Filipino Dialects: Kapampangan Grammar and Vocabulary

This post is first of the Filipino Dialect series which is my personal initiative to promote the awareness and study of Filipino dialects across the nation. I am a person of diversity and will promote diversity. It's one good way to balance everything. In all aspect, even in languages, we must have diversity but individuals must learn to love what they know and treasure it to be able to provide something for the new generations to come. 

 

Here's a shocker, just read a magazine, or was it even a magazine? LoL. I think that was a photo excerpt from a newspaper. Yes, endangered species are being helped by environmentalist and NGOs efforts for a much better chances of survival, but what about the very truth of preserving the languages of our dwindling aboriginal and tribal communities? Very very rare you would see groups or individuals who aim in preserving this. Languages for me is a mirror of ones culture. In this article, Kapampangan and Pangasinense are few of the dying dialects here in the Philippines. Let's help them :)

 

For travelers and beginners here are the common phrases that you may use with your interactions with a native Kapampangan speaker. But for those who want to practice their skill and accent you may try singing a modern Kapampangan pop song entitled 'You made it, abe" by 1DELACREW here.

 

SOME COMMON PHRASES AND SENTENCES:

• Kumusta na ka? – How are you?
• Masalese ku pu. – I'm fine.
• Mayap ku pu. – I'm good.
• Nanung lagyu mu? – What is your name?
• Malagu ka talaga! – You are really beautiful.
• Kasanting mo! – You are so handsome!
• Wa – Yes
• Ali – No
• Ume ka keni – Come here.
• Bisa kung maglolo keka. – "I want to court you."
• Tabalu keka- literally "I don't know with you." (expression)
• Eku balu.- I don't know.
• Mako na ku. – I am going.
• Mangan ta na, mangan tamu. – Let us eat now, let us eat.
• Kanyaman na ning lutu mo! – You're cooking is good!
• Gusto mo nito?- bisa ka?
• Ewan ko sa iyo- tabalu keka!
• Ang sarap! (or your generic expression when you taste something na masarap po. - kanyaman!
• Ganda ko anoh?- kalagu ko ne?
• Gwapo ako.- pogi ku.

• Magandang umaga- mayap a abak
• Magandang tanghali- mayap a ugtu
• Magandang gabi- mayap a bengi
• Maganda- malagu
• Pogi- masanting
• Mahal kita- kaluguran daka
• Ano? - nanu?
• Ikaw - ika
• Doon - keta
• Masarap - manyaman
• Kasama - kayabe
• Mabait - maganaka
• Masama - marok
• Sex- karat

Mangan - verb, to eat (kain)
Mengan - verb, have eaten (kumain)
Mamangan -  verb, will eat (kakain)
pamangan - noun, pagkain (meal)

Tagalog: kumakain (present), kakain (future), kumain (past)
Kapampangan: mangan (present), mamangan (future), mengan (past)
Waray-Waray: nakaon (present), makaon (future), kinaon (past)
Cebuano: nagkaon (present), mokaon (future), nikaon (past)

Grammar and Sentence Construction

NOUNS:
Trivia: Every Kapampangan nouns used in a sentence are most of the time preceded by case markers.

*Noun markers are divided into two classes: one for names of people (personal) and the second for everything else (common). Personal classes usually ends with -ing, common classes has no -ing ending.
*Case markers have three types of case markers: absolutive (nominative), ergative (genitive), and oblique.

	Absolutive (Nominative)	Ergative (Genitive)	Oblique
Common singular	ing	-ng / ning	king
Common plural	ding / ring	ring	karing
Personal singular	i	-ng	kang
Personal plural	di / ri	ri	kari

Examples:

• Dinatang ya ing lalaki. Dumating ang lalake. ("The man arrived.")
• Ikit neng Juan y Maria.  Nakita ni Juan si Maria. ("John saw Mary.")
• Munta la di Elena ampon i Robertu king bale nang Miguel.   Pupunta sina Elena at Roberto sa bahay ni Miguel. ("Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house.")
• Nukarin la ring libru? Nasaan ang mga libro? ("Where are the books?")
• Ibie ke ing susi kang Carmen.
Ibibigay ko ang susi kay Carmen. (I will give the key to Carmen.)

PRONOUNS:
Kapampangan pronouns are categorized by case: absolutive, ergative, and oblique.

	Absolutive (Independent)	Absolutive (Enclitic)	Ergative	Oblique
1st person singular	yaku, aku	ku	ku	kanaku, kaku
2nd person singular	ika	ka	mu	keka
3rd person singular	iya, ya	ya	na	keya, kaya
1st person dual	ikata	kata, ta	ta	kekata
1st person plural inclusive	ikatamu, itamu	katamu, tamu	tamu, ta	kekatamu, kekata
1st person plural exclusive	ikami, ike	kami, ke	mi	kekami, keke
2nd person plural	ikayu, iko	kayu, ko	yu	kekayu, keko
3rd person plural	ila	la	da ra	karela

Examples

• Sinulat ku. "I wrote."
• Silatanan na ku. "(He or She) wrote me."
•  Ninu ing minaus keka? "Who called you?

1.) Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.
Ing bale ku. (Ang bahay ko.)
Ing kakung bale. (Ang aking bahay.)
"My house."

2.) The dual pronoun ikata refers to only the first and second persons.
3.) The inclusive pronoun ikatamu refers to the first and second persons. It may also refer to a third person(s).
4.) The exclusive pronoun ikamí refers to the first and third persons but excludes the second.
Ala tang nasi. "We (you and I) do not have rice." [the word "you" here maybe plural or singular]
Ala tamung nasi. "We (you and I and someone else) do not have rice." [this is the same as above; "tang" is only a shortcut of "tamung"]
Ala keng nasi. "We (someone else and I, but not you) do not have rice." [the third person maybe singular or plural, that is, "we" may refer to "He/She and I" or "They and I"]
5.) Furthermore, Kapampangan stands out among many Philippine languages in requiring the presence of the pronoun even if the noun it represents, or the grammatical antecedent, is present.
Dinatang ya i Erning. (not *dinatang i Erning) "Ernie arrived."
Mamasa la ri Maria at Juan./Mamasa la di Maria at Juan. (not *mamasa ri Maria at Juan/mamasa di Maria at Juan) "Maria and Juan are reading."
Silatanan na kang José. (not *silatanan kang José) "José wrote you."
As a comparison, it would be akin to saying *dumating siya si Erning, *bumabasa sila sina Maria at Juan and *sinulatan ka niya ni José in Tagalog.

Special forms

The pronouns ya and la have special forms when they are used in conjunction with the words ati (there is/are) and ala (there is/are not).

• Ati yu king Pampanga. (not *Ati ya king Pampanga)
  "He is in Pampanga."
• Ala lu ring doktor keni./Ala lu ding doktor keni. (not *ala la ring doktor keni/ala la ding doktor keni)
  The doctors are no longer here.

Pronoun combinations (Cebuano translation italicized.)

• Ikit da ka. Nakita kita. Nakit-an ta ka. "I saw you."
• Silatanan na ku. Sinulatan nya ako. Gisuwatan ko niya. "He wrote to me."
• However, the following constructions are incorrect: *ikit ka da and *silatanan ku na

Demonstrative Pronouns
Kapampangan's demonstrative pronouns are outlined in the chart below.
This particular system of demonstrative pronouns differs with other Philippine languages by having separate forms for the singular and plural.

	Absolutive		Ergative		Oblique		Locative		Existential
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Nearest to speaker (this, here)	ini	deni reni	nini	dareni	canini	careni	oyni	oreni	queni
Near speaker & addressee (this, here)	iti	deti reti	niti	dareti	caniti	careti	oyti	oreti	queti
Nearest addressee (that, there)	iyan	den ren	niyan	daren	canyan	caren	oyan	oren	quen
Remote (yon, yonder)	ita	deta reta	nita	dareta	canita	careta	oyta	oreta	queta

1.) The demonstrative pronouns ini and iti (as well as their respective forms) both mean "this" but each have distinct uses.
Iti usually refers to something abstract but may also refer to concrete nouns. For example, iting musika (this music), iti ing gagawan mi (this is what we do).
2.) Ini is always concrete and never abstract. For example ining libru (this book), ini ing asu nang Juan (this is Juan's dog).
3.) Furthermore, in their locative forms, keni is used when the person spoken to is not near the subject spoken of. Keti, on the other hand, when the person spoken to is near the subject spoken of. For example, two people in the same country will refer to their country as keti however, they will refer to their respective towns as keni. Both mean here.

• Nanu ini? "What's this?"
• Mangabanglu la rening sampaga./Mangabanglu la dening sampaga. "These flowers smell good."
• Ninu ing lalaking ita? "Who is that man/guy?"
• Me keni/munta ka keni. "Come here."
• Ati ku keti/atsu ku keni/atyu ku keni. "I am here."
• Mangan la keta. "They will eat there."
• Ninu ing anak a yan? "Who is that child?"
• Uyta/Oyta ya pala ing salamin mo/mu! "So that's where your glasses are!"
• E ku pa menakit makanyan/makanini. "I haven't seen one of these before"
• Manyaman la ren./Manyaman la den. Those are delicious.
• Ayni/Areni/Oreni la reng adwang regalo para keka. "Here are the two gifts for you."
• Buri daka! "I like You" 
• Kaluguran daka! " I Love You"
• Mangan Tana! "Let's Eat"
• Edaka buring mawala! "I don't want to lose you!"

VERBS:
Kapampangan verbs are morphologically complex and take on a variety of affixes reflecting focus, aspect, mode, and others. With conjugations, it's different from any other Western languages but if you are good in Tagalog verb conjugations like tatakbo, tinatakbo, tatakbuhin or naglaba, naglalaba, maglalaba; then you are in good hands because we will gonna be using Tagalog as our reference.

Ambiguities and Irregularities of Kapampangan verbs.
To illustrate this, let's take the rootword sulat (write) which exists in both Tagalog and Kapampangan.
For example:

• susulat means "is writing" (present tense) in Kapampangan but "will write" in Tagalog.
• sumulat means "will write" (future tense)  in Kapampangan but "wrote" in Tagalog. This form is also the infinitive in both languages.
• sinulat means "wrote" (past tense) in both languages. However in Kapampangan it's in the actor focus but object focus in Tagalog

 Kapampangan actor focus: Sinulat ning Aurelio Tolentino. (ning Aurelio Tolentino = actor of sinulat.)
Tagalog object focus: Sinulat ko siya kahapon. (Siya = object of sinulat)

1.) The object-focus suffix -an represents two types of focuses. However, the only difference between the two is that one of the conjugations preserves -an in the completed aspect while it is dropped in the other conjugation. Take the two verbs below:

bayaran (to pay someone): bayaran (will pay someone), babayaran (is paying someone), beyaran (paid someone)

bayaran (to pay for something): bayaran (will pay for something), babayaran (is paying for something), binayad (paid for something)

2.) There are a number of actor-focus verbs which do not use the infix -um- but are usually conjugated like other verbs that do. For example, gawa (to do), bulus (to immerse), terak (to dance), lukas (to take off), sindi (to smoke), saklu (to fetch), takbang (to step), tuki (to accompany), etc. are used instead of *gumawa, *bumulus, *tumerak, *lumukas, *sumindi, *sumaklu, *tumakbang, *tumuki,

3.) Many of the verbs mentioned in the previous paragraph undergo a change of their vowel rather than use the infix -in- (completed aspect). In the actor focus (i.e., -um- verbs), this happens only to verbs having the vowel /u/ in the first syllable. For example, the verb lukas (to take off) is conjugated lukas (will take off), lulukas (is taking off), and likas (took off) (rather than *linukas).

4.) This change of vowel also applies to certain object-focus verbs in the completed aspect. In addition to /u/ becoming /i/, /a/ becomes /e/ in certain cases. For example, dela (brought something) and not *dinala, semal (worked on something) and not *sinamal, and seli (bought) and not *sinali.

5.) Furthermore, there is no written distinction between the two mag- affixes in writing. Magsalita can either mean is speaking or will speak. There is an audible difference, however. [mɐɡsaliˈtaʔ] means "will speak" while [ˌmaːɡsaliˈtaʔ] means "is speaking".

Conjugation Chart
Well , I would rather not include the complete conjugation chart here because it is quite complicated. I'd rather tell you a brief summary of things to note for conjugations. These are just summary of what are the usual conjugations or verb endings that you should take note for each tenses.

	Infinitive & Contemplative	Progressive	Completed
Actor Focus	-um- / m- / mag-	mág- / má- / máN-	-in- / min- / me- / mig- /meg- / ne- /meN-
Object Focus	an / i-	i- / -an	-in-/ -i- / -e- / -an
Instrument Focus	ipaN-	páN-	piN-, peN
Reason Focus	ka-	ká-	ke-

ENCLITIC PARTICLES / EXPRESSIONAL PARTICLES:
1. ba: used optionally in yes-and-no questions and other types of questions.
2. agyaman, man: even, even if, even though.
3. nung: condition particle that expresses unexpected event; if.
4. kanu: reporting or hearsay particle that expresses that the information is second-hand; he said, she said, they said, it was said, allegedly, reportedly, supposedly.
5. din/rin: inclusive particle that adds something to what was said before; also, too.
6. iká: expresses hope, unrealized condition (with verb in completed aspected), used in conditional aspects.
7. itá: expresses uncertainty and unrealized idea; perhaps, probably, seems.
8. mu: limiting particle; only, just.
9. na and pa

• na: now, already, yet, anymore.
• pa: still, else.

10. namán: used in making contrasts and softens requests and emphasis.
11. nanu ita: expresses cause; because, because of.
12. pin: used in affirmations or emphasis and also softens imperatives; indeed.
13. palá: realization particle that expresses that the speaker has realized and/or suddenly remembered something.
14. pu/opu: politeness particle.

• Swerti kanu iti kanaku.  It was said that it is lucky to me.
• Edukadu ya rin ing nobyu mu. Your boyfriend is also educated.

EXISTENTIAL OR INDICATING PRESENCE / EXISTENCE: To express existence (there is/are) and possession (to have), the word atí is used.
Atí la namang konsyensya.
They also have conscience.


NEGATION OR EXPRESSING NEGATIVES:
There are two negation words: alí and alá.
Alí negates verbs and equations. It means no and/or not.
Alí ya seli.
He did not buy.
Alá is the opposite of atí.
Alá na mo kanung lugud.
They say that there is no more love.
But in several statements, e is used instead of "ali."
E ke seli.
I did not buy it.


INTERROGATIVE / QUESTION WORDS:

1.) Kumustá is used to inquire how something is (are). It is frequently used as a greeting meaning How are you? It is derived from the Spanish ¿cómo está?
Kumustá na ka? “How are you?”
Kumustá ya ing pasyenti? “How is the patient?”
2.) Nanu means what. > Nanu ya ing gagawan mu? “What are you doing?”
3.) Ninu means who. > Ninu la reng lalaki?/Ninu la deng lalaki? “Who are those men?”
Ninu i Jennifer? “Who is Jennifer?”
4.) Nukarin means where but is used to inquire about the location of an object and not used with verbs.
Nukarin ya ing drayber? “Where is the driver?”
Nukarin ya i Henry? “Where is Henry?”


NUMBERS:

Number	Kapampangan
1	Metung/Isa
2	Adua
3	Atlu
4	Apat
5	Lima
6	Anam
7	Pitu
8	Walu
9	Siyam
10	Apulu
11	Labing metung
12	Labing adua
13	Labing atlu
14	Labing apat
15	Labing lima
20	Adwang pulu
21	Adwang pulu't metung
22	Adwang pulu't adua
30	Atlung pulu
100	Hanggatus
200	Aduang dalan
1,000	Libu / Metung Libu / Metung a Libu
2,000	Aduang Libu
10,000	Lacsa
100,000	Gatus
200,000	Adwang Dalan Libu / Adwang Dalan A Libu
1,000,000	Milyun
2,000,000	Aduang Milyun (Modern)
1,000,000,000	Bilyun / Metung Bilyun / Metung a Bilyun (Modern)

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