Colors in Siargaonon

13 words and phrases, recorded by a native speaker of Siargaonon (Surigaonon), the language of Siargao Island in the Philippines. Part of The World Around You.

In practice, most Siargaonon speakers — especially younger generations — simply use English color words (red, blue, green…). The native and Spanish-rooted words below are still understood, but they're less common in everyday speech.

Siargaonon	English	Notes on usage
Pula	Red	Still widely recognized
Asul	Blue	Still widely recognized
Berde	Green	Still widely recognized
Puti	White	Still widely used
Itum	Black	Still widely used
Dilaw	Yellow	Still widely recognized
Darangpan	Orange	Native word; younger speakers often just say 'orange'
Lila / Morado	Purple	Lila = native; Morado = Spanish; 'purple' also used
Rosas	Pink	From Spanish 'rosas'; 'pink' also commonly used
Abuhon	Gray	From 'abo' (ash); younger speakers often say 'gray'
Kayumanggi	Brown / Tan	Also means 'morena' skin tone; 'brown' more common now
Bulawan	Gold	Also means the metal gold; well-known word
Pilak	Silver	Also means the metal silver

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.

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