A.Paulita Roa WHILE it is true that the ethnolinguistic identity of the Kagaya-anons is Bisayan, there are many variants in the speech of the Kagay-anon that are distinctly different from the rest of the Bisayan speakers in Northern Mindanao and Central Visayas. Old folks would tell me that our speech is known as Kinigai-anon not Cebuan Binisaya. Take for  example the Cebuano words wa (nothing) and kag (ghost), though it can be understood by the Kagay-anon, she pronounced them as wala and kalag. In this regard, I had a series of very interesting discussions with Kagay-anon visual artist, Enrico Ramon Lluch, who has been researching on the Kinagai-anon since 1999. Lluch cited the Kagay-anon’s propensity to use words that can be shortened to the extent of creating a new word, however, facilitating the same, if not enhancing the meaning in the process as opposed to creating a new one, or obscuring the meaning of the original words used. This is a sociologic phenomenon of linguistic contraction and he pointed out an analysis that stemmed from the Bisayan method of transposing an otherwise ordinary word in to a descriptive noun. He demonstrated it further in the root word “parat” where letter “P” is changed to “M” as in “himarat” without losing its meaning. Per Lluch’s study, root words beginning with letters “B” and “P” are transposable with letter “M”. For example: Parat (salty) - hiMarat Bantay (to watch) - hiMantay Bulang (cockfight) - hiMulang Furthermore, the prefix word “hi” denotes fondness to or have a penchant for. The old Kinagai-anon description of a promiscuous woman is “himoto” and the male counterpart is called “himilat.” The two descriptive words are not offensive though I can’t help but be amused of the fact that Himoto happens to be a common Japanese surname! Root words starting with letters “T”, “S”, and “H” are transposable with letters “N” or “NG”: Diwata (n.deity) - Diwatahan (a place for deities) Ligo (v.to bathe) - Ligo-anan (a place for bathing) Kaon (v. to eat) - Kan-anan (place where one eats) Our speech can teach and unravel to us the hidden meanings of ancient place names. It can also widen our perspective on our history and cultural traits as we seek to know more about our past in order to strengthen our sense of identity as a people. Two place names that make an interesting study based on our Kinagai-anon speech,local cultural traits and history are “Himolugan” and “Molugan.” More on this next week.