What is Kalamay Pa?

Kalamay from Bohol

According to a Wikipedia article: "Kalamay is a sticky sweet delicacy that is popular in many regions of the Philippines. It is made of coconut milk, brown sugar, and ground glutinous rice. It can be eaten alone but is usually used as a sweetener for a number of Filipino desserts and beverages."

There is also another kalamay that's popular among us, the Waray speakers of Northern Samar. To be exact, it's "Kalamay pa."   Our kalamay is different from the kalamay of Bohol. Whenever a Waray speaker says "Kalamay pa", it doesn't always mean "More kalamay, please."  Ours is neither tangible nor   edible. Ours is an expression that is used when one is exasperated, disappointed, hurt, or excited.

This is our version of kalamay:

Kalamay pa, kabuwaon mo.	Oh please, you're such a liar.
Kalamay pa, karasa sini!	Oh my gosh! This is so delicious!
Kalamay pa, late ka inabot.	Gosh, I can't believe you're late.
Kalamay pa, kabaltok mo.	I am so amazed at how smart you are.

"Kalamay pa" has no exact English translation. I have no idea for how long our kalamay has been in existence. All I know is that, this kalamay is part of our everyday life; of our everyday language.

Kalamay pa, binabasa mo ini! (OMG, I can't believe you're reading this blog!)

Philippineblogs.com is Down

Today, I'm paying tribute to one Filipino website that recently closed down. What could have been the possible reason/s for its exit from the world wide web? We probably will never know unless we hear from its webmasters. 

The site looked perfectly OK prior to its shutting down -- it had 687 backlinks according to Alexa and it had a Google PageRank of 4/10.

Philippineblogs.com was registered on January 14, 2011. Expiration date was January 14, 2013.  Meanwhile, this is what the website DomainTools says about its current status:

"Status: RENEWAL HOLD

Note: This Domain Name has expired. The status of this domain name is inactive. This domain name will be activated once it is renewed. The Owner of this domain can renew this domain name from their control panel. If this domain name is not renewed by 13-Feb-2013, it will be permanently deleted."

The demise of this site is a big loss for the Filipino bloggers. We lost one backlink from the site and at the same time we lost a directory of blogs/websites for the Filipinos. I will surely miss its homepage as well as its logo on my blog. 

Waray Words that Start with the Letter K

Kahataas sini nga kahoy. (This tree is tall.)
Antipolo (Artocarpus blancoi)

kaalo	shame
kabutlaw (katanglay, N. Samar)	weariness; tiredness
kadarako	big
(may) kaditu-ditoan or (may) kadituy-ditoyan (N. Samar)	mentally unstable; psychologically sick
kagahusan	bold; unafraid; audacious
kagutiay (kaditoy, N. Samar)	small
kakuri	difficult
kalo	hat
kamahal	expensive
kamutangan	condition; circumstance; situation
kulang (N. Samar, stress on the second syllable)	toilet

For a more comprehensive list of Waray words, you may visit this blog's Waray dictionary.

The Waray Word ALADAW in Two Sentences

"Aladaw" is a Waray word that functions as a transitional device, specifically, a subordinating conjunction.  It is used to introduce a subordinate clause and cannot stand on its own.  I guess there is no exact English translation for this word. "Instead" is the closest word that I can think of at this moment.

"Aladaw" may be dropped when a Waray sentence is translated into English. For example:

"Nagkikinaturog ka la; aladaw, panhugasi ito mga hugasan." 

"You've been sleeping the whole day. Why don't you wash the dishes?"

Let's have another example:

"Ayaw pag-inayara im kwarta; aladaw, ibutang lugod sa bangko."

"Don't hoard your money. Put it in the bank instead." 

or

 "Put your money in the bank instead of hoarding it."

A Waray subordinate clause that starts with "aladaw" cannot be placed in front of a main clause. Simply put, "aladaw" is usually never placed at the beginning of a sentence.

For a more comprehensive list of Waray words, you may visit this blog's Waray dictionary. Thanks! :-)

Ready for Waray Tongue Twisters?

Try these:

Tongue Twister No.1

SANGKAY

Sangkay mo, sangkay ko

Sangkay nga gisasangkayi
Sangkay mo, sangkay ko
Sangkay nga gisasangkayi
Sangkay mo, sangkay ko
Sangkay nga gisasangkayi

(Your friend, my friend

A real good friend)

Tongue Twister No. 2

RAPADAPA
Rapadapa nga girarapadapahi
Rapadapa nga girarapadapahi
Rapadapa nga girarapadapahi
Rapadapa nga girarapadapahi

(a real sole) 

Tongue Twister No. 3

Carangoides ferdau

TAROKITOK

Tarukitok nga gitarukitoki
Tarukitok nga gitarukitoki
Tarukitok nga gitarukitoki
Tarukitok nga gitarukitoki.

(a real tarukitok)

***

Credit goes to my mother, Nanay Remy, from whom I learned these tongue twisters while I was growing up in San Roque, N. Samar.