Conversational Ilonggo: Gender

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Because of the Spanish influence in our culture, the Ilonggo or Hiligaynon dialect have adopted some words with Spanish origin and gender, the female ending in “A”, and the male ending in “o”.

For example: salesperson or vendor

tindera (tin-DE-ra) – saleslady

tindero (tin-DE-ro) – salesman

Conversational Ilonggo: Tenses

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For Ilonggo or Hiligaynon tenses, just add the following prefixes before a verb or action word.

For example: KA-on – eat

Past tense

Past Continuous: was eating

(add prefix naga-) na-ga-KA-on

Past Simple: ate

(add prefix nag-) nag-KA-on

Past Perfect Simple: had eaten

(add phrase na-ka-TA-pos na) na-ka-TA-pos na KA-on

Past Perfect Continuous: had been eating

(add phrase sige nga) SI-ge nga nag-KA-on

Present tense

Present Continuous: is eating

(add prefix naga-) na-ga-KA-on

Present Simple: eats

KA-on

Present Perfect Simple: has eaten

(add prefix naka-) na-ka-KA-on

Present Perfect Continuous: has been eating

(add phrase sige nga) SI-ge nga na-ga-KA-on

Future tense

Future Continuous: is eating dinner (tomorrow)

(add prefix ma-): ma-KA-on bu-WAS*

Future Simple: will eat

(add prefix ma-): ma-KA-on

Future Perfect Simple: will have eaten

(add prefix maka- and word na after) ma-ka-KA-on na

Future Perfect Continuous: will have been eating

(add phrase ma-ka-TA-pos na) ma-ka-TA-pos na KA-on

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*bu-WAS (tomorrow) - the u is slurred, thus is pronounced in one syllable BWAS

Conversational Ilonggo: Plural Form

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The Ilonggo or Hiligaynon word becomes plural by just adding the word “mga” (ma-NGA) before the noun.

For example:

Mga sa-LAK-yan: cars; vehicles; transportation

Mga BA-ta^: children

Conversational Ilonggo: Pronunciation

The Ilonggo or Hiligaynon dialect has a simple pronunciation. Its consonants are never aspirated, and all vowels don’t have a long or schwa sound. The proper way to speak is through the mouth as there is no nasal sound to it. Another tip is to speak in the melodious carinosa or loving tone the dialect is famous for.

a – AH

e – EH

i – IH

o – O

u – OO

Vowels with the ^ symbol on top are pronounced with a sudden stop (due to character limitations, the ^ symbol is typed right after the vowel with a sudden-stop sound).

Conversational Ilonggo: Body Conditions / Emotions

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Here are some words for certain body conditions and emotions expressed in the Ilonggo or Hiligaynon dialect:

Angry: a-KIG

Cold: tug-NAW / gi-na-TUG-na-wan

Exasperated: ga-UG-tas / ga-la-LA-in

Happy: na-LI-pay / na-SAD-ya-han

Hot: na-i-NI-tan

Hungry: gu-TOM

Itchy: ka-TOL

Longing: na-HID-law

Nervous: gi-na-KUL-ba-an

Rested: na-ka-pa-HU-way

Sad: su-BO^

Sweating: gi-na-BAL-has / gi-na-pa-ma-HU-lay

Thankful: na-ga-pa-sa-LA-mat

Tired: ka-POY / KA-poy

Conversational Ilonggo: Unique Words and Their Loose Translations

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BU-raw: woke up late

ta-li-AM-bong: art

tu-YAW: enchanted / bewitched

i-KA*: (prefix) the equivalent of -th as in i-ka-pi-TO, or seventh

*However, you can't properly translate the question, "Ika-pila ka nga bata?"

i-ka-pi-LA: refers to an ordinal number, thus, ika-pila the question is asking for the ordinal number of the child (ba-TA^) in relation to his or her siblings.

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