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Morphophonemic Variation among Kinamayo

Dialects: A Case Study

Article · January 2015

DOI: 10.7718/iamure.ijlpr.v6i1.852

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Vol. 6 June
IAMURE 2014
International Journal of Literature, Philosophy and Religion
Print ISSN 2244-1530 • Online ISSN 2244-1549
International Peer Reviewed Journal
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7718/iamure.ijlpr.v6i1.852
This journal is produced by IAMURE Multidisciplinary Research,
an ISO 9001:2008 certified by the AJA Registrars Inc.

Morphophonemic Variation
among Kinamayo Dialects:
A Case Study

RENNIE CAJETAS- SARANZA

ORCID No. 0000-0002-3714-8901
saranzarc.pnu.edu.ph/renniesaranza@yahoo.com
Philippine Normal University- Mindanao
Agusan del Sur, Philippines

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the morphophonemic variations among Kinamayo

dialects. Purposeful sampling, in-depth interviews, sorting and classifying of
words according to phonological and morphological structures in data analysis
were used. Results revealed that the phonemic inventory of the Kinamayo dialects
consisted of twenty segmental phonemes, fifteen consonants: /n/, /g/, /d/, /s/, /l/,
/w/, /r/, /p/, /m/, /k/, /t/, /y/, /h/, /b/, /ŋ/; five basic vowels: /a/,/,/i/, /ɪ/, /u, /ʊ/;
vowel lengthening: /a:/, /u:/ and three diphthongs: /aʊ/, /aɪ/, /ᴐɪ/. Consonant
clusters are mostly borrowed words and occur in the onset of the syllables. The
analysis of Kinamayo phonology and morphology will serve as the basis for
designing a functional orthography and lexicon of the language. Classification
based on morphological structure revealed that the morphological processes
common to Kinamayo are affixation, reduplication, deletion and derivation of
one-word class from another. Affixation is the most productive morphological
process in Kinamayo. Variation among the dialects was observed to involve
phonological and morphological processes, voicing or phonation, and in terms
of prefix for the markers in the past tense. Peculiarities in the phonological and
morphological processes of dialects, as well as their areas of differences were

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observed to be associated primarily on geographical distribution.

KEYWORDS

Linguistics, morphophonemic variation among Kinamayo dialects, case

study, Surigao del Sur, Philippines

INTRODUCTION

The Philippines, like any other Southeast Asian nations, is diverse in both
ethnic and linguistic makeup. It has 175 indigenous languages, 171 of those are
living and 4 are extinct with no known speakers (Ethnologue, 2014). In Surigao
del Sur area in Mindanao, Philippines, the Kinamayo language is classified as a
minority language with 7,565 speakers predominantly spoken in the Southern
part which includes the towns of Marihatag, San Agustin, Lianga, Barobo,
Tagbina, Hinatuan, Bislig and Lingig. It is related to Surigaonon and Butuanon.
As told by one of the informants, the origin of the Kinamayo dialects is traced
from the intermarriage of a Cebuano or Visayan with a Mandaya, which results
to Kinamayo-Mandaya dialect. The intermarriage of a Cebuano or Visayan with
Manobo results to a Kinamayo-Manobo dialect. This causes the variation among
the dialects.
As a language, it is often used in ordinary and informal conversation whether
at home and in any speech situations but did not become a medium for an
official function. Another restriction is that the language could only be used in
relating with the members themselves but not with the out-group because of fear
of communication breakdown (Belarmino, 2000). Studies have been conducted
of the Kinamayo language but not on the morphophonemic variation of the
dialects. Kinamayo being the language used by the eight municipalities of Surigao
del Sur is varied. Variation of the dialect depends on the places where it is spoken.
Each has some characteristics distinct from the other. Observations done by the
researcher pointed to some peculiarities in the word formation, in the sounds and
other speech aspects of the Kinamayo speakers.

FRAMEWORK

Theoretical account of language variation theory which was pioneered by

William Labov in the late 1960s, states that languages possess a whole range of

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IAMURE International Journal of Literature, Philosophy and Religion

resources for producing a given linguistic expression. The spectrum of variation

exists at every level of the linguistic system, from the way certain words are
pronounced to the syntactic forms we choose. Geographical variation is apparent,
even in monolingual countries, from the various dialects which characterize
particular regions. Moreover, social variation is evident when the particular
forms of language used are influenced by the social class of the speaker. Linguistic
variation between groups of people is compounded by the variation which exists
within the speech of an individual.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The researcher wanted to analyze the morphophonemic variation among

the Kinamayo dialects in the identified eight municipalities of Surigao del Sur,
Philippines. Specifically, this study aimed to answer how phonological variations
are formed among the Kinamayo dialects; how morphological variations are
formed among the Kinamayo dialects; and what are the morphophonemic
variations among the Kinamayo dialects.

METHODOLOGY

In carrying out this study, I utilized the case study research design. Case
studies are “an exploration of a ‘bounded system’ of the- case or multiple cases
over time through detail, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources
of information rich in context” (Cresswell, 1998). Stake (1995) explains that
case studies are conducted because they are interesting, both their uniqueness
and commonality. This study includes elements from two types of case studies
identified by Stake: intrinsic and instrumental. It is intrinsic because the
unique nature of this case is interesting. According to Stake, “Research of an
intrinsic case study is not undertaken because it illustrates a particular trait or
problem, but because, in all its particularity and ordinariness, this case itself is
of interest. It is also an instrumental case study because this study may be useful
to others. In the advent of the K-12 Curriculum vis-à-vis Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education, the data gathered and the analysis made in this study
will help language planners and curriculum makers design culturally appropriate
instructional materials integrated with the community’s mother tongue.
Another rationale behind the use of a case study is that the present study
involved more than one data gathering technique including informant interviews,

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focused group discussion of the participants, and the compilations of songs and
poems. It is through qualitative case study that “multiple sources of evidence are
used” (Yin, 1989). Likewise, Punch (2005) said that case studies most likely use
several data collection strategies.
This study used the purposeful sampling of 48 informants and 56 participants
with age ranging from 65 to 90 who were native speakers of the Kinamayo
language in the eight municipalities of Surigao del Sur namely: Barobo, Bislig,
Hinatuan, Lianga, Lingig, San Agustin, Marihatg and Tagbina. Six (6) key
informants and seven (7) participants from each speech community were chosen.
Data collection for this qualitative study utilized multiple sources. The
resulting information from these sources created a triangulation or convergence
of sources (Cresswell, 1998). Patton (1987) explained that a triangulation
is the comparison of observational data with interview data which means
comparing what people say in public with what they say in private; checking
the consistency of what people say overtime; and comparing the perspectives of
people with a different point of view. It means validating information obtained
through interviews by checking documents and other written evidences that can
corroborate what interview respondents report.
In this study, the triangulation of data was accomplished in multiple sources
including informant interviews, focused group discussion of the participants, the
collection of compilations of songs, poems, short stories and field notes. The
convergence of these sources provided a scaffold for data analysis.
I used the Miles and Huberman (1994) framework for qualitative data
analysis. According to Punch (2005), the three main components of Miles and
Huberman’s analysis which are data reduction, data display, and drawing and
verifying conclusions “interact through the analysis”. These components involve
coding, memoing, and developing propositions.
Before the data were analyzed, I transcribed all interviews, documents and
journal entries. The process of transcribing allowed me to become acquainted
with the data. I transferred first all the data to a computer and created a Microsoft
Word files for the interviews, documents and journal entries. After the transfer, I
made the transcripts. These transcripts were printed with wide margins on both
sides with enough spaces in-between words for coding and memoing purposes.
I came up first with “low-inference descriptive codes” then “higher-inference
pattern codes” (Punch, 2005) while doing memoing and drawing and verifying
conclusions all at the same time. The transcribed data were validated by native
speakers of the dialect who are already professionals, mostly Educators who are

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English majors.
Analysis of data was done based on auditory observations as well as analysis
of the sounds taken by a tape recorder and documentation through video
coverage. Sorting and classifying of words according to phonological and
morphological structures were used. The symbols used for phonetic data were
from the International Phonetic Alphabet (Flores et al., 2008). Morphemically
defined words were analyzed and filed separately for each allomorph with details
on one and cross reference on others. For phonemically defined and contrasted
allomorphs, the file was made according to the particular type of alteration that
occurred in a word. The changes were then categorized and grouped according to
the particular type of variation.
Another classification based on form classes were made. Each word was
analyzed according to the process of affixation, reduplication, deletion, and the
phonological, morphological and morphophonemic variations it has undergone.
Transcriptions were given back to the informants of each community for review
and comments. Finally, an audit trail was made to establish the validity and
reliability of the study.
Silverman (2007) stated that ethical considerations can be clarified by
consulting the ethical guidelines of one’s professional association. In my study, a
letter of request to conduct research was sent to NCIP- Caraga Region XIII and
approved copy of the communication was provided to the mayors, community
leaders and informants. Ethical issues concerning confidentiality, consent, access
and informants’ protection were dealt with.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Cross-case Analysis on the Morphophonemic Variation of the Eight

Kinamayo Dialects
Kinamayo being the language used by the eight municipalities of Surigao del
Sur is varied. Variation of the language depends on the places where it is used. In
this study, it is revealed that migration and intermarriage is the major cause why
each case has some characteristics distinct from the other. Observations done by
the researcher pointed to some differences in phonology and word formation
among the Kinamayo dialects. This section presents the cross-case analysis on the
morphophonemic variations among the eight Kinamayo dialects. It is further
divided into two sections. a) phonological variation; and (b) morphological
variation.

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Phonological Variation among the eight Kinamayo dialects

The data which were collected clearly showed the evidence of phonological
variation among the Kinamayo dialects. This variation was observed to involve
different phonological processes. The various phonological processes observed
in the data include: phonemic variation, addition and multiple processes. Table
1 clearly shows the variation of consonant and vowel phonemes among the
Kinamayo dialects.

Table 1. Phonemic variation among the eight Kinamayo dialects

KINAMAYO
VARIATION
MORPHEME

Barobo Bislig Hinatuan Lianga Lingig Marihatag San Agustin Tagbina

kinu (when) kin-u kinuno Kinu kinuno kinuu kinun-o kinuno kin-u
kanira (theirs) kaniran kaniran kaniran kaniran kanilan Kaniran kaniran Kanira
kit-an (saw) ikit-an yakit-an ikit-an yakit-an yakit-an ikakit-an ikit-an yakit-an
kanmo (your,
kanmo kanimo Kanmo kanmo kanmo Kangmo kanmu kanimo
yours)
yagdiri
yagdiri (refused yagadiri yagdiri yagadiri yagadiri yagdiri Yagadiri yagdiri

yaghuya (live) yagahuya yaghuya yaghuya yagahuya yaghuya Yagahuya yagahuya Yagahuya

Variation of consonant and vowel phonemes is observed to occur at the

medial position. It is clear that the phonemes which vary have the same place
of articulation as that of the base word. In the above examples the word ‘siran’ /
sɪran/ (they) is evident in Barobo, Hinatuan, Lianga, Marihatag and San Agustin
data. The change of /r/ to /l/ (sɪran becomes sɪlan) is evident in Bislig, and in
Lingig, the change of /r/ to /l/ and deletion of phoneme /n/ (sɪran becomes sɪla)
while in Tagbina, the final syllable in ‘siran’ which is /n/, is deleted (sɪran becomes
sɪra). The word ‘aron’ /arʊn/ (there is) is used in Barobo, Hinatuan, Lianga,
Marihatag, San Agustin and Tagbina, while the change from /r/ to /w/ is seen in
Lingig and Bislig data (arʊn becomes awʊn).

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Table 2. Variation among the eight Kinamayo dialects caused by the process of
addition
KINAMAYO
VARIATION
MORPHEME

Barobo Bislig Hinatuan Lianga Lingig Marihatag San Tagbina

Agustin
siran (they) siran silan siran siran sila siran siran sira

aron (there is) aron awun aron aron awun aron aron aron

ngadi (here) ngadi ngani ngani ngadi ngini ngadi ngadi ngani

The word ‘ngadi’ /ŋadɪ/ (here) is used in Barobo, Lianga, Marihatg and San
Agustin, and that the change of phonemes /a d/ to /ɪ n/ (ŋadɪ becomes ŋɪnɪ) is
observed in Lingig and phoneme /d/ is changed to /n/ (ŋadɪ – ŋanɪ) in Bislig,
Hinatuan and Tagbina. This kind of phonological variation is common in the
Kinamayo dialects.
Collins (2009) defined paragoge as the addition of a sound to the end of
a word. This causes variation. In Barobo and Tagbina data, the word ‘kinu’ /
kɪnʊ/ (when), a glottal stop is inserted and becomes ‘kin-u’ and in Bislig, Lianga
and San Agustin data, a suffix ‘no’ is added at the end of the word ‘kinu’ and
becomes ‘kinuno’. In Lingig data, the phoneme /u/ is added after the word ‘kinu’
thus becomes ‘kinuu’. In Marihatag, the phoneme /n/, a glottal stop /-/ and
the phoneme /o/ are added after the word ‘kinu’ and it becomes ‘kinun-o’. In
the word ‘kanira’ /kanɪra/ (theirs), the phoneme /n/ is added in Barobo, Bislig,
Hinatuan, Lianga, Marihatag and San Agustin data (‘kanira’ becomes ‘kaniran’)
except in the Tagbina data which is still ‘kanira’. It is noticed in Lingig data that
the phoneme /r/ is changed to /l/ plus the addition of phoneme /n/ (‘kanira’
becomes ‘kanilan’). The basic word ‘kit-an’ /kɪt-an/ (saw), undergoes another
process of addition called prothesis which is the addition of a sound to the
beginning of a word.
In Barobo, Hinatuan, and San Agustin data, the phoneme /i/ is added at the
beginning of the morpheme ‘kit-an’, thus, ‘kit-an’ becomes ‘ikit-an’. In Bislig,
Lianga, Lingig and Tagbina data, the prefix ‘ya’ is added to the basic word, ‘kit-an’
becomes ‘yakit-an’. In Marihatag data, the prefix ‘ika’ is added to the basic word,
‘kit-an’ becomes ‘ikakit-an’. Epenthesis is another process of addition of a sound
in the interior position. The data show the insertion of vowel and consonant
within a consonant cluster. In the examples, the cluster is broken by the insertion

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of the vowels /i/ and /a/ and the consonant /g/.

The word ‘kanmo’ /kanmʊ/ (yours) is used in Barobo, Hinatuan, Lianga,
Lingig and San Agustin data while it is observed that in Bislig and Tagbina data,
the vowel /i/ is inserted between the consonant cluster ‘nm’ (‘kanmu’ becomes
‘kanimo’ /kanimʊ). In Marihatag data, the consonant /g/ is inserted between
the consonant clusters ‘nm’, ‘kanmu’ becomes ‘kangmo’ /kaŋmʊ/. In the word
‘yagdiri’ /yagdirɪ/ (refused), vowel /a/ is inserted between consonant clusters ‘gd’
thus ‘yagdiri’ becomes ‘yagadiri’ in Barobo, Lianga, Hinatuan and Marihatag data
while no insertions happened in Bislig, Lingig, San Agustin and Tagbina data.
In the word ‘yaghuya’ /yaghʊya/ (live), vowel /a/ is inserted between consonant
clusters ‘gh’ thus ‘yaghuya’ becomes ‘yagahuya’ in Barobo, Lianga, Marihatag, San
Agustin, and Tagbina data while no insertions is observed in Bislig, Hinatuan,
and Lingig data.
Deletion and addition processes are also found to occur in addition to
metathesis. In the word ‘hutda’, phoneme /t/ is transposed, /r/ and /o/ are deleted
substituted with /d/ and /a/ which is evident in Barobo, Lingig, Marihatag, San
Agustin and Tagbina data. Bislig, Hinatuan and Lianga data, the phoneme /a/ is
added at the end of the word, thus, ‘hurot’ becomes huruta. In the word ‘taphi’, /h/
and /p/ are reordered /o/ is deleted in Barobo, Bislig, Hinatuan, Lianga, Lingig,
San Agustin and Tagbina data while in Marihatag data, there is no transposition
of phoneme only change of phoneme /o/ to /a/, ‘tahopi’ becomes ‘tahapi’. In the
word ‘gidhi’, /d/ and /h/ are transposed, /u/ is deleted and /i/ is added which is
observed in Barobo, Bislig, Lianga, Lingig Marihatag and San Agustin data. It
can be observed that in Hinatuan and Tagbina data, there is no transposition of
segments but an addition of phoneme /i/, ‘gihud’ becomes ‘gihudi’.

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TABLE 3. Variation among the eight Kinamayo dialects caused by multiple processes
KINAMAYO
MOR- LEXICAL VARIATION
PHEME CATEGORY
Barobo Bislig Hinatuan Lianga Lingig Marihatag San Agustin Tagbina

badi (big) adjective badi bagas bagas badi bagas Badi badi badi

uno (what) pronoun uno unan uno uno unan Uno uno uno

kalipatan verb kalipatan kalinga kalipatan kalipatan kalinga kalipatan kalipatan kalipatan
(forgot) wan wan
kinu (when) pronoun kin-u kinuno kinu kin-u kagan-u, kinun-o kinuno kinu
kinuu
katiguwa noun kahinuu kaumpuan kahinuu kahinu katiguwa kahinuu kahinuu kahinuu
ngan (ances- dan dan udan ngan dan dan dan
tors)
sud-an (dish) noun utan bayan utan sud-an bayan sud-an sud-an utan
IAMURE International Journal of Literature, Philosophy and Religion

sini (this) pronoun ini sini sini ini ngini, Ini ini ini
sin-ing
iyak (shout) verb iyak piyagit iyak iyak syagit Iyak iyak iyak
Ibutang verb ibutang ilasak ibutang ibutang ilasak Ibutang ibutang ibutang
(place, put)
kalasangan noun kalasa kagura kagura kagura kagura kalasa kagura kagura
(forest) ngan ngan ngan ngan ngan ngan ngan ngan
 Vol. 6 · June 2014

Table 4. Morphological variation among the eight Kinamayo dialects

KINAMAYO
MORPHEME VARIATION

San
Barobo Bislig Hinatuan Lianga Lingig Marihatag Tagbina
Agustin

hurot (consume) hutda huruta huruta huruta hutda hutda hutda hutda
tahopi (winnow) taphi taphi taphi taphi taphi Tahapi taphi taphi

gihud
(accompany) gidhi gidhi gihudi gidhi gidhi Gidhi gidhi gihudi

Morphological variation depends on the places where the words are used. In
the above examples, the word ‘badi’ (big), is an adjective which is widely used
in Barobo, Lianga, Marihatag, San Agustin and Tagbina areas while Hinatuan,
Lingig and Bislig used the word ‘bagas’ for ‘big’. The word ‘uno’ (what), is an
interrogative pronoun which is used in Barobo, Hinatuan, Lianga, Marihatag,
San Agustin, and Tagbina while Lingig and Bislig used ‘unan’ for ‘what’. The
word ‘kalipatan’ (forgot) is a verb in the simple past tense used in Barobo,
Hinatuan, Lianga, Marihatag, San Agustin, and Tagbina while Lingig and Bislig
used ‘kalingawan’ for ‘forgot’. The word ‘kinu’ (when) is a pronoun used in
Hinatuan, and Tagbina, ‘kin-u’ (when) is used in Barobo and Lianga, ‘kinuno’
(when) is used in Bislig and Marihatag, and ‘kagan-u or kinuu (when) is used in
Lingig. The word ‘kahinuudan’ (ancestors) is a noun used in Barobo, Hinatuan,
Lianga, Marihatag, San Agustin, and Tagbina while Lingig used ‘katiguwangan’
and Bislig used ‘kaumpuan’ for ‘ancestors’.
The word ‘sud-an’ (dish) is a noun used in Lianga, Marihatag, and San
Agustin; ‘utan (dish) is the term used in Barobo, Hinatuan and Tagbina while
Lingig and Bislig used ‘bayan’ for ‘dish’. The word ‘sini’ (this) is a pronoun used
in Bislig and Hinatuan; ‘ini’ (this) is used in Barobo, Lianga. Marihatag, San
Agustin, and Tagbina while Lingig used ‘ngini or sin-ing’ for ‘this’. The word ‘iyak’
(shout) is a verb used in Barolo, Hinatuan, Lianga, Marihatag, San Agustin, and
Tagbina while Lingig used ‘syagit’ and Bislig used ‘piyagit’ for ‘shout’. The word
‘ibutang’ (place or put) is a verb used in Barobo, Hinatuan, Lianga, Marihatag,
San Agustin, and Tagbina while Lingig and Bislig used ‘ilasak’ for ‘place or put’.
The word ‘kalasangan’ (forest) is a noun used in Barolo and Marihatag while
Bislig, Hinatuan, Lianga, Lingig, San Agustin, and Tagbina used ‘kagurangan’
for ‘forest’. The word ‘gaparigu’ (taking a bath) is a verb used in Barobo and

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Hinatuan; ‘yamarigu’ (taking a bath) is used in Lianga, Marihatag, San Agustin,

and Tagbina while Lingig’ used the term ‘magsugbu’ and Bislig used ‘gasugbu’ for
‘taking a bath’.

Table 5. Variation among the eight Kinamayo dialects caused by deletion

MORPHEME VARIATION
San
Barobo Bislig Hinatuan Lianga Lingig Marihatag Tagbina
Agustin

galaong (said) galaong laong gaong laong laong Gaong galaong Naglaong

sidtu (there) idto idto sidto idto sidto Idto sidto sidto

gikawat ikawat ikawat ikawat ikawat ikawat Gikawat ikawat ikawat

(stolen)

In rapid speech, sometimes both vowels and consonants are deleted. In very
fast and casual speech, entire syllables can be lost. This process causes variation
in the words. All the examples given show variations due to the deletion of a
consonant or a vowel. The word ‘galaong’ /galaʊŋ/ (said) is evident in Barobo and
San Agustin data. The deletion of ‘ga’ (galaong becomes laong) is evident in Bislig,
Lianga and Lingig while in Marihatag and Hinatuan data, ‘la’ is deleted (galaong
becomes gaong). There is an exemption in Tagbina data because no deletion is
evident, ‘ga’ is substituted with ‘nag’ (galaong becomes naglaong). In the word
‘sidto’ /sɪdtʊ/ (there), the consonant /s/ is deleted in Barobo, Bislig, Lianga and
Marihatag data (sɪdtʊ becomes /ɪdtʊ/). In the word ‘gikawat’ /gɪkawat/ (stolen),
the consonant /g/ is deleted in Barobo, Bislig, Lianga, Lingig, Hinatuan, San
Agustin and Tagbina data, (/gɪkawat/ becomes /ɪkawat/) except in Marihatag data
which is still /gɪkawat/.

CONCLUSIONS

This study has investigated the morphophonemic variation of Kinamayo

dialects in the eight municipalities of Surigao del Sur. The phonemic inventory
of the Kinamayo dialects consisted of 20 segmental phonemes, 15 consonants:
/n/, /g/, /d/, /s/, /l/, /w/, /r/, /p/, /m/, /k/, /t/, /y/, /h/, /b/, /ŋ/, five basic vowels:
/a/, /i/, /ɪ/, /u/, /ʊ /, lengthening of two vowels /a:/, /u:/, and three diphthongs:
/aʊ/, /aɪ/, /ᴐɪ/. Consonant clusters are mostly from loan words and most of the
consonant clusters within the syllable occur in the onset of a syllable and there
are a very small number of combinatorial possibilities.

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The data which were collected, clearly showed evidence of phonological,

morphological and morphophonemic variations among the Kinamayo dialects.
This variation was observed to involve phonological and morphological processes.
This observation is corroborated by Labov (1969) who said that languages
possess a whole range of resources for producing a given linguistic expression.
The spectrum of variation exists at every level of the linguistic system, from the
way certain words are pronounced to the syntactic forms chosen. Reppen et
al. (2002) stipulated that most of this variation is highly systematic: speakers
of a language make choices in pronunciation, morphology, word choice, and
grammar depending on a number of non-linguistic factors. These factors include
the speaker’s purpose in communication, the relationship between speaker and
hearer, the production circumstances, and various demographic affiliations that
a speaker can have.
It is also observed that morphology is very relevant to grammar: the rules
of word formation in Kinamayo, and by extension, in other languages of the
world, made us know the word-class (parts of speech) of different words. For
example, the word “kaan” (eat) which is a verb becomes a noun when the prefix
“–ma” is affixed to it to form “makaan” (food); the word “basa” (read) which is
a verb becomes a noun when the suffix “-hon” is added to it to form “basahon”
(reading material). As observed in the data gathered, Kinamayo is more prone to
the process deriving new words via affixation. I observed that Kinamayo prefixes
and suffixes are more potent in changing the grammatical class of a word. In the
comparison of adjectives, Kinamayo dialects use reduplication of the base word
in the comparative degree and a suffix “hay” or “ay” is added to the base word in
the superlative degree e. g. badi (big), badi badi (bigger), badihay (biggest) and
raat (ugly), raat raat (uglier), raatay (ugliest).
Peculiarities in the phonological and morphological processes of the dialects,
as well as their areas of differences were observed to be associated primarily on
geographic distribution. Labov (1969) further confirmed that geographical
variation is apparent, even in monolingual countries, from the various dialects
which characterize particular regions. Social variation is evident when the
particular forms of language used are influenced by the social class of the speaker.
Linguistic variation between groups of people is compounded by the variation
which exists within the speech of an individual.
The phonological variation in the Kinamayo dialects occurs in the form of
phonemic variation and addition, which could be the addition of phoneme at
the end of a word called paragoge, the addition of phoneme at the beginning of a

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word called prosthesis and the insertion of phoneme between consonant clusters
called epenthesis, Collins (2009). Multiple processes (deletion and addition) are
also found to occur in addition to metathesis.
Variation in the dialect seems to be restricted to voicing or phonation.
Variation happens in the medial position; however the variation has something
to do with the same voicing or phonation. Labov (1994; 2001) revealed that
the causes of phonological variation and change are at both micro and macro
levels. The micro factors include sound articulation and stylistic variation. The
macro factors are related to social and socio-psychological variables. For example
in Barobo, the word ‘siran’ is used in Lianga, Hinatuan, Marihatag however in
Bislig and Lingig the word ‘siran’ becomes ‘silan’ or ‘sila’ which means that the
retroflex liquid r is replaced with retroflex lateral liquid l in Bislig and Lingig.
Another example is the word ‘ngadi,’ in Bislig, Hinatuan and Tagbina, becomes
‘ngani,’ d and n are voiced consonants which are found in the medial position.
In instances where the phonetic environment of the morpheme composed
of a sequence of voiced consonants, the vowel experiences weakening. Thus, it
is deleted in actual speech. Ilao and Guevarra (2010) remarked that words and
affixes may take different forms when placed in different phonetic environments.
This occurs in order to make the word easier to pronounce or because doing so
will make the word sound better. For example, in the vowel o deletion, the word
‘hatodi’ becomes ‘hatdi.’ It is observed that the phoneme t is a voiced consonant
and d is also voiced, phoneme o is weakened and is deleted. It is also observed that
the crux of the variation revolves around making the articulation easier, so, one
of the consonant cluster members may either be deleted or a vowel inserted with
a cluster to make articulation easier.
Variation also happens in terms of the prefix for the markers in the past tense.
For example in the word ‘galaong’ (said), is used in Barobo and San Agustin;
in Bislig, Lianga and Lingig, ‘ga’ is deleted and becomes ‘laong’; in Hinatuan,
and Marihatag ‘la’ is deleted and ‘galaong becomes ‘gaong’, while in Tagbina
‘galaong’ becomes ‘naglaong’. The Kamayos frequently use all the words in the
data and they seemed to be unaware of the variation or rather one can say that
their linguistic repertoire consists of both the variants. However, they choose to
use one form only but comprehend all the forms.
The study has established that the morphological processes common to
Kinamayo are affixation, deletion, reduplication and derivation of one word-class
from another. Affixation is a more productive morphological process in Kinamayo.
Tweddell (1958) revealed that Philippine languages have a potentially unlimited

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capacity for adding affixes to stems. The most basic way of forming words in
Kinamayo is derivation. Inflection which is a change in the form of words to
convey grammatical concepts such as word-class shift, and tense could be derived
through affixation, deletion and reduplication. Dechosa (2008) remarked that
inflectional affixes are capable of marking grammatical functions in the language.
Affixes were regarded as additive morphemes which serve as variants of the same
word rather than separate words as in: kaan- makaan- mangaan, yagkaan- ikaan,
ingkaan.
This study gives a clear view of the phonemic and structural differences
between the dialects. It is intended first of all as a contribution in the field of
linguistics, and second, it is hoped that in the advent of the K-12 and Mother-
Tongue-Based Multilingual Education, this study could serve as a basis for
improved and practical methods of teaching English to Kamayo learners. Nation
(2003) pointed out that the first language of learners can play a useful role in
learning a foreign language especially in communicating meaning and content.
In classrooms where the learners all share the same first language (L1) or national
language, there is a tendency for tasks which should be done in the second
language (L2) such as conversation activities, discussion of intensive reading and
preparation for writing to be done in the L1.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The results of this study should primarily be used for the preparation of lessons
and exercises in Kinamayo for the Kamayo learners of English. Such exercises are
the first step in the aural-oral method of learning a new language since “language
is primarily an auditory system of symbols” (Sapir, 1921). This study can further
provide a basis for the study of other minority languages and geographic affinities
of languages. The present study focuses only on the segmental aspects of the
dialects. Suprasegmental particularly on the intonation can also be considered
in future researches. Intonation is observed to be one of the major variations in
the dialects.

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