Tagalog/Nouns and markers

This lesson will teach you about the usage of nouns and markers in Tagalog. Pluralization In Common Nouns Common nouns in Tagalog are usually pluralized by placing mgá directly before the noun. Mgá is pronounced as [maˈŋa], where the stress is on the second syllable. Examples: Singular Plural babae woman mgá babae women pusà cat mgá pusà cats paáralán school mgá paáralán schools lapis pencil mgá lapis pencils However, mga is often omitted in the following circumstances: When the noun is quantified by a number dalawáng (mgá) babae — two women When the noun is described by a quantitative adjective maraming (mgá) pusà — many cats iiláng (mgá) lapis — a few pencils When the noun is described by a pluralized adjective (characterized by the reduplication of the adjectival root) malalakíng (mgá) paáralán — big schools magagandáng (mgá) babae — beautiful ladies While adding mgá in such situations is not grammatically incorrect, it comes off as redundant as the number or adjective itself already implies plurality. Note that when mgá appears before a number or time expression, it means “about” or “around”: mgá limá — about five mgá alas-dós — around two o’clock mgá Paskó — around Christmas In Proper Nouns Proper nouns could also take mga. Examples: mgá Pilipino — Filipinos mgá taga-Cebu — Cebuanos; people from Cebu mgá Jollibee — Jollibee (fastfood) branches mgá Red Horse — Red Horse bottles When used with family names, it refers to the members of that family as a whole, as in English. mga Panganiban — the Panganibans; Panganiban family mga Aquino — the Aquinos; Aquino family When used with names of people, mga groups people with the same name mga Marites — people who are named Marites mga Juan at Pedro — people who are named Juan and Pedro Although when addressing or referring to people by name, either sina, nina, or kina is used instead, without mgá (see Case markers for more). sina Maria at Jose ay mag-asawa — Mary and Joseph are a married couple Case and Case Markers Tagalog nouns and noun phrases are preceded by little words known as case markers. These markers help indicate the grammatical role of a noun or noun phrase in a sentence – roles such as the doer, object, and receiver of the action, among others. Grammatical Roles The following table shows examples of grammatical roles of nouns in a given sentence. Note the use of case markers which are written in bold and underlined. Grammatical role → (Verb) Doer Object Receiver Location Noun/Noun Phrase binigyán ni Ana ng pera ang kanyáng anák sa tabí ng bahay Gloss given (to) (by) Ana money her child beside the house Translation Ana gave her child some money, beside the house In this lesson, standardized names for these grammatical roles are used: Agent: the doer or experiencer of the action. Patient: the person or thing that undergoes, is affected by, or is directly involved in the action; often the object in English. Beneficiary: the person or thing for whom, for whose benefit, or to whom the action is done. Location: the place where the action happens, where it is directed, or where its result is located. Instrument: the tool, means, or body part used to carry out the action. Reason: the cause, motive, or reason for which the action is done. Note that the agent and patient are grouped as core participants of a verb, while the beneficiary, location, instrument, and reason are its oblique participants. Case Case helps us determine the grammatical role of a noun or noun phrase in a sentence. In Tagalog, case is marked not through changing the word itself (inflection), but through the use of separate words called case markers. There are three cases in Tagalog, namely: ang-case, also called direct, pivot, focus, or topic case; at times, although less preferably, known as the absolutive or nominative caseng-case, also called indirect or genitive case; less preferably known as the ergative or accusative casesa-case, also called oblique case Different grammars use different terms for these cases, which are listed above. In this lesson, they will be called ang-, ng-, and sa-case to avoid confusion – so called from the common singular forms of their respective case markers. Case Markers Case markers are typically short words (particles) that directly precede the noun or noun phrase they mark case for. Aside from case distinction, these markers are also divided into two types: personal markers, used before personal names (names of people and animals) and terms of address; ex., si Walt Disney common markers, used before common nouns AND proper nouns that are not personal names; ex., ang kompanya ([the] company), ang Disney Additionally, personal markers have a separate plural form characterized by the -na ending. On the other hand, common markers remain unchanged, where the particle mga is used to pluralize the noun or noun phrase. Below is a chart of the case markers. Note that mga is pronounced as [maˈŋa], and ng as [naŋ].  ang-caseng-casesa-caseCommonSingularangngsaPluralang mgang mgasa mgaPersonalSingularsinikayPluralsinaninakina Pivot and Non-pivot cases To better understand how case works in Tagalog, it is important to grasp the concept of a pivot, which is a central feature of the languageespecially in relation to the Austronesian alignment which Tagalog inherited from Proto-Austronesian, and shared with other related languages of the Philippines, Taiwan, Borneo, and Madagascar: verbs typically form a special relationship with a select noun or noun phrase in a given sentence – that noun is known as the pivotalso called the direct or, less preferably, the focus noun – as "focus" could mean a different feature that is also used in Tagalog grammar and is marked by the ang-case. The grammatical role of the pivot noun phrase depends on how the verb is conjugated by triggerthe reverse could also be said true: that the trigger of the verb is determined by the grammatical role that the pivot intends to encapsulate (see Ang-case subsection for specifics). The choice of a pivot mainly depends on what noun or noun phrase the speaker wants to make central in the sentence, and the verb’s trigger complements that choice. All other nouns and noun phrases that are not the pivot of any verb, and thus not marked with the ang-case, are non-pivot: If the non-pivot noun phrase is a core participant of the action (agent or patient), it is marked by the ng-case. If the non-pivot noun phrase is neither agent or patient, but rather an oblique participant of the action (beneficiary, location, instrument, reason) then it is marked by the sa-case. Pivot Non-pivotCoreOblique ang-caseng-casesa-case Ang-case The ang-case marks the pivot noun or noun phrase of the sentence. The ang-case therefore specifically: marks the agent (doer or experiencer) of the action when the verb is conjugated in the agent-trigger {| class="wikitable" |- ! Agent-trigger Verb !! Agent (Doer) !! Patient (Object) !! Beneficiary (Receiver) |- | bumilí|| style="background: yellow;; " | si Ana || ng mga damít || para sa kanyáng anák |- | bought || style="background: yellow;; " | Ana || clothes || for her child |- | colspan="6"| Translation: Ana bought clothes for her child, or, Ana bought her child some clothes |} marks the patient (object or undergoer) of the action when the verb is conjugated in the patient-trigger {| class="wikitable" |- ! Patient-trigger Verb !! Agent (Doer) !! Patient (Object) !! Beneficiary (Receiver) |- | binilí|| ni Ana || style="background: yellow;; " | ang mga damít || para sa kanyáng anák |- | bought || by Ana || style="background: yellow;; " | clothes || for her child |- | colspan="6"| Translation: The clothes were bought by Ana for her child |} marks the beneficiary (or recipient) of the action when the verb is conjugated in the benefactive-trigger {| class="wikitable" |- ! Benefactive-trigger Verb !! Agent (Doer) !! Patient (Object) !! Location !! Beneficiary (Receiver) |- | ibinilí / binilhán|| ni Ana || ng mga damít || sa Divisoria || style="background: yellow;; " | ang kanyáng anák |- | bought (for) || by Ana || clothes || at the Divisoria || style="background: yellow;; " | her child |- | colspan="6"| Translation: Ana bought clothes at the Divisoria for her child, or more faithfully, Her (Ana's) child was bought clothes for at the Divisoria by Ana |} marks the location (or direction) of the action when the verb is conjugated in the locative-trigger {| class="wikitable" |- ! Locative-trigger Verb !! Agent (Doer) !! Patient (Object) !! Location !! Beneficiary (Receiver) |- | binilhán / pinagbilhán|| ni Ana || ng mga damít || style="background: yellow;; " | ang Divisoria || para sa kanyáng anák |- | bought (at) || by Ana || clothes || style="background: yellow;; " | Divisoria || for her child |- | colspan="6"| Translation: Ana bought clothes from the Divisoria for her child, or more faithfully, The Divisoria was the place clothes where bought by Ana for her child |} marks the instrument (or means) of the action when the verb is conjugated in the instrument-trigger {| class="wikitable" |- ! Instrumental-trigger Verb !! Agent (Doer) !! Patient (Object) !! Instrument (Means) !! Beneficiary (Receiver) |- | ipinambilí|| ni Ana || ng mga damít || style="background: yellow;; " | ang pera ng kanyáng asawa || para sa kaniláng anák |- | was used to buy || by Ana || clothes || style="background: yellow;; " | her spouse's money || for their child |- | colspan="6"| Translation: Ana bought clothes for her child using her spouse's money, or more faithfully, Her (Ana's) spouse's money was used by Ana to buy clothes for their child |} marks the reason (or cause) of the action when the verb is conjugated in the reason-trigger {| class="wikitable" |- ! Reason-trigger Verb !! Agent (Doer) !! Reason (Cause) |- | ikinatuwâ|| ni Maria || style="background: yellow;; " | ang mga damít |- | was the reason for being glad || Maria || style="background: yellow;; " | clothes |- | colspan="6"| Translation: Maria was glad about the clothes, or, The clothes made Maria glad |} In other words, the ang-case noun may be the agent, patient, location, beneficiary, instrument, or reason of the action, depending on the conjugation of the verb. Note that for every verb, there can only be one pivot noun or noun phrase. If a sentence has two or more verbs, the sentence may have a single pivot common to those verbs, or separate ones for each. Ang-case markers The markers for the ang-case include "si" for names of people and "ang" for everything else. Ang is often translated by native speakersespecially those not well-versed in the mechanics of Tagalog grammar with the English definite article "the". Though there are instances where this might seem true, it is not always the case — as ang could also be found in indefinite phrases (using isá "one", where in English we would use a/an). ang lalaki — (the) man ang isáng lalaki — a man The association with "the" may be attributed to the fact that ang-case nouns are grammatically prominent, implying that the noun is specific and definite. (See Definiteness for more) Ng-case The ng-case marks a non-focused core noun phrase. It may mark the actor in some verb forms, the object/patient in other verb forms, or possession. Sa-case The sa-case marks oblique relationships, such as location, direction, recipient, beneficiary, time, or reference. Examples Dumating ang lalaki. "The man arrived." Nakita ni Juan si Maria. "John saw Maria." Pupunta sina Elena at Roberto sa bahay ni Miguel. "Elena and Roberto will go to Miguel's house." Nasaan ang mga libro? "Where are the books?" Kay Tatay ang susi. "Father has the keys" Definiteness ^ Table of Contents ^ | <<Ligatures | Nouns and Markers | Prefixes and Suffixes>>