Cebuano grammar

Austronesian Alignment

Cebuano verbs are morphologically complex and take on a variety of affixes reflecting Voice, Quality, Aspect, Mood, and others. Cebuano arguably follows Austronesian alignment. Basically, verbs conjugate by using these affixes according to which argumentative role the noun in the direct case has. This noun in the direct case can be the doer of the action, the recipient of the action, the purpose for the action, or the means by which the action was made possible; which are all argumentative roles. The direct case hides the noun's otherwise-evident argumentative role, which the verb then makes up for by conjugating with specific affixes that indicate which argumentative role the noun in the direct case has. Some Cebuano grammar teachers call the noun in the direct case the Topic of the sentence, but some others call it the Focus, Voice, or Trigger; as the verb and the other nouns in the sentence have all their noun markers and affixes change accordingly.

Cebuano has four voices: the Active Voice a.k.a. the Agent Trigger, the Passive Voice for Direct Objects a.k.a. the Patient Trigger, the Passive Voice for Indirect Objects and/or Locations a.k.a. the Circumstantial Trigger, and the Passive Voice for Instruments a.k.a. the Instrument Trigger.

The Circumstantial Trigger Affixes select for location, benefactee and/or goal topics.

The direct case morpheme, which marks the topic in Cebuano, is ang or si.

Here, the agent Maria is marked with si, the personal direct noun marker. The prefix Mo- indicates that the noun in the direct case (Maria) is also the agent, which would not have been known otherwise.

Here, the patient Bugas is marked with ang, the general direct noun marker. The suffix -on indicates that the noun in the direct case (bugas) is also the patient, which would not have been known otherwise. Babaye is marked with sa, the general ergative noun marker which indicates that babaye is not in the direct case but is still the agent of the sentence. Via context and common word order, it is evident that lata is not the agent despite it being marked with sa as well (but as the general oblique definite noun marker), because it is not the first noun in the sentence (which the agent usually is) and nor can a can cook rice (context).

Here, the location lata is marked with ang, the general direct noun marker. The suffix -an indicates that the noun in the direct case (lata) is also the location of the action, which would not have been known otherwise. Babaye is marked with sa, the general ergative noun marker which indicates that babaye is not in the direct case but is still the agent of the sentence. Bugas is marked with the general oblique indefinite marker og, indicating that it is neither the noun in the direct case nor the agent noun, but rather that it is the direct object of the sentence.

Here, the indirect object or benefactee Pedro is marked with si, the personal direct noun marker. The suffix -an indicates that the noun in the direct case (Pedro) is also the indirect object of the action, which would not have been known otherwise. Maria is marked with the personal ergative noun marker ni, which indicates that Maria is not the noun in the direct case but is still the agent of the sentence. Kalamay is marked with the general oblique indefinite marker og, indicating that kalamay is neither the noun in the direct case nor the agent noun, but rather that it is the direct object.

Here, it is similar to the Circumstantial Trigger (with benefactee subject) in that the goal subject Perla is also the indirect object of the sentence. It is also marked by si, the personal direct noun marker, and it is known to be the indirect object of the sentence thanks to the verb suffix -an indicating that the noun in the direct case would be the indirect object of the sentence.

Here, the instrument lapis is marked with ang, the general direct noun marker. The prefix I- indicates that the noun in the direct case (lapis) is also the instrument used to complete the action, which would not have been known otherwise. Linda is marked with the personal ergative noun marker ni, which indicates that Linda is not the noun in the direct case but is still the agent of the sentence. Sulat is marked with the general oblique indefinite marker og, indicating that sulat is neither the noun in the direct case nor the agent noun, but rather that it is the direct object.

Personal pronouns

Pronouns are inflected for person, number and case. No gender distinctions are made for the third person singular: he and she are both translated in Cebuano as siya.

The three cases are direct, ergative and oblique.

* - Ta only when the object is the second person singular, i.e., ka, mo, etc. For example, Nakita ta ka, NOT *Nakita ko ka.

Ako si Juan. I am John.
*Ko si Juan.


Kamo'y moadto ngadto sa Banawa. You (plu.) are going to Banawa.
*Mo'y moadto ngadto sa Banawa.

Ako si Juan.
Ako mao'y moadto ngadto sa Banawa.

Moadto mi sa eskuwelahan.

We (someone else and I but not you) will go to school.


Moadto ta sa eskuwelahan.

We (you and I and perhaps someone else) will go to school.

Deictics

Deictics, words such as here and there, reference locations between the speaker and addressee. In addition to the same four-way distinction of proximity for demonstratives (near speaker, near speaker and addressee, near addressee and remote), deictics can express three tenses:

• Present: "X is here/there now"
• Past: "X was here/there"
• Future: "X will be here/there"

The present and future tense forms can precede or follow the words or phrases they modify by linking with nga. The past tense forms, however, only have a past meaning if they precede their words or phrases. If they follow, they convey no tense.

The 'ng-' forms are always tenseless. They follow the words or phrases they modify and can substitute equivalent past forms. In addition, they show movement or motion to the relative location which past forms cannot.

† Forms in this row end in a glottal stop:
naa /naˀaˀ/, anaa /ˀanaˀaˀ/, diha /dihaˀ/, dinha /dinhaˀ/, anha /ˀanhaˀ/, diha /dihaˀ/, dinha /dinhaˀ/, nganha /ŋanhaˀ/.

Examples:

Dia diri ang bata.
The child is over here.
 
Toa si lolo sa Amerika.
Grandfather is in America.
 
Dinhi ang Doktor gahapon.
The doctor was here yesterday.
 
Adto siya sa Maynila.
She is in Manila.
 
Nidagan ang bata ngadto sa balay niya.
The child ran there (thither) to his/her house.

Case

Cebuano nouns assume three cases based on their role in a sentence:

• Direct - This is the case of the predicative nominal and the subject of such phrases. It is the case used for the topic of transitive verbs.
• Ergative - This is the case of the actor or agent in non-actor focus verb forms and the case of possession and roles of the genitive case.
• Oblique - A peripheral case, this is the case of the direct object of actor-focus verbs. It is used when the case relationship is non-core, i.e., neither ergative nor direct in nature.

The use of sa VS. og in the oblique case is a matter of definiteness when the noun is the object of an actor-focus verb. Compare the following examples.

1. [Definite] Nipalit/Mipalit si Juan sa sakyanan. John bought the car.
2. [Indefinite] Mipalit si Juan og sakyanan. John bought a car

In example sentence 1, the car that John bought is particular. It may have been a car he was thinking about buying or one that the speaker was selling John. In 2, the speaker may or may not know the specifics about the car in question.

Number

Plurality is shown by preceding the noun with the particle mga /maŋa/.

There are special cases though:

1. Adding the prefix ka- before and the suffix -an can pluralize a noun (the suffix -han is used if the root word ends with a vowel). This word treatment is used to group what are considered identical objects as one entity. Examples are:

• libot which is regularly used as a verb meaning to go around but in this case as a noun meaning "surrounding" (as in palibot) can be changed to kalibotan which means "world" (or 'the entire surroundings').
• tawo which means "man" or "person" can be changed to katawhan which means "men" or "people". The vowel "o" was omitted in this case because the "w" carries the sound of "o" by itself.
• balay (house): kabalayan (houses)
• bata (child/boy/girl): kabataan. This word is an exception to the rule, as the suffix -an instead of -han is used.
• "nasod" (nation): "kanasoran" (nations). The "d" changed to "r" because that usually (not always) happens to "d" when placed between two vowels, though in Cebuano, d and r are not allophones, unlike in other Philippine languages.

Although it is tolerable in some cases, the use of mga before a noun applied with ka- -an is not necessary anymore. ang mga kabataan (the children) is considered redundant, and ang kabataan is more grammatically accurate.

Because the use of ka- -an groups objects into one entity, there are cases that a word will mean a place of which the objects are frequently or usually found/exist. An example is:

• kasagingan (from the root word saging (banana)) does not mean "bananas". Instead, it means 'a place of bananas' or simply "banana farm".

2. There is this very rare case of which an adjective can be pluralized and the noun it described can be, but not necessarily, omitted. Example: the word gamay ('small') can be changed to gagmay ('small ones')in which "g" was inserted in between. The same can be applied to dako which means 'big', changing it to dagko (big ones). Other examples are:

• taas (long): tag-as (long ones)
• mubo (short): mugbo (short ones)
• layo (far): lagyo (far ones)
• du-ol (near): dug-ol (near ones)

This rule cannot be applied to all other adjectives.

Gender

As a rule, Cebuano does not categorize nouns by gender. Natural gender are found in Spanish loans.

Plural forms

Adjectives do not inflect for the plural. Common adjectives of measurement, however, have a plural form characterized by the infixation of /g/.^[1]

Comparative

In comparing two similar items, the comparative form indicates that one has a higher degree (or lower degree) of the quality expressed by the root, e.g., bigger, smaller, greater, etc.

The comparative degree is expressed in the following ways:

• Precede the adjective with labi pa "more (still)"
• Precede the adjective with the particle mas (from Spanish más)

Comparative superlative

The comparative superlative indicates the maximum degree of the quality expressed in comparison to other items. In Cebuano this degree can be expressed by a prefix, pinaka- or by the use of the particle labi (most).

Absolute superlative

The absolute superlative is the form used in exclamations, for example, "How pretty you are!", and denote the extreme quality of the root.

It is formed by prefixing Pagka- or Ka- (short form) to the root. The subject follows in the oblique.

Examples:

Pagkanindot kanimo! (Full)
Kanindot nimo! (Short)
How pretty you are! You are extremely pretty!

Intensive

To express intensity, adjectives are followed by 'kaayo' (very).

Examples:

Ang mga dwendey mubo kaayo.
Dwarves are very short.

Nga

The linker nga (pronounced /ŋa/) shows the relationship between modifiers to the head of the phrase. Examples of such relationships are adjective-noun, clause-noun, adverb-verb, adverb-adjective and noun-noun. Without the intervening linker, juxtaposition of modifier and head can constitute, not a phrase, but a sentence unto itself. Compare the phrase "ang batang lalaki" the/a young man/boy and the sentence "ang bata lalaki" the child is male or the child is a boy.

After words that end in a monophthong, diphthong or -n, nga is reduced to -ng /-ŋ/.

Unlike Tagalog, nga is not used with numbers; ka below is used instead.

Ka

The linker ka is used to link a number and the phrase it modifies. Buok whole is sometimes used with ka.

Verb Roots vs. Verb Stems

A Verb Root is the simplest version of a verb that cannot be broken down further (excluding morphological processes and colloquial speech) and conveys its overall meaning or lemma. Affixes for the Voices, Moods, Forms, and Aspects may not be added to the Verb Root, only to the Verb Stem. Sometimes, the Verb Stem is identical to the Verb Root, while other times, the Verb Stem is created through the addition of certain affixes not related to the affixes of the Voices, Moods, Forms, and Aspects. A commonly known stem affix could be pa+, added to the beginning of a Verb Stem or Verb Root in order to convey the meaning to cause. For example, padala is the Verb Stem which means to send while dala is its own Verb Stem which means to bring, concluding that padala could literally mean to cause to bring. Another commonly known affix is hi+ which is added to Verb Stems in the Stative Form so that the verb may take in a Direct Object, as verbs in the Stative Form would not be able to take in a Direct Object without it.

Aspect, Form, Mood, and Tense

Verbs in Cebuano conjugate not only according to the Topic of the sentence, but also to the Mood, the Form, and the Tense, more accurately described as the Aspect, of the action. Cebuano verbs conjugate accordingly through the addition of affixes to the verb stem.

Verb Affixes for Voice, Mood, Form, and Aspect

Verb Affixes for Voice, Mood, Form, and Aspect may overlap. Some of these affixes are shortened in speech and informal writing.

Not all groups of affixes can be used for some verbs; some verbs may not make sense with certain groups of affixes. For example, the verb stem anhi, which generally means to come, cannot have any of the passive voices' affixes. The only way to know which groups of affixes are able to be used for each verb stem are through memorization, online lists, or experience of each verb stem one comes across. In addition to that, in certain verbs, the affixes take on different meanings and overlap with other Forms due to historical use. For example, the verb stem buak, to break, uses the same affixes of the Potential Mood as the Transitory Form in the Indicative Mood. Using the literal affixes of the Transitory Form in the Active Voice for buak would sound incorrect to native speakers. For the most part, the way the affixes are labeled are the way they are used. Exceptions can be learned through experience.

Now, here is the more in-depth list of all of the proper, grammatical affixes used for each voice:

Sentences

1) equational ( topic = predicate ) ~ in this sentence type you can interchange the topic and the predicate without changing the thought of the sentence.

  a) "Mao kini ang Kabisay-an".              = This is the Visayas.
  b) "Magbinisaya mi diri"                   = We speak Cebuano here.
  c) "Kamao/Kahibalo ka magbinisaya?"               = Do you know how to speak Cebuano?.

2) non-equational ( topic < predicate ) ~ in this sentence type the topic and the predicate are not interchangeable.

  a) "Filipino ang mga Bisaya."              = Visayans are Filipinos.
  b) "Unsa ang imong kinahanglan?"          = What do you need?
  c) "Naunsa na ang politika?               = What is wrong with politics.

3) existential sentence of presence ~ sentences of this type tells the existence of a thing or idea.

  a) "Aduna'y Diyos sa langit."               = There is God in heaven.
  b) "Didto'y halas sa kahoy."                = There was a snake in the tree.

4) existential sentence of possession ~ sentences of this type tell about someone or something possessing something.

  a) " Aduna'y Diyos ang mga anghel sa langit."  = (The angels in heaven have a God.)
  b) "Naa[5] koy ilimnon sa balay."           
                                               = (I have something to drink at home.)

5) locative sentence ~ this type of sentence tells the location of a thing.

  a) "Ania ang kwarta."                       = Here is the money.
  b) "Tua siya sa bukid."                     = He/she is in the mountain.

6) meteorologic sentence ~ this type of sentence tells about weather condition, noise level, etc., of a place.

  a) "Tugnaw dinhi sa Baguio City."            = It is cold here in Baguio.
  b) "Init kaayo ang adlaw diri sa Sugbo."     = The weather is very hot in here in Cebu.

7) exclamatory remark ~ praises and unexpected discoveries belong here.

  a) "Daghana nimo'g sakyanan!"             = You have plenty of cars
  b) "Gwapaha nimo!"                        = You are pretty
  c) "Kasaba ba ninyo!"                     = You are so noisy

8) imperatives ~ commands and requests

  a) "Isugba kanang isda."                  = Grill that fish.
  b) "Ngari/Ali/Hali diri."                 = Come here.
  c) "Ayaw mo panabako diri"               = Do not smoke here.

9) interrogatives ~ questions that are not answerable by yes or no.

  a) "Kinsa ka?"                             = Who are you?
  b) "Unsa'y imong ngalan?"                   = What is your name?

10) confirmation ~ questions that are basically answered by yes or no. constructed like the first 6 sentence type with the insertion of the particle "ba" as a second term.

  a) "Kini ba ang Kabisay-an?"               = Is this the Visayas?
  b) "Kamao ka ba molangoy?"                = Do you know how to swim?
  c) "Unsa ba ang sinultihan ninyo?"         = What language do you speak?
  d) "Isugba ba kining isda?"                = Shall this fish be grilled?