Grammar
The most recognizable difference is the use of the passive imperfect in place of the present progressive. In Manila, this is done by inserting the infix -um- after the first syllable then by repeating the first syllable. In the Batangan dialect however, this form is done by putting the prefix na- to the word.
| Standard | Batangan | Standard | Batangan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root word | kain (to eat) | kain (to eat) | tawag (to call) | tawag (to call) |
| syllabication | ka-in | ka-in | ta-wag | ta-wag |
| conjugated | k-um-a-ka-in | na-ka-in | t-um-a-ta-wag | na-ta-wag |
| written variant | kumakain | nakain | tumatawag | natawag |
This conjugation of the verb becomes funny because as what was mentioned above, this would mean the passive past to Manileños. When someone asks "Nasaan si Pedro?" (Where is Peter?), one would promptly answer 'Nakain ng isda!', which translates to "He's eating a fish!". However, to those unfamiliar with this kind of usage, the statement could easily be taken to mean "He was eaten by a fish!". However, a Batangueño can distinguish between the two seemingly identical forms.
Read more about this topic: Batangas Tagalog
Famous quotes containing the word grammar:
“The syntactic component of a grammar must specify, for each sentence, a deep structure that determines its semantic interpretation and a surface structure that determines its phonetic interpretation.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
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“Grammar is a tricky, inconsistent thing. Being the backbone of speech and writing, it should, we think, be eminently logical, make perfect sense, like the human skeleton. But, of course, the skeleton is arbitrary, too. Why twelve pairs of ribs rather than eleven or thirteen? Why thirty-two teeth? It has something to do with evolution and functionalism—but only sometimes, not always. So there are aspects of grammar that make good, logical sense, and others that do not.”
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