Apr 16 2008

Use of Nga

Published by Ruby at 6:25 am under General, Grammar, Vocab

Using NGA creates a different meaning

Magtutudlo ( mag-tu-tud-lo ) – teacher
Lalaki ( la-la-ki ) – male
Babaye  ( ba-ba-ye ) - female

The connector NGA is used to join the two as in the description “male teacher”

Magtutudlo nga lalake  (male teacher)
Magtutudlo nga babaye (female teacher)

Dako ( da-ko ) – big
Gamay  (ga-may ) - small
Balay  ( ba-lay ) – house

Dako nga balay (big house)
Gamay nga balay (small house)

Gwapa  ( gwa-pa ) - beautiful for female
Gwapo  ( gwa-po ) - handsome for male

Gwapa nga babaye (beautiful girl)
Gwapo nga lalaki (handsome boy)

Mahal ( ma-hal ) – expensive or precious (similar use to the English word dear)
Lami ( la-mi ) – delicious
Pagkaon  ( pag-ka-on ) – food
Init  ( i-nit )  – hot (temperature)
Awto  ( aw-to ) – car

Mahal nga awto (expensive car)
Lami nga pagkaon (delicious food)
Init nga buntag (hot morning)

Buntag ( bun-tag ) – morning


Gabii ( ga-bi-i ) - night
Maayo  (ma-a-yo ) – good

Maayo nga gabii   (good night)
Maayo nga buntag  (good morning)

The above comes from a review of my own hand written notes.

5 Responses to “Use of Nga”

  1. # Kenton 01 May 2008 at 1:19 am

    I was reading the notes for this section and it occurred to me to say something about…..Maayo nga gabi (good night)
    Maayo nga buntag (good morning)

    my understanding is that most people speaking this language have learned to be
    maayong gabii
    maayong buntag
    maayong hapon

    I have read that the a gets dropped from the nga and ng gets attached to maayo

    I’m not sure why you have gabi instead of gabii

    are you learning cebuano spoken mainly in Cebu city or other parts of Cebu?

  2. # Adminon 17 May 2008 at 2:24 pm

    The missing i from gabii is my mistake and I have now added it.

    Not sure about your other quesiton. I will run it past the teacher.

  3. # Lambrechton 30 May 2008 at 7:27 pm

    I think that the rule is: if the word before “nga” ends with a vowel, “nga” is replaced by “-ng”. For example: “hapon nga maayo” (consonant before “nga”) and “maayong hapon” (vowel before “nga”)

  4. # cebuanoon 02 Jun 2008 at 7:53 am

    He Lambrecht,

    I showed Sem your message and his response is this:

    All adjectives that ends with a vowel the NGA can be combined or seperate.

    maayo nga hapon

    or

    maayong hapon

    are both correct with the later being the most commonly used.

    All adjectives that end with a consonants except N, W & Y the full form with separate NGA must be used.

    Eg. Nice Car – Nindot nga awto

    With N attach the letter G only

    Eg. Energetic helper – Kugihang katabang (Kugihan NGA katabang)

    With W & Y attached the NG only

    Eg. Shallow water – Mabawng tubig (Mabaw NGA tubig)

    Eg. Small problem – Gamayng problema (Gamay NGA problema)

  5. # fredbblockon 08 Aug 2008 at 10:27 pm

    A native of Negros Oriental has advised me
    to not abbreviate and follow the rule.
    Not everyone will understand me if
    I utilize the use of NGA for used in this fashion.
    I was told that for Maayong buntag and many uses
    of the rule for NGA it’s o.k., however not to go overboard
    and each time I encounter an opportunity to follow the rule, be careful.
    For me, I would like to have the ability to utilize everything I learn
    and have at the ready.
    What about it? Please post your opinion and experience.
    Thanks
    Fred

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