PUBLICATIONS OF THE INSTITUTE OF

Bulletin No. 3 October, 1939

THE la, li, lo AND al IN

FELIZBERTO B. VIRAY

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Bulletin No. 3 October, 1939

THE INFIXES la, li, lo AND al IN PHILIPPINE LANGUAGES

FELIZBERTO B. VIRAY

MANILA BUREAU OF PRINTING 1939 37902 INSTITUTE OF NATIONAL LANGUAGE

J aime C. de Veyra, D irector Cecilio L opez, Secretary and Executive Officer F elix S. Salas Rodriguez, M em b er Santiago A. F onacier, M em b er Casimiro F. P erfecto, M em b er I sidro Abad, M em b er Zoilo H ilario, M em b er L ope K. Santos, M em b er J ose I. Zulueta, M em b er 2 THE INFIXES la, li, lo AND al IN PHILIPPINE LANGUAGES1

BY FELIZBERTO B. VIRAY

INTRODUCTION Words in Philippine languages are formed by the com­ bination of roots and affixes. The affixes which are pre­ fixes, infixes, and suffixes enliven the words of the lang­ uages and complete the ideas to be expressed by their being added to the roots of words. The prefixes are numerous in all the Philippine languages but the infixes and suffixes are few. The infixes that are so far known are urn, in, and la, li, lo. The infixes la, li, lo take other forms such as ra, ri, ro, ga, gi, go and ya, yi, yo following the operation of the RLD 2 and RGH3 laws in Philippine languages. Spanish grammarians writing on the languages of the Visayan Islands and Justice Norberto Romualdez in his Bisayan Grammar, have recognized the occurrence of the infixes la, li, lo and their equivalent forms; but those who wrote on the languages of and have made 1 Lecture delivered in the Villamor Hall, October 12, 1939. 2 The RLD law is the correspondence of r, I and d in the name of a thing, e. g., ngaran ‘name’, Magindanaw nalan, Bagobo nadgan; Ibanag langit ‘sky’, Inibaloi dangit, Zambali-Boli- naw rangit. 3 The RGH law is the correspondence of the letters r, g, h and sometimes y in the different languages, either initial, medial or terminal, e. g., Tagalog gamot ‘root’, Iloko ramut, Pangasinan la- mot, Ivatan yamut; Tagalog ugat ‘vein’, Iloko urat, Pangasinan ulat, Ivatan uyat; Tagalog ikog ‘tail’, Tiruray igor, Pangasinan ikol. 3 4 no mention of the existence of such infixes in these lan­ guages. So far, we know only of Mr. Louis B. Wolfenson of Johns Hopkins University, and Mr. Julian C. Balma- seda, now special assistant in the Institute of National Language, Manila, who have made studies on these affixes la, li, lo in Tagalog. Professor Frank R. Blake in a foot­ note in his A Grammar of the Tagalog Language . . . re­ ferred to Mr. Wolfenson’s paper The Infixes la, li, lo in Tagalog. Of the other languages in Luzon and Mindanao we have not come across any study on these affixes. One of the works of the Institute of National Language is “to make a comparative critical study of all Philippine prefixes, infixes and suffixes” . This present paper is a comparative study of the infixes la, li, lo and their equivalents and al in the Philippine languages which are being studied and represented in the Institute of National Language, namely: Tagalog, Sebu, Hiligaynon, -, Bikol, Pangasinan, Pampangan and Ibanag. DISCUSSION In our study, we grouped together (1) those languages which have clear infixes la, li, lo or their equivalents per­ forming specific functions and the derivatives formed having meanings semantic with those of the roots, and (2) those languages which have the al which has been treated as the equivalent of the infixes la, li, lo by the au­ thors we have named in the introduction.

I. LANGUAGES WHICH HAVE CLEAR. INFIXES la, li, lo- We use the forms la, li, lo because in roots beginning with a , if al, il, ol are used, the al, il, ol become prefixes instead of infixes, e. g., Sebu alagian ‘passage’ (

SUBSTANTIVES Sebu: solosingbahan ‘chapel, like a church’ (

Sebu: With augmentative meaning, e. g., talahoron ‘re­ spectable’ (

VERBS The derivatives with infixes la, li, lo express either di­ minutive or frequentative action. Sebu: nagatolotindog ‘standing a little’ (tindog ‘stand’). nagatoloon ‘studying a little’ (

With prefix ka, infixes la, li, lo and suffix an or on, the derivatives formed in Sebu and Samar-Leyte denote ab­ stract substantives, e. g., Sebu kalawad’on or kawalalaon ‘want, nothingness’ (

Leyte, e. g., Hiligaynon umalagi ‘passenger’ (

brothers’ (

I banag: (1) Ik kitu na ay dakal. His dog is big. (2) Darakal ngamin ik kitu. (Big all the dogs.) The dogs are big. (3) Da Maria, Jose anni Juan e nattarali (

Hiligaynon, Samar-Leyte, Bikol and Ibanag. This fact is significant because the languages having these infixes la, li, lo or their equivalents save Ibanag are spoken in neigh­ boring places (see map). These infixes la, li, lo, with or without other affixes form derivatives in Sebu, Hiligaynon, Samar-Leyte and Bikol which express intensifying meaning of substantives, ad­ jectives and verbs. The same word formation which ex­ presses diminutive action may express frequentative action depending on the context. When these infixes la, li, lo are used with prefix ka, and suffix an or on, they form derivatives denoting ab­ stract substantives in Sebu, and Samar-Leyte; with suffix on, they form derivatives which denote objects of actions in Sebu, Hiligaynon and Samar-Leyte; and with suffix an derivatives are formed which denote places of action in Sebu, Hiligaynon and Samar-Leyte. These infixes la, li, lo with prefix um in Hiligaynon and prefix mag in Samar-Leyte form substantives denoting agents of actions or occupations. With prefix i, these infixes la, li, lo form derivatives in Hiligaynon which denote (1) nouns indicating the senses, (2) power, capacity or faculty of the mind, and (3) in­ strument. In Bikol and Ibanag, the infixes ra, ri, ro pluralize sub­ stantives, adjectives and verbs. It is interesting to note that in a sentence the adjectives and verbs agree in num­ ber with the substantives. However, this use of these infixes is only found in Ibanag and Bikol but not in Sebu, Hiligaynon and Samar-Leyte. Generally the of these infixes are the same as those of the first syllables of the roots. There are two exceptions: (1) There seems to be a fixed form for these infixes which is with a vowel o; (2) When the infix has o vowel, sometimes the first syllable of the derivative takes the same vowel which derivative generally denotes diminu­ tive quality. 13

MAP OF THE o

a N ote.— The portions of the map inclosed by broken lines show thef places Where the languages with infixes la, li, lo are spoken. Hiligaynon is spoken, in the islands of Panay and in ; Sebu in the islandsi of Sebu, and in Negros O riental; Samar-Leyte in the islands of Samar, Leyte, and in the southern part of ; Bikol in the Bikol peninsula and in the northern part of Masbate; and Ibanag in the Province of . 14

II. LANGUAGES WHICH HAVE INFIX al The other part of this paper is about the infix al in Tagalog, Sebu, Hiligaynon, Iloko, Samar-Leyte, Bikol, Pan- gasinan, Pampangan and Ibanag. None of the grammarians in the Tagalog, Iloko, Panga- sinan, Pampangan and Ibanag languages save Frank R. Blake in his Grammar of the Tagalog Language have re­ cognized the existence of the infixes la, li, lo. Recently, Mr. Wolfenson and Mr. Balma/eda have written papers finding equivalents for these infixes la, li, lo in Tagalog, the latter finding al as their equivalent. Mr. Louis B. Wolfenson in his The Infixes la, li, lo in Tagalog, published in the Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. XXVII, 1906, pp. 142-146, makes the follow­ ing observations on these infixes: “The diminutive force in these cases may be due to the of the root; for in both Tagalog and Bisayan there are instances of diminutive reproduction, e. g., mabuti- buti ‘pretty good,’ and Bisayan tawotawo ‘little man.’ But it is perhaps more likely that the diminutive force is due to the combination of the partial reduplication and the infixed particle. “The infixes la, li, lo are found not only in Bisayan, but occur also in Tagalog in a considerable number of words, although they are not recognized as such by the Spanish grammarians, e. g., salaysay, ‘explain’ from the root saysay explain, clear up, with infixed la; bulitiktik ‘be very full,’ from butiktik ‘be replete with,’ with infixed li; and dalotdot ‘dig a little,’ which is probably derived from dotdot ‘stir with the finger,’ with infixed io. “The force of these particles in Tagalog is for the most part very indistinct, the meaning of the derivative with pre­ fixed particle being often the same as that of the word or root from which it is formed, as in the cases of the first two examples cited above. There are, however, some traces of diminutive force as in dalotdot ‘dig little,’ and giliginto ‘the (little) golden eyes that form on soup,’ properly ‘the little golden ones,’ or ‘the goldfish ones,’ from ginto ‘gold,’ which 15

must be compared with the Bisayan formations like tolo- tigolong ‘oldish’ and karokabayo ‘little horse,’ etc., mentioned above.

“In Tagalog then, just as in Bisayan, a number of words containing the infixes la, li, lo are found, the words con­ taining these infixes being treated as roots in the various grammars and dictionaries of Tagalog. In general the par­ ticles seem to have little or no force, although in some in­ stances traces of a diminutive meaning are apparent.” Mr. Julian Balmg^da, in a lecture which he had before the Balagtasiana on December 28, 192$, discussed the in­ fix al in Tagalog; and in a paper submitted to the same body on February 24, 1934, he criticized Mr. Wolfenson’s The Infixes la, li, lo in Tagalog mentioned above. The two papers of Mr. Balmaseda show apparently that he believes that al is the correct form in Tagalog of the infixes la, li, lo. After listing a number of words which are among the about a hundred words in Tagalog which we found as having al, Mr. Balmaseda gives seven uses of al which are the following: (1) Extends the meaning or force of the root, e. g., kalahig ‘rake’, kahig ‘scratch as in chicken scratching on the ground’; (2) determines or gives a par­ ticular meaning to the root, e. g., kalahati ‘one-half’, kahati ‘a party to a division, 25 centavos or | of 50 centavos; (3) repeats the meaning and action of the root, e. g., balugbog ‘to give blows upon one’s spinal region’, bugbog ‘to beat with a club’; (4) gives a synonimous meaning, e. g., sa- langit ‘to get in or go out of a small passage,’ singit ‘groin, inginal region’; (5) increases or augments the size of the root, e. g., ‘floor of a building’, papag ‘bamboo bed for one person only’; (6) decreases the size of the thing named by the root, e. g., balanga ‘small pot for cooking’, banga ‘jar for drinking water’; and (7) gives a contrasting meaning, e. g., salabat ‘a band about the body passing over one of the shoulders’, sabat ‘to die’. 16

Mr. Louis B. Wolfenson adds the group of words with prefix halo as containing the particle lo by stating that the prefix halo contains perhaps the infix Io. Mr. Balmaseda seconds Mr. Wolfenson by asserting that the infix al is also present in derivatives with prefixes mala, pala, kala and sola, the al of the prefixes being the infix al of the derivatives. The obvious incorrectness of the foregoing conclusions lies in the fact that an infix is inserted in a root and not in an affix. Mr. Wolfenson begins his study of -the infixes la, li, lo, by studying derivatives containing these particles in Sebu and Samar-Leyte. Then he proceeds to find their equiv­ alents in Tagalog. With Bisayan examples in his mind he constructs most of his Tagalog equivalents in the Bisayan method of word formation with these infixes, the result being that most of his examples are not Tagalog. Like Mr. Wolfenson, Mr. Balmaseda seeks to find the equivalents of the infixes la, li, lo in Tagalog. He col­ lected practically all the words containing al in Tagalog and contends that the correct form of the particles la, li, lo in Tagalog is al. A large number of the words which he considers as derivatives, with infix al, have no semantic relation with his supposed roots. The infix al is a particle which has come in a number of words in the Philippine languages. Unlike the infixes la, li, lo whose presence are easily noticed by the change or variation of meaning they give to the roots, the infix al seems to be present in words which have distinct meanings from those of the roots or words of the same spelling minus the letters al that only by a study of the semantic relation of the derivatives and the roots can its presence be ascertained. The infix al has other forms such as ar, ag, and ay in the different Philippine languages following also the operation of the RGH and RLD laws. Sometimes more than one form exist in a language such as in Iloko in which the ar, ag, and ay forms all exist. 17

For the purposes of our study we have included only words which show the effect of the addition of the infix al to the root leaving the ar, ag, ay because they are but other forms of the infix al. The infix al inserted between the initial consonant and the other part of the root, a derivative with indistinct in­ tensifying meaning, is formed, e. g., Tagalog balanga ‘small pot for cooking’ (

(

por el R. P. Fr. Julian Velinchon, reducido en metodo mas claro, en suplemento y dado a luz por el R. P. Fr. Ramon Rodriguez. Manila. Imp. Amigos del Pais. 1854. 8. Calderon, Sofronio G., Diccionario ingles-espanol-tagalog. Manila. J. Martinez. 1915. 9. Carro, Andres, Vocabulario iloco-espahol, trabajado por varios religiosos del orden de N. P. S. Agustin, coordinado por el M. R. P. Predicador Fr. Andres Carro. 2a ed. Manila. Est. tip.-lit. de M. Perez, hijo. 1888. 10. y Medina, Mariano, . Arte del idioma bisaya-hiligaino que se habla en Panay y en algunas islas adyacentes, por el Sr. D. Fr. Mariano Cuartero . . . Manila. Estab. tip. del Colegio de Santo Tomas a cargo de G. Memije. 1878. 11. Desmond, Henry, Elements oj . Manila. Catholic Trade School. Copyright 1929. 12. Diccionario espanol-ibanag: o sea, tesauro hispano-cagayan, sa- cado de los manuscritos antiguos, y nuevamente corr. y anadido en gran parte por los religiosos dominicos en aquella provincia. Se publica con la autorizacion de N. M. R. P. provincial Fr. Pedro Payo. Manila. Impr. de Ramirez y Giraudier. 1867. 13. Encina, Francisco, Gramatica bisaya-cebuana del P. Francisco Encina, reformada por el m. r. p. fr. Nicolas Gonzales de S. Vicente Ferrer. Manila. Imp. de “Amigos del Pais” . 1885. 14. Fernandez, Miguel, Diccionario espanol-ibanag; o sea, tesauro hispano-cagayan. 1867. 15. Fernandez Cosgaya, Lorenzo, Diccionario pangasinan-espariol, compuesto por el M. R. P. Fr. Lorenzo Fernandez Cosgaya, aumentado, ordenado y reformado por el M. R. P. Vicario Provincial y Foraneo, Fr. Pedro Villanova. Manila. Est. tip. del Colegio de Santo Tomas, a cargo de B. Salo. 1865. 16. Figueroa, Antonio, Arte del idioma Visaya de Samar y Leyte. 2a ed. . Impr. de B. Gonzales Morer. 1872. 17. Gamboa-Mendoza, , Preliminary Study of the Affixes in Pampangan. Institute of National Language. Manila. Type­ written. 18. Garces, Pilar, Preliminary Study of the Affixes in Sebu. In­ stitute of National Language. Manila. Typewritten. 19. Guillen, Felix, Gramatica bisaya para facilitar el estudio del dialecto bisaya-cebuano; escrita por el r. p. fr. Felix Guillen. , Estab. tipo. lit. del Asilo de huerfanos. 1898. 21

20. J aucian, Fe, Preliminary Study of the Affixes in Bikol. In­ stitute of National Language. Manila. Typewritten. 21. Lisboa, Marcos de, Vocabulario de la lengua bikol, compuesta por el M. R. P. Fr. Marcos de Lisboa. Reimpreso a espensas del exmo. ilmo. sr. dr. d. fr. Francisco Ganiza. Manila. Est. tip. del Colegio de Santo Tomas. 1865. 22. Lopez, Cecilio, Preliminary Study of the Tagalog Affixes. Pub­ lications of the Institute of National Language. Manila. Bureau of Printing. Vol. II, November, 1937. 23. Lopez, Francisco, Gramdtica ilocana compuesta por el P. Pre- dicador Fr. Francisco Lopez. Corregida y aumentada por el P. Carro. Malabon. Establ. Tipo. lit. del Asilo de la . 1895. 24. Lozano y Mejia, Raimundo, Gramdtica hispana-visaya-pana- yana, por Raimundo Lozano. Valladolid. L. N. de Gaviria. 1892. 25. Nepomuceno y Siriban, Vicente, Gramatica castellana expli- cada en el lenguaje espahol e ibanag. Manila. Imp. de I de los Reyes. 1894. 26. Pellicer, Mariano, Arte de la lengua pangasinan o caboloan; corregido y aumentado y llevando en si mismo el compendio. Manila, I. F. Imp. del Colegio de Sto. Tomas. 1904. 27. Romualdez, Norberto, Bisayan Grammar and Notes on Bisayan Rhetoric and Poetics and Filipino . “Pag Paaha- yag” Co. Takloban. 1908. 28. Salas, Felix Rodriguez, Afijos para formar sustantivos. In­ stitute of National Language. Manila. Typewritten. 29. Sanchez de la Rosa, Antonio, Diccionario espahol-bisaya para las provincias de Samar y Leyte, compuesto por el r. p. Fr. Antonio Sanchez de la Rosa. Manila. Imp. y lit. de Santos y Bernal. 1914. 30. Serrano Laktaw, Pedro, Diccionario Tagalog-Hispano. Se- gunda parte. Manila. Impr. y lit. de Santos y Bernal. 1914. 31. Serrano Laktaw, Pedro, Estudios gramaticales sobre la lengua tagalog. Manila. J. Fajardo. 1929. 32. Vera, Roman Maria de, Gramdtica hispano-bicol segun el me- todo de Ollendorff. Manila. Impr. de Santos y Bernal. 1904. 33. Vilches, Manuel, Gramdtica Visaya-Cebuana. Manila. Impr. de Ramirez y Giraudier. 1897. 22

34. ViraYj Felizberto B., Preliminary Study of the Affixes in Hili- gaynon. Institute of National Language. Manila. Type­ written. 35. ViraYj Felizberto B., Preliminary Study of the Affixes in Pangasinan. Institute of National Language. Manila. Typewritten. 36. Wolfenson, Louis B., The Infixes la, li, lo in Tagalog. Reprint from the Journal of the American Oriental Society, 1906, v. 27, p. 142-146. To encourage research in the Philippine linguistics, the Institute of National Language is publishing in this series of bulletins papers dealing, directly or indirectly, with problems in Philippine linguistics. Contributions to this series are open to everybody, but the Institute reserves the right to accept or reject them and will not be responsible for the contents of the contributions accepted for publication. Fifty separates of each paper published in this series are furnished the author without charge. Manuscripts intended for publication in this series should be sent to the Secretary and Executive Officer of the Institute of National Language, Alumni Building, Padre Faura, Florida. Manuscripts of papers not accepted for publication may be claimed by the authors upon sending sufficient amount to cover postage. The DIRECTOR. 23 o