A free record of Siargaonon (Surigaonon), the language spoken on Siargao Island in the Philippines — written and checked by a native speaker. It has never had a proper dictionary, a written grammar, or a pronunciation guide. This is an attempt at all three.
© 2026 Siargaonon Lessons · Licence · All rights reserved. The language record may be used freely for learning and teaching; bulk copying and commercial reuse are not permitted.
Siargaonon has never had a dictionary. Not a small one, not an old one — none. It is spoken by perhaps a hundred thousand people on Siargao Island and the coast around it, it has never been formally written down, and the children learning it now increasingly reach for English or Tagalog words their grandparents would not have used.
This site is one native speaker writing it down: over 750 words and phrases, 53 grammar rules, and 320 recordings of the words being spoken properly. Everything here has been checked by someone who grew up speaking it. Nothing is machine-translated, scraped, or guessed at.
Visitors who already speak a Bisayan language often assume Siargaonon is a close variant they can improvise. Three differences catch them out immediately. The J is always hard, as in jump, and never softens to a Y. The L between vowels frequently becomes a Y — ulo becomes uyo, balay becomes bayay. And mahal means expensive, only expensive, which has embarrassed more than one Tagalog speaker trying to say something affectionate.
There are subtler things too: two different words for when depending on whether you mean past or future, a three-way distinction between here, there and over there, and no single word for brother — you say male sibling.
The dictionary, the grammar notes, the pronunciation guide and every page listed below are free and need no account. The first level of the interactive app is free as well. You are welcome to use any of it for your own learning or for teaching — that is what it is for.
Word lists by topic:
Actions & Movement · Animals & Nature · Animals, Colours and the Body · Asking Questions · Basic Phrases · Body Parts · Colors · Common Questions · Days of the Week · Directions · Family · Family and People · Food & Drink · Food and Eating · Full Conversation · Getting Around Siargao · Greetings and Meeting People · Introductions · Location Words · Months of the Year · Movement & Direction · Numbers · Numbers and Counting · Objects & Actions · Ownership & Identity · Past & Present Actions · Question Words · Shopping · Shopping and Haggling · Social Phrases · Time of Day · Transportation · Weather · Weather, Time and Days
Loading the app…