Batangas Tagalog


Batangas Tagalog is a regional variety of Tagalog spoken primarily in the province of Batangas and adjoining areas of Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, and Mindoro in the Philippines. It is characterized by a strong accent and a vocabulary and grammar closely related to Old Tagalog.

Grammar

The most obvious difference is the use of the passive imperfect in place of the present progressive tense. In common Tagalog, this is done by inserting the infix -um- after the first syllable and repeating the first syllable. In the Batangan Tagalog dialect, this form is created by adding the prefix na- to the word.
This conjugation is odd, because it would be the passive past for commonly spoken Tagalog. The answer to Nasaan si Pedro? is Nakain ng isda!. To those unfamiliar with this usage, the statement might mean "He was eaten by a fish!"; however, a Batangas Tagalog user can distinguish between the two apparently-identical forms by determining the stress in the words.

Morphology

Another difference between Batangan Tagalog and commonly spoken Tagalog is the use of the verb ending -i instead of -an mo, especially in the imperative. This only occurs when the verb stands alone in a sentence or is the last word in the phrase. When another word follows, Batangueños would not use the -an form.
;Example 1:
  • Person A: Mayroon pong nakatok sa pintô
  • Person B: Abá'y!, bukse!
However,
  • Person A: Mayroon pong kumakatok sa pintô
  • Person B: Abá'y, buksán mo!
This uses the absolute degree of an adjective, not heard elsewhere. It is the rough equivalent to -issimo or -issima in Italian, and is missing from other Tagalog dialects. This is done with the prefix pagka-:
;Example 1
  • Pagkaganda palá ng anák ng mag-asawang aré, ah!
;Example 2

Second-person plural

Another notable characteristic of the Batangan dialect is the dual-number pronouns, referring to two things. Although it has not disappeared in some other areas, this form is not used in standard Tagalog.
;Example 1:
  • Batangan Tagalog: Ta'na!
  • Common Tagalog: Tayo na!
;Example 2:
  • Batangan Tagalog: Buksé mo nga iyáng telebisyón nata.
  • Common Tagalog: Buksán mo nga ang TV natin.
Intonation tends to rise, particularly in the expression of deep emotion.

Phonology

Another notable difference is the closed syllable connected by glottal stop, which is not used in standard Tagalog, probably influenced by Spanish, where glottal stops don't exist. The City of Tanauan is pronounced tan-'a-wan, although it would be pronounced ta-'na-wan by other Tagalog speakers. This is also true of words such as matamis. Because Batangan Tagalog is more closely related to ancient Tagalog, the merger of the phonemes e and i and the phonemes o and u are prevalent; e and o are allophones of i and u, respectively, in Tagalog.
Prevalent in Batangan but missing from other dialects are the sounds ey and ow. Unlike their English counterparts, these diphthongs are sounded primarily on the first vowel and only rapidly on the second; this is similar to the e in the Spanish word educación and the first o in the Italian word Antonio.

Vocabulary

Locative adjectives are iré or aré and rine or dine. Vocabulary is also divergent. Batangan Tagalog has several translations of the word "fall", depending on how a person falls. They may have nagdagasa, nagtingkuró or nagsungabâ
To the confusion of other Tagalog speakers, Batangueños use the phrase Hindî pô akó nagyayabang! to mean "I am not telling a lie!"; common Tagalog speakers would say Hindî pô akó nagsisinungaling! To them, the former statement means "I am not bragging !"
A panday is a handyman in Batangas and a smith in Manila. An apáw is "mute". An exclamation of disbelief is anlaah!, roughly a shorter translation of walâ iyán in common Tagalog.
The Batangas dialect is also known for the particle eh. While it is used throughout the province, some variations exist. This particle has no intrinsic meaning; its closest equivalent in English is in the conversational context of "Well,...". In other cases, it can show that the preceding word is the cause of something, much as kasi would be used. The particle eh is also spoken in other native Tagalog-speaking areas and by second-language speakers w/ the same closest English translation mentioned above w/out its variants like ala eh.
Batangas dialect is known for the term laang, translated as "only" or "just", their version of lang in Manila and their own shortened version of ''lámang.''

Batangas dialect

Batangas Tagalog dialect surrounding within area

; Outside Batangas borders

Majestic plural

The plural is not limited to those of lower ranks; those in authority are also expected to use this pluralisation with the first-person plural inclusive Tayo, which acts as the majestic plural. The Batangueños use the inclusive pronoun, commonly for government officials or those with authority over a territory.
This form is used by doctors or nurses when talking to patients. A doctor from the province will rarely ask someone how he is feeling; rather, he will ask "How are we feeling?".
Although pô and opò show respect, Batangueños replace these with hô and ohò. However, Batangueños understand the use of pô and opò.