taga DAVAO gyud...

GALENGA TALAGA NIYA GYUD, UY!

How can one distinguish a Davaoeno to a Cebuano? Or
to a Cagayanon? Difficult? Easy. Davaoenos are one
of the most unique people in the world. We can
easily stand out if we are placed in a crowd of
Filipinos from other parts of the country. And how,
you say? Language.

Davao City, aptly called the melting pot of
cultures, is home to many
dialects. Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilocano,
Chavacano, Moslem, Bicolano. Name it, we'll speak
it. If the Filipino language is a composition of all
the dialects and languages in the Philippines, you
might as well say that the language we speak in
Davao City is the real Filipino language, and not
Tagalog.

However, since it is a hodgepodge of different
tongues, it is sometimes funny to hear our language
"bastardizing" , for lack of better word, the other
dialects. Strangely, that distinguishes
us from the rest. Try these.

In stating a fact, Manilenos say, "Talagang mabait
si Weng." In Davao, we say. "Mabait bitaw gyud si
Weng". Too assertive? One asks, "Ano nga `yong
pangalan mo?". In Davao we say, "Ano
gani `yong pangalan (or worst, ngalan) mo?". When
somebody commits a mistake or surprises someone, we
always never fail
to say, "Halaka!". Duh.

We are fond of re-constructing the language. There's
the GI+ verb, such as,"Gisabi kasi ni Helen na
mag-absent si Bernerd bukas", or "Ginanon ni Lalai
si Belinda sa mukha". You'll never find "ginanon" in
any dictionary, I swear to God. There's the KA+
adjective, as in, "Kaputi gyud ng mukha ni
Yang-yang" or "Kapayat gyud ni Jason ngayon." The
MAKA+ verb form, such as, "Maka-inis talaga si
Albert, uy!" or "Maka-uwi talaga ako ng matagal
ngayon".
The NAG+ verb, as in,"Nagsabi kasi si Tita Prescy na
pupunta daw tayo ng airport" or "Hindi pa man siya
nagdating, uy!"

Adding new words or new meanings to old words to the
dictionary is one of our favorite past time. NAKIN:
"Alam man nakin `yan ba!", "Saan nakin kita nakita
gani?". KU-AN: "Ku-an daw ang gawin mo", "Si ku-an
kasi ano masyado". (No sense at all.)
ANO: "Na-ano ka diyan, Bryan!", "Ano man yan si Van,
uy!".
HA: "Lake-ha na ng tiyan ni Lulu uy!", "Gwapa-ha
niya uy!"
BEH: "Sige daw beh, dare!", "Pakipasa daw ng ballpen
ni Tzaris beh".
KAY: "Huwag na, Wowie, kay nandito naman si Norma",
"Umupo ka muna kay nasa-CR pa si Elma."

To express disgust over someone, we utter, "Gago
kaba diay para maniwala sa kanya", or "Ano man yan
siya uy!", or "Maka-inis man yan siya, uy!", or when
pestered when doing something, you'd
quip,"Huwag lagi ba!" On the other hand, when we
praise somebody's extra special deed or talent, our
Davaoeno tongue slips words like,"Kuyaw lagi `yan
siya!", "Galenga niya uy!", "Ayusa niya uy!",
"Kuyawa ni Orly uy!" or "Hindi ako makatu-o sa
ginawa niya!" . Hay, makatawa talaga. Ooops!

There are just so too many words to mention. Just
check out the words you spew everyday. Sometimes you
just laugh at yourself when you realize that you've
just said those very words. No matter
how long you stay in Manila or in the States, the
moment you're back to Davao, your tongue feels as at
home as you do. Language is the very soul of every
being. You just can't do anything about it. Or as
how we say it,"Anohin man natin yan?"