Appendix:Cebuano–Hiligaynon relations

This appendix contains the relations between Cebuano and Hiligaynon.

Cebuano (also Bisaya) and Hiligaynon (also Ilonggo) are two of the most spoken Bisayan languages, both descended from Proto-Bisayan and ultimately from Proto-Philippine, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, and Proto-Austronesian. Cebuano is natively spoken in Cebu, eastern Negros Island, western and southern Leyte, southeast Masbate, northern Mindanao and central Davao Region (Davao City and southern Davao del Norte, specifically); it is a second language elsewhere in Mindanao except the Muslim-majority regions. Hiligaynon is a Central Bisayan language natively spoken in north, central and eastern Iloilo, most of Capiz, western Negros and parts of central Mindanao; it is a second language in much of central Mindanao. While not official languages of the Philippines, they are recognized as regional auxiliary languages where they are spoken. Cebuano and Hiligaynon vocabularies have 80% mutually intelligibility, but there are also many vocabulary, spelling and grammatical differences; in particular, the Bisayan language family is considered a dialect continuum, with neighboring varieties being mostly mutually intelligible, but differences accumulate over huge distances.

Unless otherwise indicated, Cebuano terms listed usually refer to General Cebuano (the standard language based on the Carcar-Dalaguete/Sialo dialect). Hiligaynon terms usually refer to standard Hiligaynon as spoken in northern and central Iloilo province, as opposed to Urban Hiligaynon as spoken in Iloilo City. Stress is implied on the second-to-final (penultimate) where no accents are provided.

Cognates and shared vocabulary

Cebuano and Hiligaynon have striking similarities in core, inherited vocabulary. Except for some differences in vocabulary, grammar and spelling (which are explained below), there is huge mutual intelligibility between the two languages, in both spoken and written forms.

Below is a list of terms shared between Cebuano and Hiligaynon, as well as cognates. Also included is a English translation or gloss, and a Proto-Bisayan reconstruction (mostly following Zorc 1977). Some of the terms are inherited directly from Proto-Central Philippine, Proto-Philippine or Proto-Malayo-Polynesian with no changes.

English	Cebuano	Hiligaynon	Proto-Bisayan
afternoon	hapon	hapon	*hapun
back	likód	likód	*likúd
because	tungod	tungud	*təŋud
bile	apdo	apdo	*qapdu
blood	dugo	dugo	*duguq
body hair; down	balhibo	balahibo	*badahibu
to breathe	ginhawa	ginhawa	*ginhawa
to choose	pilì	pilì	*piliq
cooked rice; food	kan-on	kan-on	*kaqən-ən
cough	ubó	ubó	*qubuh
depth	dalom	dalum	*daləm
devil	yawà	yawà	*yawaq
to eat	kaon	kaon	*kaqən
egg	itlóg	itlóg	*qitlug
eight	waló	waló	*walú
to be happy	lipay	lipay	*lipay
to fear	hadlok	hadluk	*hadluk
fingernail; claw	kuko	kuko	*kukuh
fire	kalayo	kalayo	*kalayu
five	lima	lima	*lima
front	atubang	atubang	*qatubaŋ
to get	kuha	kuha	*kuhaq
to go missing; to lose	walà	wala	*wadaq
hand	kamot	kamot	*kamət
heart	kasingkasing	kasingkasing	*kasiŋkasiŋ
heavy	bug-at	bug-at	*bəgqat
house	baláy	baláy	*balay
hulled rice	bugás	bugás	*bəgas
human person	tawo	tawo	*tau
hundred	gatos	gatus	*gatus
I	akó	akó	*aku
to know	hibalo	hibalo	*hi-badu
left	wala	wala	*walah
lightning	kilát	kilát	*kilat
louse	kuto	kuto	*kutu
to love	higugma	higugma	*hi-gəgma
middle	tungâ	tungâ	*təŋaq
moon; month	bulan	bulan	*bulan
night	gabii	gab-i	*gabiqi
no, none	waláy, walâ	waláy, walâ	*waday, *wadaq
noon	udto	udto	*qudtu
north wind; northeast monsoon	amihan	amihan	*amihan
nose	ilong	ilong	*ijuŋ
now; today	karón	karon	*kadun
parent	ginikanan	ginikanan	*g(-in-)ikan-an
to pity	luoy	luoy	*luquy
place away from the coast or town; inland	ilaya	ilaya	*i-daya
place toward the direction of town or the sea; seaward	ilawod	ilawod	*i-laud
rain	ulán	ulán	*qudan
red	pulá	pulá	*pulah
river	subà	subà	*subaq
to run	dagan	dalagan	*dalagan
soul	kalag	kalag	*kalag
south wind; southwest monsoon	habagat	habagat	*habagat
sourness	aslom	aslum	*ʔasləm
stairs	hagdán	hagdán	*hagdan
star	bituon	bitoon	*bituqən
sun; day	adlaw	adlaw	*qadlaw
tail	ikóg	ikóg	*ikug
two	duha	duha	*duha
umbrella	payong	payong	*payuŋ
to use	gamit	gamit	*gamit
we (exclusive)	kamí	kamí	*kami
we (inclusive)	kita	kita	*kita
white	putî	putî	*putiq
widow	balo	balo	*balu
wife	asawa	asawa	*qasawa
woman	babaye	babaye	*babai
world	kalibotan	kalibutan	*ka-libut-an
year	tuig	tuig	*tuqig
you (absolutive common singular)	ikaw	ikaw	*ikaw
you (absolutive plural, polite singular)	kamo	kamo	*kamu
your, yours (common singular)	imo	imo	*imu
your, yours (plural, polite singular)	inyo	inyo	*inyu

All cognates display the changes of Proto-Bisayan schwa to /o ~ u/.

The Proto-Central Philippine cluster *l+consonant (except *h, *q or another *l) undergo metathesis in Bisayan (e.g. PPh *qalsəm > PCPh *ʔalsəm > PBis ʔasləm > Cebuano aslom and Hiligaynon aslum)

Borrowings

There is limited borrowing between Cebuano and Hiligaynon despite intense contact due to high mutual intelligibility, but Cebuano dialects spoken in Negros and central Mindanao feature borrowings from Hiligaynon.

False friends

Cebuano word	English translation	Hiligaynon translation	Hiligaynon word	English translation	Cebuano translation
balaod	law	pagbulut-an	balaód	dysentery	disenteriya

Spelling differences

Some words similarly pronounced in Cebuano and Hiligaynon and/or mean the same are spelled differently according to their respective de facto spelling standards. For Cebuano, modern standard spelling is based on the rules devised by Bisaya magazine and adapted as standard by the Cebu Provincial Commission on the Cebuano Language and the Philippine Department of Education. For Hiligaynon, there is no effective standard, but spellings from John Kaufmann's Visayan-English Dictionary (1934) are provided for contrast (with some changes to reflect present-day spelling influenced by standard Filipino spelling generally used in written Tagalog). Other spellings as used by other sources (e.g. Pambansang Diksiyonaryo by the University of the Philippines' Sentro ng Wikang Filipino and the Diksiyonaryo ng Wikang Filipino by the Commission on the Filipino Language) are provided in "Notes".

English translation	Cebuano	Hiligaynon	Note
big	dako	daku
black	itom	itum	KWF uses itom for both.
breeze	huyuhoy	hoyohoy
to catch	dakop	dakup
colonel	koronel	kornel	From Spanish coronel
to drink	inom	inum	KWF uses inom for both
drunk	hubog	hubug
earring	ariyos	aritos	From distinct corruptions of Spanish arete, aretes
election	eleksiyon	eleksyon
to gamble	sugal	hugar	Both from Spanish jugar. Cebuano is based on a corruption of early modern Spanish pronunciation, while the Hiligaynon is based on modern Spanish pronunciation.
gloves	guwantes	gwantes	From Spanish guantes
gravel	graba	grabas	From Spanish grava. Cebuano borrows from singular; Hiligaynon from plural.
to harm	daot	daut
to hear	dungog	dungug	Cebuano term only exists in dialects, having being displaced by pamati. KWF uses dungog for both
hope	paglaom	paglaum
to hope	laom	laum
hunger	kagutom	kagutum
incense	insenso	insyenso	From Spanish incienso. Cebuano uses simplified spelling.
indigestion	empatso	impatso	From Spanish empacho.
island	pulo	polo
kingdom	gingharian	ginharian
mattress	kutson	koltson	From Spanish colchón. Cebuano reduces consonant cluster, while Hiligaynon retains it.
needle	dagom	dagum
night	gabii	gab-i
north	amihanan	aminhan
open	abli	abri	From Spanish abrir
power; might	gahom	gahum
school	eskuwela/eskuyla	eskwela	From Spanish escuela
volcano	bulkan	bolkan	From Spanish volcán. SWF uses the form bulkan for both.
world	kalibotan	kalibutan

Some differences in spelling are explained due to standardization of Cebuano spelling. For example, standard Cebuano uses ⟨o⟩ for all instances of /o ~ u/ in final syllables of native words.

Contractions are also differently spelled in Cebuano and Hiligaynon. Cebuano removes the requirement for apostrophes, while Hiligaynon still require them. The clitic linker, nga, where contracted to -ng (used with words ending with vowels) or -g (used with words ending with /n/) are always written without apostrophe at word boundaries.

Hiligaynon generally retains the original spellings of Spanish loanwords with minor changes (one possible exception for /sj/ which is transcribed to ⟨sy⟩), though this is not always observed (e.g. abuelo vs. eskwela). Cebuano generally respells them according to standard transcription rules, with the known exceptions such as with corrupted borrowings or simplified spellings (usually a compromise between Cebuano pronunciation and the etymology).

Vocabulary differences

English translation	Cebuano	Hiligaynon
and	ug	kag
city	siyudad, dakbayan	siyudad, banwa, dakbanwa
cold (infection)	sip-ón	hilanat, sip-on
color	bulok, kolór	duwag, kolór
cousin	ig-agaw	primo, prima
delicious	lami	namit
dysentery	disenteriya	balaod
east	sidlakan	sidlangan
father	amahan, tatay	amay, tatay
future	kaugmaon, umalabot	palaabuton, alatubangon
gums (of the teeth)	lagós	lasì
ignorant	tagaw, ignorante	pakok, urais, ignorante
jealousy	pagselos, pangabugho	imon
law	balaod	pagbulut-an, balidha
morning	buntag	aga
mother	inahan, nanay, inay	iloy, nanay, inay, inahan (of animals only)
nation	nasod	pungsud, nasyon
no (not)	dili	indi, dili
or	o	ukon
to play	dula, hampang (Negros, Surigao)	hampang
south	habagatan	bagatnan
town	lungsod	banwa
twin	kaluha	kapid
west	kasadpan	katulundan
whisper	hunghong	hutik
yolk	pughak	batog

There are also some differences in grammatical items, much of which are minimal. Cebuano and Hiligaynon conjugate have similar basic conjugations (realis, irrealis), but some conjugations are differently affixed in each language and Hiligaynon no longer uses a imperative aspect as Cebuano do.

Gloss	Cebuano	Hiligaynon
1st actor trigger irrealis and infinitive	mo-	-um-/um-	Cebuano also used to use -um- for the same conjugations, but it has since been displaced by modern mo-. Some instances of the affix remain in archaic texts and are also fossilized in Cebuano surnames.
1st actor trigger realis	mi-/ni-	-um-/um-	Cebuano also used to use -um- for the same conjugations, but it has since been displaced by modern mi-. Some instances of the affix remain in archaic texts and are also fossilized in Cebuano surnames.
existential particle	adunay (full), dunay (clipped)	may
object marker	sa (definite), og (indefinite)	sang, sing (indefinite)	Contemporary Hiligaynon uses sang for both definite and indefinite objects; sing mostly used in formal texts (e.g. Bible translations, prepared speeches).
direct object and instrumental trigger realis	gi-	gin-

Cebuano and Hiligaynon also have some differences in their words for certain numerals. Some Hiligaynon numbers are strikingly similar to those in Tagalog, but those are best explained by inheritance from a secondary set of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian numerals which were also the source of some Tagalog numerals.

English translation	Cebuano	Hiligaynon
one	usa	isa
three	tulo	tatlo
four	upat	apat
six	unom	anum

Influence on Masbatenyo

Hiligaynon and Cebuano have influence in Masbatenyo, the native Bisayan language spoken in Masbate island; Hiligaynon has the most influence, and it has been hypothesized Masbatenyo is a mix of Hiligaynon, Cebuano, and Bikol, but it is more closely related to the West Sorsogon language spoken in Sorsogon province. Hiligaynon and Masbatenyo has 76% mutual intelligibility but this is one-way; Hiligaynon speakers can understand Masbatenyo, but most Masbatenyo speakers have difficulty understanding Hiligaynon.

Example texts

Provided here are various example texts for comparison between the two languages.

Basic phrases

English	Cebuano	Hiligaynon
Hello	Kumusta/Maayong adlaw
Good morning	Maayong buntag	Maayong aga
Good afternoon	Maayong udto (noon-12:59PM); Maayong palis (1-2:59PM); Maayong hapon (3-6PM)	Maayong ugto (noon-12:59PM); Maayong hapon (1-6PM)
Good evening	Maayong gabii	Maayong gab-i
Goodbye	Ari na ko; Hangtod sa sunod na kahigayon	Asta sa liwat
Thank you	Salamat
Thank you very much	Daghang salamat	Salamat gid

Lord's Prayer

Cebuano

Hiligaynon

Amahan Namo Amahan namo, nga anaa sa langit, pagabalaanon unta ang imong ngalan. Umabot kanamo ang imong gingharian, matuman ang imong kabubut-on, dinhi sa yuta maingon sa langit. Hatagi kami karong adlawa sa among kalan-on sa matag adlaw, ug pasayloa kami sa among mga sala, maingon nga kami usab nagapasaylo sa mga makasasala kanamo, ug ayaw kami itugyan sa panulay, kondili luwasa kami gikan sa daotan. Amen.

Amay Namon Amay namon, nga yara ka sa mga langit, pagdayawan ang imo ngalan. Umabot sa amon ang imo ginharian, matuman ang imo buot, diri sa duta siling sa mga langit. Hatagan mo kami niyan sing kan-on namon, kag patawaron mo kami sang mga sala namon, siling nga ginapatawad namon ang nagasala sa amon, kag dili mo kami ipagpadaog sa mga panulay, hinuhuo luwason mo kami sa kalaot. Amen.

Ten Commandments (Roman Catholic)

Cebuano

Hiligaynon

Napulo ka Sugo Ako mao ang Ginoo nga imong Diyos; dili kamo magsimba sa uban nga diyos gawas kanako. Dili mo paggamiton ang ngalan sa Ginoo nga inyong Diyos sa pasipala. Hinumdomi ang adlaw sa igpapahulay ug balaana kini. Tahora ang imong amahan ug ang imong inahan. Dili ka mopatay. Dili ka manapaw. Dili ka mangawat. Dili ka magsaksi og bakak batok sa imong isigkatawo. Dili ka maibog sa asawa sa imong isigkatawo. Dili ka maibog sa balay sa imong isigkatawo, o sa iyang mga ulipon, o sa iyang mga baka o asno, o sa bisan unsa nga iya.

Napulo ka Sugo Ako ang Ginoo nga inyo Dios; dili kamo magsimba sa uban nga dios magluwas sa akon. Dili mo paggamiton ang ngalan sa Ginoo nga inyo Dios sa walay kapuslanan. Dumdumi ang adlaw sa inugpahuway kag pakasantoson ini. Tahura ang imo amay kag iloy. Dili ka magpatay. Dili ka magkasala batok sa pagkaulay. Dili ka magpangawat. Dili ka magsaksi sing butig batok sa imo isigkatawo. Dili ka maibug sa asawa sa imo isigkatawo. Dili ka maibug sa balay sa imo isigkatawo, ukon sa iya mga ulipon, ukon sa iya mga baka ukon asno, ukon sa bisan ano nga iya.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Cebuano	Hiligaynon
Ang tanang katawhan gipakatawo nga may kagawasan ug managsama sa kabilihon. Sila gigasahan sa salabotan ug tanlag ug mag-ilhanay isip managsoon sa usag usa diha sa diwa sa espiritu.	Ang tanan nga tawo ginbun-ag nga hilway kag may pag-alalangay sa dungog kag katarungan. Sila ginhatagan sang pagpamat-od kag konsensya kag nagakadapat nga magbinuligay sa kahulugan sang inuturay.

See also

• Appendix:Cognate sets for Bisayan languages

Language relations

Ancient Greek–English · Cebuano–Hiligaynon · Cebuano–Tagalog · Cebuano–Waray-Waray · Chavacano–Spanish · English–Esperanto · English–French · Esperanto–French · Esperanto–German · French–Italian · Indonesian–Malay · Kapampangan–Tagalog · Malay–Tagalog · Spanish–Tagalog