LESSON 5: The Pronouns I (Nominative Form)

Bismillah. This is the 4th lesson on “Tausug 101: Learning Bahasa Sug” by Anak Iluh. For lists of lessons, please go to: Lists of Lessons.

                Thursday is Bahasa Sug day! Hehe. Alhamdulillah, we are already done with the first part of our course, from the brief history and background about Bahasa Sug to its different sounds and letters and the special rulings therein. We are now about to begin the second part; the second level which will be a little harder to put in to words…but hopefully we will be able to learn them easily. We will start by introducing the Common Pronouns in Bahasa Sug (thanks to Mr.Boutemr and Dayang ni D of for this suggestion).

             There are basically three forms of pronouns found in Bahasa Sug: 1) the Nominative form (which is the most common, I think); 2) the Genitive Form; and the 3) Oblique form. Don’t panic! We will try to discuss them one at a time. (I am also trying to learn them as much as I can.) The 2nd and 3rd form will be discussed in next lessons to come, in sha Allah. Today, we will focus on the first form: the Nominative Form.

            So what do we mean when we say “Nominative”? According to Merriam-Webster, in the grammar of languages, ‘nominative’ refers to the ‘marking typically of the subject of the verb’. In this definition, we can basically say that these kinds of pronouns are only used as subjects (I am still on the process of doing some experiments, hopefully to find some exemptions in this rule). The basic idea is there: when using the pronoun as the subject of the verb, we use the following Tausug pronouns:

COMMON NOMINATIVE PRONOUNS in BAHASA SUG
1st Person (speaker)	Singular	Aku
	Dual	Kita
	Plural (including the listener)	Kita niyu or Kitaniyu
	Plural (excluding the listener)	Kami
2nd Person (to listener)	Singular	Ikaw
	Plural	Kamu
3rd Person (absent)	Singular	Siya
	Plural	Sila

               
                It can be observed that these pronouns are indeed similar with the Tagalog Pronouns, except in some of it such as Kitaniyu (“Tayo” in Tagalog) and Kamu (“Kayo” in Tagalog). Learning these pronouns will surely be a ‘no-sweat’ thing for Filipino learners and those who are already fluent in Tagalog.

                To get a better picture of how these pronouns are used, here is a short Tausug Conversation (this is an example of a quite informal conversation between two peers):

Pagsambung-Laung III

Maryam:          Indah, hisiyu kaw yan?                                 Indah, who are you?
Yusra:              Aku hi Yusra.                                              I am Yusra
Maryam:          Ikaw ka in anak hi abu’ hadji Del?              Are you a daughter of Aunt Hja. Del?
Yusra:              Huun, aku in magulang.                               Yes, I am the eldest.
Maryam:          Pila kamu magtaymanghud?                        How many are you (siblings)?
Yusra:              Tuw. Babai kami katan.                              Three. We are all girls.
Maryam:          Hain na in mga manghud mu?                      Where are your sisters?
Yusra:              Yadtu sila ha iskul.                                      They are at school.
Maryam:          Hi Fairodz, grade pila na?                           What grade is Fairodz now?
Yusra:              Grade six na siya.                                       She is now in Grade six.
Maryam:          Marayaw isab nakapagkila kita.              It is good that we met each other.
Yusra:       Huun sa. Biya’ naglayu’ na kitaniyu           Your right. We have been far from
                        katan yan.                                                   each other (for a while).

                Due to some technical problems (which includes the inability of the author to record the audio in a female voice), the audio file for this conversation will be released next week. Thank you very much for your kind considerations. :-)

                Here are the new Tausug words we learned today in this lesson:

Hisiyu     =    Who                            Manghud   =   Younger sibling                
Pila         =    How many                   Yadtu        =     There
Anak      =    child (son/daughter)       Nakapagkila (r.w. Kila) = to Know or to Meet
Abu’/Babu’  =    Aunt                       Katan     =    All
Magulang     =    Elder child            Naglayu’ (r.w. Layu’)= Become far  

Salam Kasilasa!
Anak Iluh

The Vowel Sounds

             Bismillah. This is the 4th lesson on “Tausug 101: Learning Bahasa Sug” by Anak Iluh. For lists of lessons, please go to: Lists of Lessons.

 

             As we have learned in Lesson 1, there are basically only 3 vowel sounds in Bahasa Sug: the sounds /A/, /I/, and /U/. We all know how their sounds are like, so we don’t need to talk about that. We will instead discuss the different forms and ways these vowels are written and pronounced. We will classify them in to 4 kinds: (1) Repeating vowels, (2) Dual Vowels, (3) Prolonged Vowels and (4) Diphthongs. We will also include in this lesson, the special “Glottal Stop” sound. All examples given in this lesson are recorded in an audio file that you can easily download on the link provided at the end of this post.

Repeating or Double Vowels

             Tausug words having two, the same, repeating vowels are common. The correct way of reading their written text is to pronounce each vowel individually and not to connect them or create a prolonged sound. Examples are:

                          Daakan (commad/order) which is read /da-a-kan/ and not /dá-kan/
                          Giik (Step on, v.) which is read /gi-ik/ and not /giyk/
                          Masuuk (near) which is read /ma-su-uk/ not /ma-suwk/
              (There are some exceptions in this rule, which I hope will be discussed later on)

Dual Vowels

             There are words in Bahasa Sug having two different vowels consecutively. They will follow the same rules with the repeating vowels: each vowel sound must be pronounced individually. Mixing them (creating a diphthong-like sound) must be avoided. Examples include:

                          Saub (cover)      read as /sa-ub/ and not /sawb/
                          Piul (limp)           read as /pi-ul/ not /pi-yul/  
                          Luag (__)             read as /lu-ag/ not /lu-wag/ which means ‘wide’.

             There are times that these vowels are written with a hyphen (-) in between them to emphasize their ‘separations’ as “Sa-ub”, “Pi-ul” and “Lu-ag”. Same applies with the repeating vowels as “Da-akan”, “Gi-ik” and “Masu-uk”. Throughout this course, we will use the traditional, no-hyphen way of writing.

Prolonged Vowels

            

How to say “My Dear”?

      Bismillah. Another commonly asked question is “How do we say ‘My Love’ or ‘My Dearest’ in Tausug?” This, and other questions falling under the subject “Calls of endearment” is what we will talk about in this post.

       There a number of form of calls indicating one’s affection or endearment to another person (be it a child, another family member, or a loved one). We will introduce only the most common ones and their literal meanings, implications and differences with one another.

Lasa Ku (My Love)

      First is Lasa Ku. It literally stands for “My Love” (lasa is “love” and ku is a possessive pronoun for “I”, its equivalent is “my”). This is the most common form of endearment that we often hear in Bahasa Sug. It can be used when calling your beloved someone (ehem). It is also used by senior family members when calling their beloved relatives who are more or less minor in age. (Like an Aunt to her beloved nephews; or a Grandfather to his beloved grandchildren; and of course, the loving parents to their children). It is used regardless of gender of the one being called.
    (I often hear female-friends calling each other with this term. And oh yes, I haven’t heard male-friends doing the same thing. LOL.)

Dayang Ku (My Princess or My Dear or Dearest)
    Then we have Dayang Ku. The word Dayang came from the term Dayang-Dayang which in English is “Princess” (Dayang-Dayang are names given to daughters of the Sultans and other Royal Families way back in the Sulu Sultanate.  It is still used until today). Thus the literal meaning of Dayang-Dayang ku which eventually became Dayang ku is “My Princess”; then only used for females.   
    But through time, the term Dayang ku had evolved and is now used to indicate one’s “showing of importance” to the other person. It can now mean “My dearest”. Although Dayang ku is usually feminine, it is now sometimes used to refer to males also. Dayang ku can be used both for couples (married couples) and also by elder family members to their beloved “children”.

Dang Ku (My Dear)
    Dang ku is the shorter form of Dayang ku, but is more affectionate and less gender-strict. This term are only used by married couples (Husband to wife or wife to husband). Nothing more, nothing less.

Langga’ Ku (My Love)
    The origin of the term Langga’ is from the Bisayan word: Palangga’ (loved one). It is now used in Bahasa Sug to express affection to another person. It is alternatively used for Lasa ku, again used by couples and elder members of the family.

Jantung Ku (My Heart)
      Jantung ku is the least used among the examples we have. It is more poetic and figurative to its meaning (Jantung is “Heart”). We don’t have to discuss why “heart” is preferably used in this sense. We all get the message =)

    So that’s it! We now know the different kinds of calls Tausug used to call their loved ones.

    Please use these terms wisely. (hehe)

    Salam Kasilasa!
    Anak Iluh

LESSON 3: The Letters D and R

       Bismillah. This is the 3rd lesson on “Tausug 101: Learning Bahasa Sinug” by Anak Iluh. For lists of lessons pleas go to: List of Lessons.

       Aside from the changing sounds of the letters /B/ and /G/ as we have learned in Lesson 2, there is yet another unique pair of letters having a unique style of variations. These are the letter /D/ and /R/.

Words beginning with /D/

       Tausug words beginning with the letter /D/ can either be written (or pronounced) with /D/ or /R/ depending on the syllables or the letter that comes before it. Take for example the word “Daig” (beside). It will always be pronounced and written with /D/ when it is preceded by a prefix or a word ending with (1) another consonant or (2) a glottal stop. Hence:

    Nag + Daig    =     Nagdaig            read as /nag-da-ig/ (p.t. of daig)
    Buli’ + Dagat    =    Buli’ Dagat    read:/bu-li’-da-(g)at/ meaning “in the deep sea”

       But when the letter /D/ is placed in between two vowel sounds, as when preceded by a prefix or word ending with a vowel sound, it will be transformed into /R/. It will be pronounced with the /R/ sound and will be written with the /R/ as well, thereby replacing the letter /D/. Study the example below:

    Ha + Daig    =    Ha raig (besides); /D/ is replaced with /R/

Same rule applies even in verbs as:
    Na + Da’pug     =    Nara’pug (Burnt too much)
    Ma + Dugtul    =    Marugtul (To bump)

Words with /D/ in the middle:

       Most Tausug words having the letter /D/ in the middle (excluding the prefixes) will always pronounce and retain the sound of /D/ whether it is preceded by a consonant, a vowel or a glottal stop:
    

        Sandig (lean)     and     Sa’day (slightly Leaning to one side)

How to say "I am Happy"?

        Bismillah. Among the word-translations that I received from emails, the most commonly asked are also the easiest to work on like, “How do you say ‘I am happy’ in Tausug? Or ‘I am tired’?” In this extra post (because it is not part of the Grammar Lessons), we will talk about the simplest form of sentences we can ever find in Bahasa Sug. Special mentions to Jaafar and Dayang ni D for this post.

        When a Tausug is happy, he would only need two words to express it (other than a smile or a good laugh). The statement is:

        “Makuyag aku.”              I am happy.

        (where Makuyag is the word for “happy” and aku is the pronoun for “I”.)

    
        The structure of this sentence is so simple. First you state the condition (usually an adjective; here we used makuyag, “happy”) then you state the subject (who is acting or experiencing that condition; here we used aku, “I” or “me”).  And tadaa! You have constructed a simple sentence (the simplest so far) in Bahasa Sug.

        Let us try to change the pronoun aku with other pronouns. The following examples will be useful to beginners in Bahasa Sug.

The Sounds /Bb/ and /Gg/

      This is the old version! Pls click this link for the updated one (the one with videos!) : http://tausug101.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-letters-bb-and-gg.html

    Bismillah. This is the 2nd lesson on “Tausug 101: Learning Bahasa Sug” by Anak Iluh. For lists of lessons, please go to: Lists of Lessons.

          Among the 17 commonly used consonants we have in Bahasa Sug, two letters are notable of having a “special ruling” on articulating their sounds. These are the letters B and G. Both letters can be pronounced with (1) their regular sounds and (2) their special “spirant” sounds. The following rules must be learnt by anyone who wants to learn to speak Bahasa Sug fluently.

          The rules are simple: look where the letters (B and G) are placed.

          When the letters B and G are placed in the beginning or in the end of a word, they would usually have the regular ‘solid’ /B/ as in /boy/ and /G/ as in /good/. Examples of these Tausug words are:

          Basi’ (Iron/metal)                                            Gadja (Elephant)

          Same rule applies when the letters are placed in the middle of a word AND then follows or is followed by another consonant or a glottal stop such as in:    

          Sagnat (to cling, “sabit” in Tagalog)          Lambung (Shadow)        Si’gub (Burp, n.)

          The special rule (the spirant sound), applies when the two letters are in between two vowel sounds. When this happens, the two letters will take their “spirant” form or sound; meaning they will have a bit of “softer” sound and should not have a “stopping” sound. The letter /G/ would sound like the Huruf Ghain (Gh)  in Arabic; and the letter /B/ would have the sound /V/ as in LEVITATE, but not /V/ in VIOLET. Very good examples of these are the words: 

(vowel)+/B/+(vowel)	(vowel)+/G/+(vowel)
Labay (Pass by, v.)	Bagay (Friend)
Lubid (Rope)	Tagad (Wait, v.)
Tabang (Help, v.)	Higad (Side)
Habay-Habay (Amulet)	Tagaynup (Dream)
Sabun (Soap)	Agap (Parrot)

(Please download the audio copy of these examples. See the links at the end of this post.)

           

         The special sounds of /B/ and /G/ are found to be unique in Bahasa Sug (and perhaps in other sister dialects as Sinama and Yakan). But there is indeed a great difference in pronouncing these sounds in Bahasa Sug compared to that in Tagalog, where the sounds are more pronounced. Comparisons are seen in the following examples:

Alipba'ta': The Alphabets in Bahasa Sūg

Originally published: June 4, 2012

Updated: January 15, 2015

Assalamu Alaykum. This is the first lesson on “Tausūg 101: Learning Bahasa Sūg” by Anak Iluh. For more lessons, please click list of lessons. 

Spoken languages are made by articulating different sounds. And just like any other languages, Bahasa Sūg has its own sets of letters with their respective sounds as well. I have to remind everyone that the original letters were written in Sulat Sūg (the Jawi form) and these Latin letters are only representations of the sounds that are common with the other languages. This was discussed in our previous post “Tausūg 101: Learning Bahasa Sūg (Intro) ##link##”.

For this lesson on with the other succeeding lessons to come, we will use the guideline set by a Tausug Scholar for this, Dr. Benjamin Bangahan in his published work: “Bahasa Sūg Phonetics and Orthography” as found in this link: Bangsasulu. We are publishing it here with his permission as well.

Alipba’ta’: The Alphabets in Bahasa Sūg

                The Bahasa Sūg alphabet is known as Alipba’ta’ or shorter Alipba’. It is composed of 4 vowel sounds and 24* consonant sounds, with a total of 28 letters.  They are as follows with their names and pronunciations:

Vowels (4)
Sinūg Letter	Name/pronunciation	Equivalent in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Aa	Ā	/a/
Ii	Iy	/i/
Uu	Uw	/u/
Üü	Ü	/ė/

Consonants (24)
Basic Consonants (17)
Sinūg Letter	Name/pronunciation	Equivalent in International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)
Bb	Bā’	/b/, /β/
Tt	Tā’	/t/
Jj	Jiym	/dʒ/
Hh	Hā’	/h/
Dd	Dāl	/d/
Rr	Rā’	/r/
Ss	Siyn	/s/
Gg	Gā’	/ɡ/, /ɣ/
Pp	Pā’	/p/
Kk	Kāp	/k/
Ll	Lām	/l/
Mm	Miym	/m/
Nn	Nuwn	/n/
NG ng	Ngā’	/ŋ/
NY ny	Nyā’	/ɲ/
Ww	Wāw	/w/
Yy	Yā’	/y/
Borrowed from Arabic (6)*
DH dh	Dhāl	/ð/
Ff	Fā	/f/
KH kh	Khā’	/x/
GH gh	Ghayn	/ɣ/
SH sh*	Shiyn	/ʃ/
Qq	Qawf	/q/
Borrowed from Malay (1)
Ch ch/TS ts	Tsā’	/t͡ʃ/

*In Dr. Bangahan’s guideline, the letter /Sh/ was not included in the borrowed consonants, thus the total number of consonants were 23 letters. We added the letter /Sh/ in this lesson/blog and so our total number of consonants are 24 instead of 23.

                The three vowels, /A/, /I/ and /U/ are the same as the English vowels and the Arabic sounds Fatha (a), Kasra (i) and Damma (u). Usually, there are no /O/ or /E/ sounds in Bahasa Sūg in contrast with the English vowels. Although at present time, due to the influence of ‘modernization’, we can find some Tausūg words written with letters “O” and “E” in them; it must still be considered that the original vowels were only three. These vowels, their derivatives and transformations will be discussed in Lesson 4, in sha Allah.

          The fourth vowel /Üü/ is an exception though. According to Dr. Bangahan, “it is pronounced similar to the “u” in the English word “urn” symbolized in the dictionary with “ė” with a diacritical dot on top…” There are certain words in Bahasa Sūg that uses the letter /ü/ instead of the regular /u/. Their usage are also distinct in some Tausūgs living in the rural areas in the Sulu islands. This is a bit harder to explain in text, so for the sake of making things simpler, throughout the lessons we will only use the vowel /Uu/ for all words with this sound unless necessary changes are needed.

          The 17 basic common consonants—all except letters B and G—will have the same sounds as the universal phonetic sounds, all throughout; be it in conversations or in written words. There are some letters that changes as their positions in a word or in a sentence are changed (an example is the word “Daig” to “Haraig”) which will also be discussed along the course. The special rulings in pronouncing the sounds /Bb/ and /Gg/, and the variations in some letters like /D/, /R/, /K/, /P/, etc. will be discussed in Lessons 2 and 3 respectively, in shaa Allah.

         There are also ‘occasional’ borrowed sounds found in Bahasa Sūg. Most of them are consonants derived or borrowed from other languages such as Arabic and Malay which are

Arabic (6): /F/ in Fatima, /Gh/ in Ghaib, /Kh/ in Khalifa,

    /Sh/ in Shaytan, /Q/ in Qur’an and /Z/ in Zakat.

Malay (1): /Ch or Ts/ as in Bitsara

These borrowed letters are only used in borrowed words, proper names as names of person as “Shamir”, “Zainab” or in other Islamic terms as “Zakat”, “Khalifa”, “Shaytan”, etc.

                These are the letters and sounds you will meet in Bahasa Sūg. It is more or less commonly found in other languages as well. If you have a good background in Tagalog and a little of Arabic, and Malay you will surely have an easier way of learning Bahasa Sūg as well. No sweat!

We will have more of these conversations in the future, in sha Allah. For questions, suggestions and translations, please like our Facebook page Tausūg 101 and post your queries. You can also email me at anakiluhmd@gmail.com. Our next lesson is about the special rulings on “The Sounds B and G”.

Salam Kasilasa.
Anak Iluh