"Our Culture, Language, History, and Values are vital to uniting us as a Nation."
~Bobby Jindal
Dialect is a specific form of a language that has great significance to a nationality. Nowadays, a lot of the young people can't speak their native language or dialect. English is being widely used here in the Philippines. Learning the English language has its merits, since English is the universal language. However, it is often saddening that many of the young Filipinos are forgetting how to speak their own language. Honestly, I myself was not able to learn the dialects being used by the people in Benguet since I grew up using the Ilocano, Filipino, and the English language.
Here are some common Kankanaey and Ibaloi Greetings and Sentences that I've recently learned.
Ibaloi:
Mapteng ja agsapa [Good Day; Good Morning]
Mapteng nga mamah' shem [Good Afternoon]
Mapteng nga edavi [Good Evening]
Kas-ano ka? [How are you? (singular)]
Kas-ano kayo? [How are you? (plural)]
Tuwa'y edapo-an mo? [Where did you come from?]
Tuwa'y dagwan mo? [Where are you going?]
Sah'no sih'kara? [How is he/she doing?]
Nanto y ngaran mo? [What's your name?]
Kankanaey:
Gawis ay agew mo [Good Day to you!]
Gawis ay agsapa [Good Morning.]
Gawis ay masdem [Good Afternoon]
Gawis ay labi [Good Evening]
Nalpuam? [Where did you come from?]
Umayam? [Where are you going?]
Entako. [Let's Go.]
Be proud of our language as well as our local dialects for this is who we are. As stated by Nelson Mandela, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart."
Here are some common Kankanaey and Ibaloi Greetings and Sentences that I've recently learned.
Ibaloi:
Mapteng ja agsapa [Good Day; Good Morning]
Mapteng nga mamah' shem [Good Afternoon]
Mapteng nga edavi [Good Evening]
Kas-ano ka? [How are you? (singular)]
Kas-ano kayo? [How are you? (plural)]
Tuwa'y edapo-an mo? [Where did you come from?]
Tuwa'y dagwan mo? [Where are you going?]
Sah'no sih'kara? [How is he/she doing?]
Nanto y ngaran mo? [What's your name?]
Kankanaey:
Gawis ay agew mo [Good Day to you!]
Gawis ay agsapa [Good Morning.]
Gawis ay masdem [Good Afternoon]
Gawis ay labi [Good Evening]
Nalpuam? [Where did you come from?]
Umayam? [Where are you going?]
Entako. [Let's Go.]
Be proud of our language as well as our local dialects for this is who we are. As stated by Nelson Mandela, "If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart."
