Karay-a language


The Karay-a language, or Kinaray-a , is an Austronesian regional language spoken by the Karay-a people, mainly in Antique in the Philippines, Iloilo and other provinces on the island of Panay, as well as portions of the SOCCSKSARGEN region in Mindanao. Other native names for the language are Hamtikanon, Hinaraya, Binisaya nga Karay-a and Bisaya nga Kinaray-a.
As of 2015, there is an estimated 1,200,000 speakers of Kinaray-a with almost half of them are from Antique and Iloilo provinces. It is one of the Bisayan languages, mainly along with Aklanon/Malaynon, Capiznon and Hiligaynon.

Location

Kinaray-a is spoken mainly in Antique. It is also spoken in Iloilo province mainly in the city of Passi, in the municipalities of Alimodian, San Joaquin, Lambunao, Calinog, Leon, Miag-ao, Pavia, Badiangan, San Miguel, Guimbal, San Enrique, Tigbauan, Igbaras, Leganes, Pototan, Bingawan, San Rafael, Mina, Zarraga, Oton, Santa Barbara, Cabatuan, Janiuay, Maasin, New Lucena, Dueñas, Dingle, and Tubungan, the south of Capiz such as Tapaz, Jamindan, Dumalag, and Dumarao, and certain villages in Mindanao – especially in the SOCCSKSARGEN region by citizens who trace their roots to Antique or to Karay-a-speaking areas of inland Iloilo and Capiz. Inhabitants of most towns across the latter areas speak Kinaray-a while Hiligaynon is predominant around coastal areas particularly in Iloilo. It is also spoken in Iloilo City by a minority and parts of Aklan province, as well as Guimaras.

Intelligibility with Hiligaynon

Due to geographic proximity and mass media Kinaray-a-speakers can understand Hiligaynon speakers. However, only Hiligaynon speakers who reside in Kinaray-a-speaking areas can understand the language. Those who come from other areas, like Negros islanders, have difficulty in understanding the language, only if they can at all.
It is a misconception among some Hiligaynon speakers that Kinaray-a is a dialect of Hiligaynon; the reality is that the two belong to two different, but related, branches of the Bisayan languages.
However, some Karay-a also know Hiligaynon as their second language. To some extent, there is an intermediate dialect of Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a being spoken in Mindanao, mainly in Sultan Kudarat province.

Dialects

There has not been any actual linguistic study on the dialects of Kinaray-a. Speakers both of Kinaray-a and Hiligaynon would however admit to hearing the differences in the ways by which Kinaray-a speakers from different towns speak. Differences in vocabulary can also observed between and among the dialects.
The differences and the degrees by which the dialects differ from each other depend largely on the area's proximity to another different language-speaking area. Thus, in Antique, there are, on the northern parts, varieties that are similar to Aklanon, the language of Aklan, its neighbor on the north. On the south, in Iloilo towns on the other hand, the dialects closely resemble that of the standard Kinaray-a spoken in San Jose de Buenavista, lowland Sibalom and Hamtic. A distinct dialect of Kinaray-a is spoken in central Iloilo where a lot of Hiligaynon loanwords are used and some Kinaray-a words are pronounced harder as in "rigya" or "ja" of southern Iloilo and San Jose de Buenavista area as compared to "giya" of Janiuay, Santa Barbara, and nearby towns. Two highly accented dialects of Kinaray-a can be heard in Anini-y and Dao in Antique and San Joaquin, Leon, and Tubungan in Iloilo.

Differences

Some dialects differ only on consonant preference like y vs h. e.g. bayi/bahi or l vs r e.g. wala/wara. Some have distinct differences like sayëd/kadë and rangga/gëba.

AlphabetKinaray-a — English Dictionary Compiled by: Vicente C. Pangantihon

With "/ə/" as a vowel and the vowels "/e/" and "/u/" introduced by influence of the Spanish language, the following are the Kinaray-a letters in their suggested alphabetical order: Aa, Bb, Kk, Dd, Ee, Gg, Hh, Ii, Ll, Mm, Nn, NG ng, Oo, Əə, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Ww, and Yy.
The suggested alphabetical order follows that of the Roman alphabet. Philippine indigenous scripts presumably including Kinaray-a are syllabic. There is no record on the order of precedence of the syllables. Even the Tagalog Baybayin that the Spaniards used in writing the first book published in the Philippines, did not define the order of precedence of the syllabic script. It was only when the alphabet was Romanized that the alphabetical order was established.
The Karay-a language has the schwa sound, traditionally represented with the letter ə, but the Ortograpíyang Pambansâ, released in 2014 by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, instead requires it to be written with ë.

Vowels

The following are the Kinaray-a vowels: Aa, Ee, Əə, Ii, Oo, and Uu. As a rule, there are as many syllables as there are vowels. Except for the vowel Əə/Ëë, all other vowels are pronounced like any Filipino vowel letters are pronounced.
Vowel letters when combined do not create a different vowel sound. Each vowel indicates a separate syllable. There are as many vowels as there are syllables.
It is a common error to equate the vowel "i" with the consonant "y" and vice versa. For example, the word "balunggay" is spelled by some as "balunggai" or "kambyo" as "kambio". Also an error is equating "o" with "w" especially if it comes after letter "a". "lanaw" becomes lanao or tuáw become tuao. On the other hand, letter "w" is equated with letter "u" as in rweda written as rueda or pwede written as puede. They are erroneous since they violate the basic rule that Kinaray-a vowels do not combine with another vowel to form a new sound.
The vowels "e" and "u" introduced by the Spaniards are interchangeable with the vowels "i" and "o", respectively. The Karay-as call the vowel "ə/ë" as maləm-ə/malëm-ëk nga I . The vowel "e" is also used mostly on appropriated foreign words written in Kinaray-a with Kinaray-a affixes. The vowel "u" is called matig-a nga "o". Hence, when a syllable with a vowel is pronounced lightly, the vowel "i" is substituted with the vowel "e". The opposite rule applies to the vowel "u".
The practice however, is not the norm. What is more controlling for using either the vowels "i" and "o" or the introduced vowels "e" and "u" is what appears to the Karay-as pleasing to their eyes and ears. When in doubt on what vowel to use, it is always safe to use the indigenous vowels. The introduced "ë" vowel has no substitute. It will always be used since many Kinaray-a words have a schwa vowel sound.

Schwa

The book "Karay-a Rice Tradition Revisited" introduced "ə", the International Phonetic Alphabet symbol for the schwa, also used in the Azeri alphabet, to represent the Kinaray-a schwa. The Kinaray-a schwa is a toneless neutral vowel, that could be stressed or unstressed, and is not necessarily a mid-central vowel. It maybe found in the beginning of a word or at the end. Its quality depends on the adjacent consonants. With Əə, any word with a schwa vowel sound can be written as pronounced. The Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino has since mandated that be graphemically represented by Ëë.

Consonants

There are 15 consonants in the Kinaray-a language. They are b, k, d, g, h, l, m, n, ŋ, p, s, t, w, r and y. They are pronounced the same way as in English but a little bit lighter than their English equivalents. An exception is the letter "ɾ" which is prevalent in Kinaray-a. It is sounded by flicking the tip of the tongue against the back of the upper front teeth and rolled a bit. Likewise the letters g, w, and y are also pronounced a bit harder as a terminal letter of a word with a grave accent mark. Except for foreign loanwords, the consonants c, f, j, q, x, and z don’t appear in Kinaray-a words. If foreign words do not have Kinaray-a equivalent, they are either written as is, or written as pronounced using the Kinaray-a alphabet.
A Kinaray-a consonant does not transform itself into a vowel. It is not right to substitute letters "e" or "i", for the consonant "j" nor to substitute the letters "o" or "u" for the consonant "w". Transforming the consonants "w" and "j" into a vowel creates an additional syllable.

The consonant ''ng''

The consonant "ŋ" is a single letter in Karay-a and in all other indigenous Philippine languages. In the old Romanized Karay-a cursive, a line is placed above both letters of "ng" with one long wavy stroke to denote that it is a single letter, distinct from "n"+"g". Older speakers today still use the long tilde but the younger generation don't bother with it. Besides, for those unfamiliar with the language, they mistake it for the Spanish "ñ". The "ŋ" sound is familiar to the English speaker. It can be found in words such as: clang, bring, throng, rung, and singer, etc. As a letter in Karay-a, it is pronounced "ŋa", with the same "ŋ" sound that the English word "singer" has.

Phonology

Vowels

The vowels /e/ and /o/ are used mostly in non-Kinaray-a words. Both aforementioned sounds from the same words in other Filipino languages are often pronounced as /i/ and /u/, respectively. /u/ is sometimes interchanged with /ə/ where some speakers say suba while others say sëba.

Consonants

For example:
EnglishKinaray-aHiligaynonTagalog
mineakënakonakin
darkmadëlëmmadulommadilim
foodpagkaënpagkaonpagkain
headuluuluulo
ballbulabulabola
animalsapat, hayëpsapathayop
planttanëmtanompananim, halaman
sixanëmanomanim

Grammar

Nouns

Pronouns

Absolutive₁
Absolutive₂
Ergative₁
Ergative₂
Oblique
1st person singularakotakënnakën, koakënkanakën
2nd person singularikaw, kawtimonimo, moimokanimo
3rd person singular-tananana, naanakanana, kana
1st person plural inclusivekitatatënnatën, taatënkanatën
1st person plural exclusivekamitamënnamënamënkanamën
2nd person pluralkamotinyoninyo, nyoinyokaninyo
3rd person pluralsandatandanandaandakananda

Numbers

NumberKinaray-aMalayTagalog
1isara/sarasatuisa
2darwaduadalawa
3tatlotigatatlo
4apatempatapat
5limalimalima
6anëmenamanim
7pitotujuhpito
8walolapanwalo
9siyamsembilansiyam
10pulûpuluhsampu
11napulû kag sara/ unsi belaslabing-isa / onse
50kalim-an/singkwenta lima puluhlimampu /singkwenta
100sangkagatos/sanggatosse ratusisang daan
1,000sangkalibo/sanglibose ribuisang libo
100,000sangka gatos ka libose ratus ribuisang daang libo
500,000lima ka gatos ka libolima ratus ribulima daang libo
1,000,000sangka milyonsatu jutaisang milyon

Common expressions

Saying "Diin kaw maagto?" is common way to greet people. You don't need to answer the question directly. The usual answer is an action like "Maninda." instead of "Sa tinda."