The Bontoc Igorot eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 387 pages of information about The Bontoc Igorot.

The Bontoc Igorot eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 387 pages of information about The Bontoc Igorot.

We
Cha-ta’-ko and Cha-ka’-mi

You
Cha-kay’-yo

They
Cha-i-cha and Cha-to-di’

Examples of the possessive as indicated in the first person are given below: 

My father
A-mak’

My dog
A-suk’

My hand
Li-mak’

Our father
A-ma’-ta

Our dog
A-su’-ta

Our house
A-fong’-ta

Other examples of the possessive are not at hand, but these given indicate that, as in most Malay dialects, a noun with a possessive suffix is one form of the possessive.

Scheerer[43] gives the possessive suffixes of the Benguet Igorot as follows: 

My K, after A, I, O, and U, otherwise ’KO

Thy
} M, after A, I, O, and U, otherwise
mo

Your

His } IO

Her

Our (inc.) ’TAYO

Our (exc.)
Me

Your
dio

Their
cha or ’ra

These possessive suffixes in the Benguet Igorot language are the same, according to Scheerer, as the suffixes used in verbal formation.

The verbal suffixes of the Bontoc Igorot are very similar to those of the Benguet.  It is therefore probable that the possessive suffixes are also very similar.

It is interesting to note that in the Chamorro language of Guam the possessive suffixes for the first person correspond to those of the Igorot —­ my is ko and our is ta.

Verbs

Mention has been made of the verbal suffixes.  Their use is shown in the following paradigms: 

I eat
Sak-in’ mang-an-ak’

You eat
Sik-a’ mang-an-ka’

He eats
Si-to-di’ mang-an’

We eat
Cha-ka’-mi mang-an-ka-mi’

You eat
Cha-kay’-yo mang-an-kay’-o

They eat
Cha-to-di’ mang-an-cha’

I go
Sak-in’ u-mi-ak’

You go
Sik-a’ u-mi-ka’

He goes
Si-to-di’ u-mi’

We go
Cha-ka-mi’ u-mi-ka-mi’

You go
Cha-kay’-yo u-mi-kay’-yo

They go
Cha-to-di’ u-mi-cha’

The suffixes are given below, and the relation they bear to the personal pronouns is also shown by heavy-faced type: 

I
’ak
Sak-in’

You (sing)
’ka
Sik-a’

He
... 
Si’-a or Si-to-di’

We
kami or tako
Cha-ka’-mi or Cha-ta’-ko

You
kayo
Cha-kay’-yo

They
cha
Cha-to-di’ or cha-i’-cha

The Benguet suffixes as given by Scheerer are: 

I ’ko or ’ak

You
’mo or ’ka

He
’to

We {
me

Copyrights
Project Gutenberg
The Bontoc Igorot from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.