Rinconada Bikol language

Name

Dialects

Sinabukid (highland dialect)

• Agta variant
• Iriga variant

Sinaranəw (lakeside dialect)

• Nabua – Balatan variant
• Baao variant
• Bula – Pili variant
• Bato variant

Dialectal variation

Phonology

Consonants

• //, //, //, and // are only found in loanwords, especially from Spanish.
• // is only found intervocalically between any of the vowels: /a, i, u/ and an /ɨ/. For example, ⟨pala⟩ + ⟨-ən⟩ = ⟨palaɥən⟩.

Vowels

• // and // are only found in loanwords, especially from Spanish.
• // is only found in the highland dialect of Iriga city. Several related Inland Bikol languages also have the same vowel.

Diphthong (saəy)

Diacritics (kul-it)

Glottal stop (rəgsad)

• With rəgsad and kul-it, the translation of the phrase I love you in Rinconada is Payabâ ko ikā.

Alphabet

Native

• Exceptions to the rules of the native alphabet are formal names like Juan Dela Cruz and placenames such as Laguna, Cebu and Manila. Those names must retain their official and simplified spelling instead of their native spellings Huwan Delā Krus, Lagūna, Sebū and Manīla. With the exception of names and places, all words in the native alphabet must be written with their respective spellings with their designated diacritics.

Simplified

Features and geographic distribution

• The Nabua-Balatan variant features high pitch intonation. It is the direct descendant of Rinconada Bikol but it has lost some features of the original spoken language. Speakers can be found throughout the municipalities of Nabua and Balatan.
• The Iriga variant, on the other hand, has the most speakers. The speakers are concentrated in the district's center, Iriga City, in some of the important barangays of Buhi, and the urban barangay of Matacon, located in Polangui, Albay. The Iriga variant has a flat intonation and is spoken rapidly.
• The Bato variant, on the other hand, has a distinctive mellow intonation. It is said that regardless of one's mood, the Bato speaker always sounds sleepy, as if they are chanting. The Bato variant is primarily spoken in Bato, Camarines Sur and is also spoken in Agos, Polangui, Albay.
• The Agta variant is the smallest of the group. The speakers are exclusively the indigenous population of Agta/Aeta, the aboriginal people of different tribes surrounding Mount Iriga and Buhi lake. Like Iriga, the Agta variant also has a flat intonation; they speak the language with a distinct form of pronunciation which can be traced to the group's extinct language.
• The variants of Baao and Bula-Pili are considered twins. They have the same accent and only slight differences in vocabulary. Of the two variants, Baao often uses rising intonation, while Bula-Pili is moderately flat but both use high pitch when reasoning. The latter variant is used entirely in Bula and in the southern half of the provincial capital town of Pili. It also has a significant number of speakers in Ocampo and Minalabac in Camarines Sur. The two variants have borrowed some vocabulary from Coastal Bikol; at the same time, Bikol-Partido can be heard with borrowed vocabulary from the two variants.

Short imperatives

Lexicon

Sentences

• What is your name? – Onō a ŋaran mo?
• My name is Joseph. – Usē a ŋaran ko.
• Where do you come from? – Tagasārî ikā?
• I'm from Pili, Camarines Sur. – Taga-Pili, Camarines Sur akō.
• I love you so much. – Payabâ takā sa igô./Payabâ ko ikā sa igô.
• Do you like me? – Bəət mo 'kō?
• What are you doing? – Onō a ginigībo mo?
• I will go home. – Migpaulî na 'kō.
• John is my brother – Ŋod ko si Uwan.
• Do you want to eat breakfast? – Bəət mo na'ŋ mamaɣəw?
• I'm already eating – Nagkākaən na 'kō.
• What time is it?/May I know what time it is? – Onōŋ ōras na?/Onōŋ ōras na tābî?
• I will go out – Migluwas akō.
• I can't sleep. – Dirî akō makatorog.
• Are you afraid of the dark? – Nakatātakot ikā sa maŋitŋit?
• He said he will pick me up/fetch me. – Sabi niyā susuŋkātən konō 'kō.
• How old are you? – Gaamnō na ikā kaguraŋ?
• When will you be back? – Kūnu ikā migbalik?

Family titles

• Amâ – father
• Inâ – mother
• Itay – dad
• Inay – mom
• Mānoy – older brother
• Mānay – older sister
• Tāta – uncle
• Nāna – aunt

Question words

• Onō – what
• Isay – who
• Kūnu – when
• Ŋātâ – why
• Sārî – where
• Paōno – how
• Arî – which
• Pirā – how many
• Mamirā – how much
• Gaamnō – indefinite question, used to describe the degree or extent to which something is covered, such as period or age, vastness or immensity, etc.

Greetings

• Maray na aldəw – Good day
• Maray na gab-ī – Good evening

• Maray na ramrag – Good morning
• Maray na mudtū – Good noon
• Maray na apon – Good afternoon
• Maray na gab-ī – Good evening
• Maray na lawəd – Good midnight
• Maray na mararamrāgən – Good dawn

• Mamə̄yaŋ Pagkaməndag! – Happy birthday!
• Mamə̄yaŋ Bāgoŋ Taon! – Happy New Year!
• Mamə̄yaŋ Anibersāryo! – Happy anniversary!

Uniqueness and distinction

1. Mimaɣəw – 'will eat breakfast'
2. :
3. Baɣəw – 'cold cooked rice'
4. :
5. Taɣəp – process of separating rice from its outside layer after milling; tahip in Filipino/Tagalog.
6. :
7. Daɣun – plant leaf.
8. :
9. Taɣob – cover, protect, or conceal.
10. :

• The special consonant phoneme can easily be distinguished from the sound of letters "h", "w" and y" if it is placed before the vowel phoneme. It can be compared to the letter "j" in the Spanish phrase Dios Mamajes.

Pronunciation of and

Rules for j

• jamantē – 'diamond'
• jāday – 'again, always'
• jāryo – 'newspaper'
• jōlen – 'marble '
• pastidjō – 'nuisance'
• idjəw – a large and non-venomous snake
• oodjon – no counterpart in English and Filipino
• sudjâ – 'prompted, investigated, an action for questioning'
• kadjapā – a thorny plant abundant in Bicol region, kulitis in Tagalog
• padjak – a bicycle converted into a tricycle, powered by human force
• sodjaŋ – 'a sliver of wood, metal or bamboo in the skin'
• lokadjô – a word used to address a disliked person discussed in conversation; it is a word included in Bikol Angry Speech Register
• paŋadjî – 'prayer'

The consonant h

Vocabulary

Angry speech register

Sainigin

Numerals

Structure

1. əsad + na + pōlô = əsadnapōlô
2. əsadnapōlô – = sadnapōlô
3. sadnapōlô – = sanapōlô
4. replaced by = saŋpōlô
5. replaced by before = sampōlô.

• Rinconada numbers in words are very simple in structure. Translations are shorter than both Filipino and English languages.

Comparison chart

Intelligibility

Status

Publication

Distribution