Like every living thing in the planet, it continuously evolve. If it doesn't, it becomes extinct; an archaeologist's finding or if it's unlucky, it goes forgotten. Language is somewhat similar. By the way, I'm no linguist, I just love to share my language that's all. :) Talk about life: believe it or not, there's something that we refer to as a "dead language", you can google that and note that it refers to "Latin" as an example. I learned in school that Vatican uses Latin as their language because it is a dead language. The reason why is simply, the language means what it says; the language and the words in it is immutable. So it can still be useful even when it's dead.
Cebuano is my native tongue, the language is still alive and spoken by approximately 20 million people. Most of the speakers live in Central Philippines to the island of Mindanao. At one point, I read some people in Sabah used the language. Now, the thing about a living language (don't know what to call it maybe 'not dead'?) is that words become dynamic, idiomatic or even sometimes misused (eg. sarcasm). This blog will focus on that and let's see if I can pull off as much as I can remember.
"eksibisyon"
Ayaw pag sige og eksibisyon dong kay matagak ka.
The word 'eksibisyon' here is an adopted english word "exhibition".
"inig ka puti sa uwak"
Unsa'y imong gi huwat? Inig ka puti sa uwak?
Literal translation is "when the crow turns white". Useful in reminding someone on their task.
"Ginoo ra'y mo baws"
Salamat kaayo migo sa imong kaayo, wala ako'y igong katigayunan nga mahatag kanimo. Ang Ginoo nala'y mo baws.
Literally means "God will return the favor".
"Kalibog ug utok"
Pwede dili mag lisod-lisod? Kalibog nimo ug pangutok tawn oi.
Literally means Disorganized thinking.
"Brayt"
Sus pagka brayt jud aning akong higala. Gi himo man noon ug planggana ang panaksan.
Another adopted english word "bright" or smart. Used as sarcasm in this case.
"Ulbo ang kaspa"
Tigomon ko ni akong kalagot. Ayaw sipyata, mo ulbo gali ni akong kaspa, mo tagam jud ka.
The word "ulbo" can mean shaken or explosion while "kaspa" is dandruff. Commonly used to describe anger or disbelief.
"Human tikaan"
Di man gud ka maminaw. Human tikaan nuon.
Play on words "human" and "mantikaan" when translated into it's literal form means "done" and "oil". Denotes 'consequence' or a failure of an action taken.
"Puti og itlog"
Way makalupig sa kaputi sa itlog nimo nyor. Hayag na sa gawas, di na unta ka mahadlok oi!
Literal translation is "White eggs", "eggs" in this part is referred to as "testicles" the same metaphor in English.
"Porbida"
Porbida, kanus-a man ka mag tinarong?
Borrowed from the spanish words "por vida" which means for life. An expression to use out of disbelief.
"Purya gaba"
Purya gaba ning batasana.
"Gaba" means "karma" or retribution not sure about the other word though. During the pre-colonial period, Cebuanos believed in animism. Such belief is carried on to the present time.
"Gibati og kaanyag"
Na unsa diay ka, sige lagi ka og tingsi? Gibati ka og kaanyag?
Feeling happy, blissful or beautiful.
"Feeler"
Dili man gud ni para imo, feeler sad ka da!
Taken from the English root word "feel" with "er", where the latter is a suffix denoting of an attribute as in farm is to farmer. A feeler is one who mistakenly assumed to be someone or something it is not.
"Char" or "Charoot"
Wow, malipay man pud ta aning buwaka. Charoot!
Synonymous to "kilig" in Cebuano which means a romantic excitement.
"Churva"
Ibutang ng churva diha sa churvahanan.
Part of the Cebuano gay-lingo. A word to use for censorship or "something" literally.
I can't think of anything else now but when I do, I'll make sure to add them here. This is my first blog post and I miss Cebu so much. Hopefully, I can write something about the place next time.
