Bikol phrasebook

Pronunciation guide

Accent marks Diacritics (tandang panduon) are normally not written in everyday usage, be it in publications or personal correspondence. The teaching of diacritics is inconsistent in Philippine schools and many Bicolanos do not know how to use them. However, diacritics are normally used in dictionaries and in textbooks aimed at teaching the language to foreigners. There are three kinds of diacritics used in Bikol:

Acute accent or pahilíg Used to indicate primary or secondary stress on a particular syllable; marháy. It is usually omitted on words that are stressed on the penultimate (second to the last) syllable; babáyi = babayi. It is possible that there is more than one stressed syllable in a word, meaning that that pahilíg mark may appear multiple times, as in Repúbliká. If there is no diacritic on the last two syllables of a word, then it means that there is stress on the penultimate syllable.

Grave accent or paiwà It indicates that there is a glottal stop (/ʔ/) at the end of the word. This mark may only appear at the end of a word that ends in a vowel. This mark does not indicate stress. Therefore, following the previously stated rule on stress, sampulò is stressed on the second to the last syllable.

Circumflex accent or pakupyâ It indicates that the final syllable of a word receives stress while there is a glottal stop that follows; udô. This is because it is a combination of the pahilíg and paiwà marks. This mark may only appear at the end of a word that ends in a vowel.

Stress Although Bikol is pronounced as it is spelled, stress is very unpredictable and stressing the wrong syllable can lead to misinterpretation; for that reason, almost every book and dictionary concerning the Bikol language will put an accent mark (´) on the stressed syllable.

Vowels In Bikol, vowels are pronounced like in Spanish. Note that two consecutive vowels are pronounced separately.

a open central unrounded vowel IPA [a]; like the a in far e close-mid front unrounded vowel IPA [e]; like the e in hen i close front unrounded vowel IPA [i]; like the ee in see o closed-mid back rounded vowel IPA [o]; like the o in order u close back rounded vowel IPA [u]; like the oo in s

Grammar

Personal pronouns Inclusivity Note that Bikol has two words which are equivalent to the English word we. If you intend to include the person or people you are talking to, the word to use is kita. If the subject does not include your listener(s), then the correct word would be kami.

Negation Use dai to mean no and bakô to mean not. "Daing gayon" means no beauty and "bakong magayon" means not beautiful. Some nouns connot be combined with dai. Never say daing lumoy, instead say, bakong malumoy. Bako can also be used for nouns. Example: Bako ining sabon. (This is not a soap)

Singular and plural verbs Note To form the plural verbs in Bikol, the syllables "ra","ri", "ro", and/or "ru", were added at the middle of the root word depending on the first syllable it follows.

The child is playing. Nagkakawat an aki. The children are playing. Nagkakarawat an mga aki. The man is sitting. Nagtutukaw an lalaki. The men are sitting. Nagtuturukaw an mga lalaki. The dog is barking. Nagbabatok an ayam. The dogs are barking. Nagbabaratok an mga ayam. He/She bought an ice cream. Nagbakal siya nin ice cream. They bought ice cream. Nagbarakal sinda nin ice cream. He is praying. Nagpapangadyî siya. They are praying. Nagpapangaradyî sinda. The book was borrowed. Sinublî si libro. The books were borrowed. Sinurublî si mga libro. S/he will come with me tomorrow. Maiba siya sakuyà sa aga. They will come with me tomorrow. Mairiba sinda sakuyà sa aga. He bathed in the sea. Nagkarigos siya sa dagat. They bathed in the sea. Nagkararigos sinda sa dagat.

Singular and plural adjectives Note: In Bikol plural adjectives are made by adding the syllables "ra", "ri", "ro", and "ru" after the first syllable. However, there is an exception. The plural of "magayón", is "magagayon" and "mabuot" is "mabubuot".

A small stone. Sarong sadit na gapô. Four small stones. Apat na saradit na gapô. A dry shorts. Sarong marang sarwal. Two dry shorts. Duwang mararang sarwal. A short bamboo split. Sarong halìpot na salsag. Seven short bamboo splits. Pitong haralìpot na salsag. A long bamboo split. Sarong halabang salsag. Four long bamboo splits. Apat na haralabang salsag.

Spatio-temporal dimensions Th

Phrase list

This article concentrates on the most common variety spoken in Naga and Legazpi. Accents are not normally used in written Bikol.

Basics

Hello. Kumusta. (koo-mooss-TAH) How are you? Kumusta ka? (koo-mooss-TAH kah?) Tara. (Bikol - Naga, informal) (tah-RAH) Nom. (Bikol - Legazpi, informal) (nawm) Nem. (Bikol - Legazpi, informal) (nehm) It sometimes follows the phrase ano na, (ah-NAW nah) in which together literally translates as what's up?. Fine, thank you. Marhay man, salamat. (mahr-HIGH man, sah-LAH-maht) What is your name? Ano an pangaran mo? (ah-NAW ahn pah-NGAH-rahn maw?) My name is ____. Ako si ____. (ah-KAW see ____.) Nice to meet you. Kaugmahan ko na mamidbidan ka. (one person) (kah-oog-MAH-hahn kaw nah mah-meed-BEE-dahn kah) Kaugmahan ko na mamidbidan kamo. (two or more person) (kah-oog-MAH-hahn kaw nah mah-meed-BEE-dahn kah-MAW) Please. Tabì. (TAH-bee') Thank you. Dios mabalos. (JAWSS MAH-bah-lawss) Salamat na marhay (sah-LAH-maht nah mahr-HIGH) You're welcome. Daing ano man. (dah-EENG ah-NAW mahn) Yes. Iyo. (ee-YAW) No. Dai. (dah-EE ) Excuse me. (getting attention) Madalî saná. (mah-dah-LEE' sah-NAH) Excuse me. (May I pass through?) Makiagi. (mah-kee-AH-gee) I'm sorry. Pasensiya na. (pah-SEHN-shah nah) Goodbye (formal) Paaram. (pah-AH-rahm) Goodbye (informal) Madigdi na ako. (MAH-deeg-dee nah ah-KAW) Maduman na ako. (MAH-doo-mahn nah ah-KAW) I can't speak Bikol well. Dai ako tatao mag-Bikol nin marhay. (dah-EE ah-KAW tah-tah-AW mahg-BEE-kawll neen mahr-HIGH) Do you speak English? Tatao ka mag-Ingles? (tah-tah-AW kah mahg-eeng-GLEHSS) Good day Marhay na aldaw. (mahr-HIGH nah ahll-DOW) Good morning Marhay na aga. (mahr-HIGH nah AH-gah) Good afternoon Marhay na hapon. (mahr-HIGH nah HAH-pawn) Good evening Marhay na banggí. (mahr-HIGH nah bahng-GEE) To you all. (said after saying "good morning", etc. but optional)

Some speakers prefer "saindong gabos" while others prefer "saindo gabos" without -ng. I don't understand Dai ko nasasabotan. (dah-EE kaw nah-sah-sah-BAW-tahn)

Problems Leave me alone! Pabayaan mo ako! (pah-bah-YAH-ahn maw ah-KAW) Don't touch me! Dai mo ako pagdutaan! (dah-EE moh ah-KAW pahg-doo-tah-AHN) (Bikol - Naga) Dai mo ako pagduotan!