Kinaray-a Language Guide

Also spoken in
Philippines
Script
Latin

Where it's spoken

A grammar sketch by Rovi A. Miedes describes Kinaray-a as an Austronesian language spoken mainly in Antique Province in the Philippines. It adds that the language is also spoken in Iloilo province and in certain villages in Mindanao that trace their roots to Antique Province or to the Kinaray-a-speaking areas of Iloilo Province. The sketch says it is a misconception among some Hiligaynon speakers that Kinaray-a is a dialect of Hiligaynon, because the two belong to different, but related, language subgroups.

A study of Kinaray-a discourse particles places Antique Province on Panay Island within the Western Visayas region. The study examines the variety used in the southern part of the province and says it is widely spoken in the municipalities of Anini-y, Tobias Fornier, San Jose de Buenavista, Sibalom, and Bugasong. Its authors add that each municipality of the province potentially harbors various dialects of Kinaray-a, and that dialect differences may affect phonology, vocabulary, and even certain syntactic structures.

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Script & pronunciation

The Unicode CLDR data records Latin as the script of Kinaray-a.

The grammar sketch and the discourse-particle study both write some words with a hyphen inside them, as in sin-o ("who") and kung gab-i ("at night"). This app's card Sin-o? ("Who?") spells the question word the same way. The app's evening greeting spells the word for night without a hyphen, as gabii in Mayad nga gabii. ("Good evening."), so the same word can appear in two spellings.

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Grammar essentials

In the grammar sketch's examples of sentence structure, the verb comes first and the noun or pronoun follows, as in Nagdalagan si Ayen ("Ayen ran") and Nagdalagan tana ("She/he ran").

The sketch's table of personal pronouns lists ako and ko for "I", ikaw for singular "you", and separate forms for "we": kita (inclusive) and kami (exclusive). The discourse-particle study glosses both ikaw and kaw as the second-person singular and glosses ta as inclusive "we". The app's cards use these shorter forms in Kamusta kaw? ("How are you?") and Gusto ko dya. ("I want this.").

In the sketch's examples of negation, the negative word comes at the start of the clause: wara in Wara run ako ti makaun ("I have nothing more to eat"), indi in Indi run ako ka panaw ("I can't walk anymore"), bukun in Bukun ti ikaw ang akun ginaistorya ("I am not talking to you"), and indi in the command Indi pagkan-a ang pinya ("Don't eat the pineapple"). The Marayum dictionary defines indi as a negative answer, as in Indi. ("No."). The app's cards follow the same order: Indi ko gusto dya. ("I don't want this."), Indi pwede. ("Not allowed. / Can't."), and Wara takun kamaan. ("I don't know."), where the discourse-particle study glosses takun as the first-person singular.

The sketch says that most yes-no questions are recognized only by the rise and fall of the speaker's voice, as in May pagkaun kaw dyan? ("Do you have food?"). For question words, its examples include ano ("what"), sin-o ("who"), and sa diin ("where"), as in Sa diin kaw maghalin? ("Where have you been?"). The app's cards include Ano? ("What?"), Sin-o? ("Who?"), and Diin ang banyo? ("Where is the toilet?").

The discourse-particle study says that the particle run may be used in telling time, as in 9:30 run ("It's 9:30"), and the app's card for asking the time is Ano oras run? ("What time is it?"). The Marayum dictionary defines dya as a word used to refer to something near the speaker and far from the listener, as in Amo dya ang akun kulintas ("This is my necklace"); the app's card Gusto ko dya. ("I want this.") uses it.

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Politeness & etiquette

The Marayum dictionary defines salamat as a polite word used to express gratitude for an offered or accepted gift, compliment, or service. It gives the example Salamat sa tanan mo nga bulig kanakun, which it translates as "Thank you for all that you have done for me", and the app has this sentence as a card ("Thank you for all your help to me."). The same dictionary defines wara ti kaso as a polite phrase used to respond to a thank-you and translates it as "You are welcome"; the app's card Wara ti kaso. is "You're welcome." The discourse-particle study gives Duro gid nga salamat as "Thank you very much", and describes gid as an emphasizing particle that may mean "certainly", "very", or "really".

Under the entry for mayad, the Marayum dictionary gives the example Maayad-ayad nga aga sa tanan, translated "A very good morning to everyone". The app has this sentence as a card ("Good morning, everyone."), alongside Mayad nga aga. ("Good morning.").

The discourse-particle study says the particle ha softens commands, as in Dali lang ha ("Just a moment, ok?"). It says ha may be considered a politeness marker, but that it is not the same as "please" in English. It also describes the particle lang as a polite way of asking permission to do something first, as in Mauna lang ako ("I'll go first"). The app's card for "Please" is Palihog.

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