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Tausug-English Dictionary: Kabtangan Iban Maana
Tausug – English Dictionary
Kabtangan Iban Maana
First edition compiled and edited by:
Irene U. Hassan, Nurhadan Halud,
Seymour A. Ashley and Mary L. Ashley
Second edition compiled and edited by:
Irene U. Hassan, Seymour A. Ashley and Mary L. Ashley
Index of second edition compiled by:
Malcolm S. Armour
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This web edition may be cited as:
Maana, Kabtangan Iban. 2018. Tausug-English Dictionary. Webonary.org. SIL International. Retrieved <Date of access>,
from <full URL>.
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Foreword
1
Tausug is a language as well as the name of an estimated 350,000 people in the Sulu Archipelago , in southwestern
Mindanao and other parts of the Philippines where they have established their domiciles. Some of them have migrated to
Sabah in Malaysia.
As a language, Tausug is related to other Philippine languages. Many words and expressions have the same meanings
as those in Tagalog, Ilocano, and some of the Visayan languages. However, it has a distinct identity of its own of which
the Tausug people are proud.
It is, therefore, praiseworthy that a Tausug-English dictionary has become a reality. I note with much gratification the
scholarly initiatives of the Summer Institute of Linguistics-Philippines, the cooperation of the Department of Education,
Culture and Sports, and the financial support of the former National Science Development Board (now the Department of
Science and Technology), the Ford Foundation, and other entities to make it possible for the initial edition to be published
almost twenty years ago. This second edition is a testimony of the earnestness of SIL-Philippines to come up with the
updated and improved Tausug-English Dictionary: Kabtangan Iban Maana.
I see this publication as an inter-cultural bridge of understanding between the Tausug culture and other cultures of the
world even as it will serve to strengthen the cultural heritage of the Tausug. I certainly recommend it for use not only of
the Tausug but also those in other parts of the country and elsewhere who desire to have a better appreciation of the
richness and splendor of the Tausug cultural heritage, a worthy part of Philippine culture.
Santanina T. Rasul
Senator
Republic of the Philippines
1
The estimated population of Tausug was 350,000 at the time of the original print publication of the Tausug-English
dictionary. Now there are over 1 million.
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Tausug-English Dictionary: Kabtangan Iban Maana
Preface (1994 Edition)
There are several reasons for the publication of a second edition of Tausug-English Dictionary: Kabtangan Iban Maana.
One important reason is that there are no other published Tausug dictionaries available. The first edition, published in
1975, was an instant success, but the entire printing of 1000 copies was quickly sold out and a reprint was not possible
because the original photographic plates were destroyed in a fire at the press in 1976. As a result there is now an eager
market.
Secondly, there is a societal and cultural need. The Tausug-English Dictionary is not only a light disclosing a rich Tausug
heritage and culture, but also a bridge on the path to Sulu's future, encouraging communication, understanding, accord,
renewal, and achievement. In a shrinking world it is increasingly important to learn to communicate with and to
understand each other.
Thirdly, improvements in the original dictionary have been made. The first edition of Kabtangan Iban Maana was
considered to be "a start...inviting correction and expansion," and since its publication many have labored to correct and
expand the original work. Now it is time to publish their efforts. Some of the improvements are as follows:
a. Inaccuracies of the first edition have been corrected. (Our thanks to those of you who pointed these out.)
b. More than 1700 new entries have been added, including some important, frequently used words which were
previously missing, for example: patay "dead," tubig "water," hambuuk "one," lamud "mix," and tindug "stand."
c. More regional variations in wording and pronunciation are noted.
d. The various senses of entries are better differentiated and, in certain cases, entries that were separate have been
combined.
e. A larger percentage of entries which are verbs contain information about possible affixation.
f. Missing cross-references have been added.
Finally, the publication of this edition (like the first) aims to make available to the wider world the rich vocabulary of the
Tausug language, to aid the outsider who wishes to learn Tausug, and to enable Tausug speakers to learn more English
by means of the English glosses, the translated illustrative sentences, and the index in the back of the book.
Seymour Ashley
Summer Institute of Linguistics
Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.
March, 1993
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Preface (1975 Edition)
This dictionary is the result of a joint project of the Bureau of Public schools, the Summer Institute of Linguistics and the
Coordinated Investigation of Sulu Culture. It is the first major vocabulary compilation published in the Tausug language in
anything other than mimeographed form. It is not purported to be the first Tausug vocabulary ever compiled nor to have
been drawn up without recourse to earlier sources. To the contrary the editors and research workers have drawn heavily
from the work of Captain Francis Link, who produced an excellent unpublished dictionary in the early 1920's and from the
work of Fr. Rene Copet OMI who produced a much shorter vocabulary in mimeographed form in 1957.
The project begain in June of 1973 with a series of dictionary seminars conducted by Lee Ballard of the Summer Institute
of Linguistics on the campus of the Notre Dame of Jolo College and it continued from that time under the supervision of
the editors (Irene Hassan, Nurhadan Halud, Seymour Ashley, and Lois Ashley) and Mr. Caesar Taga, until May of 1974,
when the last entries were edited.
The cooperation and encouragement which made the project possible were graciously afforded by Mrs. Liceria Brilliantes
Soriano, Director, Bureau of Elementary Education; Mr. Nassal Allian, Division Superintendent (Division of Sulu) and by
Father Gerard Rixhon, Director of the Coordinated Investigation of Sulu Culture. Others who provided encouragement
and assistance were: Mr. Pastor Cerrato, Supervisor, Division of Adult and Community Education; Mr. Julhani Malli',
Division Academic Supervisor and Hadji Paradji Mandangan, District Supervisor.
Funding for the dictionary was undertaken by the Bureau of Public Schools (in the form of teachers' wages), the Summer
Institute of Linguistics and the Ford Foundation, through the Coordinated Investigation of Sulu Culture.
The procedure followed during the project was first the preparation of a composite list of Tausug words drawn from
various sources. These cards were then distributed by the editors to the public school teachers who reviewed and
improved the glosses, supplied synonyms and illustrative, culturally relevant sentences in Tausug with English
translations.
The public school teachers who worked on the project were primarily ones assigned by the administration of the local
division office to assist in the project. They usually worked on the cards in their homes reporting to the editors periodically
to secure additional cards and to turn in those which they had finished. In the next step the editors added grammatical
information on each card and checked the glosses and English translations for accuracy. Problems were resolved in
consultation between the editors or on occasion with the teachers.
The research workers who did the basic preparation of the card entries and who were awarded certificates of participation
and attendance for their work in the dictionary project throughout its duration were: Miss Putli' Jahalia Abduhalim, Mr.
Ihiraji Aras, Mr. Ahmad Hussin Arasa, Mr. Jupri Awab, Miss Bahay Bahjin, Mr. Samsaraji Habbi, Mrs. Salbia Habbi, Mrs.
Cesaria Hadjirul, Mrs. Shirley Ismael, Mr. Durugan Ladjamatli, Mr. Julhani Malli', Mr. Hadji Paradji Mandangan, Mr.
Bensali Paddam, Mr. Dadjami Sappayani, Mr. Jalani Umabong, and Mr. Edong Usman.
Much of the work of formulating and processing the dictionary entries was done under difficult circumstances and some of
the completed dictionary entry cards were Iost during the fire and confusion in Jolo town in February of 1974. In spite of
this the project continued and has been finally completed. This speaks well of the courage and persistence of those
involved.
It should be noted from the start that this work is considered to be just that-a start. No pretense is made of its being either
exhaustive or perfect. There are problems concerning items of basic vocabulary which were overlooked and there are
problems concerning items inadequately defined. But for two reasons the decision has been made to go ahead and
publish, first because this dictionary as it stands is the best and most complete produced to date and second, because it
is hoped that this edition by inviting correction and expansion may serve as a basis for further study.
The Tausug language is spoken by so many people and occupies such a strategic importance in the southern Philippines
as to make the publication of a Tausug dictionary a necessity. The Tausug language, the mother tongue of more than a
quarter million peeple and the trade language spoken throughout the entire Sulu Archipelago, has already waited too long
for a dictionary which would reflect its importance and richness.
Seymour Ashley
Summer Institute of Linguistics
Nasuli, Malaybalay
Bukidnon, Philippines
September, 1975
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Acknowledgments
The editors wish to acknowledge the many people who served as consultants for the second edition of this dictionary.
There were two major consultants, Juldatag Sajili, from Parang, Sulu, and Hashim B. Usman, also from Parang, Sulu. We
would like to thank Mr. Sajili for the entries he contributed and Mr. Usman for grammatical information and a number of
sample sentences.
In addition to them, the following people contributed valuable information (we list their names in alphabetical order and
the municipality each originally comes from, all in Sulu province):
Mr. Juevito G. Abogaa Maimbung
Mrs. Myrna U. Abogaa Maimbung
Miss Asmah Asadil Tapul
Mrs. Salla Asadil Tapul
Mr. Abdulmalik Asid Indanan
Dr. Benjamin Bangahan Parang
Miss Mussah L. Dammang Parang
Mr. Monil S. Hadjiril Parang
Mr Kamli Illa
Mr. Muhajir Jaladi Tapul
Mr. Timothy S. Que Jolo
Mr. Edgar Y. Requejo Jolo
Dr. Paul L. Saliba
Mrs. Tayang Rose Saliba Tapul
Mrs. Jamharira Udjail Maimbung
Miss Rahma Udjaman Maimbung
Mr. Usman also consulted with a number of other people. Some of these were furnished to him by Professor Ricardo A.
Adjawie, Western Mindanao State University (WMSU), who also gave Mr. Usman access to the University library. Special
thanks is given to Prof. Adjawie for this help. The people connected with WMSU with whom Mr. Usman consulted were:
Mr. Abduraja I. Hamid Parang
Mr. Rizal Alias Parang
Mr. Julpatt Tagayan Parang
Mr. Alijan Gilo Luuk
Miss Salatun B. Alih Luuk
Mr. Saydul Maridul Indanan
Mr. Mannan Kadiri Parang
There were many other people who were consulted about one or another word, some of them several times. They are too
numerous to mention here. We thank them, and trust that the satisfaction of having contributed to this book will be its own
reward. Keyboarding for the second edition was done by Jenny (Pederson) Wichert, Nurhayam (Aming) Quisai, Ricardo
Villavieja, Azucena Alih, Merlyn Alvarez, Timothy Que, Joanne Krueger, and Kathryn Mathis. Grateful acknowledgment is
also given to the computer services department of the Summer Institute of Linguistics–Philippines for facilitating the
editing process, in particular to Meriam Bayo, computer operator and Barbara Altork, typesetter.
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Abbreviations
accessory
acs
actor
act
adj. adjective
adv. adverb
Af accessory focus
ag agent
ANT. antonym
AQ Acquisition Verb
AR Field of Action Verb
Ar. Arabic
aux auxiliary verb
b begun aspect
ben beneficiary
C consonant
cap. capitalized
Cf. compare with
CH 1 Standard Change of Verb compound
CH 2 Result Change of State Verb compound
CV 1 Standard Conveyance Verb
CV 2 Carrying Conveyance Verb
CV 3 Speech Conveyance Verb
der. derivative
e.g. for example
Eng. English
equiv. equivalent
esp. especially
euph. euphemism
exp experiencer
fig. figurative
GENR. generic
gimb. gimbahanun (speech of people from the interior)
i.e. that is
inst instrument
intj. interjection
lit. literally
Lu. Luuk
Mal. Malay
mkr marker
n. noun
nb not-begun aspect
Obf object focus
obj object
Of originator focus
opp. opposite
orig originator
over-syn overlapping synonym
pat patient
pers personal
pl. plural
poss. possessive
pron. pronoun
q.v. which see
ran range
RC Reciprocal Verb
rdp. reduplicated/reduplication
ref referent
Rf referent focus
rel. relator
sg. singular
SPEC. specific
spp. species
ST Stative Verb
SYN. synonym
Tag. Tagalog
topic (in examples below topic marker
the word in)
TV Travel Verb
usu. usually
v. verb
var. variation
vi. intransitive (non-agentive) verb
vt. transitive (agentive) verb
Note: In the English definitions all references to he, him, his etc. should also be taken to refer to she, her, hers etc.
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Dictionary Entries explained
There are two types of entries in this dictionary, major and minor.
1 Major Entries
Major entries are those which are given a full English gloss and usually one or more examples of how the entry is used.
Minor entries, on the other hand, contain only the related major entry form, a part of speech, and a minimal gloss.
1.1 The lexical item and variants
A word or affix in boldface type and at the extreme left margin of the column is the lexical item, or main entry. An asterisk
at the beginning of a main entry indicates that that particular entry occurs only affixed. For example, *buuk may occur in
the forms hambuuk and tibuuk but never as buuk alone. When two or more main entries are homophones they are
distinguished by subscript numbers following each word, as in:
daral “to fry an egg”
1
daral “a coconut confection”
2
Immediately following most entries which consist of more than one morpheme is a set of parentheses enclosing either
two roots or a root and one or more affixes. The root (or roots) is (are) the form(s) from which the main entry was derived:
tag'īpun
(from taga + īpun)
piyutu (from -iy- + putu)
sasalamatan (from CV rdp. + salamat + -an )
1
For the most part, lexical items that are used only in certain regions are not marked as such. In a few cases, however, the
region where a term is used is noted, e.g., in the entries tangas and tikmil.
The speech of the coastal people (including the people of Jolo town), called parianun, is taken as the standard in this
dictionary, and the speech of the people of the interior (tau gimba), called gimbahanun, is considered non-standard. This
choice is not a value judgment. The people of the interior are not inferior to coastal people. Rather, the learner of Tausug
is more likely to meet parianun forms than gimbahanun ones. For many lexical items, the pronunciation in the two
varieties differs. The parianun pronunciation is listed first, followed by its gimbahanun equivalent. One regular difference
between the two varieties of Tausug is that the parianun pronunciation of many words lacks a glottal stop at the end of the
first syllable, whereas in gimbahanun the glottal stop is present. Since this difference is so regular, gimbahanun variants
which differ from the parianun in this way are not given a minor entry, i.e., they are not listed as a separate main entry. A
user of the dictionary who hears a form with a glottal stop in this position should look up the word under the spelling
without that apostrophe. As an example, note:
buluy (gimb. bu'luy) v. ag maka-. To get free. Tambula in pagal, makabuluy in manuk. Close the pen, the chicken
might get free.
But there is no entry bu'luy. On the other hand, the gimbahanun variant bu'gat does have a minor entry because the
difference between it and the parianun buggat, while fairly common, is not as common as the difference noted above.
Thus there is a major entry buggat which has three senses, eight glosses, and seven sample sentences, and a minor
entry bu'gat with only the minimum of information:
bu'gat (gimb. equiv. of buggat) n. Weight, heaviness.
In cases where a variant cannot be said to be gimbahanun form or belong to any particular speech community, it is simply
listed after the standard form. The variant is given its own separate entry only if it is more than one column distant from
the major entry. Thus kulban is a major entry and variant kurban is a minor entry. The form parachaya, however, a
variant of paratsaya, is not listed because the two would be only about a column apart.
An attempt has been made to identify the immediate donor language of lexical items that have been fairly recently
adopted into Tausug. The editors make no claim to exhaustiveness on this point, however, preferring to be silent where
they are not sure.
1.2 Sense discrimination
Many lexical items have more than one sense. In this dictionary, sense distinctions are considered more basic than part
of speech distinctions. Hence the sense numbers are given before parts of speech, are set in boldface, and all of them
after the first are placed two spaces out into the left margin. In a number of entries, for example taas, only major sense
distinctions have been made, and senses that are closely related have been lumped together. The primary or literal sense
is given first and the secondary, extended, and figurative senses are given afterward.
1.3 Parts of speech
Labels indicating parts of speech immediately follow sense numbers, if there are any. Instances of multiple parts of
speech are listed within the entry involved and not in separate entries. The seven parts of speech, with an example of
each, are:
“stone”
n. (noun) batu
“while”
rel. (relator) bābā
ba'lus “rancid”
adj. (adjective)
“formerly”
adv. (adverb) bakas
“to scrape”
v. (verb) kagis
“you (pl.)”
pron. (pronoun) kamu
“Wow!”
intj. (interjection) abā
1.4 Grammatical information
(Stem class)
For every verb, grammatical information has been included. For approximately half the verbs, the first item of this
information is the verb stem class. For an explanation of the verb stem classes, see GRAMMAR NOTES, Verb Stem
Classes.
(Cases)
The next item of grammatical information for verbs is a list of the cases of the noun phrases which can be focused items
in a clause with that verb as predicate. (For an explanation of the notion of case, see GRAMMAR NOTES. Following
each case name, in bold type, is (are) the affix(es) which go on the verb when that case is the focused item. For instance:
*jullit v. ag mag-, mang-, -um-; pat -un. To tease, annoy (someone). Ayaw mu siya jullita.
Here we see the cases Agent and Patient listed. The agent who does the teasing may be the focused item with this verb,
and when it is, the verb will have one of the affixes mag-, mang-, or -um- or an affix related to one of these. Also, the
Patient, the person teased, may be the focused item, and, when it is, the verb will have the affix -un or an affix related to it
(see Chart 3 and Affixes in GRAMMAR NOTES).
The list of cases is given below in the Verb Stem Classes section of the GRAMMAR NOTES. Two additional cases not in
that list appear in the lists of cases and affixes such as in the example above. One is Actor, defined as the entity which
changes unintentionally, whereas an Agent acts by intent. The other is Beneficiary, defined as the animate entity for
whom/which or on behalf of whom/which an action is performed. Actor appears often in the dictionary. There are three
cases, however, which are never listed with their corresponding affixes (exception noted below):
(1) Beneficiary (Ben). Every action can be done for someone's benefit or on behalf of someone. Although Ben is not listed
(except a few times when it is identical with Goal), sometimes an example is given illustrating a focused beneficiary. An
example is the entry bī, sense 1, the last example under the verb. Ben is always focused with -an.
(2) Instrument (Inst). Every action is performed with the use of some instrument. In theory, every agentive verb could
focus Inst, though in fact the instrument seldom is mentioned. The affixes that focus Inst are hipag-, hipang-, and
(rarely) hi- (begun aspect piyag-, piyang-, and -iy- ). The learner cannot predict when hipag- should be used and
when hipang-. Usually hipag- is acceptable.
(3) Non-instigative Cause. Practically every state is caused by some inanimate force. Almost every non-agentive verb can
have the affix maka- (or naka-), which focuses Non-instigative Cause.
(Affixes)
Following each case name is one or more affixes. When two affixes are listed following cases other than Agent and Actor,
the first one given is considered more correct. Note that only the not-begun aspect form (see GRAMMAR NOTES) is
given. Each not-begun affix therefore represents itself and all the other inflectional possibilities for verbs when that case is
focused in the clause. For example -un, the form given following the case Patient for agentive verbs, stands for itself plus
the following:
-iy- purpose mode, begun aspect
-a imperative mode (often appears in sample sentences)
ma- abilitative mode, not-begun aspect
na- abilitative mode, begun aspect
pag-...-un purposive mode habituative manner-aspect, not begun
aspect
piyag- purposive mode, habituative manner-aspect, begun
aspect
pa (the causative affix) in combination with each of the
2
above.
Similarly, the imperative -an often appears in sample sentences under verbs that focus the Patient with hi-, and the
imperative -i often appears in sentences under verbs that focus the Range or Goal with -an (see the paradigm of verbal
affixes in Chart 3 of GRAMMAR NOTES).
One affix which normally does not appear in the grammatical information is the so-called causative afix (pa ). This affix
2
can occur on almost every verb. Rather than list it following every case name, the editors omit it entirely (see exception
below) and note only those verbs on which it never occurs. In cases where a verb always carries the causative affix, this
affix is listed as part of the entire affix for that particular focus. For example:
subul 1 n. A young man, bachelor. In manga subul...
v. act magpa-, -um-; pat ma-. (For a young man) to attain puberty. Di' pa kaw tūpun mamaya'-
maya'. Magpasubul naa kaw ampa kaw kabayaan. It's not yet fitting...
When the affix mang- occurs with entries beginning with b, k, p, s, and t, mang- is given in the list of affixes even though a
morphophonemic change takes place with the result that the spoken form is not simply mang- plus the stem. For
explanation and examples see GRAMMAR NOTES, section 5, Morphophonemics.
In the case of certain stems beginning with pang- an affix m- is given instead of -um-. The m- stands for itself and the
begun-aspect form n-. These stems are actually derived stems but the editors have chosen not to enter them under the
original root.
Additional grammatical information is sometimes supplied, enclosed in square brackets. This information usually applies
to verbs.
(Reduplication of the stem)
With a few exceptions, words formed by reduplicating the stem have been omitted. The reason is that these words are
regular derivatives. The meaning of the reduplication is almost always either diminution of the concept or, with some
verbs, to act like or pretend to be whatever the stem is. Thus words like kahuy-kahuy "small trees" and palangka-
langkahun "to pamper a little bit" are not listed, nor are magpingka'-pingka' "to pretend to be lame," magisug-isug "to
pretend to be courageous," and many, many others like these. Exceptions are extremely common diminutives such
as bāy-bay "small house." Such derivatives are listed, however, if their meaning is irregular, for example dayang-dayang
"princess" (but dayang "term of endearment and respect for a woman or girl") and datu'-datu' "doll" (but datu' "male
member of a royal family.")
1.5 Usage label
In some entries, immediately preceding the gloss there is a usage label enclosed in curly brackets, one of the
following: Archaic, Rare, Not commonly used, Poetic, Eup. (for Euphemism), and Vulgar. In other entries, usage
information is in the gloss (see 1.6).
1.6 English glosses
The English gloss contains the nearest translation equivalents of the Tausug lexical item. (Scientific names, if any,
precede the gloss.) For some entries (e.g., andahaw) the gloss is an explanatory equivalent since there is no adequate
English translation. In many glosses there is a gloss comment, enclosed in parentheses, in addition to the gloss proper.
Some examples of glosses containing a gloss comment follow:
tikuy n. A confection made of sticky rice (usu. made by Chinese on their feast days).
tigda'v. ST pat -um-. (For a flow of liquid or air) to become strong, heavy, hard.
tigbas v. CH 1 ag mag-, -um-; pat -un. To chop, hack, stab (something).
The last example above illustrates another feature of the dictionary, namely that "(something)" in a gloss stands for "
(someone or something)," except in cases where the semantic components of the lexical item exclude a human referent.
Thus tigbas above means to chop a person as well as an object.
Commas are normally used to separate overlapping synonyms in a gloss (e.g., in tigda' and tigbas above). Sometimes
semicolons are used for clarity, as in the following:
*tūn 2 v. ag mag-, -um-; pat -un.To tolerate, bear humbly; refrain from expressing, hold (something) back; swallow
(something, fig. sense).
In the gloss "tolerate" and "bear humbly" are felt to be very close in meaning and somewhat different from "refrain from
expressing" and "hold back." "Swallow" is somewhat different yet. But the editors do not feel that the sense should be
divided into subsenses.
The pronouns "he, his, him" have been used in the glosses where necessary. They are used generically and are intended
to be read inclusively.
1.7 Cultural information
The editors have tried to include information about Tausug culture necessary to a thorough understanding of the lexical
item. This information, if present, immediately follows the gloss and is enclosed in parentheses.
1.8 Illustrative sentences
For most parts of speech of a great majority of the entries, one or more sentences are given to illustrate the use of the
lexical item, and an English translation of each illustrative sentence is supplied. Both the lexical item illustrated and its
English translation are printed in boldface. The sentences, though not taken from text material, are acceptable Tausug
sentences composed by the teachers and workers from Sulu who participated in the Tausug dictionary project (up to
1974) or by the compilers/editors or their consultants (1975-1994).
Considerable effort has been made to give illustrative sentences which convey cultural information as well, e.g., attitudes
and beliefs common among Tausugs, values generally held by them, and information about Islam. Examples, in
translation, are as follows:
Your eyes will become narrow if you're bitten by a cockroach.
It's not good to slander people.
The five pillars of the Islamic faith are to bear witness, to tithe, to pray five times daily, to keep the fast of Ramadan,
and to make the pilgrimage to Mecca.
The translations of Tausug illustrative sentences are fairly literal translations into English.
If the main entry involved is a verb, then usually the illustrative sentences contain forms of the verb which represent its
more common focus possibilities.
Tausug pronouns do not distinguish gender, but English requires a distinction in the third person singular. The pronouns
have been translated either as masculine or feminine according to what was in the mind of the Tausug speaker who
supplied the sentence.
1.9 Cross references
In the great majority of entries, cross-references follow the English translation of the last sample sentence. These are of
eight types:
(1) over-syn. = Shares at least one component of meaning with the lexical item in question.
(2) SYN. = A true synonym of the lexical item in question.
(3) Cf. = related semantically to the lexical item in question. In many cases, a word following a Cf. could be said to be an
overlapping synonym, but the editors have been conservative and considered it only related semantically.
(4) ANT. = At least one component of meaning is opposite to that/those of the lexical item in question.
(5) GENR. = The name of a group or class of which the lexical item in question is a member.
(6) SPEC. = A member of the group or class which the lexical item in question names.
(7) (See ___ for table.) = The lexical item appears in a table under the entry ___.
(8) See Appendix n. = The lexical item is listed in Appendix n.
A cross-reference pertains to the part of speech under which it appears and all previous parts of speech back to the
beginning of the entry or the beginning of the sense (if there is more than one sense), unless otherwise noted.
A number following a cross-reference (not a subscript) refers to a particular sense of the cross-reference. Other senses of
the cross-reference are not semantically related to the sense of the lexical item in question under which this cross-
reference occurs.
1.10 Subentries
Subentries appear at the end of an entry. They are of four types: compounds, derivatives, idioms, and sayings.
Compounds are lexical items formed from the juxtaposition of two other lexical items, but with a different meaning from
either of them, e.g. hulas-sangsa', under the entry sangsa'.
Derivatives are defined in this dictionary to be affixed forms which are themselves inflected as verbs. (The matter of
derivation in Philippine languages is complex. A narrow definition of derivatives has been chosen here in order to keep as
clear as possible from the "gray area" between inflection and derivation.) An example is makusug, under the entry kusug.
In the case of both compounds and derivatives, only a minimal treatment is given where the comp. or der. label appears,
i.e., under the main entry. Usually, only a part of speech and a gloss appear under these labels. The user must look the
form up under its own main entry in order to find a full treatment. An example is as follows:
kannal v. ag mang-; pat -un. To think....ponder. Subay mu kannalun in pag'ammal ibadat mu. You should think
seriously of your spiritual life. over-syn: pikil tali'
pangannal der. n. Mistaken thought, presumption; way of thinking, consciousness.
At the entry pangannal the user will find:
pangannal 1 n. Way of thinking, consciousness. Nalawa' in pangannal niya...
v. ag mag-; pat -un.To think. Magpangannal muna in tau maingat ampa siya tumagna'.....pt: akkal
2 n. (Mistaken) thought, presumption. Pangannal ku dumatung siya bihayaun. I thought he would arrive now....
v. ag mag-.To form a thought or idea based on presumption.
Idioms are two or more words in a syntactic construction that have a unique meaning not deducible from the meanings of
the parts. Most idioms are labeled with a single part of speech.
Sayings are usually whole clauses which give pieces of advice or common observations about life, often as metaphors.
They are also called proverbs or adages.
2 Minor Entries
A minor entry contains only a minimum of information. Its purpose is twofold: (1) to refer the user who looks up this entry
to a major entry where this form is treated in full, and (2) to give a short gloss.
Almost all minor entries consist of variations in pronunciation. If the variant is used in many places in the Tausug-
speaking area, it is labeled as "var. of." If the variant is used in many places in the Tausug-speaking area, it is labeled as
"var. of." If the variant is gimbahanun it is labeled as "gimb. equiv. of." If the variant is used on the smaller islands
surrounding Jolo it is labeled "pū' equiv. of" and if used in Luuk, "Lu. equiv. of." Examples are:
jinis (fr. var. ginis) n. Kind, variety.
ha'lu (gimb. equiv. of hallu) n. A pestle (esp. for pounding rice).
A few minor entries consist of phonetic alternations, such as the alternate -hi for the imperative marker -i with stems
ending in a vowel.
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Orthography
1. Introduction
Asmah Haji Omar (1972) of the University of Malaya in her article "Language and the Uniformity of Spelling" notes that
English, although highly criticized because of its non-phonemic writing system, is actually very consistent in its
orthography since the vast majority of English words have only one spelling, no matter how atrocious that spelling may
be. By contrast, Malay, which has several highly phonemic writing systems (Omar 1972), lacks standardization in the
1
representation of its words. One word may have several spellings depending on the bias of the writer toward one or
another of the various systems of writing.
2
In regard to spelling systems, Tausug is very much like Malay since for the most part there is a one-to-one relationship
between phonemes (distinctive sounds) and the graphic symbols, and like Malay there is widespread lack of uniformity as
to how individual words should be spelled.
The purpose of these paragraphs is (in view of the alternative choices available in writing Tausug) to give an account of
the practical orthography used in this dictionary. It is hoped that this account will give insights into some of the problems
involved in writing Tausug and contribute also to the development of a standardized system of writing. It is assumed that
any orthography (including the one presented here) will undergo refinement. Deletions, additions, and adaptations will be
made till a stable system of writing emerges.
2. Inventory of Symbols
Tausug does not have a highly complicated sound system as do some languages of the world. It has only three vowel
phonemes, /a/, /i/, and /u/ (a fact which undoubtedly facilitated the adoption by the early people of Sulu of Arabic, or Jawi,
script, or "sulat Sūg," as the Tausug call it) and 19 consonant phonemes distributed in basic syllable patterns which,
except in instances involving semivowels, permit consonant clusters only at syllable boundaries. The 19 segmental
consonants are displayed in the phoneme chart below:
Chart 1 Consonantal Phonemes of Tausug
Bilabial Alveolar Alveo-palatal Velar Glottal
Stops
voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d g
Fricative h
Nasals m n ñ ŋ
Affricates
͡
voiceless tɕ
͡
voiced dʑ
Sibilant s
Lateral l
Vibrant r
Semivowels w y
In the practical orthography used in this dictionary, the above phonemes are written just as they appear in the chart
͡ ͡
except for ʔ, ŋ, ñ, tɕ and dʑ. The glottal stop is symbolized in intervocalic position by the absence of any other symbol, as
in liug "neck," pais "skin," and laung "quotative." Elsewhere it is indicated by an apostrophe, as in kura' "horse," ta'ping
"jaw," and mag'usiba' "to despoil." The alveopalatal nasal is written ny, as in dunya "world," and the velar nasal is
written ng, as in patung "bamboo." The voiceless alveolar palatal affricate is written ch, as in bichara "to speak," and the
voiced alveopalatal affricate is written j, as in janap "a kind of working bolo."
3. The Symbolization of Length
There is also a phoneme of length with both vowels and consonants. With vowels, it is symbolized by a macron written
above the vowel, as in īpun "slave," mūs "borrow," and kakās "rake." In the case of consonants, it is symbolized by writing
an identical consonant, as in gallang "bracelet," laggu' "bigness, size," sawwal "split-leg pajama type trousers,"
and Jayyari "man's name."
4. The Symbolization of the Phoneme u
Some writers of Tausug, influenced by their knowledge of other Philippine languages, symbolize the vowel u, particularly
in word-final position, with the letter o. However, in Tausug the difference between the vowels o and u is not distinctive.
There are no two Tausug words whose difference in meaning depends on the difference between o and u. A Tausug
speaker may say balu or balo; there is no difference in meaning. Both words mean the same thing—a widow. Therefore
we conclude (within limits) that most Tausug speakers hear the sounds o and u as similar, if not the same. Consequently
there is no need to use both o and u when writing Tausug (even though other Philippine languages may have a sound
difference which makes semantic difference between words involving o and u.) It is essential in Tausug, in order to avoid
confusion, that only one symbol be used for these two sounds. It is preferable to choos u since it is the sound which
occurs the more frequently of the two.
5. The Symbolization of Glottal Stop
5.1 The apostrophe
The basic principle which guides the orthographer in his work is that each distinctive sound (phoneme) must have one
and only one distinctive symbolization. (There must be a one-to-one phoneme-grapheme relationship.) This means that
each distinctive sound should be written the same way in each occurrence unless other considerations dictate to the
contrary. Ideally, then, in Tausug it would be best to write even the glottal stop with only one symbol wherever it occurs (a
hyphen or grave accent or apostrophe or any symbol—so long as it is consistently used). However the orthographer is
forced, by other factors outside his control, to alter this basic principel somewhat. Current usage and related language
usage are two such factors. For Tausug this means, for example, that no glottal stop will be written intervocalically
(following Tagalog precedent and accepted practice in schools). The word "yes" will be simple huun and not hùun, or hu-
un or hu'un. The word "skin" will be pais and not pàis or pa-is or pa'is. Note the implications of this rule. It means that to
be consistent (the major objective of all orthography) no word may be written containing two contiguous vowels except
words which contain a glottal stop between the (seemingly) contiguous vowels. Therefore words like suysuy "rumor,"
and bāy "house" may not be written suisui and bāi since, following the rule given above, such a symbolization would posit
a glottal stop between the contiguous vowels.
Some writers of Tausug regularly use h to symbolize word-final glottal stop. Other writers use the grave accent but the
position taken in this dictionary is that all occurrences of glottal stop which are not intervocalic should be symbolized by
an apostrophe.
5.2 Reasons for using the apostrophe
Practical reasons for using the apostrophe as a symbol are:
3
a. It is available on all typewriters and printing machines (in contrast to the grave accent).
b. It shows that the glottal stop comes after or before the vowel, in contrast to the grave accent, which makes it seem as
though the glottal stop is simultaneous with the vowel. Compare batà with bata' "child," taỳ with tay' "excrement,"
and sumbaỳ with sumbay' "slaughter."
c. Use of the apostrophe will avoid giving the symbol h a double value. Compare bahu' with bahuh "stench."
d. It avoids confusion from two values being assigned to the hyphen. To illustrate, compare nag-anad "to learn" and ta-
ping "jaw" with anak-apu' "descendants" (a compound word) and adlaw-adlaw "daily" (a reduplicated word). In the first
two words the hyphen functions as a glottal stop, but in the last two it merely shows where compound or reduplicated
words are joined. Confusion will be avoided if the above four words are written as follows: nag'anad, ta'pingi, anak-apu',
and adlaw-adlaw.
e. Use of the apostrophe limits the number of symbols for glottal stop to two instead of three.
6. The Symbolization of High Vocoids
All six possible vocoid combinations in Tausug present problems in orthography because they involve at least one high
vocoid.
6.1 The ai combination.
Wherever this vocoid sequence occurs it should be spelled ay as in:
bāy “house”
bayta' “to tell”
“don’t”
ayaw
“facial appearance”
aymuka
“banana”
sayng
“safety pin”
kayt
“digit”
gulamay
“slaughter”
sumbay'
The last words of the above list might have been spelled saying, kayit, and sumbayi'. However, since such spelling would
give rise to on-glides and extra syllables which do not occur even in artificially slowed speech, it is preferable for accuracy
and simplicity to write only the y as in the first examples. A concise statement is thus possible: wherever ai occurs
(without a medial glottal stop), it will always be spelled ay (not ayi).
6.2. The au combination
Wherever the vocoid sequence occurs it should be spelled aw as in:
“anchor”
sāw
“under”
sawm
“needle”
jawm
“to hold in store”
taw'
“garlic”
bawang
“wife”
asawa
Some of the above words might have been written as sawum, tawu', jawum, etc. However since spellings would give rise
to on-glides and extra syllables which do not occur even in artificially slowed speech it is preferable to write only the w. A
short precise statement is thus possible: wherever au occurs (without a medial glottal stop), it will always be spelled aw
(not awu).
6.3 The ia and ua combinations
Word-initially, these combinations should be spelled ya and wa respectively:
“there” (near speaker)
yan
“here”
yari
“there” (farther than yan)
yaun
“none”
way
“necessary”
wajib
“type of rice confection”
wadjit
In other positions, the ia and ua combinations should be spelled iya and uwa respectively in conformity with Tagalog and
in order to avoid violating the rule previously adopted that when two vowels are written next to one another a glottal stop
is to be pronounced between them:
“he, she, it”
siya
“like
biya'
“carried”
diyā
“two”
duwa
“rock (a cradle)”
buwa
“lanzones”
buwahan
A helpful rule to remember as to how to write the combinations ai, au, ia, or ua is that, when either i or u occurs next to a,
it should always be written as a semivowel y or w.
6.4 The ui combination
This sequence presents more problems than the others because both vocoids are high ones and so both could be
treated as consonants. In most occurrences it seems best to treat the sequence as a vowel-consonant sequence uy
(similar to ay and aw) in order to concord best with non-suspect CVC patterns in the language and cause the least
syllable distortion. Note the following:
“pig”
babuy
“rumor”
suysuy
“pity”
luuy
“drive away”
dūy
“diligent”
tuyu'
“abduct”
guyud
“durian”
dūyan
One might be tempted to spell the above words uwi instead of uy. Note, however, what would happen with the word dūy,
for instance, if it were spelled dūwi. When one adds the imperative suffix -a, the word becomes a three-syllable word
(dūwiya "drive it away") which is not how the imperative sounds. Even an abnormal slowing of speech does not give rise
to three syllables. The final argument against spelling such words like dūy as dūwi is the fact that in actual speech
whenever the verb dūy occurs with an objective or referential suffix, the suffix always takes the form (-un, -an, -a, or -i)
which normally follows stems ending in consonants, not the form (-hun, -han, -ha, or -hi) which normally follows stems
ending in vowels.
When the u of the ui combination occurs next to the a vowel, the combination should be written as wi, not uy. Note that
the w in the following words occurs in the initial consonant slot of CV and CVC syllable patterns.
“marry”
kawin
“purpose”
gawi
“to anchor”
lawig
“light it for me”
ilawi
6.5 The iu combination
When the i of the iu combination occurs adjacent to the vowel a, the iu will be written yu.
“thin”
kayug
“type of sea urchin”
tayum
“pound with pestle
bayu
“consciousness”
sayu
In other positions the iu should be written iyu. Note that the y occurs in the initial consonant slot of CV and CVC syllable
patterns.
“who”
siyu
“beyond”
liyu
“kiss”
siyum
“become bored, disinterested”
siyumu
7. The Symbolization of Compound and Reduplicated Words
All compound words and all reduplicated words will be spelled with a hyphen between the isolatable parts of the word:
“love”
kasi-lasa
daub-daya' “end over end”
“blood and tears”
hulas-sangsa'
“little boy”
usug-usug
“yearly”
tahun-tahun
“accordion”
ambak-ambak
1
In Malaysia today there are at least four spelling systems: the Ejaan Sekolah, Ejaan Wilkinson, Ejaan Kongres, and
Ejaan Bersama Malaysia-Indonesia. This profusion of writing systems (with its attendant confusion) prompts Omar to say
that the immediate need of the Malay language is one standardized spelling system which will give confidence to
teachers, administrators, office workers and people in all walks of life who use written Malay.
2
It should be noted here that the comparison made between Tausug and Malay is only a rather general comparison since
the two languages differ greatly in development, number of speakers, and national prestige.
3
In materials produced by the Bureau of Public Schools, word-final glottal stop is not symbolized. In private talks at the
Division Office in Jolo, however, the editor was told that this was not due to any reluctance on the part of those producing
the materials, but rather to a lack of diacritic marks at the printers.
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Tausug-English Dictionary: Kabtangan Iban Maana
The Tausug Alphabet
The alphabetical order in which the main entries of this dictionary are listed is as follows:
' a b ch d g h i j k l m n ng ny p r s t u w y
Note that the apostrophe, symbolizing glottal stop, precedes all other letters. Note also that the letter k is in a different
place from previously, following a directive of the Komisyon Sa Wikang Filipino. In addition, ng and ny are treated as units
following the alveolar nasal n. Accordingly, for example, the word sa'bu precedes the word sabab because glottal stop
comes before b. The word santuk precedes the word sanga since ng is treated as a single unit following n. Finally, vowel
length is ignored in alphabetization. When two words differ only in that a vowel of one is short while in the other it is long,
the word with the short vowel is listed first (for example ipun "tooth" immediately precedes īpun "slave".)
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Grammar Notes
1. Parts of Speech
1.1 Nouns
Nouns are of three types: (1) simple, (2) derived, and (3) complex. (1) Simple nouns are affixed or affixable roots which
are only inflected for diminutive aspect. e.g., batu "stone," kura' "horse," bāy-bāy "small house." (2) Derived nouns consist
of a root and a derivative affix, e.g., ka-datung (nominalizer - to arrive) "arrival". (3) Complex nouns are nominalized
transforms of verbs and as such have verbal inflection, e.g., piyag-bunu'-an "place where a battle was fought."
1.2 Relators
Relators signal the grammatical relationships between verbs and their associated nominal phrases, e.g., sin "non-topic
actor," in "topic," ha "oblique."
Binī (sin) tau (in) sapi' (ha) bagay niya
(non-
buy topic man (topic) cow (oblique) friend his
act.)
"The man bought the cow from his friend."
Relators also signal relationships such as possession, coordination and subordination.
possession: sin
bay (sin) tau dayahan
house (poss.) man rich
"house of the rich man"
coordination: iban
ista' (iban) sibuyas
fish (and) onions
"fish and onions"
subordination: bang
(Bang) dakula' in ista', bīhun ku
(If) large topic fish, buy I
"If the fish are large, I'll buy them."
1.3 Adverbs
Adverbs are particles which are non-relational and are attributive to the construction in which they occur. They include
such functions as:
time: bakas “previously;” kaina “a while ago”
kunu' “quote”
quotation:
baha' “pray tell;” kalu-kalu “perhaps”
uncertainty:
tuwi' “oops”
surprise:
di' “not”
negation:
interrogation: ka “question”
limitation: na “completive;” pa “incompletive;” da “only”
obligation: subay “should”
1.4 Pronouns
Pronouns are words which have compounds of person, number, and proximity and substitute for noun phrases. They are
either personal or non-personal (demonstrative). They divide into four classes according to their function on the clause
and sentence level. The following charts display their relationship to the phrase sets (see section 2, Phrase Types) of the
language.
Chart 2a Personal Pronouns of Tausug
Phrase Membership Phrase1 Phrase2 Phrase3 Phrase4
Pron. Class <kaw> <mu> <kaymu> <ikaw>
sg. aku ku/ta kāku'
aku
Speaker:
pl. kami namu' kāmu'
kami
sg. kaw mu kaymu ikaw
Hearer:
pl. kamu niyu kaniyu kamu
sg. siya niya kaniya siya
Other:
pl. sila nila kanila sila
sg. kita ta kātu' kita
Speaker-
hearer: pl. kitaniyu taniyu kātu'niyu kitaniyu
Chart 2b Demonstrative Pronouns of Tausug
Phrase Membership Phrase1 Phrase2 Phrase3 Phrase4
Pron. Class <kaw> <mu> <kaymu> <ikaw>
near or touching
in ini sin ini ha ini ini
speaker: this
near to hearer: this in yan sin yan ha yan yan
away from speaker and
hearer, in yaun sin yaun ha yaun yaun
but within sight: that
far away from both
in yadtu sin yadtu ha yadtu yadtu
(remote) that
The <kaw> class of pronouns functions in the same way as Phrase . The <mu> set functions like Phrase , <kaymu> like
1 2
Phrase , and <ikaw> like Phrase .
3 4
1.5 Adjectives
Adjectives, like nouns, are affixed or affixable roots which are inflected only for diminutive aspect. They contrast with
nouns, however, in that they occur in attributive slots. Adjectives are of two types: simple and derived. Simple adjectives
are unaffixed roots which are only inflected for diminutive aspect. Examples are dakula' "large," asibi' "small," dakula'-
dakula' "somewhat large," pula "red," and baliskat "inverted."
Derived adjectives consist of the adjectival prefix ma- plus a root, e.g., ma-dayaw (phonetically marayaw) "good," ma-
taud "many," ma-bahu' "odorous," and ma-bagunbun "dusty."
1.6 Interjections
Interjections are exclamatory in nature. They consist of one or more words and usually occur at the first of the sentence
periphery, e.g., ā! "oh," andu' kailu! "sympathy," ay kaw naa! "hey," and abā! "wow."
1.7 Verbs
1.7.1 Inflection
Verbs contrast with the other parts of speech in that they are obligatorily inflected for time-aspect, focus, and mode.
Categories of time-aspect are: begun (b) or not begun (nb). Categories of focus are: originator (of), object (Obf),
accessory (Af), and referent (Rf) (see section 3, Focus). Categories of mode are: purposive, abilitative ("able to/happen
to,") and imperative. The following is a paradigm of these obligatory affixes with the verb duhal "to hand over," and, for
object focus, kaun "to eat," since duhal does not occur with object focus.
Chart 3 Obligatory Verbal Affixes of Tausug
Verbs are also optionally inflected for causative voice and for manner-aspect. The above chart with the causative affix
added is as follows:
Chart 4 Causative and Obligatory Verbal Affixes of Tausug
Categories of manner-aspect are:
Simple (mag-/nag-), use with Originator focus only.
Punctiliar (-um-/-im-), with Originator focus only. Note in the chart of obligatory affixes above that either Simple or
Punctiliar is obligatory in Originator focus, Purposive mode. Punctiliar manner-aspect does not co-occur with any other
affixes except Progressive and Diminutive.
Progressive, normally used with begun aspect, not with not-begun aspect. Formed by reduplicating the initial consonant
and vowel of the stem, e.g., nagduruhal siya "he/she is/was in the process of handing over" and kiyakaun niya "he/she
is/was in the process of eating (it)."
Diminutive, formed by reduplicating the entire stem, e.g., kimaun-kaun sila "they snacked" and langug-langugun ta "let's
tease (them) a little."
Reciprocal, formed by reduplicating the entire stem, prefixing the first stem with mag-, and both infixing and suffixing the
second stem with i, e.g., magduhal-diyuhali sila "they will hand things to each other."
Habituative (Frequentative). The following is a chart of the obligatory affixes with Habituative added. Note that there is no
habituative form focusing the object in Abilitative Mode:
Chart 5 Habituative and Obligatory Verbal Affixes of Tausug
1.7.2 Stem Classes
Verb stems are classed according to the case relationships inherent in the verb stem and each class of verb stem has its
own distinctive class meaning and pattern of affixation. About half the verb stems in this dictionary have tentative stem
class identifications marked. Others are not marked since the analysis is not yet complete. For a full discussion of stem
classes, see section 6, Verb Stem Classes.
2. Phrase Types
2.1 There are four phrase sets in Tausug, called phrase , phrase , phrase , and phrase . Each phrase set includes
1 2 3 4
substantive phrases and pronouns. Substantive phrases are personal or non-personal. They may be further subdivided
into simple and coordinate.
2.2 Substantive phrases are relator-axis phrases and differ from one another in the different relators and their different
functions on the clause and sentence level. A formula for the simple phrase is as follows:
+ relator + axis
any substantive
in
with its modifiers
The formula for the coordinate phrase is as follows:
+ relator + head expression + connector +head expression
phrase /any
2
any substantive with
in iban substantive with
modifiers
modifiers
2.3 The members of the class of connectors marked iban in the formula above are: kay "connector of personal
nouns," iban "and," atawa "or." The members of the class of relators marked in are on the chart below.
Chart 6 Tausug Relators Marked in
Phrase1 Phrase2 Phrase3 Phrase4
Personal
substantive phrase
relator:
hi hi kan/kanda hi
sg.
hinda hinda kaynda hinda
pl.
Non-personal
ha (location);
substantive phrase in sin 0
pa (direction)
relator:
3. Focus
3.1 The term focus in Tausug refers to the special relationship between the topic noun phrase (phrase ) of a clause
1
(marked by in, hi, or hinda) and the clause predicate whereby that particular noun phrase is highlighted or focused. This
relationship is indicated by verbal inflection. It has relevance not only at the clause and sentence level but seems to
function at the paragraph level as well and perhaps at the discourse level; e.g., in the sentence,
Kiyaun sin iru' in ista'.
"The fish was eaten by the dog.",
the relator in marks ista' "fish" as being in topic focus relationship to the predicate kiyaun "eaten." The non-topic agent
relationship of phrase sin iru' "by the dog" is marked by the relator sin.
2
3.2 Four focus constructions are differentiated: Originator (Of), Object (Obf), Referent (Rf) and Accessory (Af). The range
of affixation in each instance is determined by the class membership of the verb stem with which the affix occurs.
3.2.1 Originator focus affixes (mag-, -um-, and others) indicate that the grammatical originator of the clause is the topic or
item being focused in the clause. In the example
Naglawag siya iban.
Of=b=search topic=orig=he obj=companion
"He searched for a companion.",
the originator focus affix occurring with the verb "search" indicates that the originator he is the focused item or topic.
3.2.2 Object focus affixes (-un and others) indicate that the grammatical object of the clause is the item being focused.
Lawagun sin sundalu in iban
Obf=nb=search orig-mkr orig=soldier topic obj=companion
"The soldier will look for his companion."
The grammatical object "his companion" is the focused item or topic.
3.2.3
Referent affixes (-an and others) indicate that the grammatical referent of the clause is being focused.
Lawagan ta kaw manuk.
Rf=nb=search orig=pron=I ref=you=sg obj=chicken
"I'll look for a chicken for you."
The grammatical referent "you" is the focused item or topic.
3.2.4 Similarly, acessory focus affixes (hi- and others) indicate that the grammatical accessory is the focused item or
topic.
Hipanglawag mu in palitaan.
Af=nb=search orig=you=sg topic acs=lamp
"Use the lamp for searching."
Here the grammatical accessory "lamp" is the focused item or topic.
For an explanation of the semantic relationships of focus affixes see Section 6, Verb Stem Classes.
3.3 The relationship of the four grammatical constructions to phrase sets 1, 2, and 3 that expound them is illustrated in
the following chart involving a change of state verb. It is important to remember that the constructions permitted and the
relationship of the phrase sets to those constructions depend on the stem class membership of the verb involved.
Chart 7 Relationship of Tausug Focus Constructions to Phrase Sets
Predicate Originator Object Accessory Referent
mag-CH 1 Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase
1 2 2 3
CH 1-un Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase
2 1 2 3
hi-CH 1 Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase
2 2 1 3
CH 1-an Phrase Phrase Phrase Phrase
2 2 2 1
3.4 Phrase set 4 (ph ) functions as an emphatic, filling the predicate slot of a non-verbal classificational clause:
4
Ikaw in bagay ku.
predicate=you=(ph ) topic friend=(ph ) poss=my=(ph )
4 4 2
"You are my friend."
3. Focus
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