November 7th, 2008
Culture, Traditions, Practices
Some cultural practices that you should be knowledgeable of is that the Waray particularly in their social and occassional gatherings of the old natives, the Ambahan is widely practised. The Ambahan, as part of the Waray literature, is a two-line verse characterised to festive and usually sung or chanted.
Other traditions are obviously seen in Tacloban festival and native occassional holidays.
Speak Waray
Waray, being counted as one of the largest spoken dialects in the Philippines is yet another dialect of great ethnology and origin. The word Waray literally means “nothing”, which for most linguist could not explain why and how. Some people even say Waray-Waray meaning “double nothing” or “nothing nothing” which the meaning is highly confusing. It is unfair to note Waray as a difficult dialect to learn, However unlike Tagalog that is taught nationwide, Waray can become confusing but challenging especially when you get to listen to the native speakers who speak fast and fluent.
Hey, be careful wavy sea @ the back!
Once you get here in Tacloban City, you should know a few useful Waray phrases that will aid you along the way without being misinterpreted as someone crazy speaking the Martian language, Come on! Speaking basic Waray-Waray can be a lot of fun. Besides, the natives in the area much more appreciate it foreign people try the hardest to speak their tongues.
- Good Morning- Maupay nga Aga
- Good Afternoon- Maupay nga Kulop
- Good Evening- Maupay nga Gab-i
- Take care- Pag hinay ikaw, pag upay ikaw
- Goodbye- Malakat na ako
- See you next time, later- Pagkita nala kita sunod, niyan
- What is this? – ano iton?
- Welcome To Tacloban – Dayon Ha Tacloban
- Where are you from? – Taga diin ka?
- Thank you – Salamat
- You are welcome – Waray Sapayan
- I love you- Hinihigugma ko ikaw.
- Did you have your dinner/lunch already? Kumaun ka na hin pani hapon/pani udto?
- How much is this? – Tag pira ini?
- Is this for sale? – Ginbabaligya ini? Tinda ini?
- Where can you find (name of the place)? – Hain mo makikit-an it (name of the place)?, Hain mo mabibilngan it (name of the place)?
- I need a telephone booth? – kinahanglan ko hin telepono publiko na pwede ko matawagan.
- I am lost – Nawawara ako.
- Beautiful – mahusay
- Ugly – maraksot
- No money in my pocket– waray na salapi hit akon bulsa/bursa.
- Im sleepy- Gin pipiraw ak.
