The “L” Issue in Cebuano-speak

[I don’t know much about linguistics or anything much about languages, these insights are just personal thoughts and observations. Originally posted on Facebook, December 2009, no edits since then.]


I am really fascinated by the language here in Cebu. Cebuano is cool, but that’s not the point. Haha. You see, there exists an unofficial, yet generalized, distinction between the Cebuano of the Metro and the Cebuano of the South. It’s really cool. The Cebuano of the metropolitan area has some queer issues about the letter “L”. 


In a lot of words—though not true to all—the letter “L” becomes a “W”, thus we have “puwa” for “pula” (red), “huwat” for “hulat” (wait), “pawng” for “palong” (turn something off), “saw’” with a glottal stop for “salo’” with glottal stop pa rin (to catch). Sometimes, they subsequently drop the “L” altogether when it is in between two similar-sounding vowels. For example we have “tug” for “tulog” (sleep), “wa” for “wala” (none, nothing), “bay” for “balay” (house), “dan” for “dalan” (street, way)…and the list goes on. Now in writing, broadcasting, formal correspondence, and even in some things like street signs the original spellings are used, however nowadays we can encounter the shockingly shorter versions like in the radio: ika-tu nga buwan--I first though the announcers meant "ika-2", like the 2nd month...he meant "ika-tulo nga bulan". Major facepalm moment. 


There isn’t any hard and fast rule for these peculiarities though, and I’m not certain when it is OK to use these “contractions”—it just comes naturally, I suppose. These shortcut forms slip out suddenly when I talk to my Visayan-speaking friends in UP…and they usually tease me about it, since they’re not used to the L-thing. 




Yes, Visayan-speaking friends in UP, you know who you are. XDD




But this wasn’t the case before. It was the other way around. I had my fair share of chuckles when I used the long form of the words, nothing serious though, until I learned to adapt to the “norm” of the city-speak.


Now, people from the ciudad would usually figure out you were from the south or any of the neighboring (or farther) provinces, i.e. Negros Oriental, Zamboanga, etc. if you spoke in a non-contracted manner. But there would be no misunderstanding whatsoever, because the city-speakers know that the shortcut form just means the exact same thing as the long way. My Linguistics teacher remarked that this phenomenon was not a “sociolect”, rather she said that the L-thing was most probably the natural evolution of the Visayan language. She even encouraged me to research more on it, because she found it interesting, since she noted that this phenomenon occurred usually in the urban areas and did not apply that much to the other regions. She also asked me if why I came to her about this, and if which form do I speak. It got me thinking quite a bit…because I usually speak BOTH styles.


Despite having my mother vehemently instructing me in English during my formative years (which she claims is my first language, but I couldn’t verify that assertion since I couldn’t remember anything about those days anymore. I don’t agree with her though), people have long referred to me as one of those people who spoke “lalom (ehem...LAWM) na Bisaya” (deep Bisaya). This was probably because when I was a kid even if I lived in the city, I spoke like I was from the south….like “among balay naa sa kilid sa dalan”. 


I can’t help it, that’s how my father talked to me when we conversed in his native tongue. I tell you though, my Bisaya is not deep, I barely know ¼ to ½ of the Cebuano vocabulary. Anyway, my dad and his siblings grew up in Samboan, a municipality in southern Cebu around 140km from the city. He told me once that during his first escapade to the city (for college), and he really felt the “elitist” distinction. They have been the object of scrutiny and teasing (albeit mild), and of course have heard and been targeted by the all-too-famous joke “Ang kalayo mi-kalatkat sa bulumbong”. BTW, the word bulumbong doesn’t exist. Haha. 


Well, they had to adapt of course, when in Rome do as the Romans do right? Well then, my exposure to the dialect granted me a “different” status, but through time the city-speak crept up my system until I’ve adapted to the lingua franca of the metro. These two styles have become interchangeable. Thus now you have me saying “hug” instead of “hulog” in some instances. I actually don’t care much, but I find it cool. But the reason for this L-phenomenon escapes me still. Probably because the metro is a busy bustling place so people rush their words and drop those L’s? I’m not so sure. Somebody must’ve done a study on that…please let me know if you hear from anyone. Hehe.


So which form do I use? It really depends; sometimes it shifts depending on where I am or who I’m talking to. But I prefer the southern Cebu style…Ma-“L” lang siguro akong tao. Hahaha. :P