Ilocano grammar is the study of the morphological and syntactic structures of the Ilocano language, a language spoken in the northern Philippines by ethnic Ilocanos and Ilocano communities in other parts of the Philippines, especially in Mindanao and overseas such as the United States, Canada, Australia, the Middle East and other parts of the world.
Ilocano is an agglutinative language. This agglutinating characteristic is most apparent in its verbal morphology, which has a Philippine-type voice system.
Determiners Ilocano has two subsets of determiners. Articles are similar to "the" and "a" or "an" in English. Demonstratives point out something ("this" or "that"), whether what is being referred to is in space, in time or is something previously mentioned.
Ilocano determiners have only two forms (core and oblique) — unlike Ilocano pronouns, which have three distinct forms: absolutive, ergative and oblique. The core form may function for either the absolutive or ergative cases.
Articles Ilocano has two sets of articles, common and personal. Personal articles are used for people, names, and personal titles. Common articles are used with all other nouns (including names of countries and cities).
CommonCaseSingularPluralCoretiThe short forms of the singular demonstratives may be used in place of ti if the speaker would like to be more specific in regards to space or time.dagitiObliqueitikadagiti
PersonalCaseSingularPluralCorenidaObliqueken nikada
Kinship terms such as "mother" or "uncle" can take either set of articles. Preceded by the common article, the term is more generalized or conceptual; preceded by a personal article, the reference is more specific (the speaker refers to a member of his or her family or a specific antecedent).
Napan ti ama idiay eskuelaan ti anakna. The father went to his child's school.
Napan ni ama idiay eskuelaan ni kabsat. Father went to sister's/brother's school.
The same can also be said of titles or offices.
Nakitak ni maestra idiay padaya. I saw teacher at the party. (referring to the speaker's teacher in school)
Nakakitaak iti maestra idiay padaya. I saw a teacher at the party. (any teacher)
Demonstratives Similar to articles, demonstratives has two forms (core and oblique) and two numbers (singular and plural). Like Spanish or Japanese, Ilokano has a three-way distinction regarding space. In addition, Ilokano has another set, which refers to objects or events not visible to either the speaker or the listener and occurred or existed before the current time frame. Therefore, Ilokano demonstratives have a five-way distinction relative to time and space.
Demonstratives are linked to their noun (or noun phrases) with the ligature a/nga. Daytoy a lalaki This man
Lalaki a daytoy This man (here) (with more emphasis on his spatial relation to the speaker)
Daytoy a dakkel a balay This big house
Dagita nga immay nga ubbing Those children who came
The forms in parentheses below do not require a ligature and act as an article. they may not follow their nouns as the full forms. Ta lalaki That man ("Lalaki 'ta" does not occur, since "ta" is contraction of "dayta" which mean "that.")
Examples: Nagtagtagainepak iti daydi apong. I dreamt of grandmother. (Grandmother has died.)
Nabirukam 'tay kuartam? Did you find your money?
Spatial Ilocano distinguishes the following levels of proximity: Proximal: Nearer the speaker ("this") Medial: Nearer the listener ("that") Distal: Removed from both speaker and listener ("yonder")
Spatial NumberCaseProximalMedialDistalSingularCoredaytoy ('toy)dayta ('ta)daydiay ('diay)Obliqueiti daytoy kadaytoyiti dayta kadaytaiti daydiay kadaydiayPluralCoredagitoydagitadagidiayObliquekadagitoykadagitakadagidiayAdverbialitoyitaidiay
Temporal This series refers to objects and events in times other than the present (as opposed to space, physical or mental). The referents may not be visible to either speaker or listener at the time of the utterance.
Recent: Refers to things (or events) that might not be visible at the moment of speech and have occurred or existed relatively recently. Remote: Refers to persons who have died, things that no longer exist, events which occurred long ago and are rather vague or something referred to in the future.
Non-VisibleNumberCaseRecentRemoteSingularCoredaytay ('tay)daydi ('di)ObliquekadaytaykadaydiOblique (Common)iti daytayiti daydiOblique (Personal)ken daytayken daydiPluralCoredagitaydagidiObliquekadagitaykadagidiAdverbialitayidi
This series of demonstratives can be used with the future particle -(n)to if the noun will come into existence or will be used in the future.
Dagitayto annakmo ket mapanaganan iti 'Maria' ken 'Juan'. Your (future) children will be named 'Mary' and 'John'. Adverbial forms can set the temporal frame of the clause it introduces and usually corresponds to "when" or "before" referring to the past.
Examples: Nagawiden ni Juan itay simmangpet ni Maria. John had already gone home when Maria arrived. (Maria had just arrived earlier today.)
Nagawiden ni Juan idi simmangpet ni Maria. John had already gone home when Maria arrived. (Someone is relating a story from a long time ago.)
Future The demonstrative inton, intono, tono, ton is used with reference to the future (< i- + (n)to "FUT" (+ no "CONJ")). It does not share the same morphology of the other demonstratives. It is commonly found in fixed time phrases and acts adverbially. It functions to subordinate clauses referring to future time.
Examples: intono bigat tomorrow (lit. future morning)
intono rabii tonight (lit. future night/evening)
intono sumaruno a tawen next year (lit. future year)
intono sumaruno a dua a tawen in the next two years (lit. in the future two years)
Mapan agbakasion intono dumakkel ti sueldona. He will go on vacation when his salary increases (in the future).
Pronouns
Personal pronouns Ilocano personal pronouns distinguish three cases: absolutive, ergative and oblique. They also distinguish three numbers: singular, dual and plural.
Accent marks in the following table are not written, but given here for pronunciation purposes:
Personal PronounsAbsolutiveErgativeObliqueDisjunctiveEnclitic (-ak)The series of absolutive enclitics is sometimes referred to as the -ak series, a name derived from the form of the first person singular.Enclitic (-ko)The series of ergative enclitics series is sometimes referred to as the -ko series, a name derived from the form of the first person singular.Disjunctive1st person singularsiákThese forms are a combination of the obsolete variant of the personal article si and the absolutive enclitic form. -akWhen the enclitic particle -(e)n is attached, the form becomes -akon indicating that it once was -ako in the history of the language. (cf. Tagalog) -k(o)The final o is lost when the preceding word ends in a simple vowel and when there are no following enclitics. Compare the following: Asom Your dog Asomonto It will be your dog.When attaching to either of the suffixes, -en or -an, the -n of the suffix is lost.kaniák1st person dualdatá, sitá -ta -takadatá2nd person singularsiká -ka -m(o)kaniam, kenká3rd person singularisú(na) -ØThe 3rd person singular has no ending or form; it is inferred by context. -nakaniana, kenkuána1st person plural inclusivedatayó, sitayó -tayó -tayókaniatayo, kadatayó1st person plural exclusivedakamí, sikamí -kamí -mikaniami, kadakamí2nd person pluraldakayó, sikayó -kayó -yokaniayo, kadakayó3rd person pluralisúda -da -dakaniada, kadakuáda
Notes First person is the only person to distinguish a dual number; it includes the speaker and one listener. If there are more people addressed (or referred to), one of the first-person-plural forms is the more appropriate form to use. Non-native speakers of Ilocano who are not familiar with this concept will tend to confuse the first-person-plural inclusive tayo with ta (the first-person dual). For example, in a situation where the speaker and the listener are leaving, a native would say "Intan", but a non-native might say "Intayon". First-person-plural forms encode inclusivity. Inclusive forms refer to the speaker and at least two listeners (or the listener and others). On the other hand, exclusive forms refer to the speaker and others (the listener is not included). Personal pronouns in the absolutive case have two forms: disjunctive and enclitic. Disjunctive (or independent) pronouns do not attach to any word, and they can stand as predicates. On the other hand, enclitic pronouns attach to the preceding word (whether a noun or a verb). When attached to a noun, they can indicate possession; to a verb, they indicate the agent of the verb. Oblique pronouns usually express conveyance to someone. They also mark the patient role (direct object) of verbs cast in the agent voice. Additionally, when used with nouns denoting people (for example, relatives or a personal title), they refer to that person's place of residence.
Examples of independent absolutive personal pronouns: 1) Siak ti gayyem ni Juan. "I am Juan's friend."
2) Sikami/Dakami ti napan idiay Laoag. "It was us who went to Laoag."
3) Sikayo/Dakayo ngay? "What about you? (plural) "
In 1 and 2 above, siak and dakami are the only words in the "topic" slot. The rest of the sentence is the "comment". There is no copula "to be" (as in English). In 3 sikayo stands alone, as ngay (a particle) only adds to the sentence.
Examples of enclitic absolutive personal pronouns: Gumatgatangak iti saba. "I am buying bananas."
Agawidkayonto kadi intono Sabado? "Are all of you going home on Saturday?"
Examples of possessive use of the enclitic personal pronouns: Napintas ti balaymo. "Your house is beautiful."
Ayanna daydiay asok? "Where is my dog?"
Examples of ergative enclitic personal pronouns: Basbasaenda ti diario. "They are reading the newspaper."
Intedna kaniak. "He gave it to me."
Examples of oblique personal pronouns: Imbagam kaniana! "You told her!"
Ibagam kadakuada. "Tell them."
Enclitic personal-pronoun sequences Enclitic personal-pronoun sequences occur with goal-oriented (transitive) verbs: verbs that take both a subject and object to complete its meaning. Enclitic personal pronouns may (or may not) combine when they occur in sequence, in the order of subject (in the ergative case, or -ko series) and goal (in the absolutive case, or the -ak series).
AgentPatient1st Sing.2nd Sing.3rd Sing.1st Dual1st Plur. Excl.1st Plur. Incl.2nd Plur.3rd Plur.1st SingularIn situations where the agent and the patient are the same, the agent remains the same, but the patient is one of the reflexive pronouns that correspond to the agent. -ka -k(o)Ø – – – -kayo -k(o) ida2nd Singular -nak -m(o)Ø – -nakami – – -m(o) ida3rd Singular -nak -naka/-naØ -nata -nakami -natayo -nakayo -na ida1st Dual – – -taØ – – – -ta ida1st Plur. Excl. – -daka -miØ – – -dakayo -mi ida1st Plur. Incl. – – -tayoØ – – – -tayo ida2nd Plural -dak – -yoØ -data -dakami – -yo ida3rd Plural -dak -daka -daØ -data -dakami -datayo -dakayo/-da ida
Notes Third person is assumed when it is a patient. In other words, it appears as a "zero" morpheme (represented by 'Ø'). If there is a need for emphasis, isuna (an independent absolutive personal pronoun) may be used (for example, Nakitak isuna, "I saw him.") Ida never combines with a pronoun. Other enclitics may occur between the agent and ida (for example, Nailutuannan ida, "He cooked for them already".) -na appears to signal a singular (2nd or 3rd person) agent, whereas -da signals a plural agent. When the agent of a transitive verb is a noun phrase and its patient is a pronoun, or when the possessor is a noun phrase and the possessed is a pronoun, the combinations with the third person pronouns co-occur with the noun phrases to which they refer. (See Clitic doubling.)