11

Songs commonly chosen by parents and adults to teach their young ones are those which try to

educate children of the common and frequently used terms like songs identifying body parts and the

alphabets, personifying animals, and even those songs that animatedly describe people. My Toes, My

Knees is one of such versions that help identify body parts.

My Toes, My Knees

(English Version- (Surigaonon (Cantilangnon (Bisliganon Kamayo (Cebuano Bisaya

Original) naturalis Version- Surigaonon Version- Version- translated) Version-
original) translated) translated)
My toes, my knees, Kanak siki, tuhod,
my shoulders, my Siki, tuhod, abaga, Siki, tuhod, abaga, abaga, o (3x) Tiil, tuhud,
head (3x) uyo (3x) uyo (3x) Ipakpak kanato abaga, ulu (3x)
Let’s all clap hands Ipalakpak an alima Ipalakpak ta ang alima Ipalakpak ta
together! alima atung kamut

My Toes, My Knees is a widely sung English, action song that identifies the basic human limb parts.

Most of the interviewees have admitted that they have learned the song according to the English version.

However, if the speakers would want their own version, they would simply translate the lines according to

their language. In fact, for the Surigaonon naturalis, though they use the English version of My Toes, My

Knees, they, too, have their own rendition; while the Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo use

and observe that of the English version.

 12

Looking at the table above, there is a major similarity among the Surigaonon naturalis and the

Bisliganon Kamayo terms used in the song. In contrast, the Surigaonon naturalis and the Cantilangnon

Surigaonon do not have that much difference in their usage and inflection of the terms/words in the song

as translated in their respective dialects.

On Morphology. Generally, the Surigaonon naturalis and Bisliganon Kamayo only have a slight

difference on the way they construct their versions of the song relative to that of the English version. On

the other hand, between the Surigaonon naturalis and Surigaonon Cantilangnon, a deletion of a sound and

the presence of a pronoun set the difference in both the Surigaonon dialect.

Surigaonon dialects—the Cantilangnon Surigaonon version of the song also names “my toes, my

knees, my shoulder, head” in the same way as the Surigaonon naturalis calls them “siki, tuhod, abaga,

uyo” also without the possessive marker “my.” However on the second line of the song, “Ipalakpak an

alima” and “Ipalakpak ta ang alima” show a significant difference that somehow establishes the variation

between the two Surigaonon dialects. The Surigaonon naturalis interviewees confirmed their usage of the

predicate marker “an” which is an equivalent to the Cebuano Visayan “ang.” “An” though synonymous

with “ang” is not used in the Cantilangnon Surigaonon version of My Toes, My Knees. The Cantilangnon

Surigaonon version, instead, use “ang” the same way as that of the Cebuano Visayan “ang.” Another point

to consider in the second line of the song is that the Surigaon naturalis does not have the nominative
 13

marker “kita” in its version of My Toes, My Knees while the Cantilangnon Surigaonon includes “kita” in its

version. Yet, “kita” is contracted into “ta” which is also understood as “kita.” “Alima” which means

“hands” in Surigaonon naturalis is also spelled and meant the same in the Surigaonon Cantilangnon

dialect.

Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo—Between the Surigaonon naturalis and that of the Bisliganon

Kamayo, “siki,” “tuhod,” “abaga” and “alima” are similar, and also, generally use among the speech

communities of the two languages. However, the Bisliganon Kamayo has the genitive “kanak” to show

possession which means “my,” hence, “kanak siki, tuhod, abaga, o.” Unlike the English version, though,

the genitive “kanak” is only used once in the the Bisliganon Kamayo version of My Toes, My Knees.

In comparison to the English version that ends with a command/imperative: “Let’s all clap hands

together,” both the Surigaonon naturalis and the Bisliganon Kamayo also state a command as presented

by the inflectional affix i-. John Wolff in his introduction of his work on A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan

(1982) classified this inflectional affix as a passive verb affix expressing future or subjunctive tenses.

Surigaonon naturalis, Surigaonon Cantilangnon and also that of the Cebuano Visayan version use

“ipalakpak” which is a passive construction that means “have s.o. do the clapping.” In the Bisliganon

Kamayo version, on the other hand, “ipakpak” is a competing, passive-subjunctive form of “ipalakpak,”

characterized by a deletion of a syllable yet still means “to have s.o do the clapping.” Wolff defined
 14

competing forms as words with the same etymology or origin and which usually, though not always, have

the same meaning (1982).

Between the two Surigaonon dialects—Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon Surigaonon—the latter

form uses in its version of My Toes, My Knees the nominative marker “kita” or “ta.” This has also been

observed in the Bisliganon Kamayo with its usage of the same nominative marker “kita” in its competing

form “kanato.” On the other hand, the Cebuano Visayan version has used the short form “ta” to mean “us”

or “we.” (It should be noted that the observance of the subjective and objective forms of pronouns in

Cebuano, Surigaonon and in Kamayo is not the same as that in English.)

On Phonological Processes. A number of morphophonemic alternations are present among the

languages in their translations and versions of the song, My Toes, My Knees.

“ulu,” “uyo” and “o” are competing forms of the Cebuano Visayan “ulu.” Oftentimes confused as a

language which changes all the /l/ phonemes into /y/, hence the name “waya-waya,” Surigaonon language

really has the /l/ sound as represented with /i-pa-lak-pak/and /a-li-ma/. Wolff noted (1982) that roots

containing /l/ between like vowels, usually, but not all the time, observes: a) /l/ is dropped and the vowel is

usually lengthened; b) /l/ becomes /w/; and c) intervocalic /l/in isolated dialects become /y/. Thus, /ulu/ in

the Cebuano Visayan version has its competing forms with the Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon

Surigaonon /uyo/ and the Bisliganon Kamayo /ó/.

 15

The nasal /ŋ/ and /n/ phonemes take the forms of the nominative marker “ang.” On the Surigaonon

dialects, Surigaonon naturalis has /an/ while the Cantilangnon Surigaonon has /aŋ/. Though /ŋ/ and /n/ are

nasal sounds and have the tendency to be assimilated, both cannot be assimilated since only those nasal

consonant sounds which are adjacent to another consonant can observe the phonological phenomenon. As

a result, like “ulu,” “uyo,” and “o,” /an/ and /aŋ/are then considered as competing forms of the nominative

marker “ang” /aŋ/.

“Ipalakpak” and “ipakpak” are competing forms of the Cebuano Visayan root “palakpak” which

means to applaud. Both the Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon Surigaonon add the suffix i- to set the

mood on the subjunctive. Bisliganon Kamayo, in contrast, though also has the suffix i- and the subjunctive

mood, drops a syllable, hence a deletion of sound, in its verb conjugation. This phonological process

involves the loss of sounds or letters in the middle or interior of a word (Encarta). This process is

commonly called as syncope. Thus, /i-pa-lak-pak/ becomes /i-pak-pak/, dropping the middle syllable /la/:

Surigaonon naturalis
Cantilangnon Surigaonon
Cebuano Visayan
Bisliganon Kamayo
palakpak /palakpák/ applause + i- = ipalakpak
/ipalakpak/ applaud
palakpak /palakpák/ applause + i- = ipalakpak
/ipalakpak/ applaud
ipalakpak /ipakpak/ = ipakpak /ipakpak/
ipakpak /ipakpak/ applaud
 16

When /ki-ta/ becomes /ta/, there is a phonological process that occurs in the Cantilangnon

Surigaonon. Aphesis/aphaeresis is the loss of an unstressed vowel or sounds at the beginning of a word

(Encarta) as reflective to that of the word /ki-ta/ or /ta/; while Bisliganon Kamayo takes a different form

of /ki-ta/ which is /ka-na-to/. /á-tù/ is a competing form of the root /ki-ta/ and takes on the prefix kan- in the

Bisliganon Kamayo context that would then mean the same as /ta/or /ki-ta/.

On Semantic. In accordance with the Cebuano Visayan Dictionary, a few of the words and terms

found in the versions of the song in Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo are also present in the Cebuano

context. However, competing forms of some roots may not have the same meaning as that of the other

languages. For instance, when Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo

translate “my toes,” the languages shared the common term “siki” or /si-ki/ in contrast with the Cebuano

Visayan /tiil/. However, /ti-il/ is a metonymic term that means “foot” or “feet.” To identify toes in Cebuano

Visayan is to use the term “tudlu” or /tud-lu/ which refers to both the fingers and the toes. Yet the English

song My Toes, My Knees sets a different context compared to Cebuano Visayan version by using

metonymy—a figure of speech in which an attribute is used to stand to mean for the thing itself; or a

representation of something is used to link for the whole parts—to mean not just the whole but also the
 17

parts itself as a representation of the whole; thus, /ti-il/ could also mean /tud-lu/ and consequently could be

used in the Cebuano Visayan version of the song.

Albeit the different term for “toes” in the Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo languages, “siki” also

shares a part in the Cebuano Visayan context. Yet, instead of “toes,” “siki” is a noun which means “fetlock,

a thumb-like projection above the foot in the legs of animals (Cebuano Visayan Dictionary). A “siki” for

Cebuano Visayan would look like this:

Competing forms, sometimes, do not involve sound change. Like the example with “siki,” though

Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo identify it as “toes,” “siki” in Cebuano Visayan—spelled and

pronounced the same as that of the former—identifies it otherwise. In addition, similar with “siki,” “alima”

is also found within the Cebuano Visayan context. /a-li-ma/ or “alima” is taken from the root “lima” which

means the numeral five. Somehow, the Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo languages could look up to this

definition relative to their meaning of “alima” as hands.

 18

However, the numerical meaning of the root is not maintained as the inflection takes place. “alima”

or /a-li-ma/ is a verb that means “take care of s.o. by administering to his needs” as exemplified in this

sentence: “Alimahi and imung manghud, Take good care of your younger brother (Cebuano Visayan

Dictionary).” Since there is a phonological change between “lima” and “alima,” this process then is called

as apophony or an alternation of sounds that indicate grammatical inflection. With the inflection from noun

to verb, the prefix a- indicates a difference between the verb “alima” and the adjective “lima.”

By establishing the semantic alternations of the terms “siki” and “alima,” one could then observe

that Surigaonon languages and Bisliganon Kamayo, indeed have a hint of similarity and intelligibility with

that of the Cebuano Visayan language. And though the song My Toes, My Knees is an original English song,

all four languages—Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano

Visayan—have kept the same context of the song: to identify in simplest terms the basic human limb

parts. With the actions and movements of the song, nothing could be better in singing My Toes, My Knees

than watching everyone bending and moving about with the happy tune.

Aside from My Toes, My Knees, another song used in this study is the song which does not really

have its own title. Instead, the interviewees simply identified it as “Alimango.” With playful notes and

some onomatopoeic lines, “Alimango” or “Crab” details out the heroic feat of the singer as he tries to bait

and get himself some “elusive and hard to catch” crabs. Choosing to include this song goes back to the
 19

folklore of Juan Tamad, the cultural icon of Filipino indolence. Of the folklores about this Filipino icon, one

of the famous lore is about Juan Tamad being asked to go to the market and buy some crabs for dinner,

only to “talk” the crabs into going home themselves because Juan Tamad wants to take a dip into the

river. Hence, the line in the song goes “Alimango sa suba/Gibantog nga dili makuha” or “A crab in the

river/That is known to be difficult to ensnare” since Juan Tamad’s mother has not cooked nor gotten the

crab from her son.

Alimango or Crab

(English Version- (Surigaonon naturalis (Cantilangnon (Bisliganon Kamayo (Cebuano Bisaya

Translated) Version- original) Surigaonon Version- Version-Translated) Version-original)
Translated)
Climb up, Climb up Tongtongtongtong Tongtongtongtong Tongtongtongtong
Limping up pakitongkitong Tongtongtongtong pakitongkitong pakitongkitong
A crab in the river Alimango sa suba pakitongkitong Alimango sa suba Alimango sa suba
That is known to be Gibantog na dili Alimango sa suba Ibantong diri Gibantug nga dili
difficult to ensnare makuha Hinbay-an na dili makuha makuha
I am the only one Ako ray makakuha makuha Ako ray makakuha Aku lang
who can catch Ako ray makasuha Ako ray makakuha Ako ray makasuwa makakuha
I am the only one Ako ray makasuha Aku lang
who can eat makasud-an

Alimango has its version with the Surigaonon naturalis and the Cebuano Visayan. However, the table

above shows that even though Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo versions are translations
 20

from Surigaonon naturalis and Cebuano Visayan, there is not much difference with the terms, even the

onomatopoeic first and second lines which are generally observed all throughout the different versions.

On Morphology. Usually in the original versions of Surigaonon naturalis and Cebuano Visayan, the

morphological difference lies with the usage of grammatical markers and particles. This distinction,

however, is also evident within the versions and translations in the Cantilangnon Surigaonon and that of

the Bisliganon Kamayo languages.

Surigaonon naturalis and Cebuano Visayan versions of the song do not have that much change when

it comes to the words and lyrics of Alimango. Even the rhyming scheme of aa/bbbb for the song has been

strictly observe even to the Cantilangnon Surigaonon and the Bisliganon Kamayo languages. Both

Surigaonon naturalis and Cebuano Visayan languages observe the affixation of the passive verb affix

expressing the past tense gi-, which is also similar to the previously discussed inflectional affix i-; only

that in the latter it is in the subjunctive form. The usage of the inflectional affix i- relative to prefix gi- is

evident in the Bisliganon Kamayo version “ibantong,” a contraction of “ibantog” + “nga.”

“na,” “nga,” and “ng” are competing forms of the root “nga.” This “nga” is a grammatical marker

used in the song as a) particle preceding a clause: that; b) with its short form “ng,” this grammatical

marker is then written after the vowels (Cebuano Visayan Dictionary). Since Surigaonon “na” is a
 21

competing form of the Cebuano Visayan “nga,” it is hence understood that “gibantog na dili makuha” is

synonymous with “gibantog nga dili makuha.” Parallel to this structure is the function of the grammatical

marker “nga” as the particle in a clause—that clause. Thus, the line “gibantog nga dili makuha” is

translated as “that is known to be difficult to ensnare” with “that” as the English equivalent of “nga” being

the introductory word of the clause.

The short form “ng,” on the other hand, points out to the Bisliganon Kamayo usage of “nga” in the

song Alimango. In the version, “nga” takes on its short form which is “ng.” But then again, “ng” is

contracted with the inflected verb “ibantog” and “ng,” hence the result “ibantong.” “Ibantog” or

“ibantong” of the Bisliganon Kamayo version uses the inflectional affix i-. This is classified as a passive

verb affix expressing future or subjunctive tense. Thus, between the Surigaonon naturalis, Cebuano

Visayan and Bisliganon Kamayo, the latter expresses a different time compared to the two former versions

of the song.

“dili” in the Cebuano Visayan language is a particle that negates predicates. Both the Surigaonon

naturalis and the Cantilangnon Surigaonon use this particle, maintaining the root form of “dili” and its

pronunciation. In the case with Bisliganon Kamayo, “dili” takes on the competing form of “diri.” Hence,

Bisliganon Kamayo “diri” is a competing form of the particle “dili” that means no or not.
 22

Ako lang…/Ako ra…/Aku lang—these constructions are in themselves variations of the Cebuano

Visayan text on Alimango. Ako/Aku both express the subjective pronoun “I” or the objective form “me.”

However, for the contexts provided by the original and translated versions, ako/aku is used as the

subjective pronoun “I.” Yet, Cebuano Visayan language appropriates the harder root “aku” in comparison

with the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and that of the Bisliganon Kamayo. “Ako” in the

three latter languages is a variation or a competing form of the Cebuano Visayan “aku.” Still, a difference

should be noted with “aku” without the stress marks and with the stressed “ákù.” While both “aku” of the

Cebuano Visayan language points to the speaker in a sentence, the former “aku” functions as a

nominative pronoun; the latter “ákù” functions as a genitive or possessive pronoun marker. Hence, for the

purposes of the text of Alimango, the nominative pronoun form is generally observed in the lyrics.

“ray” and “lang” are variants of the root “lámang.” Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon

and Bisliganon Kamayo have used “ray” in their song versions and translations. Cebuano Visayan, on the

other hand, takes on the short form of “lamang” which is “lang.” Another instance where competing forms

are present is in the usage of “maka-“ plus “kuha/suha/suwa/sud-an.” “Makakuha” is all throughout

observed in the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and even in the

Cebuano Visayan. The inflectional affix maka- is a potential verb affix expressing the future tense

(Cebuano Visayan Dictionary). Consequently, “makakuha” shows that a potential future action—to get or
 23

“kuha”— will happen at some time in the future. This inflectional affix goes the same with the competing

forms “suha,” ”suwa,” and “sud-an.” These forms are variations of the Cebuano Visayan root “sulà” which

is a verb, meaning “eat something together with the staple (Cebuano Visayan Dictionary.)” Thus, verbs

“makasuha,” makasula,” and “makasud-an” are competing forms in potential future actions—to eat sth—

that will happen at a certain time in the future.

On Phonological Processes. Since the versions of the song Alimango is almost similar among the

Surigaonon languages, Bisliganon Kamayo and the Cebuano Visayan versions, morphophonemic

alternations are also minimal.

Between the Surigaonon languages and Cebuano Visayan, the grammatical marker “nga” takes on

different nasal phonemes that are inherent to the two languages. Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon

Surigaonon both have the nasal phoneme /n/ as shown in /na/; while the Cebuano Visayan maintains its

sound with the nasal phoneme /ŋ/ as shown in /ŋa/. Bisliganon Kamayo, in another instance, uses a similar

nasal phoneme of “nga” or /ŋa/ in its competing form as the grammatical marker is contracted or joined

with the verb “ibantog.” Hence, /ŋa/in the Bisliganon Kamayo takes the short form and phoneme /ŋ/ as

shown in “ibantong” or /i-ban-toŋ/. With the assimilation of the nasal sound /ŋ/ to the inflection of the verb

“ibantog,” also comes the phonological change of the grammatical marker “ng” (/ŋ/) or “nga” (/ŋa/). In
 24

the verb “ibantog,” the sound /g/ has been deleted and replaced as the grammatical marker assimilates

with the remaining morpheme “ibanto:”

bantog /bantug/ famous + i- = ibantog /ibantug/ made

Bisliganon Kamayo
famous
Ibantog ng = ibantong /ibantuŋ/

The curve symbol written below the word signifies the assimilation of /ŋ/to the word “ibanto-“or /i-

ban-tu-/. On the other hand, Surigaonon naturalis and Cebuano Visayan’s /gi-ban-tug/ uses the passive

verb affix expressing the past tense gi-:

Surigaonon naturalis bantog /bantug/ famous + gi- = gibantog

Cebuano Visayan /gibantug/ made famous

Cantilangnon Surigaonon, however, uses “balu,” a synonymous term of “gibantog,” that means

know sth. In the Cantilangnon Surigaonon version, “balu” is formed by adding the inflectional affix

expressing the future and past tense hi-an. Since “balu” (/balu/) is of Cebuano Visayan term,

Cantilangnon Surigaonon takes on a competing form by changing the intervocalic /l/into /y/. In addition,

with the inflectional affixes and the morphophonemic change of /l/ to /y/, Cantilangnon Surigaonon version

of Alimango observes a glottal stop as indicated by the hyphen:

Cantilangnon balu /balu/ know sth. + hi-an = hibalu-an /hibalu

Surigaonon ‫כ‬
an/ to be known
 25

hibalu-an /hibalu ‫כ‬an/ to be known = hinbay-an /hinbay ‫כ‬an/ to be known

Moving into the succeeding line of the song Alimango, the competing forms “lang” (/laŋ/) and “ray”

(/ray/) of “lamang” (/lamaŋ/) follow different phonological processes despite their being both alveolar

phonemes. The short form of /lamaŋ/undergoes syncope with the loss of an unstressed sound in the

interior of the word; hence, “lang” or /laŋ/:

Lámang /lamaŋ/ only = lamang /lamaŋ/= lang /laŋ/ only

Lámang /lamaŋ/ only = lang /laŋ/ only

The process points out that the short or competing form /laŋ/still observes the same meaning of the

root “lamang” or /lamaŋ/. Moreover, as speakers articulate the consonant /l/ in /laŋ/or /lamaŋ/, one could

observe that the tip of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate, touching the tooth ridge. This

articulation is referred to as velarization of the consonant /l/. The process classifies /l/ as light or dark. With

/laŋ/ in Aku lang… in the Cebuano Visayan text, the consonant /l/ before the vowel is dark as one’s tip of

the tongue is raised near the soft palate, not necessarily touching the tooth ridge. The other velarization

of /l/ is light if the tip of the tongue touches the tooth ridge.
 26

In the competing form /ray/, a rhotic /r/ is distinct as a Surigaonon naturalis speaker, or a

Cantilangnon Surigaonon speaker, or even a Bisliganon Kamayo speaker utters Ako ray makakuha/Ako ray

makasuha o makasuwa.

Another competing form is the glottal stop indicated by a hyphen in “sud-an” or /sud ‫כ‬an/ (Wolff,

1982). The hyphen (-) or the glottal stop symbol /‫כ‬/ is written after the post-consonantal position of /d/ to

indicate a sudden audible release of air as the glottis closes and opens suddenly before a vowel (Encarta).

Hence, the Cebuano Visayan language structure follows as: /makasud ‫כ‬an/ or “makasud-an.”

On Semantic. The songs are context in themselves as each language provides each of their

translations on the song Alimango. It is notable, too, how even the translations reflect much similarity

from the original versions of the song. Since some words have already been established as competing

forms of the Cebuano Visayan terms, morphological and phonological processes are predominant in the

song Alimango. But then again, it is worth noting that even though Surigaonon languages and Bisliganon

Kamayo have their competing forms for some of the Cebuano Visayan terms in the song, the languages

still share intelligibility among each other.

As the Cantilangnon Surigaonon version of the song is cued among the other languages’ versions,

there is a distinctive usage of the word “hinbay-an” among the “gibantug/ibantog” terms. From the root
 27

“balu,” “hinbay-an” is already the inflected, competing form of the former. However, as the Cebuano

Visayan Dictionary has it, “balu” is a root form defined as I don’t know. When affix hi-an is added to the

root, the meaning also changes along with the morphological and phonological changes. “balu,” then,

becomes “hibalu-an” which is a verb that means know sth. From a statement I don’t know, the inflected

form changes into a glottal stop utterance. However, there is another morphophonemic alternation that

occurs in the inflected form “hibalu-an.” Wolff stated (1982), “when a suffix is added to a root with a

stressed final syllable, the tendency is to drop the vowel of the final syllable of the root.” Hence, “hibalu-

an” drops the vowel /u/:

balu /balù/ I don’t know + hi-an = hibal-an /hibal ‫כ‬an/

Cantilangnon Surigaonon
know sth.

But since phonological phenomenon like a change of /l/ to /y/ oftentimes occurs in the Cebuano

Visayan texts, the change from /l/ to /y/ in “hibal-an” to “hinbay-an” makes the Cantilangnon Surigaonon

form a variation of the former while at the same time establishes intelligibility across the languages. Yet,

the phonological and morphological processes are not an end to identify intelligibility among the

Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan languages. The competing form “hinbay-an” of the

Cantilangnon Surigaonon version of Alimango denotes knowing sth in contrast to the Surigaonon naturalis,

Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan’s “famous.” But the song provides the context where “hinbay-
 28

an” could be synonymous with “gibantog/ibantog” forms. “Gibantog” means be famous or become famous

from just the adjective famous. When one is “gibantog,” one is famous as well as known to a certain social

circle. Hence, being known, though not necessarily equate as famous all the time, is also being famous at

some point. “Gibantog,” then, as used in the Surigaonon naturalis, is synonymous to the Cantilangnon

Surigaonon “hinbay-an.” The context, however, follows that in the song Alimango, the crab is known and

famous to be a hard catch among those who want to eat and feast on the crustacean.

As the singers feast on the alimango, one by one, a Bisliganon Kamayo speaker might say Aron

kanak suwa alimango I have crabs to eat with my rice1.; or, a Cebuano Visayan might say Gasud-

an kog alimango. Both forms “suwa” and “sud-an” are variations of the Cebuano Visayan “sula,” a verb

denoting to eat sth together with the staple. The Bisliganon Kamayo “makasuwa” undergoes a

phonological change as the intervocalic /l/ becomes /w/; hence, “makasuwa.” The form “sud-an” comes

from the morphological change of the verb “sula” into the noun form “sud-an” which means sth eaten with

the staple (Cebuano Visayan Dictionary). But the presence of the potential active verb affix expressing the

future maka- turns it into a verb form denoting to eat sth with the staple—a similar meaning to that of the

original definition of “sula.”

1
Translation provide by Joel Lito Mundiz III
 29

The other competing form “suha” in the Surigaonon languages mean differently in the Cebuano

Visayan text. “súhà” is stressed in the Cebuano Visayan language. This is a verb which means to be in

disarray and to go against or to disagree. Though “suha” in both languages spell the same, the meaning

and the phonology differ significantly. The sound change involved in this competing form lies with the

stressed vowels /u/ and /a/; the meaning, on the other hand, is contrary to sth that is eaten as expressed

in the Cebuano Visayan and Bisliganon Kamayo versions.

The previous songs have dealt with the human body parts, and the adventures of a boy trying to bait

crabs for dinner. Both songs have shown some similarities in the Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo

languages to that of the Cebuano Visayan in terms of morphology, phonology and semantics. In

retrospect, the songs have had original versions of the languages and also translations which have tried as

much to appropriate the context and sensibility of the original versions. With My Toes, My Knees and

Alimango having identified some linguistic features distinct to the languages by identifying body parts and

describing a boy’s confidence of baiting a crab for himself, the next Surigaonon text/song talks about a

different thing yet still identifies the linguistic features all the same. Nanayng Garbosa or Proud Mom

shows a child’s image of his or her mother haughtily clutching a purse but actually has no money in it. The
 30

three-lined song takes a mellow tune, almost like that of a lullaby, in contrast to the previous songs with

an upbeat, sing-song melody.

Nanayng Garbosa or Haughty Mom

(English Version- (Surigaonon (Cantilangnon (Bisliganon Kamayo (Cebuano Bisaya

Translated) naturalis Version- Surigaonon Version- Version- original) Version- original )
original) Translated)
My mother is Ang kanak inay Ang aku mama
arrogant An akong nanay An ako nanay garbosa garbusa
Who has an almost garbosa garbosa Gapaima nang Papula-pula sa
red wallet Papuya-puya sa Papuya-puya sa ija kanaan pitaka iyang pitaka
But actually she iyang pitaka pitaka Kadi pasa way Pag-andu walay
has no money Pag-ando wayay Pag-ando wayay kwarta sapi
kwarta kwarta

On Morphology. The three-lined song briefly describes a mother with a red purse in four different

yet intelligible languages. Common in the four languages is the usage of a subject marker and a verb-

forming affix.

Competing forms “an” and “ang” open the song in the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon

Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan versions. Both the Surigaonon languages use “an”

while Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan use “ang.” Previously, the same marker “ang” has been

appropriated in the song My Toes, My Knees. But contrary to the definite predicate marker of the former,
 31

the song Nanayng Garbosa has used “ang” or “an” not just simply as a predicate marker but a subject

marker modifying the noun “nanay” or mother. The “nanay” is further described in the song that it is the

speaker’s/singer’s mother as what has been expressed in the genitive “akong,” “ako,” “kanak,” and “aku.”

Like “an” and “ang,” “akong,” “ako,” and “kanak” are competing forms of the Cebuano Visayan base

“aku.”

Surigaonon naturalis’ “akong” is already the inflected form of the genitive marker “ako” and subject

marker “ang” in its short form “ng.” On the other hand, Cantilangnon Surigaonon appropriates “ako” in its

version of the song; while Bisliganon Kamayo uses an altogether different form of the genitive “aku” which

is “kanak.”

On the other hand, “nanay” and “mama” are in themselves root forms that means “mother” in much

the same way as the word “inahan2” means. “Inay” of the Bisliganon Kamayo is considered as the short

form of the Cebuano Visayan term “nanay.” Since the song describes the “mother,” it also follows the

usage of the affix –sa indicating gender on the adjective used; hence, “garbusa.” The other form

2
(Please see appendix for some word lists.) “Inahan” is an inflected form where suffix –an is added to the noun “ina” to form
into another noun. The presence of /h/ in /inahan/ refers to the phonological process where a root that ends in a vowel adds a /h/
before a suffix. “Inahan,” then, now refers to a place where sth is found, done, held and located (e.g. humayan, tubaan).
“Inahan,” then, also means mother but it is more of “inahan nga buhatan” or main office of a firm with branches. But then
again, the frequency of the term “inahan” and its usage in conversation Cebuano Visayan make it a convention in the Cebuano
Visayan dialect. Hence, “inahan,” “mama” and “nanay” are all acceptable terms.
 32

“garbosa” from Surigaonon languages and that of the Bisliganon Kamayo is a competing form of the

Cebuano Visayan “garbusa,” still observing the gender of the adjective.

Another example of competing forms is “Papuya-puya” and “papula-pula” which are both inflected

forms of the adjective “pula,” the color red. The derivational verb-forming affix pa- is added to both the

Surigaonon languages versions and that of the Cebuano Visayan. With the addition of the affix is also the

change in meaning from the adjective form “pula” or red into a verb—have sth become. And despite the

inflection, there is no morphophonemic change from the forms “pula” and “puya.” By doubling up the

forms such as “papula-pula," or “papuya-puya,” the meaning again changes—instead of saying “a red

purse” or “pulang pitaka” or “puyang pitaka,” “papuya-puya” would mean “an almost red hue” but not the

same redness as that of a deep red hue.

A genitive written before a noun is the inflected word “iyang” or “iya” which is a derivative of the

pronoun “siya.” Both Surigaonon naturalis and Cebuano Visayan versions use the inflection “iyang” or

“iya.” Cantilangnon Surigaonon, in another case, uses the competing form “ija.” Bisliganon Kamayo,

however, used an altogether different term to mean “iya—” “kanaan.” In addition, the latter also uses the

marker “nang” which means “sa”; thus, “nang kanaan” also means the same “sa iya.”
 33

The usage of the prefix pag- in both the Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon Surigaonon changes

the verb into an infinitve, hence, referring to no specific tense or time. Surigaonon languages and Cebuano

Visayan observe the same usage with the prefix: the former “pag-ando” is a competing form of the

inflected Cebuano Visayan base “pag-andu.” With the affixation, the verb “andu” turns into the adverb

“pag-andu” or “pag-ando” which then modifies the adjective “wala” as it also modifies the noun “pitaka.”

Cebuano Visayan “wala” is inflected in the song Nanayng Garbosa with the particle “diay.”

Surigaonon naturalis and even that of the Cantilangnun Surigaonon “wayay” are inflected competing forms

of the Cebuano Visayan roots. For the Bisliganon Kamayo, it takes the short form of the inflected “walay”

as “way.” “Sapi” and “kwarta,” as well, are Cebuano root forms that mean “money.” Surigaonon

languages and that in Bisliganon Kamayo versions observe the same usage and root in their versions of

the song Nanayng Garbosa.

On Phonological Processes. The usage of a verb forming affix has not brought about much

morphophonemic change as shown in the affixes found in the song Nanayng Garbosa. Eventually,

intervocalic sounds have undergone changes as reflected in the different versions.

Subjective marker “ang” has its competing form among the Surigaonon languages. However, the

form difference is only that with the phonology as both Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon Surigaonon
 34

appropriate the phoeneme /n/ as in the case of “an” or /an/ which is contrary to the Cebuano Visayan and

Bisliganon Kamayo /ŋ/ as in “ang” or /aŋ/. On the other hand, rhoticization of /r/ has also been observed as

with “garbosa” where /r/ is a distinct sound of the whole utterance.

Intervocalic /l/ in /pula/ has undergone phonological change in the Surigaonon naturalis and

Cantilangnon Surigaonon languages. As the base of Cebuano Visayan /pula/ finds its competing form in the

Surigaonon languages, intervocalic /l/ has undergone change from /l/ to /y/— “pula” is also “puya.”

Cebuano Visayan pula /pula/ red + pa = papula

Surigaonon naturalis pula=puya
Cantilangnon Surigaonon puya /puya/ red + pa = papuya

The genitive “iyang,” along with its competing form in the Cantilangnon Surigaonon language, has

had its share of morphophonemic changes since it is the assimilation of the marker “iya” (/iya/) and “ang”

(/aŋ/). As the short derivative form of “siya” (/siya/), /iya/is being assimilated with the subjective

marker /aŋ/. But then like /iya/, /aŋ/ takes a short from by dropping the initial vowel sound /a/;

therefore, /aŋ/ in /iyaŋ/ is only the nasal phoneme /ŋ/ which is then assimilated in the short, derivative

pronoun /iya/. Yet, Cantilangnon Surigaonon takes an altogether different phoneme, albeit, a competing

form of /iya/ – /ija/.

 35

Cantilangnon Surigaonon /iya/ takes a different sound characteristic to the Bohol and Southern Leyte

region. Instead of /iya/, /ija/ is the pronoun counterpart being used in the Cantilangnon Surigaonon

language. The presence of the phoneme /j/ has originally been a part of the Leyteño migrants who came in

the Surigao islands (Pastora Riza Llorca-Salas and Marlyn Mutia, personal communications). This change

from /y/ to /j/ or /dy/ is a phonological process that has spread not just in the Bohol-Southern Leyte speech

community, but also among the Cebuano Visayan area (Wolff, 1982); as a result, /ija/ or “ija,” /jaton/ or

“jaton3,” and even /malipajon/ or “malipajon4” are all acceptable competing forms of “iya,” “tua” and

“malipayon.”

The prefix pag- is added to the verb “andu” which consequently changes its grammatical function

from verb into an infinitive, functioning as an adverb in the song. The assimilation of the affix pag-, in

turn, creates a glottal stop out of the inflected word. The hyphen (-) before “ando” in the Surigaonon

languages signals a sudden release of air, taking the name glottal stop.

Another adverb used in the song Nanayng Garbosa is the adverb “wala” which denotes “no” or

“not.” The Cebuano Visayan version of the song has had an inflection with the assimilation of the particle

/-y/into the pronominal marker /wala/ or/walay/. Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and the

3
Please see appendix. Jaton is both a Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon Surigaonon term which means “there.”
4
Please see appendix. Malipajon is a Cantilangnon Surigaonon term which means “lively, or gay.”
 36

Bisliganon Kamayo version of Nanayng Garbosa show the same inflection and assimilation of the particle

/-y/: “wayay” (/wayay/), or “way” (/way/). For the Surigaonon languages versions, the change of the

intervocalic /l/ to /y/has been predominant in the song and that of the other songs previously discussed in

the paper. For the Bisliganon Kamayo version, /wala/ takes the short form /wa/ with the assimilated

particle /-y/:

Cebuano Visayan
Surigaonon naturalis
Cantilangnon Surigaonon
Bisliganon Kamayo
wala /wala/ no, not + -y = walay /walay/ there isn’t,
wasn’t any
waya /waya/ no, not + -y = wayay /wayay/ there isn’t,
wasn’t any
wa /wâ/ short form, no or not + -y = way /way/ there
isn’t, wasn’t any

On Semantic. The Surigaonon languages and that of the Cebuano Visayan version perceive the

song Nanayng Garbosa in much the same context of a mother haughtily showing off her purse. Altogether,

the different versions fondly describe how the purse turned out to be empty.

The term “papula-pula or “papuya-puya” already foreshadows that trickery is imminent in

connection to the content of the wallet; instead of using “pula,” “puya” or red, the song makes use of the
 37

repetition of syllables indicated in “pula-pula” or “puya-puya” to signify that it is not really a deep red

purse—but, just an almost red purse— in much the same way that the haughtiness of the mother is as

much as a façade to her being penniless. Yet, in spite of the phonological change inherent in the

Surigaonon language, the base “puya” actually has its place in the Cebuano Visayan vocabulary. “Puya,”

however, in the latter means an infant, particularly, a newborn baby—contrary to the former’s red hue.

All throughout the Bisliganon Kamayo version, there is that certain distinctiveness not just in the

sound processes of the language but also in its word usage, relative to the semantics of the song. When

the Surigaonon languages and Cebuano Visayan versions talk about the almost red purse of the mother,

Bisliganon Kamayo version openly shows the mother’s haughtiness when she parades her purse—not

mentioning whether it is of red or almost red hue—as indicated in this translation: gapaima nang kanaan

pitaka. The color does not play any significant symbolisms for the latter’s version. Instead, Bisliganon

Kamayo’s version of Nanayng Garbosa simply portray that indeed the mother has that arrogant streak

when she literally shows off and parade her purse. But then again, what remains the same in the Surigaon

naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan versions is the same anti-

climactic effect when all four pronounce that actually, the purse—red or not—has got nothing inside even a

single centavo. Thus one could conclude that the haughty attitude is simply an impression the mother
 38

wants to portray. The same haughtiness runs true in the society today. Whoever boasts or shows off that

one has this, or that, usually ends up empty handed.

The mention of red emphasizes the gnawing attention which the color has always been associated

with. Scientific researches and popular culture have shown how red is used for that sexual tension the

color tries to stir among the people. Moreover, red has also been linked in psychology as a sure attention

grabber for men on women wearing same hued shirts.

When both Surigaonon languages and Cebuano Visayan make use of the inflected forms “pag-ando”

or “pag-andu” to present the proposition “but actually,” Bisliganon Kamayo uses a similar context that

means the same as “but actually.” “Kadi pasa” or “man diay” is the Bisliganon Kamayo way of saying “it

turned out” or “but actually” as the song goes Kadi pasa way kwarta or “but actually she has no money.”

The song Nanayng Garbosa is really all about the money which was never there. The mother’s

haughtiness is her façade or means to suppress the sad fact that she has had a purse—red or not, but a

purse nonetheless—which does not have anything in it at all. And in order to keep on the façade, Nanayng

Garbosa proudly flaunts her purse—if only she could re-create a persona of someone affluent in material

and wealth.

This affluence in wealth has been a lack in the songs portrayed in this paper. However the affluence

in line repetition is what makes the songs remarkable in themselves. The repetition, unlike from those
 39

lines in Nanayng Garboa, could be understood as simply a song style to heighten the exciting, anti-

climactic, effect of the song or simply to fill in the local tune.

Line repetitions have been common to songs both in English and the languages being compared in

this paper. However, the songs Pato and Pilemon have had more lines being repeated as the songs unfold

to talk about how a duck behaves –as the title Pato which means duck—and how the lowly Pilemon catches

fish for a living only to spend the money he earned for a coconut wine. It is interesting to note that

Alimango, Nanayng Garbosa, Pato and Pilemon are songs which try to portray common scenes and

experiences in the Surigao islands. Since the songs have had their versions in the Bisliganon Kamayo and

Surigaonon languages, both languages common in the Surigaonon islands also have quite a number of

similarities in their linguistic features particularly in the morphology of words, phonology and semantics.

Putting these into consideration, one could also see the languages’ intelligibility they share with the

Cebuano Visayan texts. Now with the two latter songs, Pato and Pilemon, there are considerable instances

where Surigaonon languages, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan share similar linguistic features

particularly in the morphology of words. The song Pato, with the most repetition of lines, has minor

distinction in its lyrics remarkably on the Bisliganon Kamayo. Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon

Surigaonon and Cebuano Visayan languages almost have the same lyrics and linguistic features as each of

the languages create their versions and translations.

 40

Pato

(English Version- (Surigaonon (Cantilangnon (Bisliganon Kamayo (Cebuano Bisaya

Translated) naturalis Version- Surigaonon Version- Version-
original) Version- Translated) Translated)
I have a duck that Translated)
pecks, flaps its May pato akong A’y kanak pato na May pátu akung
wings and wags motuka-tuka, May pato akong motuka-tuka, mutuka-tuka,
its tails mukapayká-pay, motuka-tuka, mukapay-kapay, mukapaykápay,
Quack, quack it mukiaykì-ay (2x) mukapayká-pay, mukiaykì-ay (2x) mukiaykìay (2x)
pecks Quack, quack mukiaykì-ay (2x) Quack, quack Quack, quack
Quack, quack it motuka-tuka Quack, quack motuka-tuka mutuka-tuka
flaps Quack, quack motuka-tuka Quack, quack Quack, quack
Quack, quack it mukapayká-pay Quack, quack mukapayká-pay mukapaykápay
sways its hips Quack, quack mukapayká-pay Quack, quack Quack, quack
Quack, quack it mukiaykì-ay Quack, quack mukiaykì-ay mukiaykìay
pecks Quack, quack mukiaykì-ay Quack, quack Quack, quack
Quack, quack it motuka-tuka Quack, quack motuka-tuka mutuka-tuka
flaps Quack, quack motuka-tuka Quack, quack Quack, quack
mukapayká-pay Quack, quack mukapay-kapay mukapaykápay
mukapay-kapay

On Morphology. Generally, the different versions observe almost the same morphological features

and phonological processes. Inflection and affixation have been an important factor in the construction and

structure of the lyrics in the song Pato.

The use of the grammatical marker “may” in the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and

Cebuano versions pertain to the transitive verb which means “have.” On the other hand, Bisliganon
 41

Kamayo uses a similar, inflected term “A’y” which is the the assimilation of the transitive verb “anáa” and

the grammatical marker “-y.” On the contrary, “pato” of the Surigaonon languages and Bisliganon Kamayo

versions are competing forms of the Cebuano Visayan “patu.”

The genitive “aku” takes different forms as it has been inflected accordingly in Surigaonon naturalis,

Cantilangnon Surigaonon, and that of the Cebuano Visayan versions. With the assimilation of the subject

marker “ang” in its short form “ng,” the genitive grammatical “aku” or “ako” then becomes “akung” or

“akong.” Contrary to this morphological alteration, Bisliganon Kamayo uses an equivalent term and still

with the same meaning. The genitive “kanak” or “aku” is used accordingly in the Bisliganon Kamayo

version.

Versions of the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, and even the Cebuano Visayan

follow the same pattern of grammatical marker-noun-genitive marker-verb: May pato akong motuka-tuka;

while Bisliganon Kamayo follows the pattern of grammatical marker-genitive marker-noun-particle-verb:

A’y kanak pato na motuka-tuka. The particle “na” in Bisliganon Kamayo functions as an introductory word

of a “that” clause: A’y kanak pato na motuka-tuka in English goes: I have a duck that pecks.

Generally, the four languages and their versions make use of the active verbal affix expressing the

future action which is non-durative mu- and the repetition of the root verb as in “tuka-tuka,” kapay-kapay”

and “kiay-kiay.” Verbs with the prefix mu- will have expressed a non-durative action since “mutuka-tuka”
 42

is an inherent characteristic of the duck in much the same way as “mukapaykapay” and “mukiaykiay.”

The inherence of the actions for a duck makes the actions themselves non-continous.

Yet, only the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Bisliganon Kamayo place a hyphen

in between the verb repetition—“tuka-tuka,” kapay-kapay” and “kiay-kiay;”—Cebuano Visayan version

observes otherwise. Moreover, the repetition of the verb in “kapaykapay” in Cebuano Visayan version

signify a change in the grammatical function; “tukatuka” and “kiaykiay,” on the other hand reflect a

different morphological change.

A single “kapay” is a noun that means wings or flippers, in the context of Pato, “kapay” is the duck’s

wings that continually flaps while floating on the river. “Kapaykapay,” in contrast, is a verb that means

flap sth repeatedly. Rather than just “kiay,” “kiaykiay” is a verb that means sway the hips. “Kiaykiay,”

hence, has always had two “kiay’s” to mean one thing without changing its morphological formation.

On Phonology. The presence of a hyphen in the other languages denotes a phonological process

which is also reflective to the Cebuano Visayan text. In addition, competing forms are yet again present in

the song Pato.

The affixation of verbs with the prefix mu- brings about a change in the vowel form as in the

Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, and Bisliganon Kamayo. Cebuano Visayan’s mu- has its

competing form with the affix mo- as it is added up with the verbs “tuka-tuka,” “kapay-kapay,” and “kiay-
 43

kiay.” However, it should be noted that the Surigaonon language in general only has 3 vowels (a, i, u) yet

with 5 consonant sounds (Dumanig and Jubilado, 2005). Hence, the Surigaonon form “motuka-tuka” is

similar with Cebuano Visayan “mutuka-tuka.” Bisliganon Kamayo, in another instance, has the vowel /o/

only that it has been pronounced with the /u/ sound:

Cebuano Visayan tukà-tukà /tuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ peck repeatedly + mu- = mutukà-tukà /mutuká
‫כ‬
tuká ‫כ‬/ will peck/pecks repeatedly
Suriagaonon
naturalis tukà-tukà /tuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ peck repeatedly + mu- = motukà-tukà /mutuká ‫כ‬tuká
Cantilangnon ‫כ‬
/ will peck/pecks repeatedly
Surigaonon
Bisliganon Kamayo tukà-tukà /tuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ peck repeatedly + mu- = motukà-tukà /mutuká ‫כ‬tuká
‫כ‬
/ will peck/pecks repeatedly

The use of hyphens to express glottal stops is only sometimes indicated in the Cebuano Visayan

publication. Wolff summarized when a glottal stop, indicated by /‫כ‬/, is usually observed: a) in a word or

syllable with “a grave accent written over the vowel which precedes the glottal stop” as in “tukà” or /tuká
‫כ‬
/; b) in post consonantal position as indicated by a hyphen (-) or glottal stop symbol /‫כ‬/ as in “sud-an5”

or /sud ‫כ‬an/; c) “writing of two adjacent vowels or initial vowel serves to indicate a glottal stop” as in

“mukiaykìay” or /mukiaykì ‫כ‬ay/ (1982). However, there is no difference between /‫כ‬/ and its absence in the

initial position for glottal stop. Moreover, between vowels, a glottal stop as indicated by /‫כ‬/ is only

5
From the song Alimango: Ako lang makakuha/Ako lang maka-sud-an
 44

occasionally indicated by a hyphen. Thus, “mukiaykìay” or /mukiaykì ‫כ‬ay/ without the hyphen may also be

spelled out as “mukiaykì-ay” or /mukiaykì ‫כ‬ay/ with the hyphen– while the phonetic /‫כ‬/ is still articulated.

Since “tukà” or /tuká ‫כ‬/has a glottal stop with the grave accent on the last syllable and is repeated, it

could then be written with or without the hyphen but would still mean the same:

Cebuano Visayan
Suriagaonon
tukà /tuká ‫כ‬/ = tukà-tukà /tuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ or tukàtukà /tuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ peck repeatedly
naturalis
tukà-tukà /tuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ or tukàtukà /tuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ peck repeatedly + mu- = motukà-
Cantilangnon
tukà /mutuká ‫כ‬tuká ‫כ‬/ will peck/pecks repeatedly
Surigaonon
Bisliganon Kamayo

“Kapaykápay” or /kapaykà ‫כ‬pay/ may be written as “kapayká-pay;” while “kiaykìay” or /kiaykì ‫כ‬ay/

may be written as “kiaykì-ay:”

Cebuano Visayan
Suriagaonon
naturalis kapaykápay /kapaykà ‫כ‬pay/ flap sth repeatedly = kapayká-pay /kapaykà ‫כ‬pay/
flap sth repeatedly
Cantilangnon kiaykìay /kiaykì ‫כ‬ay/ sway the hips = kiaykì-ay /kiaykì ‫כ‬ay/ sway the hips
Surigaonon
Bisliganon Kamayo

On Semantic. The song Pato celebrates the joviality of ducks as they waddle on land and paddles

on water. With the recurrence of lines from the songs and the upbeat tune, Pato is a merriment song that

accounts how a duck behaves. Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Cebuano Visayan
 45

versions all have exactly the same lyrics, and except for the predominant spelling with the letter “u” in

Cebuano Visayan version, Surigaonon languages and Cebuano Visayan versions of Pato have kept true to

the image of a duck on a pond. By keeping the repetition of lines—“tukatuka,” “kapaykapay,” or even

“quack quack”—it also tries to put in picture the uniformity and predictability of ducks’ actions. That even

with the upbeat tune and the actions fitted with the song, Pato’s repetitious lyrics have as well brought its

monotony to the point of tediousness for whoever will sing the song. Hence, the slight variation brought

about in the translated version from the Bisliganon Kamayo language put off a little of the monotony. The

grammatical inflected marker “A’y kanak” creates a slight variation of the comical Pato lyrics. But then

again, the repetition is still similar with the rest of the versions that the effort from the Bisliganon Kamayo

version to create distinction is not really an effective one.

The absence of vowels /o/ and /e/ from all the versions in the previous lyrics in the Cebuano Visayan

texts does not rule out that the vowels are a foreign entity for the language. Generally, Cebuano Visayan

vowels as well as that of the Surigaonon identify only 3 vowels, a, i and u. Yet like the latter, Cebuano

Visayan vowels may write vowels /i/ or /u/ in forms as /e/ or /o/. The next song, Pilemon has observed this

change in vowel forms among the different versions and translations common in the Surigaonon naturalis,

Cantilangnon Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan. The song is about the lowly fisherman
 46

Pilemon who catches fish for a living. But for this man to whom the song is a tribute, he catches and fishes

for a living only to buy that coconut wine.

Pilemon has its original version in the Surigaonon naturalis and in the Cebuano Visayan version. All

the rest are written translation provided by the interviewees.

Pilemon

(English Version- (Surigaonon (Cantilangnon

(Bisliganon Kamayo (Cebuano Bisaya
Translated) naturalis Version- Surigaonon Version- Version- Version- Original)
original) Translated) Translated)
Philemon, Philemon Si Pilemon, Si
Caught with a Si Pilemon, Si Si Pilemon, Si Si Pilemon, Si Pilemon
fishing line a Pilemon Pilemon Pilemon Namasol sa
mudskipper in the Namingwit sa Namingwit sa Yamingwit sa dagat kadagatan
sea kadagatan kadagatan Yakakamang Nakakuha-
Then, sold it to the Nakakuha-nakakuha Nakakuha-nakakuha yakakamang nang nakakuha ug
market ug isdang ug isdang isdang tambasakan isdang
For a Japanese tambasakan tambasakan Ibaligya-Ibaligya sa tambasakan
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centavo Gibaligja-gibaligja Gibaligja-gibaligja tiyanging guba Gibaligya-

Just enough to buy sa tyanggeng guba sa tyanggeng guba Ang halin saman gibaligya sa
coconut wine An halin puros puya An halin puros puya puya merkadong guba
An halin puros puya An halin puros puya Ang halin saman Ang halin puros
Igo ra gipanuba Igo ra gipanuba puya kura
Anda ra gipanuba Ang halin puros
kura
Igo ra gipanuba

On Morphology. Competing forms are still in existence in the different versions of Pilemon.

Affixations are also common among the languages.

All the languages—Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano

Visayan—make use of the nominative particle “si” written before names or titles of persons. In the song,

the nominative “si” introduces the character of the same title, Pilemon. From the previous songs,

vowels /e/ and /o/ have not been a common occurrence. But the absence of the vowels does not signify

that there is also the absence of sounds. Vowels /e/ and /o/ may take the place of vowels /i/ and /u/ but

with no consistency (Wolff, 1982).

Passive verb affix na- expressing the past tense is used together with the roots “bingwit” and

“pasol” or “pasul” in the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Cebuano Visayan versions

repectively. Bisliganon Kamayo version uses a different verb affix, yet a competing form, that functions

similarly as that of na-. Affix ya- of the Bisliganon Kamayo version is added to the root “bingwit.”
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A particle “sa” has also been used in the different versions of Pilemon. The particle “sa” precedes a

phrase referring to a place: “sa kadagatan.” Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, Bisliganon

Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan versions all use the particle “sa.” “Kadagatan” in the Surigaonon naturalis,

Cantilangnon Surigaonon, and Cebuano Visayan versions is an inflected form of the root “dagat” and affix

forming nouns ka-an. The affix now refers to a group of sea water. Yet the meaning of the affix form does

not mean the same with that of the root “dagat” which is “sea” into “kadagatan” which is ocean.

Bisliganon Kamayo observes otherwise. Instead of following the other versions of Pilemon, the latter

language does not make use of the affix ka-an; what the Bisliganon Kamayo has is simply maintained the

root “dagat.” It may not mean the same as an ocean or “kadagatan,” but it is still a viable place to fish.

Another verb affix expressing past form is the active verb affix naka-. The affix refers to an action

which one had managed to do; as it is added to the verb “kuha,” “nakakuha” in the context of Pilemon

would then mean as Pilemon managed to catch fish.

Like na- and naka-, Bisliganon Kamayo still uses the competing form yaka- to mean the same as

that of the affix naka- which is managed to do. The root “kamang” in the Bisliganon Kamayo is not the

same as crawl of the Cebuano Visayan context. “Kamang” is the Bisliganon Kamayo equivalent of “kuha.”

Thus, affix yaka- and the root “kamang” would be “yakakamang” that means Pilemon managed to catch

and get some fish.

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The fish “tambasakan” or mudskipper is further emphasized with the particle “ug” in the Surigaonon

naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Cebuano Visayan versions. “Ug” shows a grammatical relation as

it precedes a noun referring to sth specific—“isda”— but referring to it as sth general on any and all

occasions (Cebuano Visayan Dictionary). Bisliganon Kamayo uses a different particle which still means the

same as the particle “ug.” “Nang” is common in the Bisliganon Kamayo text of Pilemon instead of “ug.”

Indeed, Pilemon is a fisherman; Pilemon fishes for a living; but he fishes no particular species or type of

fish, but that still makes him a fisherman nonetheless—Surigaonon or Bisliganon Kamayo versions.

The fish which Pilemon caught has been put on sale as conveyed by the passive verb affix

expressing the past form gi-. This same affix has been uniformly used in the Surigaonon naturalis,

Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Cebuano Visayan version. The Bisliganon Kamayo text of Pilemon uses the

future form of the passive verb affix gi- which is i-. The root “baligya” common to the Cebuano Visayan

and Bisliganon Kamayo versions of the song is a verb that means sell similar to the competing forms

“baligja” of Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangon Surigaonon ; the affixed forms “gibaligya,” “ibaligya”

and “gibaligja” are verbs that mean put, bring, convey sth—put the fish on sale; bring the fish on sale; and

convey the fish on sale whether in the past of future forms.

Where the “tambasakan” is to be out on sale is somewhere where only Japanese coins are

acceptable. By adding the short form of the grammatical marker “nga” or “ng” between a noun and
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adjective construction, the nouns “tyangge,” “tiyangi” and “merkado” are then identified as “guba” with

the assimilation of the short form marker “ng.” Surigaonon languages’ “tyangge,” and Bisliganon

Kamayo’s “tiyangi” are synonyms of Cebuano Visayan “merkado.” Thus when all the versions of the song

identify that Pilemon sold his fish in the “tyanggeng”/“tiyanging”/“merkadong” “guba,” they are really just

talking about the same venue—a rundown market.

Subject marker “ang” has its competing form “an” in the two Surigaonon languages’ versions. Both

Cebuano Visayan and Bisliganon Kamayo use “ang” to introduce the next line Ang halin puros kura or Ang

halin saman puya. “Puros” of the Cebuano Visayan version is similarly written in the versions of

Surigaonon naturalis and Cantilangnon Surigaonon. The adjective “puros” could be spelled as “purus”

which is a competing form of “pulos” or “pulus” denoting be all sth. An equivalent term is found in the

Bisliganon Kamayo text of Pilemon. The latter uses “saman” instead of the common “puros.”

The vowel /o/ is found common in the Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, and Cebuano

Visayan versions of the song Pilemon. “Igo” is just a differently spelled form of “igu,” an adjective that

means enough. Bisliganon Kamayo version uses “anda” to mean the same as “igo” or “igu.” The usage of

the particle “ra” following the first word of the predicate emphasized further the adjective “igo” or “igu” or

“anda.” Enough as denoted by the adjective takes on a negative connotation that mean only enough and

there is nothing else—Igo/anda ra gipanuba signifies that what Pilemon has earned is just enough for the
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“tuba” and nothing more. He could not buy anything than just the coconut wine since it is all he could

afford from what he has fished.

“Gipanuba” is an affixed form using the affix gi-. But unlike the previous meaning of the affix gi- as

a passve verb affix expressing the past tense, gi- in “gipanuba” is used in verbs containing another affix

which is pa-. Affix “gipa-” means have s.o [do] to; “gipanuba” then would mean have Pilemon use the

“puya” or “kura” to buy “tuba” or coconut wine.

On Phonological Processes. The inconsistency of the vowels /i/, /e/, /u/ and /o/ has brought about

phonological processes and changes in the song Pilemon. Along with this, sounds are also assimilated and

changes in intervocalic consonants are commonly found in the different versions of Pilemon.

When affixation occurs in the verbs “bingwit” (/biŋwit/) and “pasol” (/pasul/), assimilation of the

nasal sounds from the grammatical marker /ŋ/ has also occurred. The affix used in the Surigaonon

languages and Cebuano Visayan versions is the passive verb affix na- with the grammatical

marker /ŋ/attached after the vowel. The Bisliganon Kamayo text uses an equivalent affix ya- with the

same short form grammatical marker /ŋ/. The tendency for nasal phonemes like /ŋ/ to be assimilated is

common when the same nasal phoneme touches or is adjacent to a consonant (Wolff, 1982):

pasol /pasol/ catch with fishing line + nang- = nangpasol /naŋpasol/

Cebuano Visayan nangpasol /naŋpasol/ = namasol /namasol/
namasol /namasol/ caught with a fishing line
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bingwit /biŋwit/ catch fish with a hook and line + nang- = nangbingwit
Surigaonon naturalis /naŋbiŋwit/
Surigaonon Cantilangnon nangbingwit / naŋbiŋwit/ = namingwit /namiŋwit/
namingwit /namiŋwit/ caught fish with a hook and a line
bingwit /biŋwit/ catch fish with a hook and line + yang- = yangbingwit
/yaŋbiŋwit/
Bisliganon Kamayo
yangbingwit / yaŋbiŋwit/ = yamingwit /yamiŋwit/
yamingwit /yamiŋwit/ caught fish with a hook and a line

The glottal stop after the last syllable of the affixed form “nakakúhà” (/nakakúhá ‫כ‬/) in the

Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon and Cebuano Visayan versions is indicated with the hyphen

as the same affixed form is repeated. For the Bisliganon Kamayo, an equivalent term is used to mean as

“kuha” or get. “Kamang” (/kamaŋ/), like “kúhà” (/kúhá ‫כ‬/), is repeated but without the hyphen since it does

not observe a glottal stop:

kúhà /kúhá ‫כ‬/ get, obtain, caught + naka- = nakakúhà /nakakúhá ‫כ‬/
Cebuano Visayan
nakakúhà-nakakúhà /nakakúhá ‫כ‬nakakúhá ‫כ‬/
Surigaonon naturalis kúhà /kúhá ‫כ‬/ get, obtain, caught + naka- = nakakúhà /nakakúhá ‫כ‬/
Surigaonon Cantilangnon nakakúhà-nakakúhà /nakakúhá ‫כ‬nakakúhá ‫כ‬/
kamang /kamaŋ/ get, obtain, caught + yaka- = yakakamang
Bisliganon Kamayo /yakakamaŋ/
yakakamang yakakamang /yakakamaŋ yakakamaŋ/
Assimilation as well as sound deletion has been a common occurrence among the nasal phonemes

used in the different versions of the Pilemon in Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangon Surigaonon, Bisliganon

Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan versions. The noun “isda” (/isda/) is found to have assimilated with it the
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short form of the grammatical marker /ŋa/ which is /ŋ/ consequently assimilating the short form after the

vowel. The same assimilation has also been found among the Surigaonon naturalis’ and Cantilangnon

Surigaonon’s “tyanggeng” (/tyaŋgeŋ/), Bisliganon Kamayo’s “tiyanging” (/tiyaŋgiŋ/), and Cebuano

Visayan’s “merkadong” (/merkaduŋ/). This morphophonemic alteration is also represented in the line that

concludes everything about Pilemon’s effort as a fisherman: Igo ra gipanuba.

/gipanuba/ observes the same affix in the verb /baligya/; but, its function is for verbs containing the

affix pa-. This has been observed and common in the versions of Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and

Cebuano Visayan where /panuba/ from /gipanuba/ has undergone assimilation of the nasal phoneme /n/

only that instead of affix pa-, the derived affix paN- has been used. With /n/ placed adjacent to the first

letter of the word /tuba/, /tuba/ is being assimilated with the affix paN-, dropping the phoneme /t/ and

altogether changing its phonology:

tubà /tubà/ fermented and processed toddy from coconut palms + paN-
Cebuano Visayan = pantubà /pantubà/
Surigaonon naturalis pantubà /pantubà/ = panubà /panubà/
Surigaonon Cantilangnon panubà /panubà/ go out to get toddy
Bisliganon Kamayo panubà /panubà/ go out to get toddy + gi- = gipanubà /gipanubà/ have
s.o get toddy

Yet another distinctive phonological process among the versions is the change of the /y/ sound into

/j/ or /dy/. This change is common with the Surigaonon languages “gibaligja” (/gibaligja/ or /gibalidya/)
 54

from Bisliganon Kamayo’s “ibaligya” (/ibaligya/) which is similar to Cebuano Visayan’s “gibaligya”

(/gibaligya/). This is a similar occurrence in the Nanayng Garbosa where instead of the usual /iya/ or “iya,”

those from the Surigaonon versions has used /ija/ or “ija” to signify the Southern Leyte and Bohol influence

found in the language. /gibaligja/ or /gibaligdya/ is another example where the change from /y/ to /j/ or

/dy/ is found common in languages with Southern Leyte and Bohol influence. Wolff cited that the same

change from /y/ to /j/ or /dy/ has also spread even among the Cebuano speech community; hence, the

concept of competing forms among the languages has been a factor to establish a certain similarity in

their linguistic features (1982).

Another instance where competing forms become equivalent terms is the usage of the subject

marker “an” (/an/) or “ang” (/aŋ/) and grammatical marker “puros” (/puros/) from “pulos” (/pulos/). With

the subject marker, the observance of the Surigaonon languages of the nasal phoneme /n/ in the subject

marker “an” (/an/) is the same with that of the Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan “ang” (/aŋ/).

“Puros” or “pulos” are competing forms with the change of intervocalic /l/ from /pulos/ into /r/ in /puros/. All

the languages—Surigaonon naturalis, Cantilangnon Surigaonon, Bisliganon Kamayo and Cebuano Visayan

—observe the same forms, after all they are also equivalent terms of the Cebuano Visayan “pulus”

(/pulus/).
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On Semantic. Equivalent terms, yet again, find its occurrence in the song. The repetition of a few

of the lines in the song Pilemon does not really contribute much to the meaning making of the song.

However, what the repetition tries to convey is the playfulness and comical disposition of the song and the

character it tries to portray.

Equivalent terms “puya” and “kurà” are notable since both denote currency. Yet, “puya” in the

Cebuano Visayan means infant, particularly a new born baby. Once “kurà” is differently accented, the

meaning will also change that is a parish priest. “Saman” in the Bisliganon Kamayo means “puros” despite

its absence in the Cebuano Visayan dictionary.

The song Pilemon is an allusion to one of the disciples of Jesus who was originally a fisherman. Yet,

the song takes on a satirical note when it portrays Pilemon as a good-for-nothing fisherman, not earning

enough to buy himself something other than the fermented toddy or “tuba.” With “tuba,” the Filipino-ness

of Pilemon is taken into another level albeit the cultural bias that Filipinos are drunkard. On a positive note,

the good humored take on the tune of the song reflects that of the Filipino trait as a people who take on

problems happily by its reigns. The “tuba” drinking signifies the sociability of the Filipino people with a

shot glass. The downside however is that because of these sunny disposition and sociability, Filipinos are

oftentimes looked upon as less serious type of people who noses at other people’s business—a loose term
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would be pakialamero. And with the scene of Pilemon re-created in the rural area, the backwardness of the

life in the rural is further highlighted though it is not really the main focus of the song. With popular

culture advertising drinks like Gold Eagle Beer in a rural setting, the same notion remains that not only

Filipinos live a backward life but also Filipinos are real drunkard with all the advertisements showing

groups of rural folks going home after a day’s work with several cases of alcoholic beverages.

However, one could also see Pilemon here as a metaphorical term that downplays the roles and

identities of Filipinos during the Japanese occupation. The use of “kura” or “puya” to mean the Japanese

coins connotes the downgrading of the Filipinos during the period. With the hypes and vibes of some of the

Japanese products during their occupation, Filipino money had also lost its worth. And using the Japanese

coins to buy what is considered as an endemic Filipino drink is an upfront on how Filipinos have been

relegated to the lowest possible caste—that of being a slave. Historically, the same money’s worth issue

have arisen many times in the coming up of the Philippines. History books and archives would never let a

Filipino forget how the country was sold for a mere P 20,000.00. And with the years to come, despite the

so called “independence,” Filipino has ranked topped among the most corrupt country not just in Asia but

worldwide. This goes to say how low life has become for a Filipino—especially for Pilemon who could only

afford to buy “tuba” because what he earns is just enough for the coconut wine. And at the least, Pilemon

could still put something in his stomach if not something edible.

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(Click here for conclusion or open file: mam rice_conclusion.doc.)