The Karay-a language, or Kinaray-a (Karay-a + the infix -in-) (ISO: krj), is

an Austronesian regional language spoken by the Karay-a people, mainly in Antique in

the Philippines, Iloilo and other provinces on the island of Panay, as well as portions of
the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. It is one of the Bisayan languages, mainly along
with Aklanon/Malaynon, Capiznon and Hiligaynon. As of 2015, there is an estimated 1,200,000
speakers of Kinaray-a with almost half of them are from Antique and Iloilo provinces.

Kinaray-a is spoken mainly in Antique. It is also spoken in Iloilo province mainly in the

city of Passi, in the municipalities of Alimodian, San
Joaquin, Lambunao, Calinog, Leon, Miag-ao, Pavia, Badiangan, San Miguel, Guimbal, San
Enrique, Tigbauan, Igbaras, Leganes, Pototan, Bingawan, San
Rafael, Mina, Zarraga, Oton, Santa Barbara, Cabatuan, Janiuay, Maasin, New
Lucena, Dueñas, Dingle, and Tubungan, the south of Capiz such
as Tapaz, Jamindan, Dumalag, and Dumarao, and certain villages in Mindanao –
especially in the SOCCSKSARGEN region by citizens who trace their roots to Antique or
to Karay-a-speaking areas of inland Iloilo and Capiz (particularly the province of Sultan
Kudarat). Inhabitants of most towns across the latter areas speak Kinaray-a
while Hiligaynon is predominant around coastal areas particularly in Iloilo. It is also
spoken in Iloilo City by a minority and parts of Aklan province, as well as Guimaras.
Dialects[edit]
There has not been any actual linguistic study on the dialects of Kinaray-a. Speakers both of
Kinaray-a and Hiligaynon would however admit to hearing the differences in the ways by which
Kinaray-a speakers from different towns speak. Differences in vocabulary can also observed
between and among the dialects.
The differences and the degrees by which the dialects differ from each other depend largely on
the area's proximity to another different language-speaking area. Thus, in Antique, there are, on
the northern parts, varieties that are similar to Aklanon, the language of Aklan, its neighbor on
the north. On the south, in Iloilo towns on the other hand, the dialects closely resemble that of
the standard Kinaray-a spoken in San Jose de Buenavista, lowland Sibalom and Hamtic. A
distinct dialect of Kinaray-a is spoken in central Iloilo where a lot of Hiligaynon loanwords are
used and some Kinaray-a words are pronounced harder as in "rigya" or "ja" (here) of southern
Iloilo and San Jose de Buenavista area as compared to "giya" of Janiuay, Santa Barbara, and
nearby towns. Two highly accented dialects of Kinaray-a can be heard in Anini-y and Dao in
Antique and San Joaquin, Leon, and Tubungan in Iloilo.
Differences[edit]
Some dialects differ only on consonant preference like y vs h. e.g. bayi/bahi (girl) or l vs r e.g.
wala/wara. Some have distinct differences like sayëd/kadë (ugly) and rangga/gëba (defective).

Alphabet[3][edit]
With "/ə/" as a vowel and the vowels "/e/" and "/u/" introduced by influence of the Spanish
language, the following are the Kinaray-a letters in their suggested alphabetical order: Aa, Bb,
Kk, Dd, Ee, Gg, Hh, Ii, Ll, Mm, Nn, NG ng, Oo, Əə, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Ww, and Yy. The
suggested alphabetical order follows that of the Roman alphabet. Philippine indigenous scripts
presumably including Kinaray-a are syllabic. There is no record on the order of precedence of
the syllables. Even the Tagalog Baybayin that the Spaniards used in writing the first book
published in the Philippines, did not define the order of precedence of the syllabic script. It was
only when the alphabet was Romanized that the alphabetical order was established.
With the release of the Tagalist Ortograpíyang Pambansâ (National Orthography) in 2014 by
the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, the schwa sound in Karay-a and other Philippine languages
such as Mëranaw are to use the ë.
Vowels[edit]
The following are the Kinaray-a vowels: Aa, Ee, Əə (Ëë in the Tagalist orthography), Ii, Oo, and
Uu. As a rule, there are as many syllables as there are vowels. Except for the vowel Əə/Ëë, all
other vowels are pronounced like any Filipino vowel letters are pronounced.
Vowel letters when combined do not create a different vowel sound. Each vowel
indicates a separate syllable. There are as many vowels as there are syllables. It is a
common error to equate the vowel "i" with the consonant "y" and vice versa. For
example, the word "balunggay" is spelled by some as "balunggai" or "kambyo" as
"kambio". Also an error is equating "o" with "w" especially if it comes after letter "a".
"lanaw" becomes lanao or tuáw become tuao. On the other hand, letter "w" is equated
with letter "u" as in rweda written as rueda or pwede written as puede. They are
erroneous since they violate the basic rule that Kinaray-a vowels do not combine with
another vowel to form a new sound. Consonants[edit]
There are 15 consonants in the Kinaray-a language. They are Bb, Kk, Dd, Gg, Hh, Ll, Mm, Nn,
NG ng, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Ww, and Yy. They are pronounced the same way as in English but a little
bit lighter than their English equivalents. An exception is the letter "r" which is prevalent in
Kinaray-a. It is sounded by flicking the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth
and rolled a bit. Likewise the letters g, w, and y are also pronounced a bit harder as a terminal
letter of a word with a grave accent mark. Except for foreign loan words, the consonants c, f, j,
q, x, and z don’t appear in Kinaray-a words. If foreign words are without Kinaray-a equivalent,
they are either written as is, or written as pronounced using the Kinaray-a alphabet. A Kinaray-a
consonant does not transform itself into a vowel. It is not right to substitute letters "e" or "i", for
the consonant "y" nor to substitute the letters "o" or "u" for the consonant "w". It must be borne
in mind that there are as many syllables in a word as there are vowels. Transforming the
consonants "w" and "y" into a vowel creates an additional syllable.
letter "u" as in rweda written as rueda or pwede written as puede.
The vowels /e/ and /o/ are used mostly in non-Kinaray-a words. Both aforementioned sounds
from the same words in other (mostly non-Bisayan) Filipino languages are often pronounced
as /i/ and /u/, respectively. /u/ is sometimes interchanged with /ə/ where some speakers
say suba (river) while others say sëba.[needs IPA]
For example:

Vowel comparison of Kinaray-a, Hiligaynon

and Tagalog cognates

Kinaray-
English Hiligaynon Tagalog
a
mine akën akon akin

dark madëlëm madulom madilim

food pagkaën pagkaon pagkain

head ulu ulu ulo

ball bula bula bola

sapat,
animal sapat hayop
hayëp

pananim,
plant tanëm tanom
halaman

six anëm anom anim

Noun cognacy between Kinaray-a, Malay and Tagalog

Kinaray- English English English

Malay Tagalog
a meaning meaning meaning

ayam,
dog ayam / anjing chicken / dog manok / aso chicken / dog
ido

female, female, woman /

bayi, bahi wanita / bayi babae female, woman
woman baby

puson / stomach / navel,

bosong abdomen pusar / pusat navel / central
pusod core
kutî cat kucing cat kuting kitten

umpan / kumpay / fodder / pasture,

damog fodder fodder / pasture
(pa)dang damo grass

demon / demonyo /
yawâ demon setan / awa demon / pity
accusation awa

makəl mushroom jamur mushroom kabuti mushroom

to scrape
kahig foot kaki foot paa
(ground)

Pronouns[edit]

Absolutive Absolutive₂ Ergative₁

Ergative₂
  ₁ (non- (postposed Oblique
(preposed)
(emphatic) emphatic) )

1st person singular ako takën nakën, ko akën kanakën

2nd person singular ikaw, kaw timo nimo, mo imo kanimo

kanana,
3rd person singular - tana nana, na ana
kana

1st person plural

kita tatën natën, ta atën kanatën
inclusive

1st person plural

kami tamën namën amën kanamën
exclusive

2nd person plural kamo tinyo ninyo, nyo inyo kaninyo

3rd person plural sanda tanda nanda anda kananda

Numbers[edit]

Numbe Kinaray- Tagalo

Malay
r a g

isara/sar
1 satu isa
a

2 darwa dua dalawa

3 tatlo tiga tatlo

4 apat empat apat

5 lima lima lima

6 anëm enam anim

7 pito tujuh pito

8 walo lapan walo

sembila
9 siyam siyam
n

(se)pulu
10 pulû sampu
h

Common expressions[edit]
Saying "Diin kaw maagto?" (Literally, Where are you going?) is common way to greet people.
You don't need to answer the question directly. The usual answer is an action like "Maninda."
(Literally, To buy something on the market.) instead of "Sa tinda." (Literally, To the market.)

 Are you eating well? - Mayad man pangaën mo?

 Good. - Mayad.
 How are you feeling? - Musta bay pamatyagan mo? or: Ano bay pamatyag mo? (What
do you feel?)
 I don't know. - Wara takën kamaan./ Waay takën kamaan (Or simply: Maan a./ Ambay
a./ Ilam a. -informal, usually an annoyed expression)
 Let's go! - Panaw/Halin ta rën!/Dali rën! (usually for hurrying up companions)
 Come together. - Iririmaw kita./ imaw kita./ Iribhanay kita./ Iririmaw tatən
 Why? - Manhaw/Wanhaw? (or: Andët haw/aw?)/ Insa haw?/ Insaw?(informal)
 I love you. -Ginagugma ta (i)kaw./ palangga ta (i)kaw.
 My love/sweetheart. -Palangga ko.
 What is your name? - Ano ngaran mo?
 Good morning! - Mayad nga aga!
 Good afternoon! - Mayad nga hapon!
 Good evening! - Mayad nga gabiʔi!
 That one. - Amo kara. (Or simply: Ra/Ra ay.)(or: Amo ran)/ Amo ka di-a.
 How much? - Tag pira?
 Yes. - hə-əd.(Ho-ud)/ (h)ə-əd
 No. - Bukut./Bëkët.(Bëkën)/Indi
 Because. - Bangëd.
 Because of you. - Bangëd kanimo or Tëngëd kanimo.
 About you. - Nahanungëd kanimo or Parti kanimo.
 You know. - Man-an mo. (or: Man-an mo man.)
 Hurry! - Dasiga!(lit. Fast!) or Dali-a! (lit. Hurry!)
 Again. - Liwan/Liwat/Riwan/Liwan. (or: Uman (Again) / Umana (Command to repeat).)
 Do you speak English? - Kamaan kaw maghambal kang Inglis? or Kama-an kaw mag-
Inglis?
 It is fun to live. - Sadya mabuhi/Sadya ang mabuhi.