Animals & Nature in Siargaonon
17 words and phrases, recorded by a native speaker of Siargaonon (Surigaonon), the language of Siargao Island in the Philippines. Part of Conversations & The Wider World.
| Siargaonon | English | Notes on usage |
|---|---|---|
| Kahoy | Tree | |
| Kapun-an | Tree (of a kind) | Kapun-an nan nijog = coconut tree; kapun-an nan narra = narra tree |
| Tanom | Plant | Both the verb 'to plant' and the plant itself |
| Ambaw | Rat | |
| Miya | Cat | |
| Iro | Dog | |
| Manok | Chicken | Also means the live bird |
| Baboy | Pig / Pork | |
| Isda | Fish | |
| Kayajo | Fire | |
| Suyug | (Sea/River) current | |
| Guyangan | Forest | |
| Puyo | Island | |
| Ilaja | Farm | |
| Dagat | Sea / Ocean | Very relevant on Siargao |
| Baybay | Beach | |
| Tubig | Water |
Hearing it spoken
Written Siargaonon can only take you so far — the sounds are what give a speaker away. Two rules matter more than any other: the letter J is always hard, as in the English "jump" (never softened to a "y"), and many words that use an L in neighbouring languages use a Y here — ulo becomes uyo, balay becomes bayay. The pronunciation guide covers both in detail.
Every phrase on this page can be heard aloud, drilled with flashcards and quizzes, and scheduled for review in the free app.
There Is No Single Word for Coconut Tree
Kapun-an means tree, but of a particular kind — it needs the kind attached to it. Kapun-an nan nijog is the coconut tree; the same frame with narra gives you the narra tree.
Kahoy is the general word for tree, the material and the thing standing in the ground. Kapun-an is what you reach for when the species matters.
That is a real structural difference from English, which builds compound nouns instead. Siargaonon keeps the pieces separate and joins them with nan.
Words That Are Both Verb and Thing
Tanom is the plant and also the act of planting. Siargaonon does not force the split that English makes between a noun and its verb.
Manok is chicken — both the bird walking around and the food. English happens to keep chicken for both too, but it separates pig from pork, where Baboy covers both. The line English draws there is a leftover of Norman French, not a fact about animals.
The Vocabulary of an Island
Dagat is the sea, Baybay the beach, Suyug the current, Puyo the island itself. On Siargao these are not scenery words — the current in particular is practical information, the kind that decides whether a boat goes out.
Tubig is water and Kayajo is fire. Kayajo is worth practising for the hard J, which never softens to a Y no matter where it sits in a word.
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Is a word missing, or is something here wrong? This record is incomplete by definition — a living language is bigger than any one speaker. Tell us and it will be reviewed and added.