Learning the Bagobo Dialect

To learn the Bagobo dialect, we need to refer to our Pilipino subject in school: ang apat na bigkas ng mga salita: malumay, malumi (`), mabilis (´) at maragsa (^).


Example:
Pilipino (maragsa) : basâ (wet), hindî (no/not), gintô (gold).
Bagobo (maragsa) : apô

Pilipino (malumi) : lahì (ethnicity), diwà (spirit)
Bagobo (malumi) : innà, ammà, mamà

Vocabulary:


1. Apô: grandparent, grandchild
2. Innà: mother
3. Ammà: father
4. Batà: child
5. Adi/Kataladi: sibling
6. Bayi: female
7. Mama: male (unstressed)
8. Mamà: chewing betel
9. Bale: house
10. Duma: spouse

Usage:

1. Tugel dn tô apô Abét ko. (My grandmother Abet is already old.)
2. Mallayat ni ulo kaní innà ko. (This mother of mine has long hair … or My mother has long hair.)
3. Madita salapî ní ammà ko. (My father has so much money… or My father is rich.)
4. Pittò tô batà din. (He has 7 children.)
5. Duton Guam to adi ko bayi. (My younger sister is in Guam.)
6. Maripà to umpák katô dakl bayi. (The woman’s dress is dirty.)
7. Madita mama duton bale dan. (There are many men in their house.)
8. Diyá kalyagan ag tongkò katô mga manubò ag mamà. (I don’t like to talk to people chewing betel.)
9. Anda to bale no? (Where is your house?)
10. Duton lumo to duma ko. (My husband/wife is at work.)

Let’s learn more:

1.   tugel: old
      dn : already (this is the best I could come up with because a vowel
             would change its sound… thanks to text messaging style)
      tô : a demonstrative pronoun  ex: to apo (that grandma)
      ko : a possessive pronoun meaning “my”

2.   mal-layat: long
      ulo : hair
      kaní : demonstrative pronoun ex: kani inna (this mother…)

3.   madita : plenty, so much
      salapi : money
      ni : short for “kaní”

4.   pit-tó : seven
      din : a pronoun which refers to the person (singular) who has 7 kids

5.   duton: a pronoun referring to places ex: duton datas (upstairs), duton
                 siyong (downstairs)
      adi ko bayi: my younger sister
      adi ko mama: my younger brother

6.   maripà: dirty
      umpák: dress, clothing
      da-kl : big, large (da-kel, da-kil may be right but not as right
                  as removing the vowel)
      di-lk : small, little (may be pronounced di-lik, di-lak, di-luk but it's
                 just not right)

7.   bale : house, home
      dan : a pronoun which refers to several persons (plural of “din”)

8.   diyá : I don’t, I won’t
      kalyagan: like, being liked (from the root word “kalyag”) So many
                      meanings depending on its conjugation.
      tongkò: talk
      katò: a demonstrative pronoun which means “those”
      manubo: people, stranger

9.   anda : where (unstressed)
      andà : none, nothing
      no : possessive pronoun meaning “your”

10. lumo: work, job

Note: The words I use here are the very words I hear from people around me when I was young... it is how my Apo Inna and my mother used to talk to their fellow Bagobos.  Our  mother did not talk to us in the Bagobo dialect because our father was not Bagobo.

If anyone who can speak perfect Bagobo (Tagabawa) can spot mistakes... please don't hesitate to comment.