Bisaya Lesson 1 | Cebuano Lesson 1
by Dr. Jessie Grace U. Rubrico
Cebuano Sounds (Phonemes)
Cebuano has 16 consonant and 3 vowel sounds, to wit:
/b, k, d, g, h, l, m, n, ng, p, r, s, t, w, y, ?/ and /a, i, u/ respectively.
These are articulated as follows:
Eng. Key | Ceb. Words | Eng. Key | Ceb. Words |
/b/~ bank | ba'ta (child) |
/ng/~ ring | ng'ipon(teeth) |
/k/~ carpet | k ape' (coffee) |
/p/~pen | papel'(paper) |
/d/~ dike | d alan (road) |
/r/~ red | relo'(clock) |
/g/~ gate | g a'tas (milk) |
/s/~ soap | sabon'(soap) |
/h/~ hot | h ag'dan (stair) |
/t/~ tap | t'wo(person) |
/l/~ luck | lamas'(spice) |
/w/~ wash | wa'say(ax) |
/m/~ man | manok'(chicken> |
/y/~ yen | ya'wi(key) |
/n/~now | nut'buk(notebok) |
/?/~ ?uh?uh | amo'?(monkey) |
/a/ is low central vowel -- asu’kar (sugar), pa’pa (dad), abog’ (dust), awto (car)
/i/ is mid-front vowel -- it has two forms: [ i ] and [ e ] -- ikaw’ (you), tse’ke (check),
papel’ (paper), sek’retar,yo (secretary), tiil (feet)
/u/ is mid-high back vowel -- it has also two forms: [ o ] and [ u ] -- tu’o (v. believe)
tinu’od (true), bas’tos (ill-mannered), u’lo (head), tu’hod (knee), tubig (water)
**Stress is indicated by an apostrophe [ ‘ ]. Stress is phonemic in Cebuano.
Note:- tu’o (believe) -- tuo’ (right hand)>
- wala? (none) -- wala’ (left hand) -- wa’la (get lost)
- a’mo? (ours) -- amo? (monkey) -- a’mo (master)
**Common phrases
- kape ug asukar (coffe and sugar)
- papa sa bata (father of the child)
- tiil ug tuhod (feet and knee)
- relo sa tawo (the man’s watch/clock)
- sabon ug tubig (soap and water)
- yawi sa awto (the car key)
[ug -- and; sa -- possessive of]
**dialog + vocabulary and grammar notes + common expressions list
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Introducing yourself in Cebuano
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