Waray language

The term Waray comes from the word often heard by non-speakers meaning "none" or "nothing" in the language; similarly, Cebuanos are known in Leyte as "mga Kana" and their language as "Kana" (after the oft-heard word "kana", meaning "that" in the Cebuano language). The Cebuano pronunciation of Waray is "walay" with the same meaning, whereas the Waray pronunciation of Kana is "kan-o" meaning "that, when" with both languages sharing many words or vocabulary in common.

During the Spanish period, texts refer to the language as simply being a dialect of "Visayan". In contrast, most contemporary linguists consider many of these "Visayan dialects" (e.g., Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Karay-a, etc.) to be distinct languages, and the term Visayan is usually taken to refer to what is called Cebuano in contemporary linguistic literature. Domingo Ezguerra's 1663 (reprinted 1747) Arte de la lengua bisaya de la provincia de Leyte refers to the "Visayan tongue of the province of Leyte", Figueroa's Arte del idioma Visaya de Samar y Leyte refers to the "Visaya language of Samar and Leyte". Antonio Sanchez's 1914 "Diccionario español-bisaya" (Spanish-Visayan Dictionary) refers to the speech of "Sámar and Leyte".

Linguist Jason Lobel (2009) considers there are 25 dialects and subdialects of Waray-Waray.[2]

• Tacloban: "standard" dialect: the dialect used in television and radio broadcasts and in education
• Abuyog, Leyte: heavy Cebuano influence
• Culaba, Biliran: heavy Cebuano influence
• Catbalogan: "original" dialect: Pure Waray, central part of Samar Island
• Calbayog: mixture of the Tacloban dialect and the dialect of Northern Samar
• Allen, Northern Samar: mostly Waray Sorsoganon mixed with Northern Samarenyo. Dialects in neighboring towns have also borrowed extensively from Waray Sorsoganon.

Many Waray dialects feature a sound change in which Proto-Bisayan *s becomes /h/ in a small number of common grammatical morphemes. This sound change occurs in all areas of Samar south of the municipalities of Santa Margarita, Matuginao, Las Navas, and Gamay (roughly corresponding to the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar, but not Northern Samar), as well as in all of the Waray-speaking areas of Leyte, except the towns of Javier and Abuyog. However, this sound change is an areal feature rather than a strictly genetic one (Lobel 2009).[2]

Most Waray dialects in northeastern and Eastern Samar have the close central unrounded vowel /ɨ/ as a reflex of Proto-Austronesian *e.[2]

Waray is one of the many regional languages found in the Philippines and used in local government. It is widely used in media particularly in television and radio broadcasts, however, not in print media because most regional newspapers are published in English.

The language is used in education from kindergarten to primary level as part of the Philippine government's K-12 program since 2012 in which pupils from Kindergarten to third grade are taught in their respective indigenous languages.

Waray is also used in the Mass in the Roman Catholic Church and in the worship services of different Christian sects in the region. Bibles in Waray are also available. In 2019, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures was released in Waray-Waray.[3] However, there is a growing population of Muslims in the region with the first mosque, Tacloban Mosque and Islamic Center, through a charity built by a Turkish Islamic religious authority in Tacloban at 2017 which teaches the scriptures and offers Friday sermons in both Waray and Cebuano in general.

Waray, like all Philippine languages today, is written using the Latin script. There is no officially-approved orthography for the language and different writers may use differing orthographic styles. In general, it has become common to write the language following the current orthographic conventions of Filipino.

Waray uses many different words to specify a particular thing. These words might not be the same in spelling and in construction but they share the same meaning, making it a very diverse language.

Here are some examples of demonstratives and adverbs together with their equivalent definition in Waray-Waray:

• Waray people
• Waray literature
• Waray Wikipedia
• Languages of the Philippines
• Samar
• Leyte
• Waray Sorsogon language

• Abuyen, Tomas A. (2005). Dictionary English Waray-Waray/Tagalog, National Book Store, 494 pp., ISBN 971-08-6529-3.
• Diller, Timothy Clair (1971). Case grammar and its application to Waray, a Philippine language (PDF) (PhD dissertation). University of California at Los Angeles.
• Rubino, Carl. Waray-Waray. In Garry, Jane and Carl Rubino (eds.), Facts About the World's Languages, An Encyclopedia of the World's Languages: Past and Present (2001), pp. 797-800.

Waray edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Waray-Waray.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Waray language.

• Arte de la Lengua Bisaya de la Provincia de Leyte – Google Books
• Arte del idioma visaya de Samar y Leite – Google Books
• Diccionario espanol-bisaya para las provincias de Sámar y Leyte – University of Michigan collection
• Radyo Waraynon – Waraynon Internet Radio Station
• Waray Museum Blog featuring Waray literature
• Waray lessons
• Bansa.org Waray Dictionary
• Waray dictionary, literary database & teaching resource
• Waray-Waray Dictionary by Andras Rajki – with Bicol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon &c. cognates and some Proto-Malayo-Polynesian etymologies
• SEAlang Library Waray Resources
• A large collection of bible study material in Waray language (free audio books, videos, publications) - Jehovah's Witnesses