The Bicol dialect of the Philippines

[vita32]

Bicol Dialect is the language of the Southern region of the Luzon Island in the Philippines. This part of Luzon island is called Bicol Region and the people are called Bicolanos (bicolano/bicolana=singular form). This language is further subdivided into different local dialects which can vary from one town/city to the next. There is a standard Bicol dialect that is spoken and understood by almost all Bicolanos. This Bicol dialect is spoken in the city of Naga and Legazpi (there may still be slight variations in the speech of these two cities).

Basic Greetings:

Marhay na aga=good morning; Marhay na aga sa saindo gabos=good morning to everyone.

Marhay na aldaw=good day

Marhay na bangui=good evening
Marhay na hapon=good afternoon.

Kumusta 'ka=how are you;kumusta kamo=how are you all/how is everybody?

Salamat/Dios Mabalos=thank you
Daeng anuman= you are welcome

[irmamar]

Marhay na bangui, Vita.

Is Bicol a dialect from Tagalog?

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Marhay na bangui, Vita.

Is Bicol a dialect from Tagalog?

Marhay na bangui man saimo, irmamar(good evening to you too, irmamar).

Some Bicol words are similar to Tagalog especially words that are Spanish in origin. Joijoi posted something about the prevalence of Spanish words in the Tagalog (Pilipino) language. This is true also in the dialects of the Bicol Region. Spanish for table = mesa; in Bicol dialect it is lamesa; and as joijoi posted, it is mesa in Tagalog. In Bicol region counting past the number 10 is done in Spanish simply because the local equivalents of the numbers past number ten is very long and wordy. To give an example:

Twenty Three=veinte tres=duwang sampolo may tulo (Bicol)

The spelling of the Spanish numbers is localized since Bicol alphabet does not have v, c, f, ñ, j, x, z. So veinte tres =beinte tres. The Filipino alphabet is somewhat ironic because lots of places in the Philippines and names of Filipinos use the missing letters of the Filipino Alphabets.

[irmamar]

Marhay na aga, now, Vita.

Veintitrés. Numbers, from twenty to twenty-nine are written together with an "i", in Spanish, from thirty to subsequents are written separately: veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro [...], veintinueve, treinta, treinta y uno, etc.

In Spanish, "v" has also the same pronunciation as "b".

That's curious that in bicol "lamesa" is written with the article, too (la_mesa).

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Marhay na aga, now, Vita.

Veintitrés. Numbers, from twenty to twenty-nine are written together with an "i", in Spanish, from thirty to subsequents are written separately: veintiuno, veintidós, veintitrés, veinticuatro [...], veintinueve, treinta, treinta y uno, etc.

In Spanish, "v" has also the same pronunciation as "b".

That's curious that in bicol "lamesa" is written with the article, too (la_mesa).

Marhay na bangui, irmamar ( good evening, irmamar)

Thank you for clarifying how to write twenty to twenty-nine in Spanish
What about sixteen, is it dies y seis or diesiseis; dies y siete or diesisiete;
etc....etc...?

Dios Mabalos (Thank you)

Note: Literal translation of Dios Mabalos is God will repay (God will return the favor).

[irmamar]

Kumusta 'ka, vita? (I've already learnt this one)

Once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte.

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Kumusta 'ka, vita? (I've already learnt this one)

Once, doce, trece, catorce, quince, dieciséis, diecisiete, dieciocho, diecinueve, veinte.

Gracias,irmamar,

Muy Bueno!Estoy alegro a saber que eres aprendiendo Bicol/Tagalog y estoy aprendiendo escriber los numeros en español con tu ayuda.

Corregid mi español, por favor.
Otra vez gracias.

[irmamar]

¿Cómo se dice "de nada" en tagalo?

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

¿Cómo se dice "de nada" en tagalo?

Walang anoman(Tagalog).

[irmamar]

Dios malabos (this is easy to remember).
Walang anoman (this is not so easy).

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Dios malabos (this is easy to remember).
Walang anoman (this is not so easy).

Please remember not to transpose the syllables: ma-ba-los not ma-la-bos
Yes, Dios mabalos rhymes better too.

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by vita32

Please remember not to transpose the syllables: ma-ba-los not ma-la-bos
Yes, Dios mabalos rhymes better too.

I do that very frequently.

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

I do that very frequently.

No big deal Making mistakes is part of learning. I do this a lot too in Spanish despites the help of google translate. Although I try to construct the sentences in Spanish myself first then when I really can't, I consult the Spanish dictionary, Spanish Conjugator and Google Translate. It's a lot of work for me right now to be able to construct one or two Spanish sentences.But I hope it will get better

[irmamar]

I avoid google translator, I prefer a dictionary and sometimes I write a sentence in English in Google to study the results.

Google translator writes perfect nonsense.

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

I avoid google translator, I prefer a dictionary and sometimes I write a sentence in English in Google to study the results.

Google translator writes perfect nonsense.

It makes me laugh lots of times. I don't think that machines can completely duplicate human abilities. Thank God

[irmamar]

Originally Posted by vita32

It makes me laugh lots of times. I don't think that machines can completely duplicate human abilities. Thank God

Well, they are better than us with some calculation, but not with language.

[vita32]

Originally Posted by irmamar

Well, they are better than us with some calculation, but not with language.

True