1

A PEDAGOGIC GRAMMAR
FOR CEBUANO-VISAYAN
Dr. Angel O. Pesirla
VPAA, Cebu Normal University

Introduction: the Need for

Adequate and Powerful Linear Description
of Cebuano-Visayan

This academic paper is premised on the need for a Cebuano-Visayan pedagogic

grammar based on descriptively adequate and powerful linear description as a required
academic component in the General Education Curriculum for B.A. and B.S. programs per
CNU B.O.R. approval in 2000 of the CMO # 44, s. 1997 full implementation.
A pedagogic grammar presents the structural description of a language for teaching-
learning purposes. This includes basically the making of descriptive statements about the
target language to be learned through teaching in such a form that its structures (sound,
word, sentence) will be more readily learned (Corder, 1973).
This grammatical description must be observationally adequate (a measure of the
degree to which the statements of a description accord with the observed relevant facts), and
descriptively adequate (a measure of the degree to which it succeeds in corporating all the
facts which the goals of the description consider relevant). Furthermore, it must be more
economical or powerful in the degree to which it accounts for the same facts with a smaller
number of statements or rules, or alternatively, more facts with the same number of rules
(1973).
The adequate linguistic description of Cebuano-Visayan is basically anchored on its
natural linear structure as Malayo-Polynesian language belonging to the Austronesian family
of languages spoken throughout Southeast Asia across the Pacific and Indian Oceans toward
Continental Asia (http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Melayu), thus, closely, through phylogenetic
variation, relating to the linear linguistic characteristics of Bahasa Malay (Pesirla 2007).
The observationally adequate and powerful linear description of Cebuano-Visayan
concretizes the following comprehensive instructional components of its pedagogic
grammar:

A. Phonology-Orthography Correspondence: Sound-Letter System;

B. Morphology: Word System;
C. Syntax: Sentence System.

Each structural component reflects a corresponding “teaching implication” for the

applied linguist (teacher of language) to utilize in constructing learning tasks with a learning
text, focusing on the specific linguistic / grammatical unit.
Basically, the three instructional components delved into by this pedagogic grammar
of Cebuano-Visayan reflects these universal commonalities with its mother tongue (Bahasa
Malay):
 2
● A phonetic language, Cebuano-Visayan phonology needs to follow the
alphabetic phonetic spelling system (spelled as sounded) observing phoneme-
grapheme correspondence of three vowels and fifteen consonant sounds.
● An agglutinative language, Cebuano-Visayan morphology shares common
characteristics with Bahasa Malay where affixes and particles dictate meaning,
function, form class of words.
● The predicate construct in Cebuano-Visayan syntax, as in all Austronesian /
Malayo-Polynesian and Philippine languages, assumes the linear marker for its
basic unit of thought. Hence, Cebuano-Visayan sentences begin with the predicate
and end with the subject. Thus, Cebuano-Visayan sentences are introduced by
noun predicates, adjective predicates, adverb predicates, prepositional phrase
predicates, intransitive verb predicates, transitive verb predicates.

Hence, Cebuano-Visayan should be linguistically and pedagogically described as such

for accuracy and adequacy.

Phonology-Orthography Correspondence:
Sound-Letter System

A phonetic language, Cebuano-Visayan is spelled as sounded – each phoneme (vowel

as well as consonant) corresponds to a particular grapheme (letter of the alphabet), hence
the alphabetic spelling system is the most appropriate, observationally and descriptively
adequate powerful linear description of its orthography in correspondence to its phonology.
Cebuano-Visayan phonology contains only three vowel phonemes which are spelled as
such, as shown below.
Vowels Phonemes Graphemes Key Words
ILIS ilis DILI dili LIKIT likit
Front /i/ Ii
(change) (no) (roll)
BANA bana SAKSAK saksak ASA asa
Center /a/ Aa
(husband) (stab) (where)
ULU ulu SUKUD sukud TUKUD tukud
Back /u/ Uu
(head) (measure) (build)

Cebuano-Visayan has three dipthongs or vowel combinations: / a / + / u / / aw /;

/a/ + /i/ / ay /; / u / + / i / / uy / as reflected below.
Phonemes Graphemes Key Words
AYAW ayaw YAWYAW yawyaw KAGAW kagaw
/ aw / AW aw
(no) (mumble) (germ)
TATAY tatay PATAY patay KAMAY kamay
/ ay / AY ay
(father) (dead) (sugar)
KAHUY kahuy TUMUY tumuy LAHUY lahuy
/ uy / UY uy
(tree) (tip) (through)

Cebuano-Visayan also contains a semi-vowel phoneme, the glottal stop, after each of
the three vowels in both stressed and unstressed final positions. Because glottal stops are not
pure vowels, they do not have graphemic symbols (letters), thus they are marked as accents
over their preceding vowels ( ) in unstressed position and ( ^ ) in stressed position, as
follows.
Preceding Post-vocalic Glottal Stop in Post-vocalic Glottal Stop in
Vowels in final unstressed final position stressed final position
position Accent Marks Key Words Accent Mark Key Word
BAGÀ bagà BAGÂ bagâ
/a/ Àà Ââ
(lung) (thick)
DILÌ dilì PUTÎ putî
/i/ Ìì Îî (white)
(not)
 3

ATÙ atù MUBÛ mubû

/u/ Ùù Ûû
(our) (short)
A glottal stop in medial position is marked as a hyphen ( - ), either between two
vowels or between a consonant and a vowel, as exemplified below.
Glottal Stop Between Two Vowels Glottal Stop Between a Consonant and a Vowel
PA-A pa-a (thigh) SUD-AN sud-an (food)
TI-IL ti-il (foot) NAKIT-AN nakit-an (seen)
HA-IN ha-in (where) TIMAN-I timan-i (remember)
SU-UN su-un (imitate) DAD-A dad-a (bring)
LUY-A luy-a (ginger) PAG-ANTUS pag-antus (sacrifice)
SAD-AN sad-an (guilty)

Cebuano-Visayan has fifteen consonant morphemes which are written out using the
same consonant graphemes, as shown below.
Consonant Consonant
Key Words
Phonemes Graphemes
PAPA papa PAPAS papas PAPIL papil
/p/ Pp
(daddy) (erase) (paper)
TUTUK tutuk TADTAD tadtad TITIK titik
/t/ Tt
(stare) (chop) (letter)
KATKAT katkat KITKIT kitkit KAKÂ kakâ
/k/ Kk
(climb) (nibble) (spider)
BABUY babuy BABAYI babayi BATBAT batbat
/b/ Bb
(pig) (female) (discuss)
DAKDAK dakdak DUTDUT dutdut DAD-A dad-a
/d/ Dd
(thrown down) (push) (bring)
GANTI ganti GAMIT gamit GUGMA gugma
/g/ Gg
(prize) (use) (love)
MAMA mama TANUM tanum HUMAN human
/m/ Mm
(mommy) (plant) (finish)
NINDUT nindut ANDAM andam TANAN tanan
/n/ Nn
(nice) (ready) (all)
NGITNGIT ngitngit SINGGIT singgit IRING iring
/ ng / Ng ng
(dark) (shout) (cat)
LALUM lalum LALAKI lalaki LALIK lalik
/l / Ll
(deep) (male) (sculpt)
SARING saring BARAW baraw LARUT
/r/ Rr
(classroom) (knife) (pull out)
USISA usisa SAKSI saksi SUSU susu
/s/ Ss
(investigate) (witness) (breast)
HAYHAY hayhay HAKUT hakut HAPIT hapit
/h/ Hh
(hang) (gather) (almost)
WAL Â walâ HAWAN hawan WALU walu
/w/ Ww
(none) (empty) (eight)
YUGYUG yugyug YUTÀ yutà YAMUG yamug
/y/ Yy
(shake) (land) (mist)

The consonant digraph (two-letter combination) MG mg and the vowel grapheme Aa, when
combined, become MGA mga, sounded as /manga/, a particle to a noun indicating plurality.

BALAY balay MGA BALAY mga balay

(house) (houses)
TAWU tawu MGA TAWU mga tawu
(man) (men)
 4

Teaching Implication
◙ Text:
● Let the learners bring to class CLIPPINGS of Cebuano-Visayan editorials, feature articles
of their choices.
● Let the learners explain in Cebuano-Visayan the RATIONALE of their choices of TEXTS;
● Let the class interact with these choices in Cebuano-Visayan.
◙ Tasks:
● Let each learner read orally in good and correct Cebuano-Visayan pronunciation each
clipping / text chosen, sounding like a reporter / broadcaster.
● Let each learner (working specific chosen text) underline the misspelled Cebuano-
Visayan words based on the lessons on phoneme-grapheme correspondence
principles.
● Let each learner rewrite each chosen text using the standards set by the lessons on
Cebuano-Visayan phoneme-grapheme correspondence.

Morphology: Word System

The word structure of a language is made up of morphemes, the basic unit of form and
meaning. When the morpheme is meaningful by itself, it is a free morpheme (commonly
called root). When the morpheme can only be meaningful when attached to a free
morpheme, it is a bound morpheme (the prefix, suffix, infix-affixes). Cebuano-Visayan
morphemes are exemplified below.
Free Morphemes Bound Morphemes
Words
(Roots) (Affixes)
PINAKATAM-ISAN TAM-IS PINAKA – (prefix)
(sweetest) (Adj – sweet) – AN (suffix)
PAGMINAHALAY MAHAL PAG – (prefix)
(mutual loving) (V – love) – IN – (infix)
– AY (suffix)
MALINAWUN LINAW MA – (prefix)
(peaceful) (N – peace) – UN (suffix)
Free morphemes can be lexical when meaningful alone and grammatical when they
specify the relationship among lexical morphemes in a sentence. Lexical morphemes are parts
of speech that are called content words (N,V,ADJ,ADV) and grammatical morphemes are parts
of speech that are called function words (PRON, PREP, CONJ, INTJ).Cebuano-Visayan lexical
and grammatical free morphemes are exemplified as follows.
CONTENT WORDS (LEXICAL FREE MORPHEMES) Parts of Speech
DAGWAY BUKTUN BUHUK NOUN
(face) (arm) (hair) (NGALANPULUNG)
KATKAT SULAT BASA VERB
(climb) (write) (read) (PULUNGDIWÀ)
LAPAD PULA NIPIS TAMBUK ADJECTIVE
(wide) (red) (thin) (fat) (DAGWAYNGALAN)
KA-AYU KUSUG HINAY ADVERB
(very) (fast) (slow) (DAGWAYDIWÀ)
FUNCTION WORDS (GRAMMATICAL FREE MORPHEMES)
AKU IKAW SILA PRONOUN
(I) (you) (they) (HULIPNGALAN)
SA NI KANG PREPOSITION
(in / of / at) (of – person) (of –person) (BAHINPULUNG)
UG APAN HINU-UN CONJUNCTION
(and) (but) (however) (DUGTUNGPULUNG)
 5

HALA! HUY! UY! INTERJECTION

(Watch out!) (Hey!) (Oh!) (TUWAWPULUNG)

Bound morphemes are inflectional when they are affixed to free morphemes without
changing their parts of speech. In Cebuano-Visayan, bound morphemes are either attached
as affixes or detached as particles, as exemplified below.
Parts of Free Bound
Words Inflection
Speech Morphemes Morphemes
KINADAKU-AN DAKU KINA – Superlative Degree of
(biggest)
Adj. (big) – AN Comparison of Adjectives
NAGKA-UN KA-UN NAG – Simple Present tense
(eat)
Verb (eat) form of the verb
MIKA-UN Verb KA-UN MI –
NIKA-UN Verb KA-UN NI – Simple Past tense form of
NAKAKA-UN Verb KA-UN NAKA – the verb
(ate) (eat)
MUKA-UN Verb KA-UN MU –
MAGKA-UN Verb KA-UN MAG – Simple Future tense form
MAKAKA-UN Verb KA-UN MAKA – of the verb
(will eat) (eat)
NAKA-UN KA-UN NA - Passive Voice:
Verb (eat) Present tense of the Verb
GIKA-UN KA-UN GI – Passive Voice:
Verb (eat) Past tense of the verb
KA-UNUN Verb KA-UN – UN Passive Voice:
MAKA-UN Verb (eat) MA – Future tense of the verb
SULTI-I SULTI –I
(tell)
Verb PAMATI Imperative of the verb
PAMATI-A –A
(listen)
NANAGKA-UN KA-UN NANAG – Plurality of Doer:
Verb (eat) Paste tense
MANAGKA-UN KA-UN MANAG – Plurality Doer:
Verb (eat) Future tense
NANGHUGAS HUGAS NANG – Frequentive Action in
Verb (wash) the Past
MANGHUGAS HUGAS MANG – Frequentive Action in
Verb (wash) the Future

With C-V nouns, the inflectional bound morpheme of plurality MGA is detached as a
particle, as follows.

SINGULAR PLURAL
BATA bata MGA BATA mga bata
(child) (children)
BULAK bulak MGA BULAK mga bulak
(flower) (flowers)
TANUM tanum MGA TANUM mga tanum
(plant) (plants)

Bound morphemes that change the parts of speech of the content words when attached
to them are derivational. Cebuano-Visayan derivational bound morphemes are shown below.

Derivative Parts of Parts of Derivational Bound

Roots
Words Speech Speech Morphemes
 6

KAHILAKUN HILAK KA – – UN
Adj. Verb
(sad) (cry)
IKASULTI SULTI IKA –
Noun Verb
(statement) (say)
PASIDAD-AN DA-AN PASI –
Noun Adj.
(warning) (old)
KATARUNG TARUNG KA –
Noun Adj.
(righteousness) (right)
NAGSAPATOS Verb SAPATUS Noun NAG –
(wore shoes) (shoes)
MAGSANINA Verb SANINA Noun MAG –
(will dress up) (clothes)
MAKUYAWAN Verb KUYAW Adj. MA – – AN
(will be scared) (scary)
NAGMALIPAYUN Verb LIPAY Adj. NAGMA – – UN
(enjoying) (happy)
MAGMALIPAYUN Verb LIPAY Adj. MAGMA – – UN
(will enjoy) (happy)

Particles in Cebuano-Visayan are actually detached bound morphemes which are said as
separate words before the content words that they are grammatically linked as markers, as
shown below.

Content Words Content Words with Particle-markers Functions

NOUNS • Part. + Proper Nouns markers for person’s
SI RAMON names (no English
SILA NI RAMON UG JOSE equivalents)
SILA SI RAMON UG JOSE
KAMI NI RAMON UG JOSE
ADJECTIVE • Noun + Part. + Adj. Modifier markers for adjectival
BABAYI NGA MATAHUM modification (no
• Adj. Mod. + Part. + Noun English equivalents)
MATAHUM NGA BABAYI
OBJECTS OF VERBS • Verb + Part. + Object markers for objects of
MUKA-UN UG UTAN verbs (no English
MIPILI UG PALITUNUN equivalents)
ADVERBS • Verb + Part. + Adv. markers for adverbial
NIKANTA UG PADAYUN modification (no
NILAMUY UG WALA’Y HUNUNG English equivalents)
NOUNS WITH • Counters + Part. + Noun markers for counters
ARTICLES / USA KA BATA of nouns (no English
COUNTERS DUHA KA MGA BATA equivalents)

Teaching Implication
◙ Text:
● Let each of the learners copy a long paragraph from a Cebuano-Visayan magazine of
their own choices and bring it to class.
● Let the learner support his / her choice of text by discussing it in class in Cebuano-
Visayan.
● Let the class interact with these varied choices in Cebuano-Visayan.
◙ Tasks:
● Let each learner read orally the chosen Cebuano-Visayan text to the class.
● Let each learner analyze the morphologic constructs of the content and function words
used in the chosen text using the linguistic morphologic standards for Cebuano-
Visayan.
 7

● Let each learner rewrite each chosen text based on the standards set by the lessons on
Cebuano-Visayan morphology.

Syntax: Sentence

In Cebuano-Visayan (as in all Philippine languages), the predicate assumes various

sentence constructions. This predicate may be a noun, adjective, adverb, prepositional phase,
transitive verb, intransitive verb with various complements. Therefore, Cebuano-Visayan
sentences always begin with the predicate and end with the subject as their natural sentence
patterning.
Sentence Pattern 1: Noun Predicate (N + N)

N + N English Equivalents
Magtutudlu si Ramon. Ramon (is) a teacher.
Puthaw ang haligi. (The) pillar (is) iron.
Ang tabanug papel. (The) kite (is) paper.

• Notice that C-V sentence pattern N + N is verbless: merely N complement + N subject.

Sentence Pattern 2: Adjective Predicate (ADJ + N)
ADJ + N English Equivalents
Ma-anyag si Emma. Emma (is) lovely.
Humut ang bulak. The flower (is) fragrant.

• Notice again that the C-V sentence pattern ADJ + N is verbless: merely ADJ complement
/ modifier + N subject.
Sentence Pattern 3: Adverb Predicate (ADV + N)

ADV + N English Equivalents

Sunud adlaw ang bunyag. The baptism (is) next day.
Unya na lang ang bayad. The payment (is) just later on.

• Again, this C-V sentence pattern ADV + N has no verb: merely ADV modifier + N
subject.
Sentence Pattern 4: Prepositional Phrase Predicate (PP + N)

PP + N English Equivalents
Mahitungud sa gugma ang saysay. The story (is) about love.
Bahin kang Pepe ang tigmu. The riddle (is) on Pepe.
Ilawum sa Kahuy ang bugnù. The fight (is) under the tree.

• Notice again these verbless PP + N sentences: merely preposition phrase predicates +

noun subjects.
Sentence Pattern 5: Intransive Verb Predicate (Vin + S + Com)

Vin + S + PP English Equivalents

Nagsabut mi bahin sa panaghi-usa. We agreed about the union.

• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the subject + prepositional phrase modifier.

Vin + S + Adv P English Equivalents

Nihilak siya tungud nimu. He/She cried because of you.
 8

• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the subject + adverbial phrase modifier.

Vin + C + S English Equivalents

Nikulù ug tulu ka purgada ang panaptun. The cloth shrank by three inches.

• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the complement + the subject.

Vin + S English Equivalents
Nikatawa ang bata. The child laughed.

• Predicate is an intransitive verb + the subject.

Sentence Pattern 6: Transitive Verb Predicate (Vt + Comp + S)

Vt + O + S English Equivalents
Nika-un ug pan ang bata. The child ate bread.

• The Transitive verb predicate is followed by the direct object + the subject.
Vt + S + DO + IO English Equivalents
Nihatag siya ug kwarta sa anak. He/She gave money to the child.

• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the subject, ending with the direct and
indirect objects.

Vt + OC + O + S English Equivalents
Nanghulam kanaku ug kwarta si Sandra. Sandra borrowed money from me.

• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the objective complement and the object,
ending with the subject.

Vt + S + O + OC English Equivalent
Nipalit ku ug singsing alang nimu. I bought a ring for you.

• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the subject and the object, ending with the
objective complement.

Vt + S + O + PP English Equivalents
Muka-un ku ug pansit pina-agi sa mga tsapstik. I will eat noodles through chop-sticks.

• The transitive verb predicate is followed by the subject and object, ending with a
prepositional phrase.
Teaching Implication

◙ Text:
● Let each of the learners choose a book and copy the PREFACE, or else a newspaper and
copy the EDITORIAL article (both should be English texts).
● Let each learner defend his / her choice of text (preface or editorial) in class in (Cebuano-
Visayan discourse.
● Let the class interact orally to these myriad choices in Cebuano-Visayan discourse.
◙ Tasks:
● Let the learners TRANSLATE their respective chosen texts (prefaces and editorials) from
English to Cebuano-Visayan following the standards set by the linear grammar
 9

description of Cebuano-Visayan syntax.

● Let them recite / read orally akin to public speech the Cebuano-Visayan versions of their
chosen prefaces or editorials to class.
● Let them write a discursive analytical explanation of the process they undertook in
textual
Conclusion: translation from English to Cebuano-Visayan.
the Cebuano-Visayan
Speaking Filipino deserves to be
Educated in Cebuano-Visayan

Every Cebuano-Visayan native speaker (from mainstream to geographical variations)

deserves to be educated in Cebuano-Visayan, the first language of the populace of Central
Visayas and the lingua franca of the Visayas and Mindanao in the Philippine archipelago,
while being taught to master English as an international lingua franca and to master Filipino
(Tagalog) as the national language of the Republic of the Philippines.

The Cebuano-Visayan native speaker, thus needs a pedagogic grammar of Cebuano-

Visayan, which is the instructional version of the adequate and powerful linear description
actualized by this research-based paper, focused on: the phoneme-grapheme correspondence
of Cebuano-Visayan speech-writing system; the agglutinative morphologic affixation,
composition, reduplication of Cebuano-Visayan word system; the predicate structure of
Cebuano-Visayan sentence patterning system.

Therefore, the Cebuano-Visayan native speaker should be the LITERATE, EDUCATED,

INFORMED Filipino who talks and writes in his / her first language at par with the world’s
intellectuals without losing his own regional nativeness, national identity and global dignity.

References

Books and Journals

Corder, S. Pit. 1973. Introducing Applied Linguistics. Baltimore: Penguin Education.

Cubar, Nelly and Ernesto Cubar. 1994. Writing Filipino Grammar. Quezon City: New Day Publishers.
Gonzales, A.B., FSC. 1985. Bilingual Communities: National/Regional Profiles and Verbal Review of Applied Linguistics.
MacFarland, C. 1994. “Subgrouping and number of the Phil. Languages or How Many Languages Are There?” Phil.
Journal of Linguistics 25, 1-2; 75-84.
Otanes, F and Sabangan, B. 1969. Language Policy Survey of the Philippine. Manila: LSC, PNU.
Pesirla, Angel. 2003. A Linguistic Description of Cebuano-Visayan. Cebu City: CNU Research Center.
Santas, E. 1969. “A Study of Language, use and attitudes Toward Language, in the Phil.” In Ohannessian et al, (Ed.)
Language Surveys in Developing Nations. Washington D.C. Center for Applied Linguistics.
Sibayan, B. 1978. “Bilingual education in the Phil.: Strategy and Structure.” In J. Alatis (Ed). International Dimensions
and Bilingual Education. Washington D.C., Georgetown.
Yabes, L. 1973. “Let’s Study the New Constitution: the Language Provision.” Phil. Social Sciences and Humanities
Review, 33.

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Melayu