Kinalasan Waray Style VS. Kinalasan Baybay Style

The first time I heard the word "kinalasan" in Baybay, I thought it was similar to our "kinalasan" in Waray. But I was wrong. Baybayanons (the people of Baybay, Leyte), by the way, speak Cebuano. AWKWARD -- that was what I thought of the way my friends used the word. For example:

Kinalasan ko sa amo nga mga magsuon. 

Kinalasan ko nga ning-abot.

Kinalasan ko nga ninghatag sa ako amot. 

Kinalasan ko nga contestant.

At the time, I only knew the most basic Cebuano terms and this was how I interpreted the sentences:

I was startled about us (my siblings and me).  

I was startled as I arrived (at the venue).

I was startled as I gave my contribution.

I was the contestant who was startled. 

They did not make any sense to me. But I persevered: I studied the sense of each sentence.  Finally, I noticed a pattern  and I figured out how to translate them correctly. I realized that they sounded awkward to me only because I was mixing Cebuano and Waray while trying to understand the following sentences:

I am the youngest in the family. 

I was the last to arrive.

I was the last to give a contribution. 

I am/was the last contestant.  

What is kinalasan in Waray? It means "to be startled"; hence, my translation of the above-mentioned sentences. On the other hand, kinalasan in Baybay is the result of combining the Cebuano prefix kina, the English word "last", and the Cebuano suffix an:  kina + last + an. The letter "t" is, however, dropped to give way to the newly-coined word, kinalasan.

What is kinalasan in Baybay? Apparently, there is an attempt at making a superlative adjective out of the superlative "last"; hence, the last of the last.

P.S.
Would you like to read this blog post in Waray? Here's Kinalasan sa Baybay (A Waray Post)

Here's Another Way of Saying "Not Yet" in Waray

"Ayaw anay" can be loosely translated as "Don't do it yet" in English.  "Anay" as used in this expression has its Waray equivalent in Northern Samar -- it's "ngon-a".  "Ngon-a" can be considered a clitic, i.e., it is a word that cannot stand alone but depends on another word or phrase. Below are Waray expressions containing ngon-a:

Ayaw ngon-a. (Don't do it yet.)
Ayaw ngon-a pagpalit. (Don't buy anything.)
Ayaw ngon-a palita. (Don't buy it yet.)
Ayaw ngon-a pagkaon. (Don't eat yet.)
Diri ko ngon-a papaliton. (I'm not buying it now.)
Diri ngon-a yana. (Not now.)
Paghulat ngon-a. (Please wait.)
Waray pa ngon-a. (Nothing as of now.)
Waray ngon-a mauli. (No one's going home now.)

Ngon-a may be replaced with anay and the meaning is still be the same.

Binglad is Here

Binglad (palay)

Binglad is one of the frequently searched Waray songs according to my Google Analytics data. Incidentally, it is also one of my favorite Waray songs. I'm lucky because my APO (Alpha Phi Omega) brother, Kevin Rebadulla, granted my request to sing Binglad for me. I told him that I'll be posting the video on my blog. His brother, Raul, another APO brother, sings with him in this video. Both Kevin and Raul are nephews of  Atty. Pablo Rebadulla of Catubig/Catarman, Northern Samar.  Atty Rebadulla composed Binglad.

To my fellow Warays, this is for you. So far, this is the coolest rendition of Binglad I have ever heard.

BINGLAD

An tawo sugad san binglad
Diri dayuday an kamutangan
Tinitipon, tinatatag
Mahibawbaw, mahiilarum naman.

Ayaw tapod san im hibawbaw
Kay an Diyos gud la an madadayaw
Sugad san binglad mahibawbaw naman
Sugad san binglad mahiilarum naman.

Anhon ta man kay an palad burobaliskad
Diri mapugngan an limbag-limbag
Inuukay an ngatanan nga kapalaran
Basi an tawo waray indigay

Mao na daw sa kalibutan
Diri dayuday an kamutangan
An masurub-on, magtatawa naman
An malipayon, magtatangis naman.

Inuukay an ngatanan nga kapalaran
Basi an tawo waray indigay

Mao na daw sa kalibutan
Diri dayuday an kamutangan
An masurub-on, magtatawa naman
An malipayon, magtatangis naman.

An tawo sugad san binglad.
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A note to the non-Waray readers:

Binglad is a Waray term for palay (unhusked rice). The song talks about the impermanence of life: man is like palay spread out on a flat surface to dry in the sun. "Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down" (Mahibawbaw, mahiilarum naman), says the song. If there is one important message that touches my heart -- it is of humility.

New Post:
Lyrics of Pikahi, Birahi, ngan Pakido-kido: A Waray Cha-Cha Song

Introducing enGráy: Your English-Waray Translator

Finally, there's this machine translator called enGráy (short for English-Waráy) that translates Waray sentences to English and vice-versa. I was able to try it and I was happy with what I discovered: enGráy works like Google Translate. The good thing about enGráy is that it is specific to the Waray language --  something that Google Translate cannot do at present.

This machine translator was developed by Maureen Lyndel C. Lauron, a 19-year old Waray speaker from Brgy. Pagsulhugon, Babatngon, Leyte. Maureen graduated Cum Laude at Visayas State University, Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines where she finished BS in Computer Science.

What to Expect at a Waray Social Gathering

Never attend a Waray gathering if you're not ready to perform the Kuratsa, a traditional Filipino dance of courtship. This is something that every Waray understands. Some even think that it is an insult if a visitor is not requested to dance the Kuratsa during a fiesta celebration or during a wedding.