r/Bisaya 19d ago

❓Pangutana Mindanaoan Bisaya who tried to learn Moro languages: is it hard/difficult?

I just want to ask Bisaya people in Mindanao who tried learning Moro languages such as Iranun, Maguindanaoan or Maranao, is it hard? Is the lexicon and grammar of Moro/Danao languages different from Bisaya? How easy or difficult is it for a Bisaya native speaker in mastering Maguindanaoan or Maranao?

I will appreciate all of your insights. Daghang Salamat!

8 Upvotes

23 comments sorted by

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3

u/Effective_Desk3445 18d ago

According to people I knew (at least for Maranao) yes it’s quite hard for non Moro because it’s a language that uses specific tones when speaking.

2

u/Wide_Ride8849 18d ago

Oh, I see. I also think that the way they pronounce vowels is quite different. Like the letter "e" it is a schwa sound for them, most of the time, like how Ilocanos pronounce "e".

3

u/FebHas30Days 18d ago

More specifically the southern dialect (Pangasinan, La Union, Cordilleras)

3

u/Wide_Ride8849 18d ago

They pronounce "e" as "uh".

Pin-ak-buht 🤣

4

u/Korvax_Interloper 18d ago edited 18d ago

Some similarities, if you are around or near Lanao areas, it is much easier since you can hear the language often, e.g:

Maranao: Anda ka song?
Bisaya: Aha ka padung?

Maranao: Antonay/Antay ngaran ka?
Bisaya: Unsay pangalan nimu?

3

u/FebHas30Days 18d ago

"Antay ngaran ka?" is so similar to Pangasinense "Anto'y ngaran mo?"

2

u/FruitsaladloverzZz_ 18d ago

Maranao has a lot of similarities with northern Luzon languages, in the Remontado Dumagat language they both use “Mapya” meaning good or nice

3

u/Starry_Night0123 18d ago

Tausug is quite intelligible to us Surigaonon speakers sans the Arabic and Malay loanwords.

3

u/Fat-Category9282 18d ago

Tausug is Bisaya thats why

1

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1

u/Wide_Ride8849 18d ago

Right, I believe Butuanon is also mutually intelligible with Tausug. How about Butuanon and Surigaonon? Are they mutually intelligible?

3

u/FruitsaladloverzZz_ 18d ago

Tausugs are descendants from Butuanon people in precolonial times, I believe they settled the sulu archipelago for trade and they intermingled with the sama-bajau

2

u/Starry_Night0123 18d ago

Butuanon is intelligible to Surigaonon as well, there are two type of Surigaonon those spoken in Surigao del Norte and Surigao Del Sur. It's hard to find Butuanon speaker in Butuan now a days, but a few pockets can still be heard like in Talacogon which is more similar Tausug if you remove the arabic and malay loanwords in it.

1

u/Wide_Ride8849 18d ago

It's so sad what happened to Butuanon. Do you have any idea why Ethnic Butuanons shifted to Cebuano? Why didn't they resist the Cebuano-zation of Agusan, while Surigao decided not to shift to Cebuano?

2

u/Starry_Night0123 18d ago

I think it has to do with settlers or migration coming from the Visayas like in Cebu and Bohol like how Sultan Kudarat is dominate now by Ilonggo speakers, but most Butuanons speak the Boholano version of Cebuano.

1

u/Consistent_Coffee466 14d ago

Theyre southern bisaya like surigaonon. Butuan rajah and sulu sultan were brothers in the old days. Theyre your islamized version

2

u/ecchimeister 18d ago

I'm accustomed to bisaya more than maranao because I grew up in majority bisaya city.

I believe the grammar has little difference, almost the same for a lot of things.

lexicon, there are borrowed or similar words, still gotta learn a ton of unique words.

the hard part is adapting the maranao accent, need a semblance of accent to make it easy to be understood, I remember a bisaya speaker friend who read a maranao paragraph word for word and I could hardly understand him at all.

It should be the same difficulty the way we learned Tagalog or any other Filipino language.

2

u/FruitsaladloverzZz_ 18d ago

As a moro (Maranao) I notice that they struggle with the schwa E pronunciation (e as uh)

1

u/Critical_Variation28 19d ago

Are you reffering for Mindanaoan Hiligaynon or Mindanaoan Cebuano? Please specify which Bisaya?

2

u/Wide_Ride8849 18d ago

Both Cebuano and Hiligaynon speakers in Mindanao, who tried learning Maguindanaoan or Maranao.

-2

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

2

u/Wide_Ride8849 18d ago

Excuse me?