bikolano facts
Renowl
Malcolm W. Mintz
Language name: Bikol. Alternate: Bicol.
Location: The Philippines, specifically provinces on the southeastern peninsula
of the island of Luzon and the offshore islands of Catanduanes, Masbate,
Burias, and Ticao.
Family: Central Philippine group of the Philippine subbranch of the (Western)
Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
Related languages: Bikol shows an affinity to all of the languages of the
Central Philippine subgroup, in particular tagalog to the north, and the North
Visayan languages hiligaynon (Ilongo), waray (Samar-Leyte), and cebuano to the
south.
Dialects: Dialects of Bikol include the five closely related dialects of
standard Bikol (that of Naga City), as well as some dialects which are so
diverse that they are not mutually intelligible. To give a clearer idea of the
types of differences which are found among the dialects in the Bikol region,
sample utterances from a variety of dialects follow. All utterances relate the
same information, the translation of the English exchange ‘Where did you
go/To the market/Were you there a long time?/No, just one hour’:
1. Naga City, Camarines Sur (Standard Bikol)
Nagsa'ín ka? / Sa sa'ód. / Halóy ka dumán? / Da'í, saróng óras saná.
2. Virac, Catanduanes
Nanga'ín ka? / Sa sa'ód. / Awát ka dumán? / Da'í, sa»ong óras lang.
3. Pandan, Catanduanes
Nagpasi'ín ka? / Sa sa'ód. / Huráy ka do'ón? / Ma'í, sadóng óras saná.
4. Gubat, Sorsogon
Nagkarín ka? / Sa plása. / Awát ka didtó? / Dirí', saró' ka óras hámok.
5. Sorsogon, Sorsogon
Nagka'ín ka? / Sa sa'ód. / Awát ka didtó? / Lá'in, isád na óras lang.
6. Ticao (Masbateño)
Nagka'ín ka? / Sa paléngke. / Dúgay ka didtó? / Díli', usád na óras
lang.
7. Ligao, Albay
Napasa'ín ka? / Sa sa'rán. / Eléy ka idtó? / Idí', núsad a óras saná.
8. Libon, Albay
Napáarin iká? / Sa saod. / Ubán iká adtó? / De', usád a óras saná.
9. Oas, Albay
Nagsáin iká? / Sa sed. / Eléy iká idtó? / Di', sad na óras lang.
10. Iriga, Camarines Sur (Rinconada Bikol)
Napasári iká? / Sa sa'rán. / Naebán iká sadtó? / Dirí', esád na óras
saná.
11. Buhi, Camarines Sur
Napasá'ri ka? / Sa sa'rán. / Naegéy iká adtó? / Indí', esád a óras
saná.
Number of Speakers: 4-6 million.
Origin and History: Based on archaeological evidence such as the Kalanay
pottery complex discovered on Masbate and the use of iron in the other Bikol
provinces, it is believed that the region has been inhabited by the ancestors
of the modern Bikolanos for just over 2,000 years. These people came from
mainland Southeast Asia to the Philippines, moving northward through the
Visayas to the region currently called Bikol.
The long, narrow Bikol peninsula was particularly exposed to migrating groups,
especially from the south across the protected waters of the inland sea. The
varied and complex dialect situation in the region and the links these dialects
have with the Visayan languages to the south are evidence enough of this. In
addition, the general cultural influences found in ancient songs and verse show
ties to the south, rather than to the north.
The region was also exposed to Muslim raiders coming from the islands to the
south of the Philippines in what are currently Indonesia and Malaysia. These
were slave-taking raids that came with such ferocity that some coastal villages
were depopulated and unoccupied for generations. These raids continued well
into the Spanish period.
The Spanish first came to the Bikol region for gold. They reached the gold
mines of Paracale in Camarines Norte in 1571. In 1572 the Spanish began
subduing the Bikol provinces, and set up the first permanent settlement in the
Bikol River basin in Camarines Sur in 1573. In 1574, they moved on to dominate
the remaining Bikol provinces of Albay, Sorsogon, and Catanduanes. The
Augustinians arrived with the Spanish conquistadors on Masbate in 1569. The
Franciscans arrived in the region in 1577 and were later to dominate the
conversion of Bikolanos to Christianity.
At the time of conquest, the Bikolanos used an Indic-based syllabic script to
write their language. Similar types of script were in common use throughout the
Philippines during pre-Hispanic times and remained in use among some members of
the community until the mid-nineteenth century. Father Marcos de Lisboa, a
Franciscan friar, was in Bikol from 1602 until 1611; during that time he
compiled the Vocabulario de la lengua Bicol, probably the finest early
dictionary of any Philippine language in existence. It is through the entries
in this dictionary that insights into the pre-Hispanic Bikol language and
culture can be gained. Lisboa’s dictionary is of Standard Bikol, and the
modern Bikol examples which are used for comparative purposes in this chapter
are also from Standard Bikol, the dialect of Naga City.
From the earliest days of contact, the Spanish used their Roman-alphabet script
for the writing of Bikol. Lisboa’s dictionary represented all Bikol words in
this script, and it remained in common use until after World War II.
Orthography and Basic Phonology
The modern script for Bikol is based on the script adopted for the Philippine
national language, Tagalog-based Filipino. No standard orthography is fully in
evidence in the Bikol-speaking provinces, and variations in spelling will occur
in different articles within the same newspaper or journal. The dominant system
is obviously that used for Filipino. The variations generally include spellings
used during the Spanish period which are perceived of as not very
foreign-looking to modern readers, such as enot ‘first’ and orig ‘pig’,
or adaptations of earlier Spanish spellings to approximate the new system, such
as gawe-gawe ‘habit, manner’ from the original Spanish representation,
gaue-gaue. Spanish loanwords are generally adjusted to the Bikol sound system
and spelled as they would be in Filipino, although there is a diminishing
number of writers who still prefer to use Spanish orthography for such words.
Mintz & Britanico (1985) in their Bikol-English Dictionary attempted to
regularize the Bikol spelling system by using the Filipino script with some
minor adjustments. These adjustments relate to indicating phonemic (meaningful
and non-predictable) stress, writing the glottal stop (‘) in medial and final
position, and the representation of the vowels u and o which show no phonemic
(meaningful) distinction. Regularization was also offered for the writing of
Spanish loan words. This involved the retention of the original Spanish vowels
and vowel sequences, while adjusting all consonants to the Filipino system in
an attempt to retain at least some recognition of the Spanish word.
The writing of English loanwords is more problematic since the sound systems of
English and Bikol are substantially different. To adjust all English words to a
modern Bikol script would destroy much of the visual recognition of the word.
The solution by Mintz & Britanico was to include in the Bikol alphabet enough
foreign letters to allow the writing of words from languages such as English.
This writing system is described briefly below.
The full Bikol alphabet has 28 letters. Eight of these (those underlined) are
used only in the writing of loanwords borrowed primarily from English.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn NGng Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy
Zz and ‘ (representing the glottal stop)
Consonants
Labial
Alveolar
Palatal
Velar
Glottal
Stops/ Affricates
Voiceless
p
t
(ts)
k
‘
Voiced
b
d
(dy)
g
Fricatives
Voiceless
(f)
s
(sy)
h
Voiced
(v)
(z)
Nasals
m
n
ny
ng
Laterals
l
(ly)
Tap
r
Glides
y
w
Those sounds in parentheses on the chart above occur only in loanwords, mostly
from Spanish and English. Even though they are listed as stops, the palatals
/ts/ and /dy/ are phonetically affricates […] and [j]. The voiceless stops /p
t k/ are always unaspirated.
Vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a
The mid vowels /e o/ do not occur in native Bikol words and were not found in
the language until after the Spanish Conquest. Bikol also has diphthongs /ay aw
oy iw/.
Bikol is a syllable timed language. This means that each syllable in an
utterance takes approximately the same amount of time to pronounce. The Bikol
syllable is either a single vowel (V), a combination of a vowel and consonant
(VC) or (CV), or a combination of a consonant, vowel and consonant (CVC). Bikol
root words most commonly have two syllables, e.g. i.yó ‘yes’, a.póg
‘lime’, un.tól ‘bounce’, gá.tas ‘milk’, luk.só ‘jump’,
big.lá’ ‘abruptly’. With the addition of suffixes and sets of prefixes,
however, Bikol words can grow to considerable length. The root word in the
example below is underlined: pi.nag.pa.pa.ra.a.ra.dal.an ‘to keep on studying
a number of things (object-focus, continuous, repetitive, plural)’.
Stress in Bikol is phonemic and contrastive: dapít ‘regarding’ dápit
‘to escort the dead (priests)’. Once the stress on the root word is known,
then the placement of other stresses due to affixation can be predicted. When a
word is suffixed, for example, the stress will move one syllable to the right:
hapót ‘a question’, hapotón ‘to ask someone a question’.
Basic Morphology
Bikol nouns may be either singular or plural. Nouns are pluralized by adding
the particle manga, written mga: babáyi ‘woman’, mga babáyi ‘women’.
Bikol nouns are not inflected for case, strictly speaking. However, there are
four sets of syntactic markers which are functionally equivalent to case
markers. There are four sets of these markers; for subject, agent, object/goal,
indirect object/location. Each set includes singular and plural markers for
personal names. Furthermore, each set (with the exception of the indirect
object set) has one form used before nouns that have not yet been mentioned in
a particular conversation or discourse, and another form used before nouns that
have already been mentioned. Thus, an babáyi means roughly ‘a woman (that we
haven’t yet mentioned)’, and su babáyi means roughly ‘the woman (we’ve
already talked about)’; both of these are subjects.
Bikol has three sets of personal pronouns, corresponding to subject, agent, and
object roles (the pronouns for direct and indirect object are the same): akó
‘I’, ko ‘by me’, sakúya’ ‘(to) me’. Bikol also distinguishes
between inclusive and exclusive first person plural: mi ‘by us (excluding the
addressee)’, ta ‘by us (including the addressee)’.
Verbs in Bikol are considerably more complex than the nouns. There are three
groups of verbs, depending on which of three affixes is used to mark the object
as the focus or subject of the sentence. If, instead, the agent is the focus or
subject, the prefix mag- is used. The three classes are illustrated below, with
the verb root underlined in each case:
-on: sublí’ ‘borrow’: magsublí’, subli’ón
i-: ta’ó ‘give’: magta’ó, ita’ó
-an: imbitár ‘invite’: magimbitár, imbitarán
These forms are all infinitives. Bikol verbs are inflected for tense. The three
basic tenses are future, past, and continuous. Tense inflection proceeds via
reduplication (indicated in bold) and/or infixation.
Root Infinitive Future Past Continuous
puli’ magpuli’ mapuli’ nagpuli’ nagpupuli’ ‘go home’
sublí’ subli’ón susubli’ón sinublí’ sinusublí’ ‘borrow
something’
ta’ó ita’ó itata’ó itina’ó itinata’ó ‘give something’
imbitár imbitarán iimbitarán inimbitarán iniimbitarán ‘invite someone’
Bikol verbs do not agree with their subjects. However, in order to emphasize
that the subject is plural, the infix -Vr- is used (where V is a copy of the
first vowel in the verb root): magpulí’ ‘to go home (singular)’,
magpurulí’ ‘to go home (plural)’.
Besides the basic verbal affix pairs, which can be called the regular series of
affixes, Bikol has a large inventory of additional verbal affixes. These
affixes show not only the role of the subject noun phrase, but also add an
extra semantic dimension which is not included in the regular series of
affixes. These affixes include the instrumental/benefactive prefix i-, the
locative affix –an, the reflexive suffixes –on, and –an, and those in the
following table, shown in relation to the regular affix series which they
combine with or replace:
Function
Basic Affixes
mag-
-on
i-
-an
Potential
maka-
ma-
ika-, mai-, ma-
ma- -an
Social
maki-
paki- -on
ipaki-
paki- -an
General
mang-
pang- -on
ipang-
pang- -an
Transitional
maghing-
hing- on
ihing-
hing- -an
Intensive
mag(pag)-
pag- -on
ipag-
pag- -an
Repetitive
magpara-
pagpara- -on
ipagpara-
pagpara- -an
Causative
magpa-, pa- -on
ipa-
ipa-
pa- -an
Consequential
-umin-
Pending
mina-, na-
na-
nai-
na- -an
Reciprocal
mag- -an
(pag-) –an
(pag-) -an
(pag-) –an
Concomitant
ka- -on
Developmental
magka-
magka-
magka-
magka- -an
Continuous state
naka-
Transitory state
magín
Collective
mangag-
Mitigating
Reduplication of root
There are three classes of adjectives: Those which take the prefix ma-, those
which take the prefix ha-, and those which take no affixation. Adjectives which
take the prefix ha- are adjective of measurement showing height, length or
depth: langkáw halangkáw tall. Examples of other adjectives are: gayón,
magayón beautiful; sadít small. As with the verbs, the plural of adjectives
is a matter of emphasis, and not grammatical necessity.
Adjective plurals are formed in two ways. For adjectives which take the prefix
ha- and those which take no prefix at all, -Vr- in infixed between the first
consonant and vowel of the root. If, however, the root begins with an l or r,
the sequence of Vr is prefixed to the root: halangkáw tall, haralangkáw
PLURAL; sadít small; saradit PLURAL. For adjectives which take the ma- prefix,
the first consonant and vowel of the root is reduplicated. The stress on such
adjectives must be penultimate, that is, on the next to the last syllable:
magayón beautiful, magagáyon PLURAL. The superlative is formed by prefixing
pinaka- to the full adjective form: magayón beautiful, pinakamagayón most
beautiful; halangkáw tall, pinakahalangkáw tallest; sadít small,
pinakasadít smallest.
Degrees of intensification below the superlative are shown by suffixing -on:
sadíton very small. Intensification may also be shown through reduplication of
the adjective root: basóg full; basóg-básog very full. The comparative is
formed by using the Spanish load word mas, the Bikol particle pa, or using the
two in combination for emphasis: mas halangkáw taller; sadít pa smaller; mas
magayón pa even prettier.
Basic Syntax
Bikol has three basic sentence types: verbal, equational and existential. A
verbal sentence has a subject and a predicate. The subject comprises a subject
noun phrase. The predicate comprises a verb phrase and a number of non-subject
noun phrases. The role of the subject (whether it be the agent, object or goal,
indirect object or location), is determined by the affix on the verb in the
predicate. The predicate, however, is discontinuous. Unlike English, the
subject actually falls between the various predicate phrases. In the following
example, the verbal prefix i- indicates that the subject of the sentence, that
is, the phrase preceded by one of the subject markers, is the goal or object.
Itina’ó ni Lúdy an reló ki Cárlos sa haróng.
i-verb agent object indirect object location
NON-SUBJECT SUBJECT NON-SUBJECT NON-SUBJECT
gave Ludy a watch to Carlos in the house
‘Ludy gave a watch to Carlos in the house’.
The subject of the sentence can be changed by changing the verbal affix. The
type of emphasis desired by the speaker will have an effect of the word order
used, and on the type of sentence chosen. In the following example, the verbal
suffix -an indicates that the subject is the indirect object
Tina’wán si Carlos nin reló ni Lúdy sa haróng.
gave-an SUBJECT Carlos OBJ watch AGENT Ludy LOC house
‘Ludy gave Carlos a watch in the house’.
The subject of the above sentence can be changed to the agent with the affix
mag-: Nagta’ó si Lúdy nin reló ki Carlos sa haróng ‘Ludy gave a watch
to Carlos in the house’.
An equational sentence comprises a subject and a predicate. The predicate here
may be called a complement since it presents additional information about the
subject, thereby "completing" its meaning. An equational sentence may have two
noun phrases, one serving as the subject, and the other as the predicate:
SUBJECT PREDICATE
COMPLEMENT
Si Cárlos an maéstro ko
noun phrase noun phrase
Carlos my teacher
‘Carlos is my teacher.’
An equational sentence is emphatic. When a speaker wishes to emphasize a
particular phrase in a verbal sentence, he or she will generally change to an
equational sentence type where the predicate as well as the subject will be
represented as noun phrases. Even though the complete predicate in nominalized,
that is, converted into a noun phrase, the prefix on the verb still determines
the role of the subject, just as it did in the verbal sentence: Si Lúdy an
nagta’ó nin reló ki Cárlos sa haróng ‘It was Ludy who gave a watch to
Carols in the house’. Equational sentences may also comprise an adjective
phrase and a noun phrase: Halangkáw si Carlos (tall PERSONAL.ARTICLE Carlos)
‘Carlos is tall’.
Existential sentences show either existence or possession. These sentences
require the use of either igwá or may. Existential sentences have a subject
and predicate. The predicate in sentences showing existence is a complement
giving additional information about the subject. It is possible, however, for
existential sentences to comprise only a subject, there being nothing further
to be predicated or said. The analysis of existential sentences in complex and
there is little agreement as to how this sentence type should be divided into a
subject and predicate. In the analysis here, if the subject is general, as
occurs in sentences showing existence, the particles igwá or may are part of
the subject. If the subject is specific, as is the case with existential
sentences showing possession, igwá or may are part of the predicate, e.g. May
relo (EXIST watch) ‘There is a watch’, May reló si lúdy (EXIST watch
PERSONAL.ARTICLE Ludy) ‘Ludy has a watch’.
Existential sentences may also contain verbal phrases. These sentences pattern
like the existential sentences showing possession. The predicate, as was the
case with the verbal sentences, is discontinuous. The grammatical subject is
always the noun phrase marked with one of the subject markers. The role of the
subject is always agent. The affix on the verb indicates the role of the noun
phrase which has been replaced by igwá or may. In the example which follows
this role is the object or goal.
Igwá-ng itina’ó si Lúdy ki Carlos sa haróng.
EXIST-LINKER gave SUBJ Ludy OBJ Carlos LOC house
‘Ludy gave something to Carlos in the house’.
Bikol word order is difficult to characterize in terms of the relative order of
verb, subject, and object. VSO order is common, but the subject can also appear
between two nonsubject noun phrases.
Contact With Other Languages
Bikol has undergone dramatic lexical and semantic changes in the almost 400
years since Lisboa described the language. Most noticeable to the observer is
the addition of many Spanish loanwords. Bikol borrowed thousands of vocabulary
items from Spanish which either replaced native Bikol words, co-existed with a
native word to offer an alternative expression, or introduced new words with
the introduction of new implements or concepts. Bikol words have also undergone
semantic change with old words adapted to new uses and given new meanings.
Examples of this are common in the adaption of Christianity as a religion, e.g.
ágaw (mag-, -on) ‘to cure a person of disease [Old Bikol] > ‘to deliver
someone (as from evil) [Modern Bikol].
Bikol has also seen the disappearance of hundreds of words associated with
concepts that were lost due to the dramatic social changes that occurred after
the arrival of the Spanish. Some of these words dealt with religion, mythology
and ritual, e.g. ásog ‘a spiritual leader associated with worship of the
ánito who dresses and cuts his ears like a woman, imitating women in actions
and words in rites and ceremonies; does not usually marry’, átang a
sacrifice offered to the gugúrang as a sign of thanksgiving, consisting of
one-tenth of the harvest, later eaten by the participants in the ritual’.
Others dealt with kinship, marriage and inheritance: binulahos ‘true,
natural; used only to show true blood relations for children and siblings’,
hikaw (mag-, -an) ‘to refuse to marry someone who is lower in social status,
or possesses less wealth than oneself’, mu'o' ‘referring to the bequest
left to relatives by a couple who die childless’. Others with law and crime:
budhí' (mag-, -an) ‘to kill someone from another town’, mulong (magpa-,
ipa-) ‘to accuse someone of wrong-doing before a judge or other high official
of the town’. And still others with clothing and fibre, with climate and
weather, with mining, business, construction and countless other fields of
human endeavor.
Bikol numbers are most commonly used when counting from one to ten. Above ten,
Spanish numbers are used. While equivalent Bikol numbers are known, they will
almost never be heard except in historical reference. Examples are: dóse
[Spanish doce], sampúlo’ may duwá [Bikol] ‘twelve’, beínte úno
[Spanish veinte uno], duwáng púlo’ may saró’ [Bikol] ‘twenty one’.
There are hundreds of Spanish words which were introduced with new implements
or concepts. Examples of these are: lapis [Spanish lapiz] ‘pencil’; asada
[Spanish azada] ‘hoe’; pádi’ [Spanish padre] ‘priest’.
Bikol has borrowed large numbers of words from English. Some words have been
borrowed with the same meanings in the donor language, such as the English
words taxi and order. Other words have undergone dramatic changes in meaning as
they have become associated with concepts quite different from that in the
donor language:
báksat ‘a slingshot comprising a rubber band stretched between two fingers,
used for shooting spitballs, paper clips, etc.’ [English: buckshot]
burlés ‘peanuts’ (boiled or fried, shelled and skinned) [English:
burlesque, referring to the naked look of skinned peanuts]
tsánsing ‘to make advances to a woman’ [English: chancing]
Borrowings from Hokkien Chinese are far fewer in number and are confined
primarily to the areas of food, crafts, and gaming: híbi ‘small, dried
shrimp’ [Hokkien: he5 bi4 ]; bakyá’ ‘wooden shoes’ [Hokkien: ba5
gia5]; huéting ‘the numbers game’ [Hokkien: hue5 dong0].
Common words
man: laláki
woman: babáyi
water: túbig
sun: aldáw
three: tuló
fish: sirá’
big: dakúla’
long: halába’
small: sadít
yes: iyó
no: da’i (verbal); bakó’ (equational); máyo’ (existential)
good: maráy
bird: gamgám
dog: áyam
tree: káhoy
Example Sentences
(1) May reló si Lúdy
there is watch subj Ludy
‘Ludy has a watch.’
(2) Da’í nagta’ó si Lúdy nin reló ki Cárlos
NEG give.PAST AGENT Ludy DO watch IO Carlos
‘Ludy didn’t give Carlos a watch.’
(3) Kon kakalabánon mo siya, mada’óg ka
if fight.fut you(agent) him (subj) lose.fut you (subj)
‘If you fight with him, you will lose.’
Efforts to Preserve, Protect, or Promote the Language
Efforts to preserve and promote Bikol are centered on the two main urban areas
of the Bikol region: Naga City in Camarines Sur and Legazpi City in Albay. In
Manila, the Ateneo de Manila University has also been involved in such
promotion and preservation, thanks to the dedication of Father James O’Brien,
S.J., who initiated such efforts. Some of the groups which are active in the
Bikol region are: The Ateneo de Naga Social Science Research Center (ASSRC),
Kabikolan, Muklat (Makabikolnon na Ugat sa Kultura, Literatura, Arte asin
Teatro), Institute for the Documentation of Bikol Culture and History, the
Bicol Culture Group of Bicol University, the Maogmang Lugar Journal (Ateneo de
Naga High School), and Cecilio Press.
Select Bibliography
Blair, Emma H. and James A. Robertson, eds. 1903-1909. The Philippine Islands:
1493-1898. 55 vols. Cleveland: Arthur H. Clarke Co.
Blust, Robert. 1980. Austronesian Etymologies. In Oceanic Linguistics, 19:1-2,
1-189. Honolulu.
____. 1991. The Greater Central Philippines Hypothesis. In Oceanic Linguistics,
30:2, 73-129. Honolulu.
Calleja-Reyes, José. 1968. Ibalón: An Ancient Bikol Epic. In Philippine
Studies, 16:2, 318-347.
Chang, Kwang-chih, George W. Grace and William G. Solheim II. 1964. Movement of
the Malayo-Polynesians: 150 B.C. to A.D. 500. In Current Anthropology, 5:5
(December), 359-406.
Dery, Luis C. 1991. From Ibalon to Sorsogon: A Historical Survey of Sorsogon
Province to 1905. Quezon City: New Day Publishers.
Gerona, Danilo M. 1988. From Epic to History: A Brief Introduction To Bicol
History. Naga City: Ateneo de Naga.
McFarland, Curtis D. 1981. A Linguistic Atlas Of The Philippines. Manila: De La
Salle University and the Linguistic Society of the Philippines.
Mintz, Malcolm Warren and José Del Rosario Britanico. 1985. Bikol-English
Dictionary, Quezon City: New Day Publishers (contains English-Bikol Index and
introduction to Bikol grammar).
O’Brien, James J. S.J. 1994. The Historical and Cultural Heritage of the
Bicol People, 3d edition. Naga City: Ateneo de Naga.
Owen, Norman G. 1984. Prosperity Without Progress: Manila Hemp And Material
Life In The Colonial Philippines. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Realubit, Ma. Lilia. 1983. Bikols of the Philippines. Naga City: AMS Press.