Tagalog Verb Dictionary

Tagalog

Verb Dictionary

Michael Hawkins & Rhodalyne Gallo-Crail

Northern Illinois University Press–DeKalb

© 2011 by Northern Illinois University Press

Published by the Northern Illinois University Press in conjunction with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, DeKalb, Illinois 60115

Manufactured in the United States

All Rights Reserved

Jacket design by Shaun Allshouse

First digital edition, 2011

e-ISBN 978-1-60909-022-7

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hawkins, Michael (Michael C.)

Tagalog verb dictionary / Michael Hawkins and Rhodalyne Gallo-Crail.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-87580-652-5

Summary: A concise explanatory text and English-Tagalog/Tagalog-English verb guide designed to facilitate understanding and mastering the complex focal orientation of verbs in the Tagalog language.—Publisher’s description.

ISBN 978-0-87580-652-5 (pbk. original : alk. paper)

1. Tagalog language—Verb—Dictionaries—English. 2. English language—

Dictionaries—Tagalog. I. Gallo-Crail, Rhodalyne. II. Title.

PL6056.H27 2011

499’.211321--dc22

2011011453

Table of Contents

1—INTRODUCTION

2—ENGLISH – TAGALOG CONJUGATION

3—ENGLISH - TAGALOG SENTENCES

4—TAGALOG – ENGLISH CONJUGATION

5—TAGALOG – ENGLISH SENTENCES

INTRODUCTION

This book provides a concise explanatory text and English-Tagalog/Tagalog-English verb guide designed to address and facilitate the most important aspect of Tagalog language learning—understanding and mastering the complex focal orientation of verbs. Tagalog, as a member of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of Austronesian languages, relies heavily on verbal aspect and focus to orient, organize, and convey relationships, action, and interaction within the language. The primacy of focus and temporal aspect in verbal conjugation is undoubtedly the most difficult obstacle to effective language learning in Tagalog. Therefore, this book aims to provide learners with a thorough yet accessible guide to actor and object focus verb conjugation along with the how, why, and when of aspect and focal orientation.

Broadly, this text is meant to be a supplement to any Tagalog language learner’s arsenal. Whether one is studying within the structured environment of the classroom or independently in their spare time, this book is designed to give special attention to the most critical aspect of the language learning experience. This guide is organized into an accessible pattern illustrating the primary conjugations that establish aspect and actor/object focus for each verb. These verbs are further enhanced by sample sentences demonstrating their usage and introducing common cultural contexts for effective communication. In addition to the verb guide the text also provides a short history of Tagalog and an extensive explanation of verbal function in the language, with a number of learners’ tips intended to ease and expedite the learning process. Taken together, these materials, along with a persistent willingness to engage the language, will facilitate a much quicker and more effective path to fluency. The student who understands verbal aspect and focus in Tagalog is a student prepared to take their language learning to new heights.

Tagalog – A Short History

Tagalog enjoys an extensive and distinguished linguistic history. Genealogically speaking, Tagalog is a product of one of the world’s richest and most geographically expansive language families known as Austronesian. Approximately 6000 years ago Austronesian speakers began to spread south from Formosa (Taiwan) throughout insular Southeast Asia and eventually across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Incredibly prolific in its distribution, the Austronesian language family has given birth to over 1200 languages ranging from Malagasy in Madagascar to Rapa Nui on Easter Island.

Tagalog itself likely developed first in the Philippines’ southern islands and eventually filtered up to Luzon. The word Tagalog is a contraction of two words – taga (where one lives) and ilog (river) – indicating that early speakers were settled primarily along the Pasig River near modern day Manila. Though pre-colonial Tagalog was expressed in written form through the Baybayin script, a derivative of Sanskrit, the language was predominantly codified by Spanish colonialists in the 16th and 17th centuries. Works such as Doctrina Cristiana and Vocabulario de la Laguna Tagala facilitated the Romanization and standardization of Tagalog as the lingua franca of Spanish colonialism in the islands. Unlike other Spanish colonial subjects, Filipinos were dissuaded from learning Spanish and encouraged to speak their native dialects instead. While this was certainly a colonial strategy meant to disempower native Filipinos within the colonial structure, it did save Tagalog from becoming a dead colonial relic. Instead, Tagalog was able to grow and adapt itself to the rapidly changing early-modern and modern worlds.

In the late 1930s, as Filipino nationalists began to aggressively seek independence from the American colonial regime, Tagalog emerged as the official language of Filipino national unity. This decision was certainly influenced by the fact that Manila (a Tagalog region) served as the administrative center for the emerging state and that most Filipino nationalists were themselves Tagalogs; however, the language served its purpose in appealing to a broad collection of Filipinos throughout the islands who sought to express their national aspirations though an indigenous vernacular. After receiving independence in 1946, notions of a monolithic national linguistic culture in the Philippines began to crack. Other ethno-linguistic groups such as Bisayans and Ilokanos began to resent Tagalog dominance in the new state and spoke out against the national language. In response, the Philippine government renamed the national language Pilipino (later Filipino) in 1959 in an effort to get away from the specific ethnic connotations. Filipino was also a good choice because it implicitly recognized the rich and diverse history of Tagalog as an international and colonial language. Filipino contains a number of foreign words and concepts including heavy influences from Spain, the United States, and China. Though Filipino has experienced its own challenges and detractors over the past several decades (including strong movements in favor of English as a national language), it has continued to shape the Philippines’ modern national discourse and culture. Nationwide television, radio, newspapers, and certain school subjects are all transmitted in Filipino. In a country containing over 85 distinct languages, Filipino has provided a common medium of understanding throughout the nation and across the global community of Filipinos.

Understanding and Using Tagalog Verbs

As a deeply inflective language Tagalog relies heavily on verbal focus to orient and give meaning to its sentences. Action is given or received and meaning inbued by a carefully choreographed relationship between verbal aspect (temporal orientation or tense) and focus (establishing the verb and its subject in an active or passive relationship, high-lighting the primary or secondary focus of the sentence). Though these concepts seem difficult initially, once students are able to learn a few basic precepts outlined below, the complex grammatical function of Tagalog verbs will become much clearer.

Basic Phonology

The original Tagalog alphabet was composed of twenty-two letters. Most of these are the same letters used in modern Filipino. They are as follows:

a, b, k, d, e, g, h, i, l, m, n, ng, p, r, s, t, u, w, y

The vowels are the same as those in English, however, they are pronounced somewhat differently. Consider the chart below.

Filipino consonant are also somewhat similar to their English counterparts in both appearance and sound. However, there are some differences that may pose a challenge to foreign language learners. Consider the following exceptions:

1—Initially, the letter ng offers great difficulty to foreign language learners. It is a nasal sound originating in the throat. The closest English sound is the ng at the end of song or prong without a defining ga associated with the English g.

Here are some Filipino examples:

ngipin – teeth

ngayon – now

2—The dental sounds t, d, n, s are all produced by placing the tip of the tongue behind the back of the upper teeth. This is slightly different in English where the sounds are produced by placing the tongue tip behind the upper gum ridge. (Ramos, 1971)

3—The labial sounds p and b and dental sounds d and t are not aspirated in Filipino. These unaspirated initial sounds are similar to English p, b, d, t in non-initial positions, as demonstrated by the words opera or obtain.

In 2001, the Commission of the Philippine Language added the following letters to the Philippine Alphabet:

c, f, j, ñ, q, v, x, and z

These additional letters are now used to spell borrowed foreign words. When foreign words are used in Filipino, these letters are written according to their corresponding alphabet sounds in Filipino. See the chart below.

Forming Simple Sentences and Verb Placement

The order of words in a sentence is not as critically important in Filipino as it is in other languages. Sentences in Tagalog may have the topic/subject before the predicate or the predicate before the subject. Although, the most common sentence pattern used in both written and oral communication is known as Predicate-Subject Sentence Pattern. In this pattern the predicate (first word) can be one of the following:

1—Noun

The noun is then followed by a si, ang phrase, or ang pronoun. This pattern is used to talk about another noun.

Pattern: Noun + Ang/Si Phrases/Ang Pronoun

Hindi (not) noun + + Ang/Si Phrases/Ang Pronoun

For Example:

Doktor ang asawa ni Eve. (Eve’s husband is a doctor.)

Hindi estudyante ang pamangkin ko. (My niece/nephew is not a student.)

2—Adjective

The adjective is followed by si/sina or ang/ang mag phrases, ang pronouns, or sa phrases This pattern is used to describe nouns (persons, places or things).

Pattern: Adjective + Ang/Si Phrases/Ang Pronoun/Sa Phrase

Hindi (not) + Adjective + Ang/Si Phrases/Ang Pronoun/Sa Phrase

For Example:

Mabait sina Danny at Billy. (Danny and Billy are good/nice.)

Mahangin ang bayan ng Chicago. (It is windy in the city of Chicago.)

Hindi Pula ang bulaklak sa mesa. (The flower on table is not red.)

3—May

May is the equivalent of there is/are (to indicate presence) and has/have (to indicate possession) in English. Wala is its antonym.

Pattern: May + noun + Sa/Si/Ang phrase/Ang pronoun

Wala (none) + linker –ng + noun + sa/si/ang phrases/ang pronoun

For Example:

May mga tao sa labas. (There are people outside.)

May telebisyon sa klasrum. (The classroom has a television.)

May pera si Bill Gates. (Bill Gates has money.)

May kotse ako. (I have a car.)

4—NASA/SA phrases

Sa marks the place where an act was, is, or will be executed. Sa also marks future time.

Nasa marks the place where a thing was, is, or will be.

Patterns: Nasa + place + ang/Si phrase Sa + place + verb (past, present, future) + ang/si phrase

For Example:

Nasa bahay si Nanay ngayon. (Mom is in the house now.)

Nasa Chicago ang manunulat. (The writer is in Chicago.)

Sa parke kakain ang pamilya sa Sabado. (The family will eat in the park on Saturday.)

5—Verb

Pattern: Verb + Si/Ang phrase/Ang pronoun + Ng/Sa phrase/time indicator

For Example:

Pumunta ako sa Chicago kahapon. (I went to Chicago yesterday.)

Kumakain si Ben ng kanin araw-araw. (Ben eats rice everyday.)

Actor Focus Verbs

Actor focus verbs orient the focus of the sentence on the person or thing performing the action. These verbs coorespond with the focus markers ang and si. These markers, like the verbs, focus on the actors or doers of the action. For example:

—Ang (singular)/Ang mga (plural) marks common nouns

Example:

Kumusta ang bata? (How is the child?)

Nasa bahay ang mga estudyante. (The students are at home.)

—Si (singular)/Sina (plural) marks names of persons

Example:

Guro si Ginang Angie Dano. (Ms. Angie Dano is a teacher.)

Estudyante sina Mila at Ben. (Mila and Ben are students.)

Actor focus verbs also coorespond with actor focus pronouns:

—Ako – I, me

Example: Ako si Roland. (I am Roland)

—Ka – You

Example: Anong oras ka pupunta? (What time will you go?)

—Siya – he/she

Example: Hindi siya ang kapatid ko. (He/she is not my sibling.)

—Kami – us/we (exclusive)

Example: Kami ang mga anak nila. (We are their children.)

—Tayo – us/we (inclusive)

Example: Hindi tayo ang may kasalanan. (We are not the ones at fault.)

Object Focus Verbs

Object focus verbs orient the focus of the sentence on the object or thing receiving the action. These verbs coorespond with the focus markers ng and ni. These markers, like the verbs, focus on the objects or recievers of the action. For example:

—Ng (singular)/Ng mga (plural) marks common nouns

Examples:

Binili niya ang kanin? (He/she bought some rice.)

Pinipintura niya ang bahay. (He/she paints houses.)

—Ni (singular)/Nina (plural) marks names of persons

Example:

Tinulungan ako ni Angie. (Angie helped me.)

Tinukso siya nina Noreen at Miguel. (Noreen and Miguel teased him/her.)

Object focus verbs also coorespond with object focus pronouns:

—Ko – I, me

Example: Pinunasan ko ang lemesa. (I wiped the table.)

—Mo – You

Example: Kunin mo ang bata. (Get the child?)

—Niya – he/she

Example: Tinawagan niya si Eva. (He/she called Eva.)

—Naming – us/we (exclusive)

Example: Inayos naming ang sasakyan. (We fixed the car.)

—Natin – us/we (inclusive)

Example: Ano ang gagawin natin? (What are we going to do?)

The most important part of comprehending Tagalog verbs, however, is understanding their conjugations. Verbal conjugation not only establishes aspect (tense) but orients the verb’s focus and gives meaning to the sentence. The following is a detailed description of the main actor and object focus conjugations and their common uses.

Actor Focus Verb Conjugations

Um Verbs

Conjugation:

-Aspect/Tense

1. Infinitive/Command Form – Place the um before the first vowel in the verb

Example: takbo (run) – tumakbo (to run, run)

2. Completed Form (past tense) – Same as infinitive/command

Example: takbo (run) – tumakbo (ran)

3. Continuing Form (present tense) – Place the um before the first vowel in the verb and then add the whole root verb.

Example: takbo (run) – tumatakbo (running)

4. Contemplated Form (future tense) – Repeat the first syllable of the verb

Example: takbo (run) – tatakbo (will run)

-Uses:

1. Denotes casual action and/or action not involving movement of an object external to the actor.

2.