Kapampangan, Capampáñgan, or Pampangan, is an
Austronesian language
The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...
, and one of the eight major
languages of the Philippines
There are some 130 to 195 languages spoken in the Philippines, depending on the method of classification. Almost all are Malayo-Polynesian languages native to the archipelago. A number of Spanish-influenced creole language, creole varieties ge ...
. It is the primary and predominant language of the entire province of
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...
and southern
Tarlac
Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...
, on the southern part of
Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
's central plains geographic region, where the
Kapampangan
Kapampangan, Capampañgan or Pampangan may refer to:
*Kapampangan people, of the Philippines
*Kapampangan language
Kapampangan, Capampáñgan, or Pampangan, is an Austronesian language, and one of the eight major languages of the Philippines. ...
ethnic group resides. Kapampangan is also spoken in northeastern
Bataan
Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...
, as well as in the provinces of
Bulacan
Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on ...
,
Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( ; ; ; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest Local gove ...
, and
Zambales
Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales (; ; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is Iba, Zambales, Iba, which is located in t ...
that border Pampanga. It is further spoken as a second language by a few
Aeta
Aeta (Ayta ), Agta and Dumagat, are collective terms for several indigenous peoples who live in various parts of Luzon islands in the Philippines. They are included in the wider Negrito grouping of the Philippines and the rest of Southeast A ...
groups in the southern part of Central Luzon. The language is known honorifically as ('breastfed, or nurtured, language').
Kapampangan is assigned the
ISO 639-2
ISO 639-2:1998, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 2: Alpha-3 code'', is the second part of the ISO 639 International standard, standard, which lists Language code, codes for the representation of the names of languages ...
three-letter code pam, but not an
ISO 639-1
ISO 639-1:2002, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages—Part 1: Alpha-2 code'', is the first part of the ISO 639 series of international standards for language codes. Part 1 covers the registration of "set 1" two-letter codes. The ...
two-letter code.
Classification
Kapampangan is one of the
Central Luzon languages of the
Austronesian language family
The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...
. Its closest relatives are the
Sambalic languages of
Zambales
Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales (; ; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is Iba, Zambales, Iba, which is located in t ...
province and the
Bolinao language spoken in the towns of
Bolinao
Bolinao, officially the Municipality of Bolinao ( Bolinao: ''Babali nin Bolinao;'' ; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 83,979 people.
Sea urchins are regula ...
and
Anda
Anda or ANDA may refer to:
Places China
* Anda, Heilongjiang, a city in Heilongjiang, China
* Anda railway station, a railway station in Anda, China
Iran
* Anda, Iran, a village in Fars Province, Iran
Norway
* Anda, Norway, an island in Øksnes ...
in
Pangasinan
Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan (, ; ; ), is a coastal Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capital is Lingayen, Pangasinan, Lingayen while San Carlos, Pangasi ...
. These languages share the same reflex of the proto-Malayo-Polynesian *R.
History
''Kapampangan'' is derived from the root word ('riverbank'). The language was historically spoken in the
Kingdom of Tondo, ruled by the
Lakan
In History of the Philippines (900–1521), early Philippine history, the Filipino styles and honorifics, rank of ''lakan'' denoted a "paramount ruler" (or more specifically, "''paramount datu''") of one of the large coastal barangays (known as ...
s.
A number of Kapampangan dictionaries and grammar books were written during the
Spanish colonial period. wrote two 18th-century books about the language: (first published in 1729) and (first published in 1732). Kapampangan produced two 19th-century literary giants; was noted for and , and playwright wrote in 1901. "Crissotan" was written by
Amado Yuzon, Soto's 1950s contemporary and
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
nominee for peace and literature, to immortalize his contribution to Kapampangan literature.
Geographic distribution
Kapampangan is predominantly spoken in the province of
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...
and southern
Tarlac
Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...
(
Bamban,
Capas
Capas, officially the Municipality of Capas (;
), is a Philippine municipality, municipality in the Philippine province, province of Tarlac, Philippines, and one of the richest towns in the province. The town also consists of numerous subdivi ...
,
Concepcion,
San Jose,
Gerona,
La Paz
La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...
,
Victoria and
Tarlac City
Tarlac City, officially the City of Tarlac (; ; ; ), is a component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 385,398 people, making it the most p ...
). It is also spoken in border communities of the provinces of
Bataan
Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...
(
Dinalupihan,
Hermosa and
Orani),
Bulacan
Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on ...
(
Baliuag
Baliwag, officially the City of Baliwag (; , Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen ning Baliwag/Siudad ning Baliwag,'' also spelled as ''Baliuag''), is a component city in the province of Bulacan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popul ...
,
San Miguel,
San Ildefonso,
Hagonoy,
Plaridel,
Pulilan and
Calumpit),
Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( ; ; ; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest Local gove ...
(
Cabiao,
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
,
San Isidro,
Gapan
Gapan , officially the City of Gapan (, Ilocano: ''Siudad ti Gapan'', Kapampangan: ''Ciudad/Lakanbalen ning Gapan''), is a component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1 ...
and
Cabanatuan
Cabanatuan, officially the City of Cabanatuan (; ; kapampangan language, Kapampangan: ''Lakanbalen/Ciudad ning Cabanatuan''), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Acco ...
) and
Zambales
Zambales, officially the Province of Zambales (; ; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is Iba, Zambales, Iba, which is located in t ...
(
Olongapo City and
Subic). The language has also speakers outside Central Luzon, particularly in nearby
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...
and as far as
Palawan
Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...
and
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
. In Mindanao, a significant Kapampangan-speaking minority also exists in
Cagayan de Oro
Cagayan de Oro (abbreviated CDO and officially the City of Cagayan de Oro; ; Bukid language, Binukid: ''Ciudad ta Cagayan de Oro''; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippi ...
,
Davao City
Davao City, officially the City of Davao, is a City of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Davao Region, Philippines. The city has a total land area of , making it the List of Philippine cities and municipalities ...
,
South Cotabato
South Cotabato, officially the Province of South Cotabato, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen Regions of the Philippines, region in Mindanao. Its capital is Koronadal (also the regional cen ...
(specifically in
General Santos
General Santos, officially the City of General Santos and abbreviated as GenSan, is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippines, region of Soccsksargen, Philippines. According to ...
and the municipalities of
Polomolok and
Tupi) and
Sultan Kudarat
Sultan Kudarat, officially the Province of Sultan Kudarat (; Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sultan Kudarat'', Jawi Alphabet, Jawi: دايرت نو سولتان كودرت; ; Ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Sultan Ku ...
(specifically in
Isulan). According to the 2000 Philippine census, 2,312,870 people (out of the total population of 76,332,470) spoke Kapampangan as their native language. As of 2020, the language is ranked to be the eighth leading language spoken at home in the Philippines with only 639,687 households still speaking the language.
Phonology
Standard Kapampangan has 21
phoneme
A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...
s: 15
consonant
In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...
s and five
vowel
A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...
s; some western dialects have six vowels. Syllabic structure is relatively simple; each syllable contains at least one consonant and a vowel.
Vowels
Standard Kapampangan has five vowel phonemes:
*, a
close back unrounded vowel
The close back unrounded vowel, or high back unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is . Typographically, it is a turned letter .
...
when unstressed; allophonic with , an
open front unrounded vowel
The open front unrounded vowel, or low front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. It is one of the eight primary cardinal vowels, not directly intended to correspond to a vowel sound of a specific language b ...
similar to English ''father'' when stressed
*, an
open-mid front unrounded vowel
The open-mid front unrounded vowel, or low-mid front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some Speech communication, spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is the Latin epsil ...
similar to English ''bed''
*, a
close front unrounded vowel
The close front unrounded vowel, or high front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound that occurs in most spoken languages, represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet by the symbol i. It is similar to the vowel sound in the Englis ...
similar to English ''machine''
*, a
close-mid back rounded vowel
The close-mid back rounded vowel, or high-mid back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is .
Close-mid back protruded vowel
The clo ...
similar to English ''forty''
*, a
close back rounded vowel
The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.
I ...
similar to English ''flute''
There are four main
diphthong
A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
s: , , , and . In most dialects (including standard Kapampangan), and are reduced to and respectively.
Monophthongs have
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is one of multiple possible spoken soundsor '' phones''used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, the voiceless plos ...
s in unstressed and syllable-final positions:
* becomes in all unstressed positions.
*Unstressed is usually pronounced , as in English ''bit'' and ''book'' respectively (except final syllables).
*In final syllables can be pronounced , and can be pronounced .
** ('these') can be pronounced / or /; ('bought') can be pronounced or ; ('to us'
xcept you can be pronounced or ; can be pronounced or , ('dusk') can be pronounced or .
** ('he said, she said, they said, it was said, allegedly, reportedly, supposedly') can be pronounced or ; ('book') can be pronounced or ; ('who') can be pronounced or ; ('to me') can be pronounced or , and ('cricket') can be pronounced or .
*Unstressed are usually pronounced , respectively (except final syllables).
Consonants
In the chart of Kapampangan consonants, all stops are unaspirated. The
velar nasal
The voiced velar nasal, also known as eng, engma, or agma (from Greek 'fragment'), is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is the sound of ''ng'' in English ''sing'' as well as ''n'' before velar consonants as in ''E ...
occurs in all positions, including the beginning of a word. Unlike other languages of the Philippines but similar to
Ilocano, Kapampangan uses /h/ only in words of foreign origin.
* tends to
lenite to between vowels.
* and are allophones in Kapampangan, and sometimes interchangeable; can be ('Where are the books?').
*A glottal stop at the end of a word is often omitted in the middle of a sentence and, unlike in most languages of the Philippines, is conspicuously absent word-internally; hence, Batiáuan's dropping of
semivowels
In phonetics and phonology, a semivowel, glide or semiconsonant is a sound that is phonetically similar to a vowel sound but functions as the syllable boundary, rather than as the nucleus of a syllable. Examples of semivowels in English are ''y' ...
from its very name.
Stress
Stress is phonemic in Kapampangan. Primary stress occurs on the last or the next-to-last syllable of a word. Vowel lengthening accompanies primary or secondary stress, except when stress occurs at the end of a word. Stress shift can occur, shifting to the right or left to differentiate between nominal or verbal use (as in the following examples):
* ('should, ought to') → ('deed, concern, business')
* ('gather, burn trash') → ('trash pile')
Stress shift can also occur when one word is derived from another through affixation; again, stress can shift to the right or the left:
* → ('company')
* → ('melt, digest')
Sound changes
In Kapampangan, the
proto-Philippine
The Proto-Philippine language is a reconstructed ancestral proto-language of the Philippine languages, a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian languages which includes all languages within the Philippines (except for the Sama–Bajaw languages) ...
schwa vowel merged to in most dialects of Kapampangan; it is preserved in some western dialects. Proto-Philippine is ('to plant') in Kapampangan, compared with
Tagalog ,
Cebuano and
Ilocano ('grave').
Proto-Philippine merged with . The Kapampangan word for 'new' is ; it is in Tagalog, in Ilocano, and in Indonesian.
Grammar
Kapampangan is a VSO or
Verb-Subject-Object language. However, the word order can be very flexible and change to VOS (
Verb-Object-Subject) and SVO (
Subject-Verb-Object). Just like other Austronesian languages, Kapampangan is also an
agglutinative
In linguistics, agglutination is a morphological process in which words are formed by stringing together morphemes (word parts), each of which corresponds to a single syntactic feature. Languages that use agglutination widely are called agglu ...
language where new words are formed by adding affixes onto a root word (affixation) and the repetition of words, or portions of words (reduplication), (for example: ('child') to ('children')). Root words are frequently derived from other words by means of prefixes, infixes, suffixes and circumfixes. (For example: ('food') to ('to eat') to ' ('eating') to ('being eaten')).
Kapampangan can form long words through extensive use of affixes, for example: , 'a group of people having their noses bleed at the same time', , 'everyone loves each other', , 'can speak Kapampangan', and , 'until to fall in love'. Long words frequently occur in normal Kapampangan.
Nouns
Kapampangan nouns are not
inflected
In linguistic Morphology (linguistics), morphology, inflection (less commonly, inflexion) is a process of word formation in which a word is modified to express different grammatical category, grammatical categories such as grammatical tense, ...
, but are usually preceded by case
markers. There are three types of case markers:
absolutive
In grammar, the absolutive case (abbreviated ) is the case of nouns in ergative–absolutive languages that would generally be the subjects of intransitive verbs or the objects of transitive verbs in the translational equivalents of nominative� ...
(
nominative
In grammar, the nominative case ( abbreviated ), subjective case, straight case, or upright case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb, or (in Latin and formal variants of E ...
),
ergative (
genitive
In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
), and
oblique
Oblique may refer to:
* an alternative name for the character usually called a slash (punctuation) ( / )
*Oblique angle, in geometry
* Oblique triangle, in geometry
* Oblique lattice, in geometry
* Oblique leaf base, a characteristic shape of the ...
.
Unlike
English and
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
(which are
nominative–accusative languages) and
Inuit
Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...
and
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
(which are
ergative–absolutive languages), Kapampangan has
Austronesian alignment
Symmetrical voice, also known as Austronesian alignment or the Austronesian focus system, is a typologically unusual kind of morphosyntactic alignment in which "one argument can be marked as having a special relationship to the verb". This speci ...
(in common with most Philippine languages). Austronesian alignment may work with nominative (and absolutive) or ergative (and absolutive) markers and pronouns.
Absolutive or nominative markers mark the actor of an intransitive verb and the object of a transitive verb. Ergative or genitive markers mark the object (usually indefinite) of an intransitive verb and the actor of a transitive one. It also marks possession. Oblique markers, similar to prepositions in English, mark (for example) location and direction. Noun markers are divided into two classes: names of people (personal) and everything else (common).
Examples:
* ('The man arrived.')
* ('Juan saw Maria.')
* ('Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house.')
* ('Where are the books?')
* ('I will give the key to Carmen.')
Pronouns
Kapampangan pronouns are categorized by case: absolutive, ergative, and oblique.
Examples
* ('I wrote.')
* ('I wrote to him.')
* ('He
r shewrote me.')
* ('He
r shehas arrived.') Note: 'He arrived (or arrives)'; 'He has arrived.'
* ('Tell it to me.')
* ('Who called you?')
* ('They are reading.')
* ('They eat pigs too?')
Genitive pronouns follow the word they modify. Oblique pronouns can replace the genitive pronoun, but precede the word they modify.
*; ; ('my house')
The dual pronoun and the inclusive pronoun refer to the first and second person. The exclusive pronoun refers to the first and third persons.
* ('We
ualdo not have rice.')
* ('We
nclusivedo not have rice.')
*, ('We
xclusivedo not have rice.')
Kapampangan differs from many
Philippine languages
The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (language ...
in requiring the pronoun even if the noun it represents, or the
grammatical antecedent, is present.
* (not ; 'Ernie arrived').
* (not ; 'Maria and Juan are reading').
* (not ; 'José wrote you').
Special forms
The pronouns and have special forms when they are used in conjunction with the words ('there is/are') and ('there is/are not').
* ('He is in Pampanga').
*, ('The doctors are no longer here').
Both and are correct. The plural form ('they are') is and . Both and are correct in the plural form. The singular forms are and .
Pronoun combinations
Kapampangan pronouns follow a certain order after verbs (or particles, such as negation words). The
enclitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic ( , backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a ...
pronoun is always followed by another pronoun (or
discourse marker
A discourse marker is a word or a phrase that plays a role in managing the flow and structure of discourse. Since their main function is at the level of discourse (sequences of utterances) rather than at the level of utterances or sentences, discou ...
:
* ('I saw you').
* ('He wrote to me').
Pronouns also combine to form a
portmanteau
In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together. pronoun:
* ('I saw her').
* ('I will give them money').
Portmanteau pronouns are not usually used in questions and with the word :
* ('Do you see him?')
*, ('He likes that, too').
In the following chart, blank entries denote combinations which are deemed impossible. Column headings denote pronouns in the absolutive case, and the row headings denote the
ergative case
In grammar, the ergative case (abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that identifies a nominal phrase as the agent of a transitive verb in ergative–absolutive languages.
Characteristics
In such languages, the ergative case is typically m ...
.
Demonstrative pronouns
Kapampangan's demonstrative pronouns differ from other Philippine languages by having separate forms for singular and plural.
The demonstrative pronouns and (and their respective forms) both mean 'this', but each has distinct uses. usually refers to something abstract, but may also refer to concrete nouns: ('this music'), ('this is what we do'). is always concrete: ('this book'), ('this is Juan's dog').
In their locative forms, is used when the person spoken to is not near the subject spoken of; is used when the person spoken to is near the subject spoken of. Two people in the same country will refer to their country as , but will refer to their respective towns as ; both mean 'here'.
The plural forms of a demonstrative pronoun and its existential form (for the nearest addressee) are exceptions. The plural of is ; the plural of is ; the plural of is , and the plural of is . The existential form of is .
* ('What's this?')
*, ('These flowers smell nice').
* ('Who is that man?')
*, ('Come here').
*, , ('I am here').
* ('They will eat there').
* ('Who is that child?')
* ('So that's where your glasses are!')
* ('I haven't seen one of these before').
* ('Those are delicious').
* ('Here are the two gifts for you').
* ('I like you!')
* ('I love you!')
* ('Let's eat!')
* ('I don't want to lose you!')
Verbs
Kapampangan verbs are morphologically complex, and take a variety of affixes reflecting focus, aspect and mode. The language has
Austronesian alignment
Symmetrical voice, also known as Austronesian alignment or the Austronesian focus system, is a typologically unusual kind of morphosyntactic alignment in which "one argument can be marked as having a special relationship to the verb". This speci ...
, and the verbs change according to triggers in the sentence (better known as voices). Kapampangan has five voices: agent, patient, goal, locative, and cirumstantial. The circumstantial voice prefix is used for instrument and benefactee subjects.
The
direct case
A direct case ( abbreviated ) is a grammatical case used with all three core relations: both the agent and patient of transitive verbs and the argument of intransitive verbs, though not always at the same time. The direct case contrasts with ...
morphemes in Kapampangan are (which marks singular subjects) and , for plural subjects. Non-subject agents are marked with the ergative-case ; non-subject patients are marked with the accusative-case ''-ng'', which is
clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic ( , backformed from Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) is a morpheme that has syntactic characteristics of a ...
ized onto the preceding word.
DIR:direct case morpheme
CT:cirumstantial trigger
Ambiguities and irregularities
Speakers of other Philippine languages find Kapampangan verbs difficult because some verbs belong to unpredictable verb classes and some verb forms are ambiguous. The root word ('write') exists in Tagalog and Kapampangan:
* means 'is writing' in Kapampangan and 'will write' in Tagalog.
* means 'will write' in Kapampangan and 'wrote' in Tagalog. It is the infinitive in both languages.
* means 'wrote' in both languages. In Kapampangan, it is in the actor focus (with long i: ) or object focus (with short i: ), and object focus only in Tagalog.
The object-focus suffix ''-an'' represents two focuses; the only difference is that one conjugation preserves ''-an'' in the completed aspect, and it is dropped in the other conjugation:
* ('to pay someone'): ('will pay someone'), ('is paying someone'), ('paid someone')
* ('to pay for something'): ('will pay for something'), ('is paying for something'), ('paid for something')
Other Philippine languages have separate forms; Tagalog has ''-in'' and ''-an'',
Bikol and most of the
Visayan languages
The Bisayan languages or Visayan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken in the Philippines. They are most closely related to Tagalog and the Bikol languages, all of which are part of the Central Philippine languages. Mo ...
have ''-on'' and ''-an'', and
Ilokano has ''-en'' and ''-an'' due to historical sound changes in the proto-Philippine /*e/.
A number of actor-focus verbs do not use the infix ''-um-'', but are usually conjugated like other verbs which do (for example, ('to do'), ('to immerse'), ('to dance'), ('to take off'), ('to smoke'), ('to fetch'), ('to step') and ('to accompany'). Many of these verbs undergo a change of vowel instead of taking the infix ''-in-'' (completed aspect). In the actor focus (''-um-'' verbs), this happens only to verbs with the vowel in the first syllable; ('to take off') is conjugated ('will take off'), ('is taking off'), and ('took off').
This change of vowel also applies to certain object-focus verbs in the completed aspect. In addition to becoming , becomes in certain cases (for example,
brought something' worked on something'
Work may refer to:
* Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community
** Manual labour, physical work done by humans
** House work, housework, or homemaking
** Working animal, an ani ...
and
bought'.
There is no written distinction between the two ''mag-'' affixes; may mean 'is speaking' or 'will speak', but there is an audible difference. means 'will speak' while means 'is speaking'.
Enclitics
*: used optionally in yes-and-no questions and other types of questions
*, : even, even if, even though
*: conditional particle expressing an unexpected event; if
*: reporting (hearsay) particle indicating that the information is second-hand; he said, she said, they said, it was said, allegedly, reportedly, supposedly
*, : inclusive particle which adds something to what was said before; also, too
*: expresses hope or an unrealized condition (with verb in completed aspect); also used in conditional aspect
*: expresses uncertainty or an unrealized idea; perhaps, probably, seems
*: limiting particle; only, just
*,
**: now, already, yet, anymore
**: still, else
*: used in making contrasts and to soften requests and emphasis
*: expresses cause; because, because of
*: used in affirmations or emphasis and to soften imperatives; indeed
*: realization particle, indicating that the speaker has realized (or suddenly remembered) something
*, : politeness particle
Examples:
*: 'I was told that it is lucky.'
*, : 'Your boyfriend is also educated.'
Existence and possession
To express existence (there is, there are) and possession (to have), the word is used:
*: They also have a conscience.
Negation
Kapampangan has two negation words: and . negates verbs and equations, and means 'no' or 'not':
* ('He did not buy.')
is the opposite of :
* ('They say that there is no more love.')
is sometimes used instead of :
* ('I did not buy it.')
Interrogative words
is used to ask how something is. Frequently used as a greeting ('How are you?'), it is derived from the Spanish
* ('How are you?')
* ('How is the patient?')
means 'what': ('What are you doing?')
means 'who':
* or ('Who are those men?')
* ('Who is Jennifer?')
, meaning 'where', is used to ask about the location of an object and not used with verbs:
* ('Where is the driver?' is the Kapampangan phonetic spelling of English ''driver'').
* ('Where is Henry?')
means 'why':
* ('Why are you here?')
* ('Why are you not in your house?')
means 'whose' or 'whom':
* ('To whom will you give that?')
* ('Whose dandruff is this?')
means 'how many':
* ('How many papayas?')
* ('How many children did your mother birth?')
means 'when':
* ('When is the fiesta?')
* ('When is your birthday?')
means 'how':
* ('How do you do this?')
* ('How do you become a productive member of the society?')
means 'how much':
* ('How much is one bread?')
* ('How much are the milktea, burger and fries?')
means 'to what degree':
* ('How beautiful are you?', literally 'To what degree are you beautiful?')
* ('How many did you buy?', literally 'To what amount did you buy?')
means 'which':
* ('Which of these do you want?')
* ('Who do you choose among them?')
Lexicon
Kapampangan borrowed many words from
Chinese (particularly
Cantonese
Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
and
Hokkien
Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...
), such as:
*, '(paternal) grandmother', from
*, 'uncle', from
*, '2nd eldest sister', from
*, '2nd eldest brother', from
*, '2nd eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*, '5th eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*, '6th eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*, '8th eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*''Quezon,'' 'strongest grandson' (a surname), from
*, '(maternal) grandmother', from
*, '(maternal) grandfather', from
*, 'eldest sister', from
*, 'eldest brother',
*, '3rd eldest brother', from
*, '3rd eldest sister', from
*, '3rd eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*, 'pet, to look after, thank you' (name), from
*, '4th eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*, '7th eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*, 'key', from
*, '4th eldest sister', from
*, '4th eldest brother', from
*, 'eldest grandson' (a surname), from
*, 'noodles' (literally 'instant meal'), from
*, 'bad luck' (literally 'without clothes and food'), from
*, 'tea', from
*, 'name', from
*,'full, satisfied' (a surname), from
*, 'Chinese lettuce', from
*, 'Gold' (a surname), from
*, 'spring roll', from
*, Kapampangan soup, from
*, 'tofu' (a snack), from
*, 'soy sauce', from
*, 'copper wire', from
*, 'wooden clogs', from
Many Filipino surnames that end with “on”, “son”, and “zon” are of Chinese origin, Hispanized version of 孫 (''sun'').
El Pilipinismo: Chino Cristiano Surnames
/ref>
Due to the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism, Kapampangan also acquired words from Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
. A few examples are:
*, 'home', from the Sanskrit '' alaya''
*, 'fate', from the Sanskrit ''karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
''
*, 'divine law', from the Sanskrit ''dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
''
*, 'magic formulas', from the Sanskrit ''mantra
A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...
''
*, 'power', from the Sanskrit ''upaya
In Buddhism, upaya (Sanskrit: उपाय, , ''expedient means'', ''pedagogy'') is an aspect of guidance along the Buddhist paths to liberation where a conscious, voluntary action "is driven by an incomplete reasoning" about its direction. Up ...
''
*, 'voice', from the Sanskrit ''svara
Swara () or svara is an Indian classical music term that connotes simultaneously a breath, a vowel, a note, the sound of a musical note corresponding to its name, and the successive steps of the octave, or ''saptanka''. More comprehensively ...
''
*, 'face', from the Sanskrit '' rupa''
*, 'every', from the Sanskrit
*, 'eclipse/dragon', from the Sanskrit ''rahu
Rāhu (Sanskrit: राहु, 16px, ☊) is one of the nine major celestial bodies ( navagraha) in Hindu texts and the king of meteors. It represents the ascension of the Moon in its precessional orbit around the Earth, also referred to as ...
''
*, 'giant eagle' (a surname, 'phoenix'), from the Sanskrit ''garuda
Garuda (; ; Vedic Sanskrit: , ) is a Hindu deity who is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. This divine creature is mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. Garuda is also the half-brother of the D ...
''
*, 'south' (a surname), from the Sanskrit
*, 'admiral' (a surname), from the Sanskrit ''lakshmana
Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...
''
* 'demerit, bad karma' from the Sanskrit
* 'fruit, blessings' from the Sanskrit '' phala''
The language has also absorbed many Spanish loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
s due to the 333 years of presence of the Spaniards in the Kapampangan speaking provinces. Hence, Spanish Days of the Week, Months, and Numbers are used in Kapampangan respectively. Many Spanish expressions, basic nouns, verbs, and phrases are also present in the Language. Such as, ("Kómusta?") from Spanish, "cómo estás" which means 'how are you?'. (this common expression can also be found in other Philippine Languages, such as Tagalog, Bisaya, Hiligaynon, etc. Other examples are:
* ''Aparte, '''aside or apart', from Spanish '''Aparte
* ''Casafuego,'' 'matchstick', from Mexican Spanish "''Casa fuego''". '''Fósforro which is also Spanish, is also commonly used by the Speakers.
* ''Mariposa'', 'butterfly', from Spanish Mariposa'''
* ''Primeru'', 'first', from Spanish Primero'''
* ''Matsura'', 'ugly', from Spanish Mala Hechura'''
* ''Domingu'', 'sunday', from Spanish Domingo'''
* ''Filipinas'', 'philippines', from Spanish Filipinas'''
Orthography
Kapampangan, like most Philippine languages, uses the Latin alphabet. Before the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, it was written in old Kapampangan writing. Kapampangan is usually written in one of three different writing systems: ''sulat Baculud'', ''sulat Wawa'' and a hybrid of the two, ''Amung Samson''.[Pangilinan, M. R. M. (2006, January). Kapampángan or Capampáñgan: settling the dispute on the Kapampángan Romanized orthography. In Paper at Tenth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan (pp. 17-20).]
The first system (, also known as or in the system) is based on Spanish orthography
Spanish orthography is the orthography used in the Spanish language. The alphabet uses the Latin script. The spelling is fairly phonemic orthography, phonemic, especially in comparison to more opaque orthographies like English orthography, Engl ...
, a feature of which involved the use of the letters ⟨c⟩ and ⟨q⟩ to represent the phoneme (depending on the vowel sound following the phoneme). ⟨C⟩ was used before , and (''ca'', ''co'' and ''cu''), and ⟨q⟩ was used with ⟨u⟩ before the vowels and (''que'', ''qui''). The Spanish-based orthography is primarily associated with literature by authors from Bacolor and the text used on the Kapampangan .
The second system, the , is an "indigenized" form which preferred ⟨k⟩ over ⟨c⟩ and ⟨q⟩ in representing the phoneme . This orthography, based on the Abakada alphabet was used by writers from Guagua and rivaled writers from the nearby town of Bacolor.
The third system, hybrid orthography, intends to resolve the conflict in spelling between proponents of the and . This system was created by former Catholic priest Venancio Samson during the 1970s to translate the Bible into Kapampangan. It resolved conflicts between the use of ⟨q⟩ and ⟨c⟩ (in ) and ⟨k⟩ (in ) by using ⟨k⟩ before ⟨e⟩ and ⟨i⟩ (instead of u�� and using ⟨c⟩ before ⟨a⟩, ⟨o⟩, and ⟨u⟩ (instead of ⟨k⟩). The system also removed ⟨ll⟩ and ⟨ñ⟩ (from Spanish), replacing them with ⟨ly⟩ and ⟨ny⟩.
Orthography has been debated by Kapampangan writers, and orthographic styles may vary by writer. The system has become the popular method of writing due to the influence of the Tagalog-based Filipino language
Filipino ( ; , ) is the national language of the Philippines, the main lingua franca, and one of the two official languages of the country, along with Philippine English, English. It is only a ''de facto'' and not a ''de jure'' standard langu ...
(the national language) and its orthography
An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis.
Most national ...
. The system is used by the Akademyang Kapampangan and the poet Jose Gallardo.
Prayers, words and sentences
*Sign of the Cross
Making the sign of the cross (), also known as blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is both a prayer and a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. It is a very significant prayer because Christians are acknowledging ...
:
* Apostle’s Creed:
*The Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...
:
*Hail Mary
The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the ...
:
*Gloria Patri
The ''Gloria Patri'', also known in English as the Glory Be to the Father or, colloquially, the Glory Be, is a doxology, a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian liturgies. It is also referred to as the Minor Doxology ''(Doxologia Mino ...
:
*''Salve Regina
The "Salve Regina" ( , ; meaning "Hail Queen"), also known as the "Hail Holy Queen", is a Marian hymn and one of four Marian antiphons sung at different seasons within the Christian liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The Salve Regina ...
'':
Numbers:
*One – (used when reciting numbers; used for counting)
*Two –
*Three –
*Four –
*Five –
*Six –
*Seven –
*Eight –
*Nine –
*Ten –
Sentences:
*My name is John. –
*I am here! – ()
*Where are you? –
*I love you. –
*What do you want? –
*Good morning! - ''Mayap a yabak (pu)!''
*Good afternoon! - ''Mayap a gatpanapun (pu)!''
*Good evening! - ''Mayap a bengi (pu)!''
*I will go home. –
*They don't want to eat. –
*He bought rice. –
*She likes that. –
*May I go out? –
*I can't sleep. –
*We are afraid. –
*My pet died yesterday. –
*How old are you? –
*How did you do that? –
*How did you get here? –
*How big is it? – ()
*When will you be back? –
*A baby is born? -
See also
* Malayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeas ...
* Tarlac
Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...
* Bataan
Bataan (, , , ; ) , officially the Province of Bataan, is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entire Bataan Peninsula ...
References
;Footnotes
;Bibliography
*Bautista, Ma. Lourdes S. 1996. An Outline: The National Language and the Language of Instruction. In Readings in Philippine Sociolinguistics, ed. by Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista, 223. Manila: De La Salle University Press, Inc.
*
*
*Castro, Rosalina Icban. 1981. Literature of the Pampangos. Manila: University of the East Press.
*Fernández, Eligío. 1876. Nuevo Vocabulario, ó Manual de Conversaciónes en Español, Tagálo y Pampángo. Binondo: Imprenta de M. Perez
*
*Gallárdo, José. 1985–86. Magaral Tang Capampangan. Ing Máyap a Balità, ed. by José Gallárdo, May 1985- June 1986. San Fernando: Archdiocese of San Fernando.
*Henson, Mariano A. 1965. The Province of Pampanga and Its Towns: A.D. 1300–1965. 4th ed. revised. Angeles City: By the author.
*Kitano Hiroaki. 1997. Kapampangan. In Facts About The World's Major Languages, ed. by Jane Garry. New York: H.W. Wilson. Pre-published copy
*Lacson, Evangelina Hilario. 1984. Kapampangan Writing: A Selected Compendium and Critique. Ermita, Manila: National Historical Institute.
*Manlapaz, Edna Zapanta. 1981. Kapampangan Literature: A Historical Survey and Anthology. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
*Panganiban, J.V. 1972. Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles. Quezon City: Manlapaz Publishing Co.
*Pangilinan, Michael Raymon M. 2004. Critical Diacritical. In Kapampangan Magazine, ed. by Elmer G. Cato,32-33, Issue XIV. Angeles City: KMagazine.
*Samson, Venancio. 2004. Problems on Pampango Orthography. In Kapampangan Magazine, ed. by Elmer G. Cato,32-33, Issue XII. Angeles City: KMagazine.
*Samson, Venancio. 2011. Kapampangan Dictionary. Angeles City: The Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies, Holy Angel University Press.
*Tayag, Katoks (Renato). 1985. "The Vanishing Pampango Nation", Recollections and Digressions. Escolta, Manila: Philnabank Club c/o Philippine National Bank.
*Turla, Ernesto C. 1999. Classic Kapampangan Dictionary. Offprint Copy
External links
Sínúpan Singsing
, ''de facto'' language regulator
Bansa Kapampangan-English Dictionary
Kapampangan Wiktionary
10 ICAL Paper – Issues in Orthography
10 ICAL Paper – Importance of Diacritical Marks
10 ICAL Paper – Transitivity & Pronominal Clitic Order
Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
Electronic Kabalen – New Writing on Kapampangan Life & Letters
* Wikibook Kapampangan
Siuala ding Meangubie
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapampangan Language
Central Luzon languages
Verb–subject–object languages