazy right!
Hmm… are you sure somebody isn’t pulling your leg on that, Brenton? 😉 It does sound pretty crazy.
Hi Bob – No joke in the translation. The language is Ilonggo and is spoken in the top half of negros Island, Bisaya is spoken in the bottom half. Locals make a joke “Dili ko kasabot” regularly. We go top Bacolod about 2 times a year, so on my last trip I spoke a few words of Ilonggo to a taxi driver, the language has many similar words to Bisaya, so easy to pick up. The driver then asked if I could speak Ilonggo well. I said a little but mainly Bisaya. I then asked if he can speak Bisaya, he replied he knew a bit. He tested me by talking in fluent Ilonggo, so not understanding what he was saying, I replied “Dili ko kasabot”. He gagged a bit and laughed. The joke was taken quite well.
I am familiar with Ilonggo. I used to live in GenSan, and Ilonggo is fairly widely spoken there (many people from Iloilo have settled there). But, the word for pubic hair is different.. I can’t remember it right off hand, though. It certainly is interesting!
Hey Brenton – I checked on that “kasabot” thing… you are almost completely right… in Ilonggo, “sabot” means pubic hair! So, I can see how saying “dili ko kasabot” could be understood as “I have no pubic hair” by an Ilonggo, although it would be a bit of a “loose” translation. 😉
Hi Bob – Based on street language here the translation is spot on. How ever literal translation can be different. I should learn proper Bisaya but I just learn what they speak on the street. They do have heaps of slang.
Yes, I believe you completely, there is a lot of slang in every language, and street language is very different than proper use.
Ha ha… keep it up Scott, you’ll be a pro in no time!
lololol!!!
Bob
Anne is slowly teaching me Tagalog. The jeepney drivers and others usually smile when I attempt to speak it lol.
Give them a chuckle, PapaDuck… a laugh is good medicine!
Both Bob and Benton brought up some good points. The western ear cannot distinguish some of the subtle differences. The reverse is also true. And, even though both cultures use the Roman alphabet, the letters are pronounced differently. ( Actually, I think that Filipino pronunciation is more consistent with the rest of the world than is American.). Another factor is muscle memory in the mouth and tongue, That is why children usually learn a new language easier than adults.
My situation is compounded with my own heavy southern accent. I have to speak rather slowly and carefully in order to be understood. I sometimes forget to do that among folks I’m comfortable with.
Take care,
Pete
Hi Pete – Yes, I think that Philippine pronunciation is more “in line” with much of the rest of the world, compared to American English. One thing about English, especially American English is that we have so many exceptions to rules… you just never know what is right and what is not!
Bob,
Nice post and so true! Also, not just words themselves, but how you form the structure of ones sentence.
We Americans probably speak our own language worse than some of the other countries do. We’re lazy and slang. Let me give an example:
When I was in Japan I had asked a Japanese friend, “Don’t you want to go to the game with us tomorrow tonight?” We were going to a professional baseball game. His feelings were hurt because he had thought I didn’t want him to come along.
There were other incidents as well, but that one jumps out at me because I love sports and remembered it quite well. I’ve also heard many Japanese people say English is hard to learn because there are many words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.
Culture in itself is important. I unknowingly stuck my chop sticks in my rice and a hush went around the table. It’s a sign of bad luck/death.
Of course, I never mean to insult anyone. Wondering if College would have prepared me for that? Or is it one of those ‘Worldly Travel’ methods of being educated? Hmmm
Love your last line, Bill. 🙂
I agree with everything you said about the English language.
Thanks Bob!
Had to sneak that one in there! It served as an example of a point in which I was trying to make in A.J.’s post. I knew you would catch it! haha
One of the worst pronunciation of a person’s name by Westerners is the name, “Jose”. Most Westerners pronounce the name to rhyme with “way”. I thought the correct pronunciation should be, “Hos-se”.
Yes, you are right. But, it is a two way street. Nearly every Filipino I run across pronounces my last name incorrectly. It doesn’t really bother me though.
Hi Bob,
I made the mistake of laughing at my wife and rudely correcting her pronunciation of maple not long after she had come to the US. She said “map pull” instead. I got some righteous tampo time for that. I was rude. English is her third language behind Bisayan and Tagalog. Nice article Bob!
Thanks, Jay. Yep, I understand, that laughing was a big mistake.
As I was drinking my morning coffee, I always read the article coming from LiP specially from you Bob. This article was absolutely hysterical! I was dying laughing 😀 I rarely laugh so hard this early in the morning. I cant wait to tell Rich (my husband) about this article. Yes, each language has their own unique pronounciation and the sound could be different meaning like “lolo” best example!!! What a great article!
Hi Nilda, so nice to see you here. Thank you for stopping by and for commenting. I am glad that you enjoyed the article.
Bob,
My wife told me this story once before: There was a missionary that was speaking at her church that wanted to at least say a word in Bisaya to let everyone know he was trying. He started his speech by pointing to his nose and saying…. I know, I have a long itlog.
Ha ha… He forgot the proper word and it got him in trouble! 🙂
I’ve been studying Bisaya and decided I would try to do a small speech at a gathering of family and friends in Cebu on this trip. I wisely decided to have my wife and a friend scrutinize what I had written so there would be no embarrassment or offense as a result of my surprise speech. Things worked very well. I just had a brain cramp in the second to last sentence. Otherwise, all went very well.
Hi Jeff – My hat is off to you! Learning Bisaya, or any other language is great. It helps expand your own mind, and also improves your life if you live here by helping you understand what is going on around you! It is the best thing I have done to improve my life since moving here!