1

The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language

and its speakers in the Philippines

Yoshihiro Kobari
Asia University

Abstract: This study is an attempt to give an overview of the distinctive grammatical

features of Butuanon mainly spoken in Butuan City (northern Mindanao, the
Philippines) in comparison and contrast to Cebuano structures. The study also
examines links between language and ethnicity by focusing on the multiple labels
applicable to Butuanon speakers in a sociocultural environment heavily influenced
by a pervasive trend toward Bisayanization (convergence to Cebuano culture and
language). The compiled data sets of Butuanon and Cebuano are expected to establish
points of reference that serve as the baseline for future studies in language change in
contact. Furthermore, based on the observation that the language and ethnicity link has
become vulnerable among peoples of different ethnolinguistic groups in Butuan, the
use of multiple self-designated and externally-imposed labels among Butuanons was
examined. Those discussions led to the probability of forming a quasi-ethnic place-based
identity (“quasi-Butuanon”) with a renewed sense of “Butuanon” that the locals across
ethnolinguistic boundaries embrace in favor of further development of urbanization,
industrialization, and modernization.

Key words: Butuanon, Cebuano, grammatical comparison, language shift, ethnic group
labelling

1. Linguistic minorities in the Philippines

The Philippines is well known as a multilingual nation, where Filipino (national and official
language) and English (official language) play roles in Filipinos’ everyday life. Local
vernaculars are indeed vital for immediate communicative needs in widespread Philippine
multilingualism. Linguistic situations differ from one community to another with the
functional distribution of languages and dialects from sociolinguistic viewpoints, though
there exist some overall similarities generally observed in the use of Filipino (or Tagalog)
and English throughout the entire country, particularly in the domains of technology, public
administration, education, business, etc.
The number of existing languages and dialects in the Philippines is still in question,
though there have been continuous efforts in modeling groupings and sub-groupings of
2 Yoshihiro Kobari

Philippine languages and dialects. On the definition of minority and majority Philippine
languages, scholars (Sibayan 1985, Gonzalez 1998, Constantino 2000) take slightly
different positions to define major Philippine languages (8 or 10 languages as “major”),
though every scholar adopts the very basic definition of “languages” as “codes which are
not mutually intelligible or understandable” (McFarland 1994). It is notable that the Census
1990 listed 988 labels for languages/dialects as respondents’ mother tongues, but the
latest research on language endangerment (Quakenbush and Simons 2015) identifies 177
individual languages (40 institutional, 65 developing, 45 vigorous, 13 in trouble, 10 dying
and 4 extinct, in reference to levels of language endangerment). Linguistic minorities are
often numerically small, politically weak, economically disadvantaged, and geographically
peripheral in local contexts, which have received limited scholarly attention, and the lack
of scholarly attention to minorities accordingly results in the paucity of theoretical and
empirical research in linguistics and other related academic disciplines.

2. The Butuanon language and its speakers

Butuan is located at the mouth of the Agusan River (approximately 250km long) which
drains almost one-third of the island (Map1). Butuan City has grown to be a highly
urbanized city and the administrative center of Caraga Region (Region XIII) and its
local economy is heavily dependent on agriculture and forestry-related industries with
coexistence of residential, industrial, commercial, public and recreational types of service-
oriented industries. From a historical viewpoint, the place is also well-known for its major
archaeological discoveries from the pre-Spanish period and controversy on the first Catholic
mass by Ferdinand Magellan. “Long before there was the Philippines, there was already
Butuan,” is often heard as an iconic expression for its historical significance.
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 3

Map 1. Location of Butuan City in Mindanao

The natives in Butuan (“Butuanons”), otherwise known as “Lapaknons” (swamp

dwellers), have been historically regarded as one of the indigenous groups in Mindanao and
the Butuanon ethnolinguistic group is well known nationally and locally for its linguistic
distinctiveness and cultural traits, for instance, “laksoy” (nipa palm wine). Historically,
Butuanons seem to have been integrated as a lowland Christian constituent into a larger
Philippine mainstream society. Butuanons are “highly urbanized with a defined Visayan
culture influenced by the Cebuano” (Peralta, 2000: 49). This process of assimilation and
acculturation, “Bisayanization” (Yengoyan 1966), usually has brought about attitudinal
changes among the members of linguistic minorities, but language remains as the only
differentiating element in ethnic cultures, particularly among those in adjacent and
contiguous territories in Mindanao (Jocano 1998). Even though the importance of linguistic
approach to ethnolinguistic minority groups has been generally accepted by scholars,
unfortunately, not many studies have been done on the Butuanon language except for a few
with its partial linguistic descriptions (See Zorc 1977, Yap 1977, Pallesen 1985, Gallman
1977, Cembrano 1998).
Kobari (2009) conducts a comprehensive study on the situation of the Butuanon
language and its speakers in a multi-cultural/lingual environment heavily influenced by
a pervasive sociocultural trend toward Bisayanization, where there is relentless pressure
to accommodate to a broader, more dominant Cebuano language and culture. However,
Butuanon is still used in the home and local community, and maintains great symbolic
importance as a marker of identity and positive emotional significance to members of the
4 Yoshihiro Kobari

in-group. Butuanon has such a strong local presence, in fact, that some in-migrants of
other ethnolinguistic backgrounds learn it to communicate with their neighbors. Although
the study confirms that the current form of Butuanon that younger speakers use shows
such convergence toward Cebuano with the reduced amount of Butuanon distinguishing
features transmitted from the preceding generations that it becomes questionable whether
Butuanon is actually surviving, and the possibility exists that it may one day be swallowed
up in a more generic Cebuano language and culture. In this local context, Butuanons
are increasingly negotiating multiple ethnic and social identities and through multiple
languages (Butuanon, Cebuano, Tagalog/Filipino, English).
With regard to the current state of Butuanon, the latest web-version of Ethnologue
identifies its language status as “shifting” (7th ranking in 10 points measuring rod for
language shift) in the Expanding Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS). The
previous three official censuses (Census of Population and Housing) include a section for
“Distribution of Household Population by Mother Tongue” in which the Butuanon language
first appeared in 1990. Combined with the 2013 data on indigenous/ethnic population from
the Department of Interior and Local Government, the following table (Table 1) clearly
indicates drastic fluctuations in the ratios of the number of Butuanon and Cebuano mother
tongue speakers among the population of Butuan City in the past 25 years.

Table 1. Mother Tongue Speakers in Butuan City from Official Data

Year 1990 1995 2000 2013*

Language
Cebuano 87.4% 72.6% 24.1% 10%
Butuanon 3.4% 12.8% 35.2% 52.1%
Note:
The figures for 1990, 1995, and 2000 were taken from Statistical Profile of Butuan City as of 2002 based
on the Census of Housing and Population (CPH) conducted by National Statistics Office (NSO).
*For the 2013 data, the percentages of “Cebuano” and “Butuanon” mother tongue speakers were taken
from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) webpage on Butuan City in Region XIII-
Caraga Administrative Region.

Contrary to some previous findings from the field, the simple and straightforward
interpretation of changes in number that the number of Butuanon mother speakers has been
drastically increasing while Cebuanos have been losing ground within a relatively short
span of time appears to be quite misleading. Although the operational definition of the term,
mother tongue, is equated with ethnicity and provided as the language or dialect spoken by
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 5

a person at his or her earliest childhood, the numbers in official surveys require particularly
careful analysis and interpretation.
In the Philippines, ethnic identities often matter in everyday encounters, carrying
multiple stereotypical images and different levels of stigma and discrimination widely
shared among the majority of the population, lowland Christian Filipinos. As Appel and
Muysken (1987) assert, “various aspects of bilingualism can only be understood rightly if
the (potential) language-ethnicity relation is taken into account” (p.16).

3. Purpose of the paper

Based on the comprehensive understanding of the Butuanon language and its speakers in
reference to some major academic publications and the findings of the author’s intermittent
fieldwork over the past 15 years, the paper is designed to primarily focus on two
perspectives, “language” and “ethnic identity,” in a language shift situation. The paper aims
(1) to offer an overview some of distinctive grammatical features of Butuanon as “points of
reference” in a systematic and comparable-contrastive manner which highlight similarities
and differences between the two languages based largely on the codified data of Bisayan
languages by Zorc (1977) and (2) to analyze the current intertwining relationship between
language and ethnic identity (ethnic labelling) among Butuanon and other language
speakers in a northern Mindanao context.

4. Some grammatical features of Butuanon

The existing structural similarity among Bisayan languages in some morpho-syntactic
features is illustrated below.

Because of the various productive inflectional and derivational systems into which a stem
may enter among Bs (Bisayan) dialects, words are classified on the basis of their inflectional
behavior. Stems inflected for case are nominals (with subclasses of pronouns, deictics,
personal names, and common nouns); for intensity, adjectives; for aspect and voice, verbs.
In addition, Bs have a number of semantic affixes associated with one or another of the parts
of speech. (Zorc 1977:61)
*The above parentheses for “Bs” are added by the author.

In this section, some previously codified grammatical features of Butuanon and Cebuano
are partially excerpted from Zorc (1977) to compare and contrast the two linguistic systems
in the categories of personal pronouns (Appendix 1), deictics (Appendix 2), predicative
6 Yoshihiro Kobari

and existential deictics (Appendix 3), personal name markers (Appendix 4), common noun
case-marking particles (Appendix 5), locationals (Appendix 6), interrogatives-temporals
(Appendix 7), interrogative-locationals (Appendix 8), interrogative-numerals (Appendix
9), interrogative-adverbials (Appendix 10), pseudo-verbs or homosemantic equivalents
(Appendix 11), negatives (Appendix 12), existential predicate and affirmation (Appendix
13), followed by the lists of the Butuanon and Cebuano verb inflectional systems (Appendix
from 14 to 20).
The comprehensive lists of verb inflection from the perspectives of voice, tense, aspect,
and mode, are comprehensively summarized in “Butuanon Verb Inflection” (Appendix 14)
and “Cebuano Verb Inflection” (Appendix 15). Voice has 4 categories, such as “active,”
“instrumental,” “passive,” and “local”. Tense is divided into categories as “actual,”
“contingent,” and “aorist” categories. Aspect is characterized along the “perfective-
imperfective” and “punctual-durative” distinctions. Mode has “general,” “potential,” and
“imperative” modes.
The detailed patterns of verb affixation of Butuanon and Cebuano are presented in
“Active Durative Potential Verb Affixes” (Appendix 16), “Instrumental Durative and
Potential Verb Affixes” (Appendix 17), “Passive Durative and Potential Verb Affixes”
(Appendix 18), “Local Durative and Potential Verb Affixes” (Appendix 19), and “Aorist
Durative and Potential Affixes” (Appendix 20) in order to seek to build a referential
framework that might serve as a guiding hand for future descriptive and analytical studies
on the two languages.
All these compilations of Butuanon and Cebuano grammatical features are expected
to serve as the points of reference for further cross-linguistic examination on the nature
and direction of language change in language contact. However, in a series of fieldwork
on Butuanon in attempts to confirm and reconstruct its linguistic norms in a constant state
of fluctuation, a need for closer examination is identified in the two grammatical areas
of Butuanon, (1) common noun case-marking particles (the use of nominative-indefinite
[-y] and genitive-indefinite [huŋ], marked with an asterisk in Appendix 5) and (2) verb
affixes (the use of [gi-] and [gi--an] Cebuano constructions, marked with an asterisk in
Appendix17, 18, and 19). These two changing tendencies among Butuanon speakers are
hypothetically assumed to be caused by two phenomena: (1) the semantically expanded use
of Butuanon affixes within its grammatical structure (morpho-syntactic expansion) and (2)
the gradual intrusion of Cebuano semantic and morpho-syntactic reference framework into
the Butuanon grammatical system (substitution).
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 7

5. Multiple labels of the Butuanon speakers

A variety of “ethnicity” definitions have been suggested by a number of leading scholars
in different academic disciplines. However, there is some agreement on the term: ethnicity
is a socially constructed category in a context-specific reality in relation to other social
variables and formed by subjective and objectives views (Fought, 2006:4-8). Admitting
apparent contradictions encountered in the field, Dorian (1999) postulates the ideal case of
a language-ethnicity link in the following.

In the ideal case, it really is straightforward. There is a particular place where a certain group
of people live, and in that particular place they speak a certain language. They have a name
for themselves and their language, and no other people go by that name or claim to speak that
language as a mother tongue. If you seek them out, they will tell you who they are and what
language they speak; and if they see that you are really interested in them, they will teach you
about themselves and their language, perhaps help you out learn to speak their language if you
desire. (p.25)

The use of multiple labels for an individual and a single label for individuals of
different overlapping/altered groups is quite confusing for researchers from outside the
community under study, although the locals might be well aware of all the subtleties of
social, cultural, ethnic, racial, and linguistic differences in their immediate contexts where
multiculturalism/multilingualism is the norm. In language contact situations, languages
serve as the primary screening measures for field linguists in defining group memberships
who possess basic linguistic competence and adequate communication fluency. The names
of languages often coincide with ethnic group names, but ethnic labels are not always good
guides to linguistic field research. On this point, it is theoretically and methodologically
important to examine the use of multiple identity labels among the researched and the
concept of ethnic identity should not be treated as “a pre-given and self-explanatory unit/
object of analysis”, but as “a subject of analysis” in its formation and reformation processes.
MINDANAWON, CARAGANON, and AGUSANON
There are several ethnonyms applicable to Butuanon speakers and each label involves
varying degrees of positive, negative and neutral connotations depending on the particular
context in which a label is self-designated or externally imposed and the relationship
between language and ethnic identity seems to be quite perplexing in the field. There
are time when the locals associate themselves with specific area-based labels, such as
“Mindanawon” (from the name of Mindanao island), “Caraganon (Karaganon)” (from
8 Yoshihiro Kobari

Caraga/Karaga region), and “Agusanon” (from Agusan province), on occasions in which

the awareness for wider social and cultural cohesiveness of local and regional spheres is
heightened.
BUTUANON
The filed interviews revealed that all of Butuanon speakers positively identified
themselves as “Butuanon” with a sense of pride in being a member of the group and most
of them generally shared a strong sense of historical continuity from their ancestors in
Butuan. Some further claimed their purity/authenticity with an emphatic expression, “Taal
nga Butuanon ako” (I am a pure/real Butuanon).
BISAYA
The special attention should be drawn to the interpretation of the ethnic label, “Bisaya”
(“Visaya” in English), particularly in the Mindanao context. The origin of the term, “bisaya
[bisayáq],” is unclear, but the word is the local term used to describe a region and group of
people in the central Philippines. The term is spelled as “Visaya” in English, adopted from
Spanish, denoting a region while “Visayan” refers to a person from that region. The ethnic
label, “Bisaya,” generally involves those who have their ancestry ties with the Visayan
islands other than Cebu or those who were born and raised in Mindanao while “Cebuano”
specifically refers to those who have their ancestry, birthplace, and previous residence in the
Cebu island. The locals who identify themselves as “Bisaya” are basically speakers of one
of the Visayan languages, such as Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Waray-Waray.
A certain degree of confusion exists in the term, “Cebuano,” which connotes two
different meanings, the ethnic group name and the language name. Furthermore, in the
northern Mindanao context where the majority of people are predominantly Cebuano
speaking and the language serves as a regional lingua franca, “Bisaya” is commonly
adopted as the label for self-identification as well as language among people who use
Cebuano as an ordinary spoken language for everyday communication. Although Cebuano
speaking locals have a sharp sense of linguistic distinction between “Cebuano” and “Bisaya”
when these terms are differently applied to ethnic identity or language name in a local
context, the “Bisaya” or “Bisayan” language is linguistically almost identical with Cebuano
in the central Philippines. This creates the confusing situation for outsiders in which the
members of “Bisaya” ethnolinguistic group speak “Bisaya” which is basically the Cebuano
language with slight regional variations.
From socio-cultural and historical perspectives, the term “Bisaya” has been loaded
with the concepts of Christianization and modernization since Visayan migrants have
served as carriers of socio-cultural changes into indigenous communities in the hinterlands.
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 9

Due to the cultural acculturation and assimilation process that caused the internal migration
mainly from the Visayas to Mindanao, the members of ethnolinguistic minorities tend
to have feelings of inferiority toward their own groups, which consequently results in
the behavioral tendency to integrate a wider ethnic identity, “Bisaya.” In fact, it is often
observed that most of Visayans possess derogatory stereotypes toward linguistic minorities.
LUMAD and LAPAKNON
The term, “lumad,” is a Cebuano word meaning “indigenous” which was officially
adopted as the collective name for the 15 ethnolinguistic groups (Bagobo, B’laan, Banwaon,
Dibabawon, Higaonon, Mandaya, Manguangan, Manobo, Mansaka, Subanen, Tagakaolo,
Talaandig, T’boli, Tiruray, and Ubo) in a Cotabato Congress in June 1986 in order to
distinguish its members from the other Mindanawons, Moros or Christians (NCAA 2015).
This is the first time that various indigenous groups agreed to establish a coalition under
the name of “Lumad” and to achieve self-determination within the centralized Philippine
nation-state structure where the uneven distribution of wealth and questions of access exist.
“Butuanon” or “Lapaknon” is not officially recognized as one of the indigenous peoples
in the list, but the term “Lapaknon” is mistakenly regarded by many as one of “Lumad”
groups in some occasions As to the choice of a Cebuano word as the collective name for
indigenous people in Mindanao, Rodil (1994) describes;

The choice of a Cebuano word – Cebuano is the language of the natives in Cebu and in the
Visayas – was a bit ironic but it was deemed to be most appropriate considering that the
various Lumad tribes do not have any other common language except Cebuano. (p.34)

In most cases, Butuanon speakers interchangeably use “Lapaknon” as alternative self-

identification, but there are some who consciously express their unwillingness to accept
the term for self-identification based on widely accepted prejudice toward members of
indigenous minority groups among lowland Christian Filipinos that the Lumad members
have relatively lower socio-economic status and more limited access to resources,
education and civilization in the modern Philippine society. Common words and phrases,
such as “natibo” (native), “tribo” (tribe), “mga tao sa bukid” (people in the mountains),
“wa’y grado” (no basic education) and “lumad” (indigenous), are used to describe the
characteristics of ethnic minorities in unequal socio-political and economic relations with
negative connotations in the lowland Filipino context.
The stereotypical dichotomies are intuitively contextualized in the relation between
majority and minority ethnolinguistic groups (for instance, “lowland and upland,” “Christian
10 Yoshihiro Kobari

and non-Christian,” “civilized and uncivilized,” “modern and traditional,” “local and
migrant,” “urban and rural,” “educated and uneducated,” “rich and poor” and others).
Through a brief review of social and cultural conditions of group labels for Butuanons, it
is presumed that the above-mentioned dichotomous categories have become an integral
part of the mechanism to determine the complex and contextual nature of a language and
ethnicity link, which consequently influences the identity formation process of different
ethnolinguistic peoples in Butuan. These symmetric relations between groups of people
have seemingly been formed and reformed in accordance with ever-changing ethnic balance
in power and prestige within socio-cultural structures of wider local, regional, and national
polities in the Philippines.

6. Formation of a “Quasi-Butuanon” identity

Generally, the ethnic label that a multilingual chooses to wear would differ according to social
contexts. In order to understand the meaning of a self-designated or externally-imposed
“Butuanon” label, the conceptual relationships among other labels (“Mindanawon,”
“Caraganon (Karaganon),” “Agusanon,” “Bisaya,” “Lumad,” and “Lapaknon”) are
tentatively schematized in the following model of Butuanon ethnic identity, in search for a
new form of a quasi-ethnic place-based (“quasi-Butuanon”) identity (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Tentative Model of Butuanon Identity

All Butuanon speakers admit the “Butuanon” ethnic label and most of them positively
accept “Lapaknon” as alternative self-description. However, “Butuanon” and “Lapaknon”
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 11

are not exactly coterminous for those Butuanon members who wish to intuitively dissociate
themselves from the derogatory Lapaknon images of “primitiveness” and “backwardness”
associated with the groups of indigenous peoples. On the other hand, some Butuanons
label themselves as “Bisaya,” which accordingly implies that the concepts associated
with “Butuanon” and “Bisaya,” such as a divide between natives and immigrants, are not
contradictory with the concept of self, though the majority of Butuanons still maintain a
sharp sense of Butuanon ethnic boundary against other ethnolinguistic groups. At base,
there are two notable tendencies observed among Butuanon speakers in their attitudinal
changes of dissociation from “Lapakon” (de-ethnicization) and association with “Bsiaya”
(multiple identities).
The existing language and ethnicity links among Butuanons might become
vulnerable as observed in partial language shift where pervasive socio-cultural forces
toward Bisayanization (linguistically, convergence to Cebuano) are at work, but it is most
likely that the label of “Butuanon” would remain irrespective of the language used among
the members of Butuanon ethnolinguistic group.
Furthermore, as the data on the number of mother tongue speakers in Butuan City (See
Table 1) indicates, the number of self-identified Butuanons has been drastically increasing
to the point where more than half of the city’s population affiliate themselves with the
label, “Butuanon.” It is hypothetically assumed that the ideology of a quasi-ethnic place-
based identity has been increasingly accepted by many peoples in Butuan, regardless of
their ethnolinguistic backgrounds in the long-standing culture contact over centuries where
the distinguishing “Butunon-ness” has been substantially diminished by convergence to
Cebuano culture and language in the Bisayanizatin process. Furthermore, the in-migrants of
“Bisaya” have simultaneously increased a sense of belonging to “the place of origin” over
generations and gradually accepted a place-based identity (“I am from Butuan City”) with
weakening ties with their ancestral homeland, the Visayas.

Conclusion
We are all aware of the fact that language means more than words and sentences. In this
paper, a brief review of some Butuanon grammatical features that distinguish its linguistic
distinctiveness from Cebuano counterparts was summarized and the compiled Butuanon
and Cebuano data set is expected to serve as the baseline for future studies in language
change, especially in the field of language maintenance and shift, including language loss
and attrition.
Furthermore, the current state of ethnic labelling tradition was briefly examined with
12 Yoshihiro Kobari

a primary focus on the “Butuanon” label in ethnic classification as a mechanism of social

stratification. It is our common understanding that the meanings of names are always subject
to change and the act of naming has power and significance for those in the manipulation of
self-labeling and being labeled. Ethnic labelling is situated in the namer-named relation in a
specific context of contact that always involves boundary ambiguity about in-group and out-
group membership. An attempt to understand the dynamics, complexities and ambiguities
of the ethnic label, “Butuanon,” consequently reveals the dynamic and changing nature of
the language-ethnicity link in a particular time and space configuration. A marking mechanism
traditionally used as a differentiating device of ethnolinguistic distinctiveness in the locality
appears to have been gradually transformed into a provisional tool of integration and a
symbol of wider socio-cultural and place-based identity.
The central components of Butuanon ethnic identity might have been reconfigured over
time in response to continuous changes in the social, economic and political environments
and a quasi-ethnic place-based identity (“quasi-Butuanon”) is deemed to be currently in the
incubation phase of its formation absorbing members of different ethnolinguistic groups.
The “quasi-Butuanon” identity seems to have centripetal forces which unify ethnolinguistic
peoples by inspiring them to have an increasing sense of belonging to their place of origin,
Butuan, and a shared vision for the future that the people in the locality embrace in favor of
further development of urbanization, industrialization, and (agricultural) modernization.
On the fate of ethnic minorities in language shift, many scholars in the field of
language contact arguably support the hypothesis that the recessive language would retain
some of its linguistic distinctiveness even in heavy contact situations, but Thomason and
Kaufman (2001) refer to the probable outcome of its complete transformation into the
dominate language, at least when two languages involved are closely related. In such a
situation where the Butuanon language diffuses its linguistic distinctiveness in contact with
genetically-related Cebuano, although the language and ethnicity link might be greatly
focused and strengthened among Butuanon speakers in potential danger of extinction,
there is a slim chance of active revitalization of the Butuanon language at this stage in the
current sociolinguistic environment and, as a result, the existing language-ethnicity link might
ultimately be lost while maintaining the label, “Butuanon,” with a strong sense of attachments
in the city of Butuan. Linguistic competence in Butuanon might not be a precondition for
membership in a “quasi-Butuanon” collectivity across existing ethnolinguistic boundaries.
Finally, as to future research directions, the systematic documentation and description
of endangered and minority languages through fieldwork should be carried out with a
partial reconstruction from mostly unwritten and/or under-researched languages spoken
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 13

by informants in a mutilated form with reference to the codified linguistic norms in

previous descriptive research. Furthermore, it is recommended to examine the labelling
of membership of ethnic groups along stereotypical categories pertinent to the groups in
question and to clarify the label-identification process in terms of de-ethnicization, multiple
ethnic identities, or conceptual change of ethnic identity/label in the complexities of
language, culture, and identity in the dynamic of Philippine multilingualism.

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 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 15

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16 Yoshihiro Kobari

APPENDIX
1. Personal Pronouns in Butuanon and Cebuano
Nominative Genitive Oblique
Basic set Enclitic Proposed Postposed Enclitic Basic set Enclitic
I
Butuanon qakú ku kanákuq
Cebuano qakú ku qákuq nákuq ku kanákuq nákuq
we(excl.)
Butuanon kamí námuq
Cebuano kamí mi qámuq námuq ---
we all (incl.)
Butuanon kita nátuq kanátuq
Cebuano kitá ta qátuq nátuq ta kanátuq nátuq
thou
Butuanon qikáw kaw mu kanímu
Cebuano qikáw ka qímu nímu mu kanímu nímu
you
Butuanon kamo niyu kaníyu
Cebuano kamú mu qínyu ninyu kanínyu nínyu
he, she
Butuanon siya níya kaníya
Cebuanon siyá sya qíya níya --- kaníya níya
they
Butuanon silá --- níla kaníla
Cebuano silá --- qíla níla --- kaníla níla
Note: Pronouns are nominals that show reference in terms of the speaker-addressee relationship.

2. Deictics in Butuanon and Cebuano

Gloss Dialects Nominative Genitive Oblique

this
nearest speaker Butuanon qiní haní dínhi
[first speaker] Cebuano kirí ~ rí ni-qíri ~ qíri dirí ~ arí
this
near speaker & addressee Butuanon
[first and second person] Cebuano kiní ~ ni ni-qíni ~ qíni dínhi ~ ánhi
that
near addressee Butuanon qiyán haqún disaqún
[second person] Cebuano kanáq ~ náq ni-qána ~ qánaq dínhaq ~ ánhaq
yon, that
most remote Butuanon qídtu hádtu dídtu
[third person] Cebuano kádtu ~ tu ni-qádtu ~ qádtu dídtu ~ ádtu

3. Predicative and Existential Deictics in Butuanon

[first] [first + second] [second] [third]
This is it. This is it. That is it. Yon is it.
Here it is. Here it is Three it is. Yonder it is.
yaní --- yaqún yádtu
Butuanon
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 17

4 .Personal Name Markers in Butuanon and Cebuano

Gloss Dialects Nominative Genitive Oblique

Singular
Butuanon & si ni ka
Cebuano

Plural Butuanon síla níla kánda

Cebuano + Leyte silá níla sa-qíla
Cebuano silá-si níla-ni sa-qíla-ni

5. Common Noun Case-Making Particles in Butuanon and Cebuano

Nominative Genitive Oblique
indefinite -definite- indefinite -definite- Future
past non-past past non-past

Butuanon (-y*) qa (hu *) hu sa

Cebuano -y qa qug sa sa
qa qug sa sa
Note: (-y*) and (huŋ*) are added by the author of the paper, but originally there is no morpheme for the
nominative-indefinite and genitive-indefinite slots in Zorc’s (1977) study.

6. Locationals in Butuanon and Cebuano

near far left right
Butuanon dáqig ha-ayúq kawaáh- tuqúh-
Cebuano duqúl layúq waláh- tuqúh-
inside middle (be)side
Butuanon suúd tungáq ---
Cebuano sulúd tu áq kílid
(H) --- Down --- (V) (H) --- Up --- (V)
bottom downstairs top upstairs
under below over above

Butuanon láwum qubús taqás taqás

Cebuano dálum qubús Ceb+Ley qibabáw qitaqás
Ceb+Boh qibábaw qitáqas
Note: Ceb=Cebuano, Ley=Leyte

7. Interrogatives: Temporals in Butuanon and Cebuano

what who whose when
past future
Butuanon áan sínuhq kanínqu gánqu kúnqu
Cebuano qúnsah- kínsa ka -kínsa kanúsqa qanúsqa
18 Yoshihiro Kobari

8. Interrogatives: Locationals in Butuanon and Cebuano

Time-oriented sets General interrogatives
where (past) where
Butuanon & Cebuano diqín
where (present) Cebuano siqín
Butuanon & Cebuano haqín
where (future)
Butuanon kaqín
Cebuano qása

9. Interrogatives: Numerals in Butuanon and Cebuano

how many how much
Butuanon piláh- píla
Cebuano piláh- píla / tagpíla

10. Interrogatives: Adverbials in Butuanon and Cebuano

why how (manner)

Butuanon ánsi ba qúnhun
Cebuano ánu (man) qunsáqun

11. Pseudo-Verbs or Homosemantic Equivalents in Butuanon and Cebuano

should must/need like/want can
Butuanon dápat kinahá an gústuh- pwídi
Cebuano dápat kinahá lan gústuh- púydi
know how know fact know person
Butuanon ma iyát mi-sáyud kilaah-
Cebuano ka-hibalú naka-hibalú ka-qilah-
sáyud

12. Negatives in Butuanon and Cebuano

prohibitive Existential future preverb

Butuanon qayáw waáq / waáy / waq diq
Cebuano qayáw waláq / waláy dilíq/diq

13. Existential Predicate and Affirmation in Butuanon and Cebuano

there is there is yes
[proclitic] [independent]
Butuanon yaqú-y yaqún húqu
Cebuano may (qa)dúna qú / qúqu
 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 19

14. Butuanon Verb Inflection

ACTUAL CONTINGENT AORIST
ACTIVE
punctual mi- (ga)- mu-
durative ga- ~ naga- maga- ~ mag- mag-
potential mika- maka- maka- --------
INSTRUMENTAL
punctual -------- -------- --------
durative -------- piga- qi- qi-
potential qingka- qika- --------
PASSIVE
punctual -------- ------- (-un) -a
durative -------- piga- paga- -un -a
potential mi- ma- ma- --------
LOCAL
punctual -------- -------- -------- --------
durative ki- -an piga- -an paga- -an -i
potential -------- ka- -an ka- -an --------
USES progressive, past future, habitual commands;
with preverbs

15. Cebuano Verb Inflection

ACTUAL CONTINGENT AORIST
ACTIVE
punctual ni( )- ~ mi( )- mu- mu-
durative nag(a)- ~ ga- mag(a)- mag(a)-
potential naka- ~ ka- maka- ~ ka- maka- ~ ka-
INSTRUMENTAL
punctual gi- qi- qi-
durative *gina- *qiga- *qiga-
potential gika- ~ na- qika- ~ ma- qika- ~ ma-
PASSIVE
punctual gi- -un -a
durative *gina- *paga- -un *paga- -a
potential na- ma- ma-
LOCAL
punctual gi- -an -an -i
durative *gina- -an *paga- -an *paga- -i
potential na- -an ma- -an ~ ka- -an ma- -i ~ ka- -i
USES progressive future commands;
past habitual with preverbs
20 Yoshihiro Kobari

16. Active Durative and Potential Verb Affixes in Butuanon and Cebuano
Dialects DURATIVE POTENTIAL
Past Progressive Future Dependent Past Progressive Future Dependent

Butuanon ga- ~ naga- maga- ~ mag- mika- maka-

Cebuano nag- ~ naga- maga- ~ mag- naka- maka-

17. Instrumental Durative and Potential Verb Affixes in Butuanon and Cebuano
Dialects DURATIVE POTENTIAL
Past Progressive Future Dependent Past Progressive Future Dependent

Butuanon (gi*) piga- qi- qi ka- qika-

Cebuano gi- ~ gana- qiga- ~ qig- gika- qika-

Note: (gi*) is added by the author of the paper as a possible deviation influence by Cebuano.

18. Passive Durative and Potential Verb Affixes in Butuanon and Cebuano
Dialects DURATIVE POTENTIAL
Past Progressive Future Dependent Past Progressive Future Dependent

Butuanon (gi*) piga- paga- -un (~ -un) mi- ma-

Cebuano gi- ~ gina- paga- -un ~ -un na- ma-

Note: (gi*) is added by the author of the paper.

 The game of naming: A case of the Butuanon language and its speakers in the Philippines 21

19. Local Durative and Potential Verb Affixes in Butuanon and Cebuano
Dialects DURATIVE POTENTIAL
Past Progressive Future Dependent Past Progressive Future Dependent

Butuanon ki--an piga- -an paga--an (-an) ki- -an ka- -an

(gi—an*) (gi—an*)

Cebuano gi--an gina- -an paga--an -an na- -an ma--an

Note: (gi--an*) is added by the author of the paper.

20. Aorist Durative and Potential Verb Affixes in Butuanon and Cebuano
Dialects ACTIVE INSTRUMENTAL PASSIVE LOCAL
Perfect Imperfect Perfect Imperfect Perfect Imperfect Perfect Imperfect

Butuanon mag- qi- -a -i

†pag- †pagqi- †pag--a †pag--i

Cebuano mag- ~ maga- qi- ~ qiga- -a ~ paga- -a -i ~ paga--i

Note: †= Affix is limited to negative commands, viz: after Bs “qayáw” don’t!