Classical Cebuano Explained

Classical Cebuano
Familycolor:Austronesian
Nativename:Karaang Sinugboanon, Karaang Binisayâ
Region:present-day regions of Central Visayas and the northern coast of Mindanao
Ethnicity:Visayan
Era:16th-19th century, developed into Early Modern Cebuano around the late 19th century
Fam2:Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:Philippine
Fam4:Greater Central Philippine
States:Philippines
Isoexception:historical
Fam5:Central Philippine
Fam6:Bisayan
Script:Badlit (before 18th century)
Latin script
Fam7:Cebuan
Also Known As:Spanish-Era Cebuano

Classical Cebuano, or Spanish-Era Cebuano, (Cebuano: Karaang Sinugboanon, Karaang Binisayâ, Binisayâ sa Katuigan sa Katsilà; Badlit: pre-virama:, post-virama:) was a form of the Cebuano language spoken during the Spanish colonial era of the Philippines. It was the primary language spoken in Cebu, Bohol, and other parts of Visayas and Mindanao.

History

The earliest surviving record of Cebuano was from a wordlist collected by Antonio Pigafetta during the Magellan expedition in 1521. The wordlist contains about 160 Cebuano words (some of which are in Malay) written in an Italian-influenced orthography, which is considered problematic due to its inconsistent and unphonetic spelling system. The oldest reliable glimpse of Cebuano's grammar and vocabulary was from Domingo Ezguerra's Arte de la Lengua Bisaya de la Provincia de Leyte, a Waray grammar book written in 1663. The first dedicated grammar book for Cebuano, Francisco Encina's Arte de la Lengua Zebuana, was compiled in 1801 (40 years after his death).[1]

Phonology

The phonological system of Classical Cebuano was relatively minimal compared to Modern Cebuano, which has more phonological inventory due to the influence of foreign languages such as Spanish and English.

Vowels

The Classical Cebuano phonemic inventory consists of three vowel phonemes (/a/, /i/, /u/). Some dialects of Modern Cebuano, particularly those in Bohol, have retained a close back unrounded vowel /ɯ/,[2] which means it might have existed in Classical Cebuano, although unrecorded and possibly dialectal.

Height! scope="col"
FrontCentralBack
Closei, y /pronounced as /ink//u, o /pronounced as /ink//
Opena /pronounced as /ink//

Consonants

The Classical Cebuano phonemic inventory consisted of 15 consonant phonemes (in which /d/ and /r/ were treated as a single phoneme). The consonant /r/ was pronounced only when the phoneme /d/ was situated between two vowels. The natives described the final -d as a medial sound between /r/ and /d/.

Labial! colspan="2" scope="col"
DentalPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalm /pronounced as /ink//n /pronounced as /ink//ng̃ /pronounced as /ink//
Stopp /pronounced as /ink//b /pronounced as /ink//t /pronounced as /ink//d, r /pronounced as /ink//k /pronounced as /ink//g /pronounced as /ink//` /pronounced as /ink//
Fricatives /pronounced as /ink//h /pronounced as /ink//
Approximantl /pronounced as /ink//y /pronounced as /ink//u /pronounced as /ink//
Rhoticd, r /pronounced as /ink/~pronounced as /ink//

Grammar

See also: Cebuano grammar.

Case Markers

Classical Cebuano possessed separate plural personal case markers (sa, na, and ka), which are not retained in any dialect of Modern Cebuano.

Classical Cebuano Case Markers[3] !!!Direct!Indirect!Oblique
GeneralDefiniteang, aksa
Indefiniteing, iug, ak
PersonalSingularsinikan
Pluralsana(sa)ka

Pronouns

Classical Cebuano underwent morphological changes throughout the Spanish period. One of the most notable was the change from *s(i)- to *k(i)- as the direct case-marking prefix for Cebuano demonstrative (e.g. siní -> kiní) and interrogative (e.g. sinsa -> kinsa) pronouns. Classical Cebuano, especially the one spoken in Bohol, still had plural case markers sa, na, and ka, which are already obsolete in Modern Cebuano. These were also used to form plural demonstratives, which are considered rare among Philippine languages.[4]

Personal Pronouns

Person! colspan="2" rowspan="2"
Number and ClusivityDirectIndirectOblique
IndependentEncliticIndependentPostposedEncliticDefaultSuppletive
FirstSingularakóakònakòko, ta*kan-akòsa akò
PluralInclusivekitáatònatòtakan-atòsa atò
Exclusivekamíamònamòkan-amòsa amò
SecondSingularikáwkaimonimomokan-imosa imo
Pluralkamóinyoninyokan-inyosa inyo
ThirdSingularsiyá iyaniyanakan-iyasa iya
Pluralsilá ilanilakan-ilasa ila

Demonstratives

! colspan="2"
DirectIndirectOblique
CebuBoholCebuBoholCebuBohol
ProximalSingularkadísiadiniadikan-adi
Pluralsaadinaadikaadi
MedioproximalSingularkinísiininiinikan-ini
Pluralsaininainikaini
MedialSingularkanâ, kitósianà, siitonianà, niitokan-anà, kan-ito
Pluralsaanà, saitonaanà, naitokaanà, kaito
DistalSingularkadtosiadtoniadtokan-adto
Pluralsaadtonaadtokaadto

Interrogatives

! colspan="2"
Classical Cebuano (1663)Modern Cebuano
CebuBohol
WHATunsaunsa
OF/TO WHATsa unsasa unsa
WHO (DIR)Singularsinsa ~ kinsakinsa
Pluralsainsa
WHOSE (IND)Singularninsa ~ niinsani kinsa
Pluralnainsa
TO WHOM (OBL)Singularkansakaninsakang kinsa
Pluralkainsa
WHICH ang hainkasahain
OF/TO WHICHsa hainniasasa hain

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Lobel, Jason William . Philippine and North Bornean Languages: Issues in Description, Subgrouping, and Reconstruction . 2013 . ProQuest LLC . 978-1-303-31343-1 . 39–40 . en.
  2. Book: David (Ed.), Zorc . The Bisayan dialects of the Philippines: Subgrouping and reconstruction . 2015 . Pacific Linguistics . CRCL, CRCL, Pacific Linguistics And/Or The Author(S) . 978-0-85883-157-5 . en . 10.15144/pl-c44.
  3. Book: Encina, Francisco . Arte de la lengua zebuana . 1836 . Oliva . es.
  4. Book: Lobel, Jason William . Philippine and North Bornean Languages: Issues in Description, Subgrouping, and Reconstruction . 2013 . ProQuest LLC . 978-1-303-31343-1 . 50–53 . en.