|Total speakers:||first language: 7 million|
second language: 4 million (est.)
|Language family:|| |
|Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.|
Hiligaynon is an Austronesian language spoken in Western Visayas in the Philippines. Hiligaynon is concentrated in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. It is also spoken in the other provinces of the Panay Island group, such as Capiz, Antique, Aklan, Guimaras, and many parts of Mindanao like Koronadal City, South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat (It is spoken as a second language by Karay-a in Antique, Aklanon and Malaynon in Aklan, Cebuano in Siquijor, and Capiznon in Capiz.). There are approximately 7,000,000 people in and outside the Philippines who are native speakers of Hiligaynon, and an additional 4,000,000 who are capable of speaking it with a substantial degree of proficiency.
It is a member of the Visayan language family.
The language is referred to as "Ilonggo" in Negros Occidental and in Iloilo. More precisely, "Ilonggo" is an ethnoliguistic group referring to the people living in Panay and the culture associated with the people speaking Hiligaynon. The boundaries of the the dialect called Ilonggo and that called Hiligaynon are unclear. The disagreement of where what name is correct extends to Philippine language specialists and native laymen.
The core alphabet consists of 20 letters used for expressing consonants and vowels in Hiligaynon, each of which comes in an upper case and lower case variety.
|First 10 letters|
|Symbol||A a||B b||K k||D d||E e||G g||H h||I i||L l||M m|
|Next 10 letters|
|Symbol||N n||Ng ng||O o||P p||R r||S s||T t||U u||W w||Y y|
It should be noted that the apostrophe(') and dash(-) also appear in Hiligaynon writing, and might be considered letters. In addition, some English letters, may be used in borrowed words.
|1st person singular||ako||nakon, ko||akon|
|2nd person singular||ikaw, ka||nimo, mo||imo|
|3rd person singular||siya||niya||iya|
|1st person plural inclusive||kita||naton, ta||aton|
|1st person plural exclusive||kami||namon||amon|
|2nd person plural||kamo||ninyo||inyo|
|3rd person plural||sila||nila||ila|
Hiligaynon has sixteen consonants: p, t, k, b, d, g, m, n, ng, s, h, w, l, r and y. There are three main vowels: [a], [ɛ]/[i], and [o]/[ʊ]. [i] and [ɛ] (both spelled i) were allophones, where [i] in the beginning and middle and sometimes final syllables and [ɛ] in final syllables. The vowels [ʊ] and [o] were allophones, with [ʊ] always being used when it is the beginning of a syllable, and [o] always used when it ends a syllable. Consonants [d] and [ɾ] were once allophones but cannot interchange, like patawaron (to forgive) [from patawad, forgiveness] but not patawadon and tagadiín (from where) [from diín, where] but not tagariín.
Hiligaynon has some Spanish words, like santo (from santo, saint), berde (from verde, green), and pero (from pero, but).
Days of the week
The names of the days of the week are derived from their Spanish equivalents.
Months of the year
The first set of Hiligaynon names of the months are derived from Spanish.
|Help!||Bulig! / Tabang!|
|Are you mad?||Akig ka?|
|I don't know.||Ambot.|
|That's wonderful!||Námì-námì man (i)nâ!|
Greetings, Friends and Lovers
|Good morning.||Maayong aga.|
|Good noon.||Maayong udto.|
|Good afternoon.||Maayong hapon.|
|Good evening.||Maayong gab-i.|
|How are you?||Kumusta ka?/Kamusta ikaw?|
|I'm fine.||Maayo man.|
|I am fine, how about you?||Maayo man, ikaw iya?|
|How old are you?||Pila na ang edad nimo?/Ano ang edad mo?|
|I am 25 years old.||Beinte singko anyos na (a)ko./ Duha ka pulo kag lima ka tuig na (a)ko.|
|I am John.||Ako si John./Si John ako.|
|I am Oskee.||Ako si Oskee./Si Oskee ako.|
|What is your name?||Ano imo ngalan?/ Ano ngalan (ni)mo?|
|I love you.||Palangga ta ka.|
|I love you (romantic love)||Ginahigugma ko ikaw.|
|Thank you very much.||Salamat gid.|
|Girl you're so beautiful.||Day tama sa imo ka-anyag./Day, gwapa ka gid!|
|Can I get your cellphone number?||Puede ko makuha ang numero sang cellphone mo?|
This, That, and Whatnot...
|What is this?||Ano (i)ni?|
|This is a sheet of paper.||Isa ni ka panid sang papel./Isa ka panid ka papel ini.|
|What is that?||Ano (i)nâ?|
|That is a book.||Libro (i)nâ.|
|What will you do?||Ano ang himu-on (ni)mo? / Ano ang buhaton (ni)mo?|
|What are you doing?||Ano ang ginahimo (ni)mo?|
|I don't know.||Ambut|
Space and Time
|Where shall we go?||Diin kita makadto?|
|Where are we going?||Diin kita pakadto?|
|Where are you going?||(Sa) diin ka makadto?|
|We shall go to Bacolod.||Makadto kita sa Bacolod.|
|I am going home.||Mapa-uli na ko (sa balay).|
|Where do you live?||Diin ka naga-istar?/Diin ka na-
|Where did you come from? (Where have you just been?)||Diin ka nag halin?|
|Have you been here long?||Dugay ka na diri?|
|(To the) left.||(Sa) wala.|
|(To the) right.||(Sa) tuô.|
|What time is it?||Ano('ng) takna na?/Ano('ng) horas na?|
|It's ten o'clock.||Alas diyes na.|
|What time is it now?||Ano ang horas subong?|
The Market Place
|May I buy?||Pwede ko mabakal?|
|How much is this?||Tag-pila ini?|
|How much is this/that?||Tagpilá iní/inâ?|
Ang Bukid Nga Nagpalangga Sang Pispis
Ang Bukid Nga Nagpalangga Sang Pispis is a fully illustrated children's picture book in color. The original story is The Mountain That Loved A Bird, by Alice McLerran. Originally published in the U.S. with illustrations by Eric Carle, the story has been translated to Hiligaynon by Genevieve L. Asenjo and illustrated with new art by Beaulah Pedregosa Taguiwalo drawn from the landscapes of the Philippines.
The publisher is Mother Tongue Publishing Inc., a new publishing company based in Manila, Philippines that was formed in November 2006 by Mario and Beaulah Taguiwalo. Their mission is to publish books in as many languages and dialects as possible. They are inspired by the words of science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin: “Literature takes shape and life in the body, in the wombs of the mother tongue.” They also agree with neuro-scientist Elkhonon Goldberg who refers to mother tongues as “an extremely adaptive and powerful device for modeling not only what is, but also what will be, what could be, and what we want and do not want to be.”
- Hiligaynon to English Dictionary
- English to Hiligaynon Dictionary
- Ethnologue report for Hiligaynon
- Bansa.org Hiligaynon Dictionary
- Omniglot on Hiligaynon Writing
- Online Hiligaynon dictionary
- Ilonggo Community & Discussion Boardbr:Ilongoeg
The Ilonggos are inhabitants of the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan, Antique, Negros Occidental, and the island of Guimaras. The language they speak is alternately referred to as Hiligaynon or Ilonggo. Hiligaynon is also spoken in parts of Mindanao and the southern Philippine islands that have been settled by migrants from the north. On the plains of Panay, Ilonggos produce a variety of crops, of which rice and sugarcane are the most important. Corn and tobacco are also grown but mostly for local consumption only. Along the coast. Ilonggo cuisine can be very simple or very elaborate depending on the occasion. Fish and other seafood are a main part of most meals, prepared using different spices, and garnished with a variety of greens and beans. Rice is also a staple food in this region like it is in most parts of the archipelago. Weaving is a major industry in some parts of Iloilo, particularly in the city and the towns of Oton and Miag-ao. Jusi and pinya (pineapple) fibers are woven into fine and expensive cloth called hablon, which is a popular clothing material.
The Ilonggo Provinces
- Negros Occidental