Friday, September 14, 2007

Ilocano Lesson via Meme

I am half-Kankanay, an ethno-linguistic group that has roots in Sagada, Bontoc and Mountain Province. However, my Kankanay language skills are very poor. So to get in touch with my Kankanay side, I am trying to learn the language. Nevermind that I can't even speak "proper" Tagalog. Some may say I should master one language first before working on another. But I think there's nothing wrong with being mediocre in both languages. hehehe. ;) Anyway, since Kankanay is related to Ilocano as shown in the following chart from the book Ilocano Dictionary and Grammar by Carl Rubino, I figure that I will try to learn a little Ilocano:

I figure that learning Ilocano will help me in eventually learning Kankanay. Thus, I will answer a "middle-names meme" from Major Tom by using Ilocano words.

The rules:
1. State your middle name. If it’s too long or not sounding so good, then think about the name you wish you had as a middle name. And use that, of course.

2. For each letter of the middle name stated in Rule #1, write a specific trait or characteristic of your person and elaborate reasonably.

3. If you had five letters in such name, tag the same number of bloggers. Like if that name has seven letters, then seven other bloggers. If such name has one letter, then tag that one single blogger. Now wait, I don’t think that middle names—or any name for that matter—could probably have one single letter on it. But who knows, some names might just be like that, like Mr.X, or Mr.Y. We got a lot of names like that back in my accounting subjects in college, Mr. M owes this much, Mrs. Q earns this much, and so on and so forth.

4. There is no Rule #4 so might as well go on.
Instead of using English words, I will use Ilocano words for the initials to describe myself. Another thing though is that I don't really like my middle name. Fortunately, the rules say I can choose a middle name if I don't like my given middle name. Thus, I choose "Danger" since "danger" is my middle name. haha. That joke is from the movie Austin Powers, of course. hehehe. So here's the Ilocano words that describe a little bit about myself from the initials of my chosen middle name:

Dayaw - with the root word "dayaw" meaning honor or glory, the word "manangdaydayaw" means respectful. I try to be respectful of other people even if we don't agree on certain things. That should be a given, no? ;)

Álus - used, second hand. I rarely shop for clothes, but when I do, I usually buy them at thrift or second-hand stores.

Nadalimpako - wavy or curly hair. As I stated in a prior post, I once had wavy hair. I still do. Just not as many. ;)

Gadang - with the root word "gádang" meaning either wading, short pants or shallow, the word "magadang" means shallow, water not reaching the waist. Although I can swim, I don't like swimming in the ocean if its deep. In fact, I've never swam in deep ocean water. I prefer swimming in the ocean if it's shallow.

Étika - This is actually borrowed from the Spanish word for ethics. Most of the words in my Ilocano dictionary that start with 'e' are derived from Spanish words. Anyway, I choose this word because although I have my inner struggles like everyone else, I still try to lead an ethical life.

Raém - polite. Another given. Example from the book: Raementayo kuma ti pammatida a kas met ti panagraemda ti pammatitayo. Translation: We should respect their beliefs as they respect ours.

Now how to use the other 5 Ilocano words in an actual Ilocano sentence is another story. hehe. So there you have it. An attempt to learn Ilocano via a meme. I just need to do this meme several hundred more times with different Ilocano words and I should be a fluent Ilocano speaker in no time. hehe. Now, according to the rules, I now have to tag 6 bloggers, the same number of letters in the middle name. Thus, I'm tagging the first 6 commenters of this post who have yet to be tagged by this meme. If you don't have a blog, then just reply to this post with your middle-name meme. ;)

Technorati tags: meme, Ilocano

24 comments:

admindude said...

Great stuff. Way to go Wil! I know Ilokano but not its deep (?) words. I'm embarrassed that of the words you listed, I only know Dayaw which also means "praise". Idayaw (alternatively, dayawen) would be "to praise". Okidok.

Btw, how do you do your middle name? Do you use your mother's former surname as we do it here? Or do you have a second name as the Americans do it there?

Anonymous said...

The dialect is "Kankanaey" not
"Kankanay" and don't worry, I'm not gonna rag you on that, hehe...
As Bill implied, "dayaw" is the only Ilocano word that I've used also.
Sige, I will use the rest and see if my Ilocano friends can figure out what the heck I'm saying.
Baka si Watson, hindi ka rin maintidahan, hehe...Cheers!

tin-tin said...

oh no! i'm the third. so that means i'm tagged.

yup, a nice way to learn ilocano.. by using it in a meme. most ilocano terms are from spanish? i guess almost all filipino dialects are like that

Anonymous said...

Now that's quite a unique approach to the meme and very educational too :) It is the first time I heard of Kankanay which looks like a variant of Ilocano. YOu must have gone to the States at a young age :)

Anonymous said...

This so fresh approach to the middle name tag, you completely made it your own. Just when I thought that I had been able to make it so funny and entertaining, you upped the ante to another level..Way to go...

Anonymous said...

OMG, i am the sixth. but it's okay, will do the meme when time allows. your way of tagging is very unique. :-)

and pronouncing the words is another. it is also the accent the makes the words more difficult to utter.

Wil said...

Thanks, Bill. :D I was given two names when I was born. I have a lot of Kankaney relatives with two names given during birth although I don't think my mom and her generation had two names.

TruBlue, yes, it's kind of confusing when the ethnic group is spelled one way but the language/dialect is spelled another.

I think watson mentioned before that he wasn't really fluent in Ilocano, but his siblings were. :)

Tin, yup, you're tagged. hehehe. The words that start with the letter "e" in Ilocano.... a lot of them are spanish in origin. I guess pre-spanish ilocano didn't use too many words that started with the letter 'e'. :)

Wil said...

Thanks, bw. :D The Kankanay ethnic group are Igorots, which is divided into other groups like the Ibaloi, Ifugao, etc. Yes, I moved to the US during elementary school. :)

Thanks, Major Tom. It's always fun to add a twist to memes. :D

bingskee, looks like you're tagged. hehehe. I was wondering if people would comment since they might not want to do the tag. hehe

yeah, the pronounciation can be tough. as they say, practice makes perfect. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm sure you won't have a hard time looking for a fellow Pinoy to practice your Ilocano with, in your neck of the woods. If I'm not mistaken, they comprise the largest group of Pinoy immigrants from the Phils in the US. As they say, practice makes perfect, right? ;-)

BTW, the only Ilocano phrase I know is "Awan Te Kwarta" :-D

Anonymous said...

Thanks wil! That's a fun way to learn Ilocano indeed!

I know one Ilocano saying btw,
'Sabali nga ili, sabali nga ugali'
Different places, have different character.( or is it different cultures?)

Anonymous said...

wil, good thing i didn't leave my comments right away or i would have been tagged to do this meme. i only know a few words of ilocano like papanam, ada ti danom, won, nagpuskol, and that is about it.

good luck on your ilocano lesson.

Wil said...

single, haha. I'm also familiar with that phrase. I think "te" is spelled "ti". "awan" of course, is the equivalent of "wala" in Tagalog and "maid" in Kankan-ey. :)

and, yes, i think there's lots of Ilocanos here in california although i hear that there's more of them in hawai'i. So much so that they even have ilocano classes and a radio station in ilocano. I think i read that somewhere.

No prob, cheh. :D

That phrase is in my dictionary and it's translated as "Different nations have different customs." "Sabali" appears to be the equivalent of "iba" in Tagalog or "teken" in Kankan-ey.

LOL, belle. I think memes are fun. I don't know why people are scared of getting tagged. hehehe.

checked your words and here's the translations. Some are words I know and others are words I had to look up:

papanam = where are you going?
ada ti danom = there's water.
won = i think it's spelled "wen", meaning "yes".
nagpuskol = I think the spelling is "napuskol" and it means "thick, dense." Puskol is "kapal" in Tagalog and "ipip" in Kankan-ey.

Unknown said...

I like your blog... greatly refreshing.

Layad said...

Hmm.. I think you are right. The Sagada language is Kankanay, Northern Kankanay to be exact. But the Benguet one is Kankanaey, and Trublue is right in that. I say this because I know the SIL missionaries who translated the Northern Kankanay and the Kankanaey Bible versions.

I think 'panangraem' is also respect. I've never heard of the others also except 'dayaw' hehehe...

Great start in your language learning! But better yet, find someone who can speak Kankanay and go from there =) All the best hehehe...

Anonymous said...

Ammok ti agsarita ti Ilocano. Ilocano ni papang ko ken ni Mamang Ko. (I know how to speak Ilocano. My father and Mother are Ilocano)

Anonymous said...

Oh, very original and resourceful Wil! Danger ha... so from now on, I will call you Danger! :)

The Ilocano words sound so poetic.

Hey Wil... I received your email... will reply tonight. :)

Wil said...

Thanks, hillblogger. I appreciate it. :)

Layad, yes, you're right. It'd be cool to practice kankanay with an actual speaker of the language. I'll have to look for one here in california. :D

>>I've never heard of the others also except 'dayaw'

hmm... I wonder if I chose obsolete words. hehehe

Richmond, cool. I guess you don't need an Ilocano dictionary then. :D

Thanks, Toe.

Yup, "danger" is my middle name. Although "corny" would probably be more apt. hehehe

Oh, and I just got your email. Thanks for that, too. :)

Gypsy said...

Ay! Nakalusot ulit ako sa tag! Whew! Ay (ulit) wait..tagged pala ako ni Ipanema dito..ehehehe. Wala akong alam sa Ilocano kundi "Jai-Banger."
:)

Anonymous said...

I would like to thank you for your opinion and giving time to visit my blog !

Here in my place are almost Ilocanos and sometimes I could memorise some of them ! You are a person of enthusiast, you dig in to really learn your mother language ! I understand one dialect Illonggo co'z my Dad hails from there ! Have a nice day ! Will come back often !

Wil said...

Gypsy, I just asked a co-worker what "idiay banger", which literally means "there on the outside". :)

Thanks for the visit as well, Haze. I've always been fascinated by linguistics ever since I took a linguistics course in college. Anyway, I haven't met any Ilonggos in person, but I have met a few Ilonggo bloggers online. :)

Anonymous said...

diay bangir can also mean on the other side.

I'd like to think I am still fluent in ilokano and some of the words you came up with, I had never even heard of. lol! like nadalimpako or gadang. When one has curly hair, we just say kulot. Same as in tagalog :)

My girls, since I have been remiss in my mothering, have taken to walking around with a ilokano dictionary trying to learn the language.

you should join an ilokano forum or group online. My written ilokano was really poor and I am just starting to teach my fingers now to type ilokano by chatting it up with other ilokanos. Good luck, wil!

Hey, if you're in SF, you should visit the new senior center downtown, south of market. There are lots of ilokano folks there you can practice on.

What language do your parents speak at home?

Oh, and I really do like the take you did on the meme. It made it a lot more interesting in a different way :) Too bad I'm too late to be tagged :P

CHERYL L. DAYTEC said...

Naku, Wil, what Ilocano are you studying? You can master your lessons but when you converse, no one will understand you except the Bannawag writers and the Ilocanos in their 70s and above. Your lessons are like lessons in archaic English.

"Romeo, Romeo where art thou? I cannot see thine eyes."

"He that cometh earlier than the rest wilst be blest."

"He that receiveth Jesus as Lord will be saved."

"He leadeth me, he leadeth me."

Aysus! As the rest said, it is only dayaw that we understand.

Wil said...

Thanks, Jmom. :)

That's cool that your kids are trying to learn the language. They can always ask you if they have questions.

Growing up, I only spoke Tagalog b/c my dad never learned Kankan-ey or Ilocano. My mom, however, can speak all three.

LOL, Mng. Chyt. The comment of thine has amusethed me. hehe. Well, I blame Mr. Galvez for not marking the words as obsolete in his dictionary. hehehe. According to the book, the language is not spoken uniformly in Luzon, having regional variations in intonation, grammar, and the lexicon. So it's possible that those words are only used in certain parts of Luzon. Either that or they're just archaic. hehe. In any case, Galvez says he welcomes suggestions to his dictionary. His email is listed as ilocano@philippines.to and he can be reached via mail at the Linguistics Department of University of California in Santa Barbara. Alas, go must I now. Fare thee well. hehehe

Anonymous said...

We went to Bangued, Abra last weekend and I was task to do a write-up on our experience's. I need to use some ilocano words for some emphasis and since I am not that fluent in this language, I search the internet and was able to find this site. It was really a big help.