MGA MUSIKANG BICOLNON

Ini an titulo kan mga CD na kun saen nalalaman an mga kantang bikolnon, mga original na mga komposisyon kan mga bikolanong kompositor. Apat na CD an binakal ko.

Alagad, inaapura ko an osipon.

Kasuodma pinto ako sa sakong negosyo. Imbes magpara-bula’tay ako sa harong na daing gibo, ano nyako kung magluwas ako? Naromdoman ko na may banwaan igdi sa Camarines Sur na taon-taon may palihan sinda na kun saen inaalok ninda an mga may pagkamoot sa musika magpadara mga original na komposisyon. Sa primer premyo, P100,000.00. Sa ika-2, P75,000.00. Sa ika-3ng premyo, P50,000.00. Dapat an komposisyon kantang bikol.

An banwaan kan Goa an nakaisip maggibo nin siring. Sarong programa nin pagpukaw sa kulturang bikolnon. Dakul kitang mga taga-rona’ na kaipohan sana gatongan an mga isip. Yaon sa puso ninda an pagmukna nin magagayon na togtog, mga malodok na tanog na makabray sa puso’ nin sarong paradangog. Kanogon kun dai ini mapakinabangan.

Sa siring na paghorophorop, lunad ako sa sakong kotse nagpasiring sa sinabing banwaaan.

An tinampo paduman ok naman. Malinig asin mayong mga lu’nad o mga kalot. Igwa lang parte na pighihirahay ba’go mag-abot sa Ocampo. Totoo, igwa nin mga naggagaratak nang semento. Hmmm, sabi ko pira pang bulan turukal na an mga sementong ini. Trabaho naman!!!

Haay, an gobyerno ta dai makagibo nin matanos. Alagad, tama man seguro ‘yan. Iyan pirming may patrabaho ta dakul kitang nagtitirios. Ta’wan ta sinda nin mga trabaho ngani dai mag-alboroto. An gutom na tawo baga maski siisay pwedeng malamuyoan!

Marikas padalagan ko. Mahimpis an trapik. Sa gilid kan tinampo may naheheling akong mga huba na aki nag-aarabrakan. Dai lang nyako sinda magparatahaw. An ruweda dai nagpipili nin ligison. Asin an mga tana’won sa palibot mayo man ipinag-iba kan ako balik-balik na sa Partido. Anas kaomahan ibong-ibong. Kulang pa an magagayon na harong. Garo baga an pag-uswag medyo nalingawan an lugar na ini. Pero siisay an matuyaw? Dakul man baga kan Pilipinas nagroro’ro’?

Medyo natikbahan ako sa pag-iisip na ini ta nakulibat ko an Bikol an saro sa nangangaporet na rona pag-abot sa progreso. Ano ta ngitingit na maray igdi sa bikol? Haen idtong mga development programs na ipinasunod kan Bikol River Basin? Sabi, huli sa mga programa kaini dai na mabaha, marahay an produksyon sa paroy, mabulos igdi an investment… asin kun ano-ano pa.

Pero mayo. Mala ta an tolo kong aki nag-roab na sa Manila ta sa adal ninda sa computer science siisay an mataong trabaho sainda igdi sa Naga, halimbawa? May magagayon kitang eskwelehan, arog kan Ateneo de Naga University. Quality education talaga. Pero paka-tapos sa kolehiyo, ma-ano igdi sato? Makagaw lama’yag?

Nagamiawan ko kita pala igdi sa Bikol patonod nang maray. Mala ta sosog sa statistics, daog ta na lang iyo an Cagayan Valley, na iyo an pinaka-kaporet! Ano an ginigiribo kan satong mga lider, kan satong mga namamayo dyan sa Manila- nagpapa-imbong lang mga hita’?

An isip ko medyo logod naribaraw. Ata masiramon su paitok-itok ko kan manibela. Piiiit! Piiippiiittt!! May biglang nagkutipas na aki sa tinampo. Huba, nagtatawil-tawil an putoy. An aki tiki’-tiki’, garataw an mga tu’lang. Butog an lamasdak. Piling-piling ako. Saboot ko sana, iyo
nyako ‘ni an ladawan kan Bikol.

Napaknit an isip ko sa mga mamundong bagay na ini kan narisa ko yaon na palan ako sa atubangan kan munisipyo nin Goa.

Ogma sinda duman sa munisipyo ta may mabakal kan mga CD ninda. Problema daa ninda an marketing. Pero natantya ko an enot nindang problema iyo an mapukaw an interes kan mga Bikolano na mag-anduyog sa sadiring produkto asin sadiring mga awit. Nawa’ran na nin gana an dakul na bikolano magpa-orog kan saindang kultura. O, seguro dai lang tatao mag-balanse kan saindang buhay kultural. O, gayod mayo talagang kultura an dakul nang tawo. Anas lang material na bagay an importante sainda.

Panuga’ ko sainda hilingon ko nyako kun ano an ikakatabang ko. Apat nang taon naggigibo sinda nin cultural fest na arog kaini (2000, 2001, 2002, asin 2003). Alagad, si pinaka-enot mayo sinda nin recording.

Si Mayor Marcel S. Pan, sarong U.P. graduate, madunong, maray magpalakaw kan saiyang banwaan (mala ta national awardee an saiyang banwaan) an naghimo kan gabos na ini.

Logod mapadagos nya an siring na proyekto.

Mga Libro Dapit Sa Bikol Linguistics

PagpaManila ko kan Oktubre 21 (2005), naisip ko magbakal padagos mga libro. Totoo an tuyo ko iba man: magtabang sa aki kong daraga sa pagkaag lungalong (booth) sa SM Megamall sa okasyon kan Orgullo Kan Bikol, sarong trade fair pinapaorog an mga produktong Bikol.

Nahiling ko kaya sa website kan Komisyon Sa Wikang Filipino na may pinapabakal sindang mga libro dapit sa adal kan tataramon na Bikol. Hmmm, dumanan ko kaya an opisina ninda? An ginibo ko nagpara-apod ngo’na ko sa mga telepono ninda.

Sa mga paliwanag kan mga naka-olay ko igwa sinda nin duwang libro dapit sa Bikol:

Etnikong Bokabularyong Bikol
(Isang Pagtitipon at Pagsasalin sa Anim na Probinsya ng Rehiyon V) 262 pp. P330.00

saka

Diksyunaryo – English.Filipino.Bikol 697 pp. P343.00

An enot na libro nilalaman kan mga tataramon na may mga katampad na taramon hale sa anom na probinsya, kun ini may pagkakaiba man.

An ikaduwa mahiwas na pagtitipon nin mga tataramon kan lenggwaheng bikol na kun saen tinao an kahulogan sa BikolLegazpi o kun may kaibahan, sa BikolNaga. Mala ta susog sa Paenot Na Paliwanag, nakasaray sinda nin 5,261 na kataga’.

Binakal ko an duwang libro ini tolos ta aram ko dikit sana an huwad na pinaimprenta: sangribong kopya sana lambang obra. Malihis an duwang polong taon, collector’s item na an mga ini!

Alagad, an ikina-ogma kong maray ta mantang pirit na binabakal ko pa idtong daan na kopya (musmoson na saka parakit na sa gilid) kan libro ni Fe Aldave Yap (A Comparative Study Of Philippine Lexicons) habo-haboan nanggad ipabakal ta mayo na ngani daa sa lista idto asin mayo na mapresyohan!

Kapipirit ko, itinao na logod sakong libre! Naherak seguro sako an mga lamuag.

Grabe an paDiosmabalos ko sa duwang maboboot na empleyado kan KWF.

Sa pag-ogid ko asin pagbilog nin pagkasabot kan Bikol, dakulang gayo an itatabang sako kan mga reference materials na ini. Nagluwas mansana ko sa opisina kan KWF, magianon su pagmate ko. Garo ko naglalayaw-layaw sa panganoron!

Sa iba kong blog, matao ko nin tuyaw kan kamanongdanan asin kahalagahan kan mga obrang ini. Tugotan mo ngo’na kong basa-basahon an mga libro.

THE BIKOLS OF 1573- The Bravest And the Best Armed

Commenting on my article about Chinese loanwords in Bikol, Hagbayon invited me to visit the University of Nueva Caceres Museum in Naga City where, he said, can be found many artifacts of ancient Chinese origin.

Indeed, I have visited this museum many times and we find here porcelain jars, plates, dishes, ornaments , tibors and other interesting items produced from the kilns of ancient China.

What saddens me, however, is the sparse display of items in these museums showing the culture of ancient bikol. We can now only learn about our past from old writings of foreigners.

Governor-General Guido de Lavezaris (1572-1575), for instance, writing to King Philip II of Spain made an observation which give us an exciting glimpse of our forebears:

“…… I dispatched Capt. Juan de Salcedo in July, seven three (1573) with 120 soldiers in vessels like those used by these natives, to win over and conquer Bicor river and the province of Los Camarines, on the east side of this island of Lucon. He brought under the dominion and obedience of your Majesty all that region, with about 20,000 natives… They have abundant stores of food, and possess goldmines. The people are the most valiant yet found in these regions; they possess much good armor – as iron corselets, greaves, wristlets, gauntlets, and helmets- and some arquebuses and culverins. They are the best and most skillful artificers in jewels and gold that we have seen in this land. Almost all the people of Los Camarines pursue this handicraft. Close upon the province of Los Camarines and bicor river are the mines of Paracali. As soon as the ships arrive, I shall try to effect a settlement near those mines with the people that may come, for I consider it a matter of importance for the service of your Majesty; …” (vide, Blair and Robertson, vol. 3, pp. 272-273)
In a letter to Viceroy Martin Enriquez of Nueva España (Mexico) on June 30, 1574, Martin de Rada, O.S.A., wrote a rather lengthy account confirming the brave stand of the old bikol against the military incursions of the Spanish conquistadors:
“… this is that the governor (Lavezaris) immediately sent Capt. Juan de Salcedo accompanied by Capt. Pedro de Chavez and some men to pacify the river of Vicor and the Camarines, which are located in this same Island of Lusson. The people there are the most valiant and the best armed men of all these islands. Consequently, although they never attacked the Spaniards, still they defended themselves in all their villages, and would not surrender unless conquered by force of arms. Consequently, all those villages were entered in the same way, by first summoning them to submit peacefully, and to pay tribute immediately unless they wished war. They replied that `they would first proved those to whom they were to pay tribute, and consequently, the Spaniards attacking them, an entrance was made among them, by force of arms, and the village was overthrown and whatever was found pillaged. Then the Spaniards sent to have the natives summoned to submit peacefully. When the natives came, they asked them to immediately give them tribute in gold and to an excessive amount, for which they promised to give them writs of peace. Therefore, since all the people defended themselves, more have perished in that land than in any other yet conquered. (vide: Blair and Robertson, vol. 34, p. 286)

In another letter, Martin de Rada, writing to the same Viceroy of Nueva España, made almost the same remark, “An expedition made to the Bicol River and Camarines by Salcedo and Chaves has met success only after considerable opposition from the natives who are the bravest of Luzon, and who meet heavy losses in consequence.”(vide. Blair and Robertson, vol. 34, p. 24)

Several years after the conquest, an unknown writer. writing in year 1618, commented:
“The Camarines have become a very settled and tractable people thru the religious institutions and careful teaching of the discalced Franciscan fathers, their ministers. They had been , of all people of these islands, the most warlike and the most feared , as was shown by their resistance; indeed, one can hardly assert that they were conquered…”
(vide, Blair and Robertson, vol. 18, p. 94-95.)

The old Bikols put up a real, good fight. They were the best-armed and the bravest of Luzon. Sadly, as de Rada, said “more have perished in that land than in any other yet conquered.”

MAYO- A Pure Bikol Word?

The Chinese already had commercial contact with us five hundred years before the Spaniards came.

They came as traders to bring silk, porcelain, pottery, bar-iron, beads, cheap jewelry and many other things of domestic use. They brought back in return raw cotton, resin, abaca, hardwoods, sea-products, rattan, nito, beeswax, pearshells, placer gold, pearlshell, etc. The trade continued until such time many of them decided to stay. Bringing along with them is the knowledge in agriculture, pottery-making, jewelry-making, duck-raising, ship-building and various other occupational practices which the Bikol of old happily adopted.

It is, therefore, not surprising the Bikol language borrowed many words from Chinese, becoming very common in use that nobody suspect were of foreign origin.
Of course, we assume the noodles we eat from Chinese restaurants such as lomi, pancit, misua, sotanghon, bihon, loglog are of Chinese cooking and they carry names that are Chinese-sounding.

But Arsenio Manuel, in his book Chinese Elements In The Tagalog Language, unearthed more Chinese words in current usage in Tagalog not limited to cookery. He asserted the words bantay (guard), suki (customer), hikaw (earrings), bakya,(wooden sandals), baybay (sand), binibini (an unmarried woman), buwisit (bad luck) and many common words are of Chinese provenance.

The findings of Arsenio Manuel carry a resonance in Bikol. Many of the Chinese loanwords Manuel found in Tagalog could also be found in Bikol. The question whether Bikol borrowed them from Tagalog or directly from Mandarin, Fookien or other Chinese dialects is a matter to be settled.. Perhaps this issue can be clarified by perusing old Bikol dictionaries printed in the 1600s when Tagalog influence was nil.
Additionally, we also find some Bikol words with suspect Chinese origin which are not in use in Old or modern Tagalog. I say suspect because I glimpse some similarities in base meanings of these words to the mono- or dyssyllabic entries Manuel cited in his work as purely Chinese and which he asserted could not be found in Original Austronesian or Old Indonesian.

This area of study presents a daunting challenge to the scholars who would have the training, the resources and the inclination to dig deeper for as yet there is no serious research on the matter this writer is aware of.

I would not now tread on this particular area, not having the academic training or the resources to competently attempt such, except to bring to the attention of the readers a very common word in Bikol: “mayo”. This word appears to come from Chinese. It would seem to come from two rootwords “mei” and “you”.

But before we go into that let me state many Chinese words are a combination of two monosyllabic words. This was amply illustrated by Manuel in his book. To cite a few, let me draw from his book, thus:

Baybay, (a reduplication of bai (to cover with earth or sand; bury), seashore, coast.
Bantay, (bang (to hope, expect) – tai (platform, pedestal), watchtower, lookout, watch).
Watch, guard, sentinel.
Lolo (A redupl of lo(old, ancient), old man). Grandfather, any old man.
Magkano (liok (how) –kan(indiv. Unit) –ko(unit), how much?) same.
Pisi (mi(cotton) –se (worsted, woolen yarn; thread), yarn, thread; woolenyarn)
String, twine, small cord.

As shown in the examples aforecited, we see a combining of monosyllabic words which, upon combination, result into a new word. This linguistic feature cannot be found in Bikol or perhaps in any Philippine language for that matter.

Why do I assert the Bikol word “mayo” is of Chinese origin?

A Chinese-Bicolano, Ramon Sytanco, mentioned in passing in one article he wrote (or was it a write-up about him?) in a national magazine that “mayo” (Eng. none, there are/is no) is a Bikol word borrowed from Chinese. Unfortunately, I failed to record the article for future reference.

I undertook to verify his contention by doing several things: 1. I consulted Chinese dictionaries 2. I took pains to see if the word can be found in Lisboa’s Vocabulario de la Lengua Bicol 3. I studied the extent of usage of the word in the Bicol region.

What I discovered corroborated his claim.

I initially verified Sytanco’s claim in a popular concise dictionary where indeed I found the word “meiyou” where “mei” means “no, none” and “you” means “have, there is, are”. But I lost this little book.

Today I consulted a more hefty Chinese dictionary printed by the Oxford University Press (Concise English-Chinese, Chinese-English Dictionary, ed. 2000; authored by Martin H. Manser). Right on p. 295 I found the entry “none” translated in Chinese as “meiyou” and indicated by the corresponding Chinese characters.

In a small pocket dictionary by Zhon Qin, (Chinese For You- Learn to Speak Putonghua, a Hong Kong Man Hai Language Publication reprinted by Merriam & Webster, Inc. here in the Philippines, 1980), we find on page 18 the following entry:

mei you have no; there is no

It is exciting to learn Lisboa has an entry on page 240 of his Vocabulario de la Lengua Bicol which states thus:

MAYO. pp. Esta palabra no se habla sola, sino junta estas particular day; Day mayo, no hay penitus. Day mayong tauo, no hay ninguna persona. Day na mayo, ya no hay mas, o no quedo ya mas

Fr. Marcos de Lisboa collected his material for the dictionary between 1602 and 1616 when he was assigned as definitor and minister of Naga, and in that period of time also was variously assigned in Oas and Polangui. It took more than one hundred years (Ist. ed. 1754) before his linguistic work saw print. (vide, Blair and Robertson, vol. 35, p. 313).

The Bicol he was recording, therefore, was that current in the period between 1500 to 1602. It is of great puzzlement why he would insist the word “mayo” could only be used exclusively together with the word “dai”.

Lisboa’s assertion that this word is “no se habla sola” (not spoken alone) is supported by other illustrations he used in other parts of his work. Let me quote thus: p. 132, Day pa mayo aco nagaboy cayan banwaan na iyan; p. 135, Day mayon gagaueon si coyan; p. 143, Day mayong guiocguioc sa banwaan, nasidomtong aco; Day pa mayo naguiliguili si coyan; p. 410, Day pa mayo aco nin pigtuturotugmacan nagbubuhis..

Let me render these in modern orthography: p. 132, Dai pa mayo ako nagaboy kayan banwaan na iyan; p. 135, Day mayong gagaweon si kuyan; p. 143, Dai mayong giokgiok sa banwaan, na si dumatong ako; p. 142, Dai pa mayo nagiligili si kuyan; p. 410, Dai pa mayo ako nin pigtuturutugmakan nagbubuhis.

Today we use the two words interchangeably but not both in a sentence as it is redundant. Is this not an indication the word “mayo” then was just creeping into the language, its use not yet preeminent and its meaning not yet clear and certain? There must be a technical term in linguistics to describe such a speech occurrence.

Another indication the word “mayo” is not really autochthonous to the bikol soil is its limited use to Camarines Sur and Norte, more particularly in Naga and environs and extending as far as Talisay and Mercedes and up to the Partido towns. If it is used elsewhere, it is due to peripheral influence.

I would believe the word “dai” (di’, is a contracted form) is an older and more authentic Bikol word as it has wider usage throughout Bicol while the word “wara’” (var.: “oda’”) is limited in use in certain areas of Camarines, Albay, Sorsogon and Catanduanes, and Masbate. The word “wara’”is of even older native provenance, being found in many variant forms in many Philippine languages from Maranaw to Kapampangan.

Faced with this quantum of data, I can safely assert “mayo” is a borrowing from Chinese whose entry may be dated at 1600 or thereabouts.

(To give one an idea of how Mandarin Chinese uses the words mei, you and mei you in a sentence, I took a picture of a pertinent page (p. 62)from the book Modern Chinese – A Basic course by the Faculty of Peking University. Dover Publications, New York, U.S.A (1971). The picture is highlighted above this article.)