WARAY-WARAY MORPHOLOGY:

I. Pronouns

The table below shows the summary of pronouns of Waray-waray.

Nominative Objective Possessive

Singular 1st ʔaku ku akun
2nd ʔikaw mu imu
3rd hija nija iya
Plural 1st person kita natun atun
(inclusive)
1st person kami namun amun
(exclusive)
2nd person kamu niyu iyu
3rd person hira nira ira

To make a clearer understanding, each pronoun is used in a sentence.

A. Nominative

1. malipajun ʔaku ‘I am happy’

2. malipajun ka ‘You are happy’
3. malipajun sija ‘S/He is happy’
4. maghahamis kita ‘We will clean’
5. maglilinis kami ‘We will clean’
6. malipajun kamu ‘You are happy’
7. malipajun hira ‘They are happy’

B. Objective (Ergative)

1. ginhamisan ku an sulud ‘The room was cleaned by me’*

2. ginhamisan mu an sulud ‘The room was cleaned by you’*
3. ginhamisan nija an sulud ‘The room was cleaned by him/her’*
4. hamisan natun an sulud ‘Let us clean the room’
5. ginhamisan namun an sulud ‘The room was cleaned by us’*
6. ginhamisan niju an sulud ‘The room was cleaned by you’*
7. ginhamisan nira an sulud ‘The room was cleaned by them’*

C. Possessive (Oblique)

1. mahamis an ʔakun sulud ‘My room is clean’

2. mahamis an ʔimu sulud ‘Your room is clean’
3. mahamis an ʔija sulud ‘His/Her room is clean’
4. mahamis an ʔatun sulud ‘Our room is clean’
5. mahamis an ʔamun sulud ‘Our room is clean’
6. mahamis an ʔiju sulud ‘Your room is clean’
7. mahamis an ʔira sulud ‘Their room is clean’

*The sentences are in passive voice to show the objective case of pronouns.
II. Word Formation Strategies

A. affixation

1. prefixing and deletion

The /n/ in the verb prefix pan- is deleted and replaced by a nasal sound when it is
followed by the verb which starts with any sounds: /p, b, k, t, d, s/.

a. [p, b]  [m]
pamatiʔ
pan-batiʔ
IMP-greet
‘greet’

pamariguʔ
pan-pariguʔ
imp-bathe
‘bathe’

b. [k]  [ŋ]

paŋaʔun
pan-kaʔun
IMP-eat
‘eat’

paŋahuj
paŋ-kahuj
IMP-hew
‘hew’

c. [t, d, s]  [n]

panaguʔ
pan-taguʔ
IMP-hide
‘hide’

panalagan
pan-dalagan
IMP-run
‘run’

pa · ‘na · jaw
pan-sajaw
IMP-dance
‘dance’
 d. The /n/ in the verb prefix pan- is deleted and /g/ is replaced if the prefix is followed by
the verb that starts with /l/sound.

[l]  g + [l]

pagliwan
pag-liwan
IMP-to put on clothes
‘put on clothes’

pagluksu
pag-luksu
IMP-hop
‘hop’

2. prefixing

The /n/ in the verb prefix pan- remains /n/ and no changes with any sounds of the verbs
which have any initial sounds of /g, h, w/.

a. [g]  n + [g]

pangabut
pan-gabut
IMP-pull out
‘pull out’

b. [h,w]  n + [h, w]

panhujaŋ
pan-hujaŋ
IMP-lean
‘lean’

panwadas
pan-wadas
IMP-shake
‘shake’

3. infixation

pinalit
p-in-alit
p-PST-alit
buy PST
‘bought’
 4. suffixing

a. ʔapuj
ʔapu-j
grandchild-NSUF
‘grandparent’

b. higdaʔan
higda-ʔan
lie on-NSUF
‘bed’

c. ʔujasan
ʔujas-an
play-NSUF
‘toy’

B. reduplication

1. partial:

Aside from putting prefix, the present (progressive) and future tense of the verb is
formed by repeating the initial syllable of the root word.

a. nagbubunak
nag-bu-bunak
PRES-initialRED-wash clothes
‘wash clothes’

b. maghahamis
mag-ha-hamis
FUT-initialRED-clean
‘will clean’

2. full

gawas gawas
RED-gawas
‘always in and out’
III. Typology:

The Waray-waray language, most of the times, is fusional. Though, it is sometimes

identified as isolating and agglutinating. The following data show their distribution.

fusional fusional isolating

ʔaku hi hajmi kampaniru
1SG NMK Jaime Campanero
‘I am Jaime Campanero’

fusional fusional isolating agglutinating

an ʔakun ʔidad kalim ʔan kag ʔunum
DET 1SINGPOSS age fifty linker six
‘I am fifty-six years old’

agglutinating fusional fusional isolating fusional isolating

ʔigin ʔanak ʔaku ha buŋtu ha General Mc Arthur Eastern Samar
PSTPASS BORN 1SINGPOSS NMKR town PREP General Mc. Arthur Eastern Samar
‘I was born in General Mc Arthur Eastern Samar’

fusional isolating fusional fusional isolating fusional isolating

ʔan ŋaran han ʔakun ʔamaj hi Conrado Campanero
NMKR name NMKR 1SINGPOSS-NMKR father NMKR Conrado Campanero
‘The name of my father is Conrado Campenero’

fusional isolating fusional fusional isolating fusional isolating

ʔan ŋaran han ʔakun ʔinaj hi Felisa Campanero
NMKR name NMKR 1SINGPOSS-NMKR mother NMKR Felisa Campanero
‘The name of my mother is Felisa Campenero’

isolating isolating fusional agglutinating fusional isolating

jana hahani ʔaku naukuj ha NPC Village Tandang Sora Quezon City
ADV ADV 1SINGNOM PRES-reside PREP NPC Village Tandang Sora Quezon City
‘I am currently residing here in NPC Village Tandang Sora, Quezon City’