How to Write Cuyonon 

HOW TO WRITE CUYONON

© Ester TImbancaya Elphick and Virginia Howard Sohn

July 15, 2008

Dear Cuyonon speaker and writer - The sounds in the Cuyonon language can for the
most part be written quite simply, and (in contrast to the English language!) in ways that
are easy to read. Here is a start at describing this system. We recognize that there will
be areas we have not addressed, and so we solicit your questions and comments.

Remember that we are writing our own language Cuyonon, not Tagalog, or English, or
Hiligaynon, or Spanish. So we must think in terms of the Cuyonon language itself, and
not utilize patterns we have seen in other languages unless they fit the structure and
sound system of Cuyonon.

THE ALPHABET - The Cuyonon alphabet has 20 letters: a, b, d, e, g, h, i, k, l,

m, n, ng, o, p, r, s, t, w, y and ' (glottal stop written as an
apostrophe). Please note that ng is a single sound.

Consonants - Here are the 16 consonants, with examples.

b– baboy, babai, boawi, lobiok, koyab, boi

d- doto, kadkad, doadoa, Dios, dadi

g- gosto, dagat, goapo, bagiaw, libag

h- irihis, kahil, bihon, sotanghon

k- kawayan, bakawan, koago, bakia, apok

l- lalaki, balay, loaw-loaw, lieg, kodal

m- maslit, aromasit, malam, amianan, ilam

n- nana, ana, nanay, noibi, ponios, dan

ng - ngirit, boringisen, bong (remember, ng is one sound and

equals one consonant)

p- paray, apat, teptep, poas, mapiet, akep

r- rabotrabot, rokrok, tanggar, riabriab, barot, piar

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s- sarok, boslit, ta’bas, soay, siansi, poas

t- todlo, litson, litsi, toak, tian, paret, toad

w- wayway, bo’wa, kawil, karabaw

y- yaya, ayamo, patay

' (glottal stop – see notes below) – be’ras, be’na, te’me

Vowels - Here are the 4 vowels, with examples

a- mal, abaga

e- beken, em, petpet, beleg, e'en

i- sit, bitbit, siki

o- kotkot, onod, bok, oto

Vowel clusters - There are also clusters of vowels - that is, two vowels found
together.

aa - (this is only found in affixed forms—affix is defined later) -

nagaadal

ae - kaen, baeg, bael, laem

ai - babai, bait

ao - laod, bao, daon, kaoy, baog

ea - (only in affixed forms) - karakean, te'mea

ia - siak, biak, bagiaw, liaibi

ie - piet, lieg

io - tio, limpio, liolio

oa - boat, loa, boawi

oi - dispois, noibi, koilio, doindi

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When a root word starting with a vowel, for example, ayad, is given
a prefix ending in the same vowel, such as ma-, ka-, pa-, the first
and second vowels are written as in maayad, kaayadan, paayaden,
and in many other words as in kaapon, (yesterday, as opposed to
kapon, which is capon in English, referring to a castrated rooster).
In speech, the two identical vowels (aa) are pronounced as one
long vowel.

_____________________________________________________________

NOTES

What is a word? - As in all languages, we find in Cuyonon action words (verbs),

object and instrument words (nouns), actor words (nouns, pronouns,),
descriptives (adjectives, adverbs), etc. Verbs tend to be made up of root words
(for example, balik) and affixes that precede the verb (prefixes), follow the verb
(suffixes), or are inserted within it (infixes). For example, nagabalik has the prefix
naga-; balikan has the suffix –an; and baralik has the infix –ar-. Many nouns are
made up the same way. For example, pagbaraliken has the prefix pag-, the infix
–ar-, and the suffix –en. The affixes are always attached to the root word, not
written separately.

Sometimes, too, the root is reduplicated, as in nagabalik-balik.

How do I know which to use – an O or a W? an I or a Y? The choice

between O and W, and between I and Y, depends on where they occur in a word.
W and Y are called semi-vowels, because sometimes they serve as
consonants: (e.g., wala, to the left, left-handed; yaya, nanny).

Moreover, at the “edges” of syllables these sounds also act like consonants and
are therefore spelled with W and Y – e.g., karabaw, bakaw, tatay, engey,

In the middle of syllables the sounds are vowels and are therefore spelled with O
and I – e.g., rokrok, bitbit.

There are also many Cuyonon words in which the O or I sound follows a
consonant, and is then followed by another vowel. In these cases they are
neither on the “edges” of syllables nor are they in the middle. These are called
“off-glides” because they “slide” off the first consonant, and they are spelled with
O (as in boi, boin) and with I (as in sipilio, siansi). To understand why O and I
should be used in these situations, form the future of the verbs boat and siak:
you will see that Cuyonons duplicate the first consonant and the first vowel and

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boat becomes boboaten, and siak becomes sisiaken. If we were to use the W or
Y, the future forms would be bwabwaten and syasyaken, which are not Cuyonon
words.

Glottal stop (') This is a catch in the throat common in Cuyonon speech,
causing a short break in the flow of speech. Cuyonon speakers are often
unaware of the glottal stop but they must become aware if they want to write their
language accurately. It can appear in the beginning of words that start with a
vowel, in the middle of words, and at the end of words after a vowel or a
combination of vowels. When the glottal stop is indicated by a written symbol,
that symbol is the apostrophe (‘).

In isolation (that is, not in a phrase or sentence), the glottal stop before the initial
vowel is pronounced, but in the middle of a phrase it often is not. For example,
the initial glottal stop is pronounced if the word ambeng is used alone, but in the
phrase ang ambeng digi sa balay the glottal is frequently dropped. Therefore,
the initial glottal stop is not written.

In the middle of words, the glottal stop usually occurs after a vowel and before a
consonant or another vowel. For example, be'ras, e’en. Sometimes the glottal
stop substitutes for t in the middle of a word or phrase. For instance, itlog
becomes i'log, betken becomes be’ken. In this in-between position the glottal
stop must be written; e.g., te’me, kira’bot.

At the end of words, glottal stops frequently occur; e.g., bai’, great-grandmother.
Note, however, that when the ligature ng is added to such words, as in the
phrase baing Maria, the glottal stop disappears. It also disappears in the first half
of a reduplication, as when bata’, child becomes bata-bata’, doll.

Thus, as with glottal stops at the beginning of words, glottal stops at the end of
words appear and disappear. Therefore we do not write glottal stops at the
end of words. (However, for purposes of illustration we have written such stops
in the previous and following paragraphs.)

Note, too, that Y and W never precede a final glottal stop but are replaced by I
and O respectively. If, however, there is no final glottal stop, W and Y are used.
Thus, sipilio’, bao’, baw, bariawbariaw; babai’, boi’, engey, Nanay. (Remember
that these glottal stops would not normally be written.)

However, there is another important use of the glottal stop which must be
discussed separately, as follows.

Glottal stop (') in the i’ ang construction. It is hard to explain this without
getting into the grammar of Cuyonon a bit, but to simplify what we mean here, we
are referring to the combination – i' ang. This is roughly the equivalent of ng in
Tagalog, but unlike ng it appears in different forms.

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As a speaker of Cuyonon you will observe that there are three variations of this
construction:

1) To indicate the agent of an action when the agent is not in focus. Ingbabakal i’
ang bata ang sapatos. (Ang sapatos is in focus and i’ ang bata is not.)

2) To indicate the object of an action when the object is not in focus. Here, i'
appears without ang. Nagbakal ang malam i’ sapatos. (i’ sapatos is not in
focus.)

3) To indicate possession. Ang balay i’ ang manggaden mabael.

Sometimes i’ ang is contracted. The i is dropped and the glottal stop is saved
and attached to the following ang, which is written as ‘ang; for example, when
indicating possession. Ang pangamoyo 'ang Gino'. (Note that we might have
said, ang pangamoyo i' ang Gino': the i was left out, but the glottal stop is
retained.)

The ang is also absent in certain circumstances. We have already noted this
above, for example, in reference to an object not in focus. The ang is also
absent before an infinitive or gerund (that is, a verb used as a noun); for
example, Ang manga tao agimpisa ren i' karaen, or Akatapos sanda ren i’
saraot.

In summary, this combination of particles is spelled i' ang. While in some

circumstances i or ang is absent, the glottal stop is never dropped and must be
written as an apostrophe.

Manga - this word should be spelled out (not spelled mga as in Tagalog.

Writing verb tenses

Root beginning with consonant Root beginning with vowel

Infinitive – magbakal magadal

Completed - nagbakal or agbakal nagadal or agadal
Continuous - nagabakal or agabakal nagaadal or agaadal
Anticipated - magabakal or mabakal magaadal or maadal

Words with final vowels - Many Cuyonon words end in a vowel followed by a
glottal stop, such as: bata', ara', tio'. We don’t write the glottal stop.

Some words, however, end in vowels in both spoken and written form. Here are

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some examples:

Question words - kano, inoro, ano, samaoro, marasano, sino

Demonstratives - digi, didi, daya, doto, dotia, dia, dato, etc.
Conjunctions - aimoro, piro
Links - ka, (apat ka. . . ), ra
Pronouns - ako, tana, kita, sanda, kami, ko, mo, na, kanimo, kanana, etc.
Markers - sa, ni, si
Prepositions - sa
Possessives - ana, imo, indo, anda

Words borrowed from other languages – Paragua, radio, goapo, noibi

Other words - o, doro, kono, dadi

Proper names - These tend to retain their Spanish or English spelling, including
the Spanish and English pronunciation of the letter e which in Cuyonon, of
course, has a different sound. Examples:

Angel, Felipe, Carmen, Padilla, Peter, Maria, De la Torre, Gomez, Smith

Miscellaneous forms

Various constructions - Sometimes it is hard to know whether a construction is

one word, two words or three words. The following are examples:

1. Ka as a link - following a two-syllable word, such as apat, the ka will

stand alone. The word saka is a contraction of isara ka, and should be spelled
as one word.

apat ka tao
saka tao
saka bilog
sitinta ka manga mimbro
sampolo mi darwa ka manga bata

2. Ka as an intensifier. This is written as a separate word.

dorong ka tinlo
ang ka postora

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3. Ka- as a prefix in combination with the –an suffix must be written as one
word.

katinloan
kabaelan

4. Mara-: We attach this to the following root.

marasano
maratingway

5. Ni or i should be written as they are spoken. The ni or i is written

separately.
ang istoria ni lola
ang istoria i lola

6. Taga: separate the word taga from the following word, except when it
is part of the name of something:

taga digi taga bokid

taga o'bong taga Canipo
tagalongon - crab (one word)

7. Masig-: this is a prefix, as follows:

masigkatao
masigkakristiano
masigkaen

8. Manig-: this should be attached:

manigobra
manigpangisda

9. Tag-: attach tag- to the following word, unless followed by a modifier:

tagmamaintek tag saka sintabos

tagororan tag saka bilog
tagpapantek
tagbalay

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10. Pari-, para-: reflexive prefixes (something one does to or for oneself)
must be attached to the verb

parimokos
parigos
paribanaw
paramos

11. Months, days of the week: there are no native words but these
Spanish loan words must be written according to Cuyonon pronunciation.

Iniro Lonis
Pibriro Martis
Marso Mirkolis
Abril Hoibis
Mayo Birnis
Honio Sabado
Holio Dominggo
Agosto
Siptimbri
Oktobri
Nobimbri
Disimbri

12. Numbers (Spanish loan words in Cuyonon spelling)

ono onsi
dos dosi
tris trisi
koatro katorsi
singko kinsi
sais disisais
syiti ` disisyiti
otso disiotso
noibi disinoibi
dyis bainti

trainta traintay ono

koarinta koarintay ono
singkointa singkointay ono
sisinta sisintay ono
sitinta sitintay ono
otsinta otsintay ono
nobinta nobintay ono

sinto dos syintos

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mil milion

13. Numbers (Cuyonon)

isara
darwa
tatlo
apat
lima
anem
pito
walo
siam
sampolo
sampolo ig isara
sampolo ig darwa
sampolo ig tatlo
sampolo ig apat
sampolo ig lima
sampolo ig anem
sampolo ig pito
sampolo ig walo
sampolo ig siam
darwampolo
darwampolo ig isara
tatlompolo
tatlompolo ig isara
apat nga/ka polo
apat nga/ka polo ig isara
limampolo
limampolo ig isara
anem ka polo
anem ka polo ig isara
pitompolo
pitompolo ig isara
walompolo
walompolo ig isara
siam ka polo
siam ka polo ig isara
sanggatos
sanggatos ig/mi isara
darwa ka gatos
tatlo ka gatos
apat ka gatos
lima ka gatos
anem ka gatos

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How to Write Cuyonon 

pito ka gatos
walo ka gatos
siam ka gatos
saka ribo
saka ribo ig/mi isara
milion
saka milion

(Note: ig, mi, and asta all mean “and” and can all be used in numbers.)

14. Duplication: when to use a hyphen or no hyphen

When an unduplicated syllable or syllables can stand alone as a word, then a

hyphen is used in the duplicated form

For example: panaw, to walk compared to panaw-panaw, to pace back

and forth; gorang, to sit, older, mature, compared to gorang-gorang, elders,
parents.

When the unduplicated syllable or syllables cannot stand alone as a word, the
duplicated from should not have a hyphen.

For example, bitbit, to carry something in one’s hand, because there is no

word bit; and bariawbariaw, a kind of seaweed, because there is no word bariaw.

If you have any questions, please address these to: Ester Timbancaya Elphick
at her email address: eelphick@wesleyan.edu, or write to her at:

Cuyonon Language & Culture Project, Inc.

12 Yellow Yellow Circle
Middletown, CT 06457
USA

July 15, 2008

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