Celebrating the Language Month (1)

Celebrating the Language Month (1)

J. Colima Bajado

It is noticeable today that the younger generations are becoming more ignorant to the meaning of simple Waray words. Some do not even know the equivalent term in our language, of several nouns and adjectives. Worst, some parents would require the nannies of their children to talk to them in English. Ouch! Yuck! Gosh! Expressions that could have been well said as Aduy! Bagra! Hiyay!

I will take this opportunity, which long I have awaited, to talk about a sort of appreciation lecture of our language- Bisaya, Binisaya, Waray, Waray-Waray, Samareňo-Leyteňo- whichever you call it.

Scholars tagged the Jesuit father Ignacio Alcina as the gran defensor of the Bisayans by granting veneration, or at least a simple admiration on our language. He called the natives “my beloved Bisayans.” He translated Latin prayers, novenas and observances to our language. He also wrote a thesaurus of at least 20,000 words. He was a Spanish friar!

He defended that our language, which is popularly known today as Waray, is better than any language in the country that time- even better than Tagalog. Fr. Alcina furtherly explicate that our forms of poetry were excellent to the point of outshining the Tagalog, Spanish and other European linguistic mien. It took him 30 years to finally be au fait with the basics of our different forms of literature. But today, do we even care about it?

Some take it “baduy” to listen or read a siday. With this snooty attitude towards our surviving literature, it is not surprising that very few of us know that haya, ambahan, bical, balac, siday and awit once existed, much less in knowing their literary physiognomy.

In expounding Fr. Alcina’s proposition that our language is rich, he took an example on the richness on the terms that we use to the word “lavar” (wash), where our term paglaba is rooted (pagbunak is more appropriate word than paglaba). He noted the specificity of our use of the word “lavar” because in Spanish (and English too) they just say, wash your feet, wash your face, wash your hands, etc.

For example, instead of saying wash your mouth, we say pagpalimugmog, which specifically refer to gargling. Pagpusa to wash the feet. Paghiram-os in washing our face. To wash one’s hands we say paghunaw. To wash one’s privates, pag usaw. That’s why we never fail to remind our girlfriends in asking, “inusaw ka na?”

As mentioned, we say pagbunak to wash our clothes. But more specifically, we say pagtalimsaw in rinsing the clothes. Pagtalimsaw may also refer to rinsing with fresh water after bathing in salty water. We say pagdanggas in washing open wounds.  

I can say more words like pagparigo, pagtuyab-as, pagwasiwas, pagnawnaw, pagpunas. The dialectological wealth of our language convinced Fr. Alcina that indeed, the language of his “beloved Bisayans” is superior. Furthermore, people speak metaphorically even in ordinary conversations, how much more with the different poetic forms? It makes, for him, our language more remarkable.

If it is the case then, why is it today that some of us cannot speak our language, unless otherwise the situation demands us to speak in English? When I was about to board the plane at the Tacloban airport, bound for Manila last week, I was next in line to a lady who was talking with somebody in her cell phone. “Mom, I put the key at the study table in my room,” with a foreign twang. Suddenly she added, “hagi Mama, didto lagi hit lamesa!” Now with an authentic Waray accent.

I smirked. I remembered the Palanca Hall of Famer Dr. Leoncio Deriada’s idea that pain and anger is distinct to ones culture. He had this funny, yet factual suggestion in order to determine the roots of your seatmate- pinch her. If she says Aray! She is Tag-ala. If she says Aguy! She is a Sebuana. If she says Aduy! Surely, she is a Waray. But if she says ouch! Pinch her some more, for she is pretending to be American.

Should’ve had I wrote this article in Waray, it would be more interesting. But since inevitable circumstances compelled me to write this in English, pardon the paradox and irony. An Diyos an  magbalos!

Published in Gahum Weekly

Vol 2, No. 18