Sih Na•nay sih Ta•tay

April 19, 2008

Whenever I remember my dead parents, this song always comes to mind. This is a maudlin song that never fails to make me feel the pain of longing in my chest. I terribly miss them. Why is life like this, that we bring joy to our parents when we come into their world, but our parents leave us grief?

Sih Na•nay sih Ta•tay

Here’s the song lyrics as rendered in my proposed orthography.

Sih Na•nay, sih Ta•tay dih koh babaya•чan,
Bala•kid nah boчot чan saku•yaŋ чu•taŋ
Sih pagdarah sakoч nin siyam nah bu•lan,
Ga•tas nah sino•soh, dih koh mabaya•dan.

Чay Na•nay, чay Ta•tay, kon чakoh huma•leч,
Hihida•won nindoh sah gabos nah чa•kiч;
Makakuчah kah man nin чikakasaŋleч,
Daчih makaчa•rog kan sakoŋ чuga•liч

Чay Na•nay, чay Ta•tay, kon чakoh mara•чot,
Pugotan nin payoh, ibontog sah lahod,
Kon maheliŋ nindoh nah nagчanodчa•nod,
Чay Na•nay, чay Ta•tay, sapodah man to•los.

Si Nanay si Tatay

Here’s the lyrics in the current orthography, with interlinear translation.

Si    Nanay, si    Tatay di ko    babayaan,
(The) Mama,    (the) Papa    no of me  will leave
Balakid na boot   an   sakuyang utang
Huge(?)         ”inside” (the) my              debt
Si    pagdara sako nin siyam na bulan,
(The) bring         me     of    9               months
Gatas na sinoso, di ko    mabayadan.
Milk            sucked,   no of me can pay

Ay Nanay, ay Tatay, kon ako humale,
Oh  Mama,    oh   Papa,    if      I      leave
Hihidawon nindo        sa     gabos na aki;
Will miss        of you (plural) among all              children
Makakua ka man nin ikakasangle,
Can find     you even  of    can replace
Dai makaarog kan sakong ugali.
No   can copy      of     my          character/sentiment

Ay Nanay, ay Tatay, kon ako maraot,
Oh  Mama,    oh   Papa,    if      I      bad
Pugotan nin payo, ibontog sa lahod,
Cut off      of    head,   dip          at   high seas
Kon maheling nindo        na nag-anodanod,
If      can see       of you (plural)      drifting & bobbing
Ay Nanay, ay Tatay, sapoda man tolos.
Oh  Mama,    oh   Papa,    pick up    too    right away

Here is an idiomatic translation in English:

My mother, my father I will not ditch.
I am very much indebted.
My conception for 9 months,
The milk I sucked, can’t be repaid.

Oh mother, oh father, If I leave
You will miss more than your other kids.
Though you find someone to trade
Will not have my sentiments.

Oh mother oh father, if I’m bad
Cut off my head, dip in the high seas.
If it drifts and bobs in the waves
Oh mother father, pick it up fast.

New Bikol Orthography – Part 1

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I am currently working on a new orthography that can be used for both Coastal Bikol and Inland Bikol. My intent is to use this for the macro-language as well as the individual languages themselves and their dialects. All my works on these languages will use this new orthography.

What is are the features of this new orthography? The most important feature, which I will show in this Part 1, is the principle of regular 1-to-1 correspondence between the letters of the alphabet and each phonemic sounds.

1. The following symbols will remain in use and unchanged: m n p b t d k g s h l r w y a e i o u.
2. The digraph “ng” will be replaced by the IPA symbol “ŋ”.
3. Phonemes not currently represented by any letter will be provided with one. The glottal stop by ”ч” and word stress, which is phonemic, by a raised dot “•”.
4. The glottal stop will be represented in word initial and intervocalic positions. H will be represented in word final position.
5. Other member languages of the Bikol macrolanguage can use this as well. I have added the lateral “λ” for the Southern Catanduanes dialect of Coastal Bikol, and the schwa (represented as “ɷ”) for Iriga, Buhi and Miraya dialects and the velar fricative “ƥ” for Buhi dialect, all dialects of Inland Bikol.

Examples:

Coastal Bikol (all dialects)

English	Current	Proposed
Meaning	Orthography	Orthography
name	ngaran	ŋa•ran
wrong	sala	salaч
head	payo	payoh
dirt on face	musing	muчsiŋ
wave	alon	чa•lon

Coastal Bikol, Southern Catanduanes dialect

English	Current	Proposed
Meaning	Orthography	Orthography
study	adal	чa•daλ
sour	alsom	чaλsom
buy	bakal	bakaλ
bring	dara	daλah
run	dalagan	daλa•gan
tall	halangkaw	haλaŋkaw
wait	halat	haλat
fight	iwal	чi•waλ
man	lalaki	laλa•kih
walk	lakaw	λakaw
one	saro	saλoч
talk	taram	taλam
three	tulo	tuλoh
cockpit	bulangan	buλaŋan

Inland Bikol, Iriga & Miraya dialects

English	Current	Proposed
Meaning	Orthography	Orthography
rice	bugas	bɷgas
blade	tarum	tarɷm
rice plant	paroy	pa•rɷy
black	itum	чitɷm

Inland Bikol, Buhi dialect

English	Current	Proposed
Meaning	Orthography	Orthography
itch	gatol	gatɷƥ
long duration	aloy	чaƥɷy
repent	solsol	sɷƥsɷƥ
wait	ulat	чɷƥat
sour	alsom	чaƥsɷm
snake	alas	чa•ƥas
worry	andal	чandaƥ

This is in essence my proposed orthography, when rendering native words in each of the dialects and individual languages of the Bikol macrolanguage. I will be posting samples of Bikol songs, poetry, and other literature written in this new orthography in the future to exemplify its usage.

If there is any wrong word, spelling or stress for some of the dialects’ words, I would welcome any corrections. I welcome other words which you might want to contribute showing the same sounds too.

The other features of this new orthography I will explain in succeeding posts. Part 2 of my proposal will deal with the orthography of the Bikol macrolanguage, not the dialects and individual member languages, which was discussed here. Part 3 will discuss handling loan words or borrowed words from any language. This part is very important as Bikol has substantial borrowings from Castellano and English. Part 4 will be about obligatory word edge phonemes as well as stress. Part 5 will be about pronunciation and order of all the letters and origin of the new ones and any other sundry items depending on what questions and clarifications will be raised through comments. Cheers.