R. David Zorc
Language Name: Hiligaynon. Alternate: Ilonggo (a term which is sometimes
applied to the entire dialect chain).
Location: Hiligaynon is spoken in the Philippines throughout Negros Occidental
(the western half of the island of Negros), the eastern and southern portions
of Panay Island, and most of Guimaras Island, and by immigrants in large
pockets on Mindanao (e.g., the Davao area) and Palawan (in and around Puerto
Princesa).
Family: Bisayan subgroup of the Central Philippine group of the Western
Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
Related Languages: Most closely related to Romblomanon (spoken in the
Philippine Islands of Romblon and Tablas), Masbateño (of Masbate),
Samar-Leyte, and waray bisayan, all co-members of the Bisayan subgroup of
Central Philippine languages.
Dialects: Hiligaynon has many dialects. For example, the alternate language
name Ilonggo originally referred only to the dialect of Iloilo City. Almost
every town, especially those along language borders with cebuano, Kinaray-a and
Aklanon, has some variation in lexicon and intonation. Those dialects which
have notable differences include Capiznon (which is spoken in Capiz Province on
central eastern Panay; it has several lexical idiosyncrasies) and Kawayan
(which is spoken in the town of Cauayan, south of Bacolod City on Negros; it
has a phonological idiosyncracy wherein an [l] between vowels is often replaced
by a [y], e.g., Hil ulán, Kaw uyán ‘rain’).
Number of Speakers: 4.5 million (4th largest Philippine language)
Origin and History
When the Spanish arrived in the Philippines, Hiligaynon was (and indeed still
is) a major trade language in the western Visayas. Legends recorded in the
Maragtas, a book by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro, tell of ten datus (chieftains)
who left Borneo to found settlements on the island of Panay in the central
Philippines, but these have been critically analyzed by Scott (1984:91-103) and
shown to be well-intentioned fabrications. More serious still was the purported
discovery of a law code and pre-Hispanic calendar, but Scott (1984:104-135) has
shown these to be forgeries by Jose E. Marco, a Filipino chemist. Each of these
has unfortunately made its way into post-war Philippine history books. As Scott
concludes: "The summary above discloses a considerable discrepancy between what
is actually known about the pre-Hispanic Philippines and what has been written
about it. The popular texts present a picture of law codes, membership in Asian
empires, and political confederations projected against a background of 250,000
years of migrating waves of Filipino progenitors, almost complete with their
points of departure, sailing dates and baggage."
Archeological and linguistic evidence, as well as a few Chinese reports are all
we have to determine the prehistory of any Philippine group. Written history
starts with the advent of the Spanish. Thus, Kobak (1969:22) reports that the
Spanish researcher Alzina recorded the fact that the Hiligaynons of Oton (and
elsewhere on Panay) traced their origin to Leyte. Zorc (1977:45f) concludes
that based on order of diversity, Hiligaynon (as well as all of the 35 other
Bisayan speech varieties) developed in either the eastern Visayan region or on
northeastern Mindanao.
The name Visayan was the Spanish rendition of the adjective bisayá’
referring to a person or item from the central Philippine islands and the verb
binisayá’ meaning ‘to speak Bisayan.’ It applies to 36 different speech
varieties, the most well-known of which include Cebuano, Waray, Hiligaynon, and
Aklanon. Together, these groups represent over 40% of the Philippine
population, almost double that of any other language in the archipelago. The
word probably derives from a dialect variant of a Malay loan bicara ‘to
speak,’ based on the propensity of many Filipinos to name their language
based on some idiosyncracy of that language, e.g., Waráy ‘there is none,’
Ja’ún ‘over there.’ The Kinaray-a say bisára’ ‘to mention,’
Aklanon has bisá»a’ ‘to utter’ and bilisad’un ‘saying, maxim,’
while the Banton, Odiongan, Surigao, Kawayan, and Romblon dialects use
bisáya’ ‘to say, speak.’ [See Zorc 1977:42-45 for more details.]
After the arrival of Magellan in 1521, the Spanish conquest introduced
Christianity through Roman Catholicism (which still co-exists with the
indigenous animistic beliefs), hundreds of loanwords, and a western outlook on
the world.
The United States introduced a widespread elementary and high school education
program, whereby own-language and English literacy became the norms. The legal
system and the press follow US language and traditions. It is not uncommon for
the wealthy to have had higher education in Manila, Cebu, or the US.
Orthography and Basic Phonology
The Hiligaynon writing system currently follows that established for the
Philippine National Language based upon tagalog. Previously, a quasi-Hispanic
orthography was followed, which is still in use by an older generation of
authors, e.g., <icao> = ikáw ‘you, thou.’ The glottal stop is written as a
hyphen before or after another consonant, e.g., ba’ba’ = <ba-ba>
‘mouth,’ búg’at = <bug-at> ‘heavy.’ However it is never written in
word-initial position before a vowel, whereas in word-final position it is not
indicated in the vast majority of Hiligaynon publications apart from a
convention of writing a final [u’] or [o’] as <u>. Following the tradition
for Tagalog, it may be indicated with an acute accent over the vowel, e.g.,
bisáya’ = <bisayà>, binisayá’ = <binisayâ>. Punctuation (use of the
period, comma, semicolon, question mark, and exclamation mark) is as
established for English.
Consonants:
Labial
Dental
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
Stops
Voiceless
p
t
k
/
Voiced
b
d
g
Fricatives
Voiceless
f
s
h
Voiced
v
Nasals
m
n
ng
Resonants
w
l, r
y
Vowels:
Front
Central
Back
High
i
u
Mid
e
o
Low
a
The voiceless stops are all unaspirated. The digraph <ng> represents the velar
nasal [õ], which occurs in all positions (at the beginning, middle and end of
words); c, j, f, v, e, and o occur mostly in borrowings from English and
Spanish. R is trilled, as in Spanish perro.
The glottal stop is a very important sound in distinguishing words, e.g.,
[basá’] ‘wet’ as opposed to [bása] ‘read’ or [kíta’] see as
opposed to [kitá] ‘we all [inclusive].’ When a word ends in a glottal stop
and is followed by the linker nga, the two forms may be fused together, such
as: balíta’ + nga = <balitang> ‘news (of).’ Some linguists, such as
Wolfenden (1971), write the glottal catch with a <q>, e.g., <basáq> ‘wet,’
but an apostrophe is used herein.
Word accent is very important in distinguishing forms in Hiligaynon. Roots
generally have accent on either the second last or final syllable, as in: ámo
‘master (Sp.) vs. amó ‘the same, thus,’ áyaw ‘satisfaction’ vs.
ayáw ‘don’t!,’ bála ‘bullet’ vs. balá ‘is it?, really?’
báti’ ‘feel, perceive’ vs.batí’ ‘hear, catch sound of’ bílin
‘remain, stay’ vs. bilín ‘leftovers,’ dúlot ‘offer’ vs. dulút
‘penetrate,’ súbong ‘like, similar’ vs. subóng ‘now, today,’
útud ‘sibling’ vs. utúd ‘cut.’
If the accent falls on the second last syllable (penult) and that syllable is
not closed by a consonant (i.e., if the syllable is open or of the shape CV),
the vowel is pronounced long. Thus [á:mo, á:yaw, bá:la ... ú:tud] in the
above examples. If the accent falls on the final syllable, then that syllable
receives stress (is pronounced louder and with a slight change in pitch), while
the penult is pronounced with a short vowel. Thus [amó, ayáw, balá ...
utúd] in the above.
Accent also plays an important role in distinguishing certain related pairs of
words, such as noun or verb roots from their stative or adjective-like
counterparts: báli’ ‘break’ vs. balí’ ‘broken,’ búhi’ live vs.
buhí’ ‘alive,’ kúsog ‘strength’ vs. kusóg ‘strong,’ lútu’
‘to cook’ vs. lutú’ ‘cooked,’ pílas ‘to wound’ vs. pilás
‘wound, injury.’
Basic Phonological Rules. All words are formed from syllables of the shape
CV(C), that is always an initial consonant (a word that appears to begin with a
vowel, actually begins with a glottal stop), followed by any vowel, and
optionally ending in a consonant, thus sa [CV] locative marker, sang [CVC]
oblique marker, matá [CV.CV] ‘eye,’ takúp [CV.CVC] ‘cover,’ támbuk
[CVC.CVC] ‘fat,’ etc.
Morphophonemic changes. The phoneme /d/ has a word-final allophone of [r], so
when a root word ending with d receives a suffix, the -d changes to -r-, as in
báyad ‘pay’ + -an = bayáran ‘be paid’ or idád / edád ‘age’ +
pang--on = pangidarón ‘be of a certain age.’ In inflecting verbs borrowed
from Spanish that end in r, the -r changes to -h-, as in preparár ‘to
prepare’ + -un = preparahón ‘be prepared’ or probár ‘to try out’ +
-an = probahán ‘be tried out.’
After the distributive prefixes like maN- or paN- NASAL ASSIMILATION takes
place:
Example Root Gloss
b > m himánwa bánwa civic-mindedness
ginpamalibáran balíbad was denied
památi’ batí’ listen to
p > m pamáhug páhog threaten, scare off
pamúgon púgon work for a daily wage
s > n panílag sílag observe, watch
panumbungon súmbong accusation
t > n panindugan tíndog stand, position
Vowel loss is a common process affecting many words that receive a suffix:
dálhon (from dalá) ‘be brought,’ kagamhánan (from gahóm) ‘powers,’
madákpan (from dakóp) ‘can be caught,’ pagkalímtan (from límot)
‘(not) be forgotten,’ pamálhon (from malá) ‘let become dry,’ súndon
(from sunúd) ‘be followed.’
Basic Morphology
Grammatical relations are shown either by particles (ang or si topic markers,
kag ‘and,’ na ‘now, already,’ mga plural marker, kaysa sa ‘than,’
man ‘also, too,’ lang ‘only,’ etc.) or by the following kinds of
affixes:
Prefixes (which come before a root word), e.g., i- instrumental verb, inug-
instrumental noun, ma- future stative verb, mag- active contingent, nag- past
active, pa- causative verb.
Infixes (which come after the first consonant but before the first vowel of a
stem), e.g., -in- in linuthang ‘was shot’ and -um- in pumulúyo’
‘resident.’ Note that glottal stop begins all words that appear to have a
vowel first, e.g. ‘inagíhan ‘was passed,’ ‘ináway ‘was fought.’
Suffixes (which come after the root), e.g., -an (in baligyá’an ‘was sold
to’) or its alternate -han (after vowels, as in listáhan ‘list’), -i (in
tilawí ‘taste it!’), -on (in buháton ‘be made’ or its alternate -hon
(after vowels, as in dálhon ‘be brought’).
Circumfixes (which consist of a prefix & suffix or an infix & suffix that
belong together), e.g., paga--an (in pagahambálan ‘be discussed’), -in--an
(in ginikánan ‘parents,’ tinindúgan ‘was stood upon’), ka--an (in
ka’ayuhán ‘goodness,’ kahamtángan ‘situation’), ka--ánan (as in
ka’angtánan ‘connection, relationship’).
Reduplications (which may be partial or full, involve either the first
consonant and the first vowel of the root or a repetition of the whole stem),
e.g., Culo- (bulobánta’ ‘guess’), -Vl- (balatí’an ‘disease’),
full reduplication, denoting a diminutive (basa’basá’on ‘be
moistened,’ kakikakíhon ‘brownish’).
Noun Morphology. Nominals are of four kinds: common nouns (with ang-type
markers), proper nouns (marked with si), demonstratives (e.g., iní ‘this,’
dídto ‘there’ -- also called deictics), and pronouns (e.g., akó ‘I,’
ikáw ‘you’). Common nouns are distinguished for three cases: a topic or
subject form (equivalent to the nominative case), an oblique form (equivalent
to both a genitive and an accusative, marking a direct relationship to a verb
or head noun), and a locative form (marking location or an indirect object).
Plurality is generally shown by mga [pronounced mangá], which indicates a
variety or assortment of what the noun signifies.
Personal names are also distinguished for three cases, but are marked for
singular or plural. The plural here (e.g., sanday Pedro) is the equivalent of
‘Peter and family’ or ‘Peter and his/her companions,’ etc.
Noun Markers
Common Nouns Personal Names
Singular Plural Singular Plural
Topic/Focus ang + mga si sanday
Oblique - definite sang + mga ni nanday
- indefinite sing + mga
Locative sa + mga (sa) kay kanday
Nouns are linked to adjectives or other parts of speech by means of a ligature
or linking particle, nga, which has an alternate -ng after vowels, e.g.,
matahúm nga babáyi ‘beautiful woman’ or ma’áyo-ng babáyi ‘good
woman.’
Demonstratives (deictics) show three different locations (near me, near you,
far away); they can also indicate time:
Deictics
Near Me Near You Far Away
Topic iní iná’ ató
Oblique siní siná’ sádto
Locative dirí dirá’ dídto
Existential yári yára’ yádto
Verbal karí kará’ kádto
Pronouns are generally like their English equivalents, but there are inclusive
vs. exclusive forms for we, and a singular vs. plural form for you:
Pronoun Topic Oblique Locative
Before After
I akó ákon -ko / nákon sa’ákon
you [singular] ikáw / ka ímo -mo / nímo sa’ímo
he / she si(y)á íya níya sa’íya
we [+ you / incl] kitá áton -ta / náton sa’áton
we [- you / excl] kamí ámon námon sa’ámon
you [plural] kamó ínyo nínyo sa’ínyo
they silá íla níla sa’íla
Numerals are not a separate part of speech, since they fall within the noun
class. However, there is a native set as opposed to a Spanish set. This can
cause some confusion as to pronunciation when an Arabic number (such as 3 or
10) is encountered. As a general rule, phrases that involve time, dates, years,
money and compound numbers use Spanish loans, while counting in a series
(usually up to ten) or naming simple numbers is done with the original system:
(1) isá; (2) duhá; (3) tátlo; (4) ápat; (5) limá; (6) ánom; (7) pitó;
(8) waló; (9) siyám; (10) napúlo’; (11) napúlog isá; (22) duhá ka púlo
kag duhá; (100) isá ka gatós; (1000) isá ka líbo, etc.
When a noun follows a number (or the interrogative pilá how many?, the
enumerative marker ka is used instead of the linker nga. Note that this is
found in all the original numbers (above) from twenty upwards.
Verb Morphology. Verbs are inflected for the following categories:
VOICE active emphasizes an actor or a meteorological event
passive emphasizes an object totally affected or taken in
instrumental emphasizes an object moving away from the agent or doer
local emphasizes an object partially affected or a beneficiary ( "for/to whom")
TENSE past / action already begun = past time statements
progressive = ongoing action (e.g., Present )
contingent / action not yet begun (e.g., Infinitive )
future = action expected to occur
ASPECT punctual / action viewed as a single event (-um-)
durative / action viewed as an ongoing process (mag-)
distributive / complex process or plural object (maN-)
MOOD factual ("is Xing," "does X" or "did X" = unmarked )
potential = "can/could," stative, or accidental.
Past Progressive Contingent Future Command
Active
Punctual -um- -um- ma- mag-
Durative nag- naga- mag- maga- pag-
Distributive naN- nagapaN- maN- magapaN- magpaN-
Potential naka- naka- maka- maka-
Passive
Punctual -in- -(h)on -(h)on -a
Durative gin- gina- pag--on paga--on pag--a
Distributive ginpaN- ginapaN- paN--on paN--on
Potential na- na- ma- ma-
Instrumental
Punctual -in- i- i- i-
Durative gin- gina- i(g)- iga- ipag-
Distributive ginpaN--an ginapaN--an ipaN-- ipaN-
Potential (ki)na- na- ika- ika-
Local Passive
Punctual -in--an -an -an -i
Durative gin--an gina--an pag--an paga--an pag--i
Distributive ginpaN--an ginapaN--an paN--an paN--an
Potential na--an na--an ma--an ma--an
Examples with the very root balígya’ ‘sell’ include: nagabalígya’
‘is selling [active progressive],’ nagbalígya’ ‘sold [active past],’
magabalígya’ ‘will sell [active future],’ magbalígya’ ‘sell [active
command],’ nakabalígya’ ‘was able to sell; could sell [active potential
past],’ makabalígya’ ‘can sell [active potential future],’
nagapamalígya’ ‘sell lots [distributive active progressive],’
namalígya’ ‘sold lots [distributive active past],’ ginbalígya’ ‘was
sold [instrumental past],’ ginabalígya’ ‘is being sold [instrumental
progressive],’ ibalígya’ ‘will be sold [instrumental future]; sell it!
[object focus command],’ ikabalígya’ ‘can be sold [instrumental
potential future],’ ginabligya’án ‘is being sold to [local passive
progressive],’ ginbaligya’án ‘was sold to [local passive past],’
nabaligya’án ‘was able (could) be sold to [local passive past
potential].’
The verb system also has some other frequently used affixes:
-ánay Reciprocal patyanáy killing each other
pa- Causative pakíta’ show, cause to see
pakig- Mutual Activity pagpakigkíta’ meeting with someone
nakighámbal talked with
magka- Stative nagkabuhí’ lived one’s life out
General rules. In Hiligaynon, a part of speech is best assigned from the
context or actual use of a form. Thus, a root word may be a noun or a verb
(e.g., ulán ‘rain’) or a noun or an adjective (e.g., támbuk ‘fat’).
Some roots, depending on affixation, can serve as nouns, adjectives, verbs, and
adverbs, e.g., áyo ‘good; to repair’ = ma’áyo ‘good’ [adjective] or
‘well’ [adverb], ka’ayúhan ‘goodness’ [abstract noun], nangáyo
‘improved’ [distributive verb], ginka’áyo ‘was repaired’ [stative
verb]. Compounding is not a common process, but when it does occur, it involves
the simple juxtaposition of two roots, e.g., sakít’úlo ‘headache’
[noun; also said as masakít ang ‘úlo ko ‘my head aches’].
Basic Syntax
Although there is relatively free word order due to the clarity provided by the
case marking particles and verb-subject (focus) agreement, standard word order
follows the pattern VSO.
Case marking of major constituents is accomplished by focus; that is, having an
appropriate voice affix on the verb which agrees with the grammatical role of
the subject noun (in the nominative) plus any optional oblique or locative
nouns.
Departures from the standard VSO word order generally indicate a kind of
emphasis. Nag/abút akó kahápon (arrived I yesterday) ‘I arrived
yesterday,’ Kahápon akó nag/abút (yesterday I arrived) ‘It was yesterday
that I arrived.’
Despite the VSO sentence word order, Hiligaynon noun phrases are usually
head-final: matahúm nga babáyi (beautiful LINK woman) ‘beautiful woman.’
There are three main negative markers in Hiligaynon. Walá/ ‘none’ negates
any existential statement: Walá/ kitá sing bugás (NEG we:TOP OBL rice) ‘We
have no rice.’ It also negates past tense verbs.
walá/ níya pagbákla ang reló
NEG he buy.PASSIVE.NEG the:sg:top watch
‘He did not buy the watch.’
Walá/ has an alternate waláy if the word order is NEG-O-S: Waláy bugás
kitá (NEG rice we) ‘We have no rice.’ Future tense verbs are negated with
díli/ ‘not.’
díli/ níya pagbáklun ang reló
NEG he buy-FUT the:sg:top watch
‘He will not buy the watch.’
Díli/ also negates nouns and adjectives in standard Hiligaynon: díli/ siyá
abogádo (NEG he lawyer) ‘He is not a lawyer.’ Negative imperatives are
marked with ayáw ‘don’t!’ Ayáw pagbákla! (don’t
buy.DURATIVE.PASSIVE) ‘Don’t buy it!’
Contact With Other Languages
The Hiligaynon dialects of Panay border on Kinaray-a (along the province of
Antique) and Aklanon (along the province of Aklan); both of these are members
of the West Bisyan group. The dialects of Negros border on Cebuano (the largest
of the Bisayan dialects). Furthermore, the airwaves (television and radio
channels) broadcast Tagalog (the basis for the Philippine national language).
To the degree that Hiligaynon speakers are involved in these contacts, their
vocabulary and grammar will differ from the standard dialect. Due to education
and the media, the average person is trilingual (Hiligaynon, Tagalog and
English) and thus everyday speech reflects a great deal of language mixture
(called halo-halo or mix-mix).
There are a number of words borrowed from Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic via
Malay or Indonesian contacts during the pre-Hispanic era. More recently there
are hundreds of words assimilated from Spanish and English.
From Sanskrit: pu/ása ‘to fast’
From Persian: álak ‘alcoholic beverage’; báyo/ ‘shirt, dress’
From Arabic: hukúm ‘judge,’ salámat ‘thank you’
From English: ayskrim ‘ice cream,’ hayskul ‘high school,’ bir
‘beer’
From Spanish: pwéde ‘possible,’ siémpre ‘of course’
Today television and radio channels broadcast in Tagalog (the basis for the
Philippine National Language), and the average Hiligaynon speaker knows Tagalog
and English. In addition, the Hiligaynon dialects of Panay border on Kinaray-a
(along the province of Antique) and Aklanon (along the province of Aklan); both
of these are members of the West Bisayan language group. The dialects of Negros
border on cebuano (the largest of the Bisayan dialects). Everyday speech
reflects a great deal of language mixture, called halo-halo or mix-mix.
Common Words
man: laláki long: malába/
woman: babáyi small: gamáy
water: túbig yes: hú/o
sun: ádlaw no: díli/
three: tátlo good: ma/áyo
fish: ísda/ bird: píspis
big: dakú/ dog: idó/
tree: káhoy
Example Sentences
(1) sín/u ang ngálan mo
who TOP name your
What is your name?
(2) sa kíndat sa ímo matá na-sayúr-an
LOC wink LOC your eye be.known
ko ang ímo pag-higúgma
by.me TOP your love
By the look in your eye, I can know your love.
(3) gin-píli/ níya ang mangá ma/áyo
PAST/PASSIVE-select by.him TOP PLURAL good
He picked the good ones.
Efforts to Preserve, Protect, and Promote the Language
Hiligaynon is taught in the schools from Grades 1-3 (thereafter, the medium of
instruction is in the Philippine national language based on Tagalog). There are
numerous publications (periodicals, newspapers, poetry and other literature
journals) as well as movies and radio broadcasts in the language emanating from
the regional centers (Bacolod City and Iloilo). The Roman Catholic Mass and
Protestant Church services are in Hiligaynon, and there is a Hiligaynon
translation of the Bible in wide use. The Hiligaynon-speaking population is
strong and growing, as the census figures over the last few decades attest.
Select Bibliography
Constantino, Ernesto. 1975. An English-Hiligaynon Dictionary. Quezon City:
University of the Philippines.
Kaufmann, Rev. John. 1939. Pinciples of Visayan Grammar. Manila: Catholic Trade
School.
Kobak, Cantius, O.F.M. "Alzina’s Historia de las Islas E Indios de Bisayas,"
Leyte-Samar Studies, Chapters 1-3, 3/1:14-36, Chapters 4-5, 4/1:17-28, 1969-70.
McFarland, Curtis D. 1980. A Linguistic Atlas of the Philippines. Study of
Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Monograph Series, No. 15. Tokyo:
Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa.
Motus, Cecile. 1971a. Hiligaynon Dictionary. PALI Language Texts: Philippines.
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
____. 1971b. Hiligaynon Lessons. PALI Language Texts: Philippines. Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press.
Scott, William Henry. 1984. Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of
Philippine History (Revised Edition). Quezon City: New Day Publishers.
Sunio, Delicia and R. David Zorc. 1992. Hiligaynon Reader. Kensington, MD:
Dunwoody Press.
Wolfenden, Elmer P. 1971. Hiligaynon Reference Grammar. PALI Language Texts:
Philippines. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
____. 1975. A Description of Hiligaynon Syntax. Summer Institute of Linguistics
Publications in Linguistics and Related Fields, Pub. No. 46. Norman: University
of Oklahoma Press.
Yap, Jose E. 1983. English-Visayan (Ilonggo) Dictionary (Kapulungan
Iningles-Binisaya). Iloilo: Apostol Printers, Inc.
Zorc, R. David. 1967. Peace Corps Primer for the Western Visayas. Washington:
Government Printing Office.
____. 1968. Peace Corps Western Visayas Dialect Field Book. Kalibo, Aklan: R.
M. Trading.
____. 1977. The Bisayan Dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and
Reconstruction. Pacific Linguisitics C.44. Canberra: The Australian National
University.
Introdution
Bikol
Cebuano
Hiligaynon
Ilocano
Kapampangan
Pangasinan
Tagalog
Waray