Kapampangan language

Kapampangan
Spoken in: Philippines 
Region: Central Luzon
Total speakers: 2.4 million
Language family: Austronesian
 Malayo-Polynesian
  Borneo-Philippines
   Central Luzon
    Kapampangan 
Writing system: Latin (Iindigenized or Spanish variant);
Historically written in Baybayin 
Official status
Official language in: Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated by: Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
(Commission on the Filipino Language)
Language codes
ISO 639-1: None
ISO 639-2: pam
ISO 639-3: pam
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Kapampangan is one of the major languages of the Philippines. The language is also called Pampango, Capampañgan, Pampangueño, and Amanung Sisuan. The latter literally means "breastfed language" and is analogous to the term "native language."

Contents

History

The word Kapampangan is derived from the rootword pampang which means "river bank."

Very little is known about the language prior to the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century.

In the 18th century, two books were written by Fr. Diego Bergaño. He authored Vocabulario de la lengua Pampanga[1] and Arte de la lengua Pampanga.

The Kapampangan Language produced two literary giants in the 19th century. Father Anselmo Fajardo was noted for his works Gonzalo de Córdova and Comedia Heróica de la Conquista de Granada. Another writer, Juan Crisostomo Soto, was noted for writing many plays. He authored Alang Dios in 1901. The Kapampangan poetical joust "Crissotan" was coined by his fellow literary genius Nobel Prize nominee for peace and literature in the 50's, Amado Yuzon to immortalize his contribution to Pampanga's Literature. Currently, the use of Kapampangan, even in areas where the language has traditionally been spoken, is in decline.[2]

Classification

Kapampangan is a Northern Philippine language within the Austronesian language family.

The position of Kapampangan among the Northern Philippine language family is not clear. It's been grouped by SIL as a member of the geographically disjointed Bashiic-Central Luzon-Northern Mindoro language subfamily. This includes languages like Ivatan (spoken north of Luzon), Yami (spoken on Orchid Island, near the southeast coast of Taiwan, and closely related to Ivatan), and Iraya of the island of Mindoro.

Kapampangan's closest relatives are the Sambal languages of Zambales province and the Bolinao language spoken in the town of Bolinao, Pangasinan.

Most, if not all, of these languages share the same reflex of the Proto-Austronesian consonant *R, which is /j/ in those languages.

Geographic distribution

Kapampangan-speaking areas

Kapampangan is primarily spoken in the provinces of Pampanga and in the southern towns of the province of Tarlac (Bamban, Capas, Concepcion, San Jose, Gerona, La Paz, and Tarlac City). It is also spoken in isolated communities within the provinces of Bataan (Abucay, Dinalupihan, Hermosa, and Samal), Bulacan (Plaridel, Pulilan, and Calumpit), Nueva Ecija (Cabiao, San Isidro, Gapan City and Cabanatuan City), Zambales (Olongapo City and Subic) and Metro Manila.

The Philippine Census of 2000 stated that a total of 2,312,870 out of 76,332,470 people spoke Kapampangan as their native language.

Phonology

Standard Kapampangan has 21 phonemes: 15 consonants and five vowels. Some western dialects of Kapampangan have six vowels. Syllable structure is relatively simple. Each syllable contains at least a consonant and a vowel.

Vowels

Kapampangan is complete in vowel phonemes, they are:

In addition to those, some dialects also had /ə/. In some western accents, there is a sixth monophthong phoneme /ɯ/, a close back unrounded vowel, found in for example [atɯp] "roof" and [lalɯm] "deep". However, this sound has merged with /a/ for most Kapampangan speakers.

There are four main diphthongs; /aɪ/, /oɪ/, /aʊ/, and /iʊ/. However, in most dialects, including standard Kapampangan, /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ are reduced to /ɛ/ and /o/, respectively.

The monophthongs have allophones in unstressed and word-final positions:

Consonants

Below is a chart of Kapampangan consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. The velar nasal occurs in all positions including at the beginning of a word.

Unlike other Philippine languages, Kapampangan lacks the phoneme /h/.

Bilabial Dental /
Alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n (ng) ŋ
Stop voiceless p t (ts, tiy) tʃ k - ʔ
voiced b d (diy) dʒ g
Fricative s (siy) ʃ
Flap r
Approximant l (y) j w

Stress

Stress is phonemic in Kapampangan. Primary stress occurs on either the last or the next-to-last syllable of a word. Vowel lengthening accompanies primary or secondary stress except when stress occurs at the end of a word.

Historical sound changes

In Kapampangan, the Proto-Philippine schwa vowel *ə has merged to /a/ in most dialects of Kapampangan. It is preserved in some western dialects. For example, Proto-Philippine *tanəm is tanam (to plant) in Kapampangan. Compare with Tagalog tanim and Cebuano tanom.

Proto-Philippine *R merged with /j/. For example, the Kapampangan word for "new" is bayu while in Tagalog it is bago and baro in Ilokano.

Grammar

Nouns

While Kapampangan nouns are not inflected, they are usually preceded by case markers. There are three types of case markers: absolutive (nominative), ergative (genitive), and oblique.

Unlike English and Spanish which are nominative-accusative languages, Kapampangan is an ergative-absolutive language. It's a common misconception that Kapampangan is frequently spoken in the passive voice.

Absolutive or nominative markers mark the actor of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb.

Ergative or genitive markers mark the object (usually indefinite) of an intransitive verb and the actor of a transitive one. It also marks possession.

Oblique markers are similar to prepositions in English. It marks things such as location and direction.

Furthermore, noun markers are divided into two classes: one for names of people (personal) and the second for everything else (common).

Below is a chart of case markers.

  Absolutive Ergative Oblique
Common singular ing -ng,
ning		 qng
Common plural ding
ring		 ring caring
Personal singular i -ng cang
Personal plural di
ri		 ri cari

Examples:

Dinatang ya ing lalaqui.
"The man has arrived."

Iquit neng Juan i Maria.
"John saw Maria."

Munta la ri Elena ampong Robertu qng bale nang Miguel./Munta la di Elena ampong Robertu qng bale nang Miguel.
"Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house."

Nucarin la ring libro?
"Where are the books?"

Ibie que ing susi cang Carmen.
I will give the key to Carmen.

Pronouns

Kapampangan pronouns are categorized by case: absolutive, ergative, and oblique.

  Absolutive
(Independent)		 Absolutive
(Enclitic)		 Ergative Oblique
1st person singular yacu, acu cu cu canacu, cacu
2nd person singular ica ca mu queca
3rd person singular iya, ya ya na queya, caya
1st person dual icata cata, ta ta quecata
1st person plural inclusive icatamu, itamu catamu, tamu tamu, ta quecatamu, quecata
1st person plural exclusive icami, ique cami, que mi quecami, queque
2nd person plural icayo, ico cayu, co yu quecayu, queco
3rd person plural ila la da
ra		 carela

Examples:

Sinulat cu.
"I wrote."

Silatanan na cu.
"(He or She) wrote me."

Dinatang ya.
"(He or She) has arrived." [Note: Dinatang ya = "He arrived" or "He arrives"; He has arrived = Dinatang ne]

Sabyan me cacu.
"Tell me it." [I don't know how to explain this; more proper translation is: tell it to me or to some effect "advise me"}

Ninu ing minaus queca?
"Who called you?

Mamasa la.
"They are reading."

Mamangan la ring babi?/Mamangan la ding babi?
"Are the pigs eating?" (literally: "Eating they the pigs?")

Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can take the place of the genitive pronoun but they precede the word they modify.

Ing bale cu.
Ing cacung bale.
"My house."

The dual pronoun icata refers to only the first and second persons.

The inclusive pronoun icatamu refers to the first and second persons. It may also refer to a third person(s).

The exclusive pronoun icamí refers to the first and third persons but excludes the second.

Ala tang nasi.
"We (you and I) do not have rice." [the word "you" here maybe plural or singular]

Ala tamung nasi.
"We (you and I and someone else) do not have rice." [this is the same as above; "tang" is only a shortcut of "tamung"]

Ala queng nasi.
"We (someone else and I, but not you) do not have rice." [the third person maybe singular or plural, that is, "we" may refer to "He/She and I" or "They and I"]

Furthermore, Kapampangan stands out among many Philippine languages in requiring the presence of the pronoun even if the noun it represents, or the grammatical antecedent, is present.

Dinatang ya i Erning. (not *dinatang i Erning)
"Ernie arrived."

Mamasa la ri Maria at Juan./Mamasa la di Maria at Juan. (not *mamasa ri Maria at Juan/mamasa di Maria at Juan)
"Maria and Juan are reading."

Silatanan na cang José. (not *silatanan kang José)
"José wrote you."

As a comparison, it would be akin to saying *dumating siya si Erning, *bumabasa sila sina Maria at Juan and *sinulatan ka niya ni José in Tagalog.

Special forms

The pronouns ya and la have special forms when they are used in conjunction with the words ati (there is/are) and ala (there is/are not).

Ati yu qng Pampanga. (not *Ati ya qng Pampanga)
"He is in Pampanga."

Ala lu ring doctor keni./Ala lu ding doctor keni. (not *ala la ring doctor queni/ala la ding doctor queni)
The doctors are no longer here.

Note: for some speakers of Kapampangan (possibly certain dialects), all of the above forms can be used:
Both "ati yu" and "ati ya" are equally right. Plural form ("they are") is "atilu" and "atila".
Both "ala la" and "ala lu" are correct in the plural form. Singular form is "ala ya" and "ala yu"

Pronoun combinations

The order and forms in which Kapampangan pronouns appear in sentences are outlined in the following chart.

Kapampangan pronouns follow a certain order following verbs or particles like negation words. The enclitic pronoun is always first followed by another pronoun or discourse marker.

Iquit da ca.
"I saw you."

Silatanan na cu.
"He wrote to me."

However, the following constructions are incorrect: *iquit ca da and *silatanan cu na

Also, pronouns combine to form one portmanteau pronoun.

Iquit que. (instead of Iquit cu ya)
"I saw her."

Dinan cong pera. (instead of Dinan cu lang pera.)
 "I will give them money." [Actually "Dinan cu la..." is correct; "cong..." is a shortcut of "cu lang..."]

Portmanteau pronouns are not usually used in questions and while using the word naman. Furthermore,

Acaquit me? (instead of acaquit me?)
Do you see him?

Buri nya naman yan/buri ne murin yan. (instead of buri ne naman yan)
he likes that, too

The chart below outlines the permitted combinations of pronouns. There are blank entries to denote combinations which are deemed impossible.

The column headings (i.e., yacu, ica, etc.) in bold denote pronouns in the absolutive case while the row headings (i.e., cu, mu, etc.) denote pronouns in the ergative case.

  yacu
1 s		 ica
2 s		 ya
3 s		 icata
1 dual		 icatamu
1 p inc.		 icami
1 p exc.		 icayo
2 p		 ila
3 p
cu
1 s		 (ing sarili cu) da ka
ra ca		 que
queya		 - - - da co (ra co)
da cayu (ra cayu)		 co
cu la
mu
2 s		 mu cu (ing sarili mu) me
mya		 - - mu que
mu cami		 - mo
mu la
na
3 s		 na cu na ca ne
nya
(ing sarili na)		 na cata na catamu na que
na cami		 na co
na cayu		 no
nu la
ta
1 dual		 - - te
tya		 (ing sarili ta) - - - to
ta la
tamu
1 p inc.		 - - ta ya - (ing sarili tamu) - - ta la
mi
1 p exc.		 - da ca
ra ca		 mi ya - - (ing sarili mi) da co (ra ko)
da cayu (ra kayu)		 mi la
yu
2 p		 yu cu - ye
ya		 - - yu que
yu cami		 (ing sarili yu) yo
yu la
da
3 p		 da cu
ra cu		 da ca
ra ca		 de (re)
dya		 da cata
ra cata		 da catamu
ra catamu		 da que (ra ke)
da cami (ra cami)		 da co(ra co)
da cayu (ra cayu)		 do (ro)
da la (ra la)
(ing sarili da)

Demonstrative pronouns

Kapampangan's demonstrative pronouns are outlined in the chart below.

This particular system of demonstrative pronouns differs with other Philippine languages by having separate forms for the singular and plural.

  Absolutive Ergative Oblique Locative Existential
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nearest to speaker
(this, here)		 ini deni
reni		 nini dareni canini careni oyni oreni queni
Near speaker & addressee
(this, here)		 iti deti
reti		 niti dareti caniti careti oyti oreti queti
Nearest addressee
(that, there)		 iyan den
ren		 niyan daren canyan caren oyan oren quen
Remote
(yon, yonder)		 ita deta
reta		 nita dareta canita careta oyta oreta queta

The demonstrative pronouns ini and iti (as well as their respective forms) both mean "this" but each have distinct uses.

Iti usually refers to something abstract but may also refer to concrete nouns. For example, iting musica (this music), iti ing gagawan mi (this is what we do).

Ini is always concrete and never abstract. For example ining libru (this book), ini ing asu nang Juan (this is Juan's dog).

Furthermore, in their locative forms, keni is used when the person spoken to is not near the subject spoken of. Queti, on the other hand, when the person spoken to is near the subject spoken of. For example, two people in the same country will refer to their country as queti however, they will refer to their respective towns as queni. Both mean here.

Nanu ini?
"What's this?"

Mangabanglu la rening sampaga./Mangabanglu la dening sampaga.
"These flowers smell good."

Ninu ing lalaking ita?
"Who is that man/guy?"

Me queni/munta ca queni.
"Come here."

Ati cu queti/atsu cu queni/atyu cu queni.
"I am here."

Mangan la queta.
"They will eat there."

Ninu ing anac a yan?
"Who is that child?"

Uyta/Oyta ya pala ing salamin mo/mu!
"So that's where your glasses are!"

E cu pa menaquit macanyan/macanini.
"I haven't seen one of these before"

Manyaman la ren./Manyaman la den.
Those are delicious.

Ayni/Areni/Oreni la reng adwang regalo para queca.
"Here are the two gifts for you."

Verbs

Kapampangan verbs are morphologically complex and take on a variety of affixes reflecting focus, aspect, mode, and others.

Ambiguities and irregularities

Speakers of other Philippine languages find Kapampangan verbs to be more difficult than their own languages' verbs due to some verbs belonging to unpredictable verb classes as well as ambiguity with certain verb forms.

To illustrate this, let's take the rootword sulat (write) which exists in both Tagalog and Kapampangan.

For example:

The object-focus suffix -an represents two types of focuses. However, the only difference between the two is that one of the conjugations preserves -an in the completed aspect while it is dropped in the other conjugation. Take the two verbs below:

bayaran (to pay someone): bayaran (will pay someone), babayaran (is paying someone), beyaran (paid someone)
bayaran (to pay for something): bayaran (will pay for something), babayaran (is paying for something), binayad (paid for something)

Note that other Philippine languages have separate forms. For example, there is -in and -an in Tagalog, -on and -an in Bikol and in most of the Visayan languages, and -en and -an in Ilokano. This is due to historical sound changes concerning Proto-Philippine /*e/ mentioned above.

There are a number of actor-focus verbs which do not use the infix -um- but are usually conjugated like other verbs that do. For example, gawa (to do), bulus (to immerse), terak (to dance), lucas (to take off), sindi (to smoke), saclu (to fetch), tacbang (to step), tuqui (to accompany), etc. are used instead of *gumawa, *bumulus, *tumerac, *lumucas, *sumindi, *sumaclu, *tumacbang, *tumuqui,

Many of the verbs mentioned in the previous paragraph undergo a change of their vowel rather than use the infix -in- (completed aspect). In the actor focus (i.e., -um- verbs), this happens only to verbs having the vowel /u/ in the first syllable. For example, the verb lucas (to take off) is conjugated lucas (will take off), lulucas (is taking off), and licas (took off) (rather than *linucas).

This change of vowel also applies to certain object-focus verbs in the completed aspect. In addition to /u/ becoming /i/, /a/ becomes /e/ in certain cases. For example, dela (brought something) and not *dinala, semal (worked on something) and not *sinamal, and seli (bought) and not *sinali.

Furthermore, there is no written distinction between the two mag- affixes in writing. Magsalita can either mean is speaking or will speak. There is an audible difference, however. [mɐgsaliˈtaʔ] means "will speak" while [ˌmaːgsaliˈtaʔ] means "is speaking".

Conjugation chart

Below is a chart of the basic Kapampangan verbal affixes.

  Infinitive &
Contemplative		 Progressive Completed
Actor Focus1a -um- CV- -in-
Actor Focus1b - CV- -in-
-i-
Actor Focus1c m- mVm- min-
me-
Actor Focus2 mag- mág- mig-, meg-
Actor Focus3 ma- má- ne-
Actor Focus4 maN- máN- meN-
Object Focus1 -an CV- ... -an -in-
-i-
-e-
Object Focus2
Benefactive Focus		 i- iCV- i- -in-
i- -i-
i- -e-
Object Focus3
Locative Focus		 -an CV- ... -an -in- ... -an
-i- ... -an
-e- ... -an
Instrument Focus ipaN- páN- piN-, peN
Reason Focus ca- cá- que-

Enclitic Particles

1. ba: used optionally in yes-and-no questions and other types of questions.
2. daw/raw: reporting or hearsay particle that expresses that the information is second-hand; he said, she said, they said, it was said, allegedly, reportedly, supposedly.
3. din/rin: inclusive particle that adds something to what was said before; also, too.
4. icá: expresses hope, unrealized condition (with verb in completed aspected), used in conditional aspects.
5. itá: expresses uncertainty and unrealized idea; perhaps, probably, seems.
6. kahit, man: even, even if, even though.
7. kung: condition particle that expresses unexpected event; if.
8. lang: limiting particle; only, just.
9. na and pa

10. namán: used in making contrasts and softens requests and emphasis.
11. nanu ita: expresses cause; because, because of.
12. ngâ: used in affirmations or emphasis and also softens imperatives; indeed.
13. palá: realization particle that expresses that the speaker has realized and/or suddenly remembered something.
14. po: politeness particle.

Existential

To express existence (there is/are) and possession (to have), the word atí is used.

Negation

There are two negation words: alí and alá.

Alí negates verbs and equations. It means no and/or not.

Alá is the opposite of atí.

Interrogative Words

Comustá is used to inquire how something is (are). It is frequently used as a greeting meaning How are you? It is derived from the Spanish ¿cómo está?

Comustá na ca?
“How are you?”

Comustá ya ing pasyente?
“How is the patient?”

Nanu means what.

Nanu ya ing gagawan mu?
“What are you doing?”

Ninu means who.

Ninu la reng lalake?/Ninu la deng lalaque?
“Who are those men?”

Ninu i Jennifer?
“Who is Jennifer?”

Nocarin means where but is used to inquire about the location of an object and not used with verbs.

Nocarin ya ing drayber?
“Where is the driver?”
Note: Drayber is the Kapampangan phonetic spelling of “driver.”

Nocarin ya i Henry?
“Where is Henry?”

Loan words

Kapampangan has a plethora of Spanish loan words, given its more than three hundred years of occupation. Among a few examples are suerti from Spanish suerte (luck), curus from cruz (cross), carni from carne (meat), and corsunada from corazonada.

Due to the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism from the surrounding islands, Kapampangan also acquired words from Sanskrit. A few examples are:

Kapampangan also contains a lot of Chinese especially from Cantonese and Hokkien. Examples are:

Examples

Some Common Phrases

Numbers

Number Kapampangan
1 Metung/Isa
2 Adua
3 Atlu
4 Apat
5 Lima
6 Anam
7 Pitu/pito
8 Walu/walo
9 Siyam
10 Apulu
11 Labing metung
12 Labing adua
13 Labing atlu
14 Labing apat
15 Labing lima
20 Adwang pulu
21 Adwang pulu't metung
22 Adwang pulu't adua
30 Atlung pulu
100 Dinalan
200 Aduang dalan
1,000 Libu / Metung Libu / Metung a Libu
2,000 Aduang Libu
20,000 Aduang Pulung Libu
100,000 Dinalang Libu / Dinalan a Libu
200,000 Auwang Dalan Libu / Auwang Dalan A Libu
1,000,000 Milyon / Metung Milyón / Metung a Milyon
2,000,000 Aduang Milyon

Traditional Children's Song

Atin cu pung singsing
Metung yang timpucan
Amana que iti
Qng indung ibatan [Better = "Cang..."]
Sangcan qng sininup
Qng metung a caban
Mewala ya iti,
E cu camalayan.

Ing sucal ning lub cu
Susucdul queng banua
Picurus cung gamat[or the active "Micurus..."]
Babo ning lamesa
Ninu mang manaquit
Qng singsing cung mana
Calulung pusu ku
Manginu ya queya.

English Translation:

I once had a ring
With a beautiful gem
I inherited this
From my mother
I stored it as well as I could
In a hopebox
But it just suddenly disappeared
I didn't notice.

The heartache inside me
Is as high as the sky
My crossed hands (as I pray)
Are upon the table
Whoever would find
That inherited ring
[Better: My inherited ring] My poor heart (that's aching)
Shall forever worship him/her.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bergaño
  2. ↑ In many gatherings Kapampangans seem more confident and articulate in exchanging views and ideas among their own K[abalen] ‘countrymen’ ... in Tagalog than they would in their own [mother tongue]. For instance, many Catholic priests are now delivering their homilies in the Tagalog language during a Kapampangan liturgy while high school student meetings are conducted in the Tagalog language even if all the participants are Kapampangans. http://www.silinternational.org/asia/philippines/ical/papers/pangilinan-Dispute%20on%20Orthography.pdf

External links

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Bikol • Cebuano • Hiligaynon • Ilokano • Kapampangan • Kinaray-a • Maguindanao • Maranao • Pangasinan • Tagalog • Tausug • Waray-Waray
Recognized auxiliary languages
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