Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Learning Hiligaynon (Language of the Ilonggos)

From Wikipedia:

"Hiligaynon is an Austronesian language spoken in Western Visayas in the Philippines. Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. It is also spoken in the other provinces of the Panay Island group, such as Capiz, Antique, Aklan, Guimaras, and many parts of Mindanao like Koronadal City, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. There are approximately 7,000,000 people in and outside the Philippines who are native speakers of Hiligaynon, and an additional 4,000,000 who are capable of speaking it with a substantial degree of proficiency." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiligaynon_language)

The same article also states that contrary to popular belief, it is not synonymous to "Ilonggo." Ilonggo refers to the people. :)

So what's this entry of Hiligaynon stuff in my blog??? Well, yes, as the title says, I'm trying to learn to understand and write/speak this dialect. I was thinking before, that if most Ilonggos play good football, then if I learn Hiligaynon, I'd be a better player! Nah, dream on kid!

So for after a week of "intense" training, I've learned the everyday words kaon (kain), kadto (punta), lakat (lakad), didto (doon), diri (dito), bugtaw (gising), tuyo (antok), hampang (laro), diin (saan), subong (ngayon), and a whole lot of words! Honestly, I am overwhelmed, and sometimes I get frustrated because some words really are "very far" from the Tagalog translation. But I'm glad I can (er, more or less) understand Hiligaynon (when they're talking slooooooowly....). :D

Hopefully I can really learn Hiligaynon, and then I can have some entries here in that dailect.

Thanks to Sheila Mae for having the patience to teach me her native tongue after dinner. :)

2 comments:

Sheila Mae said...

you are very much welcome! and i really appreciate all you effort. galing mo nga na student e. :) and besides i learn from you too sa kaka research mo ng mga bagay na di ko din kayang i-translate... (wala...tuo...garas...hining...)

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