When Bagobos Come To Visit

Image by Ingrid Russelle Barcelona

Simple conversation when Bagobos visit or accept visitors into their homes:

Madiggir - (Tagalog: Tao Po) - the word in itself  means "good" but in the context of visiting a home, it can be loosely translated as "hello" in English or any other greetings you say when you announce your presence in the home that you visit.

Al-lus ko -  an invitation for some people to drop by your home.
Al-lus ka - an invitation for one person to drop by your home.

Penek ko - come up (the stairs) - plural
Penek ka - come up (the stairs)  - singular

Ahu ko - come in (plural)
Ahu ka - come in (singular)

Unsad ko - sit down (plural)
Unsad ka - sit down (singular)



Andin eg ulitin no? - Literally: what is it that you want to tell me? But conversationally, it means: "Why have you come?"

Variation: Dun ag ulitin no? - Do you have anything to say? (This is mostly heard when someone suddenly comes in the night which implies that there must be some urgency in the visit.)

There is not much distinction between "ag" and "eg" because the word sounds like "ugh."

Dun is short for duwon/duwan (Tagalog: mayroon) Again - there is no distinction for duwon or duwan because what you hear is "du-wn" -- vowels are not stressed in this tribal dialect.

Andin to kalyag no? - What do you want?

By this time, it must be clear that "andin" means "what."

Duwon pd ulitin ko kaneko - I would like to tell you something.

(again, no vowels between P and D though you might want to use "pod" or "pid" -- it really is hard to distinguish what vowel to use between p and d)

Andin to? - What is it?

Memu a mal-las kato pala nu? - Can I borrow your shovel.

Note: mal-las is the conjugated form of bal-las  (to borrow).

Uli-en ko kanik mapon. - I'll return it in the afternoon.

Mal-las a pid kaneko ka salapi kaliman pisus. -  May I also borrow fifty pesos from you?

Oo, paballas-san ku sikuna ka kaliman pisus. - Yes, I'll lend you fifty pesos.

Salamat, bullasan ko ni dumunggo linggo. - Thank you, I'll return it next week.

Muna ad kaniyo. - I'll go ahead.

Muli ad. - I'm going home.

Pano kid. - Let's go now.

Lonod ka. - Come again.

Oo, lumunod a. - Yes, I'll come back.

More coversations in the next posts. Nah! Ginawa yu....!!!