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Ilokano grammar, akin to many of the Philippine languages, is very different in many respects from European languages such as English.

Ilokano has word classes such as nouns, verbs and adjectives found in a canonical grammar. Yet, Ilokano has particles. Particles have no inherent meaning on their own, but are useful in altering the sentence or phrase in which they occur. One particle in particular, the ligature, is common to Philippine languages. Its use is to link constituents of a sentence as a unit.

In English morphology, there are prefixes and suffixes. In addition to those, Ilokano has what are called infixes. Sometimes, prefixes and suffixes come in pairs, called "circumfixes".

Ilokano verbal morphology is rather complex and uses a system of Philippine-type focus.

Contents 1 Word Classes 1.1 Determiners 1.1.1 Articles 1.1.2 Demonstratives 1.1.2.1 Spatial Demonstratives 1.1.2.2 Non-Visible Demonstratives 1.2 Pronouns 1.2.1 Personal Pronouns 1.2.2 Enclitic Personal Pronoun Sequences 1.2.3 Reflexive 1.3 Nouns 1.3.1 Plural 1.4 Adjectives 1.4.1 Root Adjectives 1.4.2 Derived Adjectives 1.4.3 Adjective degrees 1.5 Verbs 1.6 Adverbs 1.6.1 Locatives 1.6.2 Manner 1.7 Numbers 1.7.1 Cardinal 1.7.2 Ordinal 1.7.3 Distributive 1.8 Particles 2 Morphology 3 Syntax 3.1 Typology 3.2 Noun Phrases 3.3 Verb Phrases 3.4 Existential 3.5 Clauses 3.5.1 Coordination 3.6 Interrogative Words 3.7 Notes 3.8 See also

[edit] Word Classes

[edit] Determiners

Ilokano has two subsets of determiners. Articles are similar to the in English. Demonstratives are those words that point out something, this and that.

Ilokano determiners show only two cases, core and oblique, unlike Ilokano pronouns which show three: absolutive, ergative and oblique. In fact, core can function as absolutive or ergative.

[edit] Articles

Ilokano has two sets of articles, common and personal. Personal articles are used with persons, names and titles. Common articles are used with all other nouns.

Common

Case	Singular	Plural
Core	ti [1]	dagiti
Oblique	iti	kadagiti

Personal

Case	Singular	Plural
Core	ni	da
Oblique	kenni	kada

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. On the other hand, preceded by a personal article, the reference is more specific. The speaker refers to someone in their family.

Napan ti ama idiay eskuelaan ti anakna.
The father went to his child's school.
Napan ni amam idiay eskuelaan ni kabsatmo.
Your father went to your sister's/brother's school.

Such can also be said of titles or offices.

Nakitak ni maestra idiay padaya.
I saw teacher at the party.
(referring to the speaker's teach in school or some other specific person)

Nakitak ti maestra idiay padaya.
I saw a teacher at the party. (any teacher)

[edit] Demonstratives

Similar to the articles, demonstratives distinguish two cases (core and oblique) and two numbers (singular and plural). Like Spanish or Japanese, Ilokano has a three-way distinction regarding space. But, Ilokano has another set that refers to object or events not visible to either the speaker or the listener. In total, Ilokano demonstratives have a five-way distinction.

[edit] Spatial Demonstratives

Ilokano distinguishes the following levels of proximity:

• Proximal: Near the speaker, this
• Medial: Near the listener, that
• Distal: Removed from both speaker and listener, yonder

Spatial

Number	Case	Proximal	Medial	Distal
Singular	Core	daytoy ('toy)	dayta ('ta)	daydiay ('diay) [1]
	Oblique	iti daytoy kadaytoy	iti dayta kadayta	iti daydiay kadaydiay
Plural	Core	dagitoy	dagita	dagidiay
	Oblique	kadagitoy	kadagita	kadagidiay

[edit] Non-Visible Demonstratives

The Non-Visible series refers to objects and events that are not visible to either the speaker or the listener. Quite possibly, what is referred to occurred in the past.

• Recent Past: Refers to things or events that are not visible to the speaker or the listener at the moment of the speech event.
• Remote Past: Refers to persons who have passed away, things that no longer exist or events that occurred long ago.

Non-Visible

Number	Case	Recent	Remote
Singular	Core	daytay ('tay)	daydi ('di)
	Oblique	iti daytay kadaytay	iti daydi kadaydi
Plural	Core	dagitay	dagidi
	Oblique	kadagitay	kadagidi

Demonstratives are linked to their noun or noun phrases with the ligature a/nga.

Dayta a lalaki
That man

But, the forms in parentheses above, do not require a ligature.

'Ta lalaki
That man

Examples:

Nagtagtagainepak iti daydi nga apong.
I dreamt of grandmother.
Nabirukam 'tay kuartam?
Did you find your money?

[edit] Pronouns

[edit] Personal Pronouns

Ilokano personal pronouns distinguish three cases: absolutive, ergative, and oblique. They also distinguish three numbers: singular, dual and plural.

The only person that distinguishes a dual number is the first. It includes only the speaker and only one listener. If there are more persons addressed, then the fist person plural inclusive is more appropriate. Non-native speakers of Ilokano who are not familiar with this concept will tend to confuse the first person plural inclusive tayo with ta. For example, in a situation where the speaker and the listener are taking leave, a native would say Intan whereas the non-native would say Intayon.

The first person plural encodes inclusivity. The first person plural inclusive refers to the speaker and at least two listeners. On the other hand, the first person plural exclusive refers to the speaker and others. It does not include the person(s) spoken to.

Personal pronouns in the absolutive case have two forms: independent and enclitic. Independent pronouns are not attached to any word; they can be sentence predicates as well. On the other hand, enclitic pronouns must attach to the preceding word, whether a noun or a verb. When attached to a noun, they 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 focus. Additionally, they can be used to denote someone's home.

Accent marks in the following table are not written, but given here for pronunciation purposes.

Personal Pronouns

	Absolutive		Ergative	Oblique
	Independent	Enclitic (-ak)[2]	Enclitic (-ko)[3]	Independent
1st person singular	siák [4]	-ak [5]	-k(o) [6][7]	kaniák
1st person dual	datá, sitá [4]	-ta	-ta	kadatá
2nd person singular	siká [4]	-ka	-m(o) [6]	kenká
3rd person singular	isú(na)	-Ø [8]	-na	kenkuána
1st person plural inclusive	datayó, sitayó [4]	-tayó	-tayó	kadatayó
1st person plural exclusive	dakamí, sikamí [4]	-kamí	-mi	kadakamí
2nd person plural	dakayó, sikayó [4]	-kayó	-yo	kadakayó
3rd person plural	isúda	-da	-da	kadakuáda

Examples of independent absolutive personal pronouns:

Siak ti gayyem ni Juan.
"I am Juan's friend."
Dakami ti napan idiay Laoag.
"It was us who went to Laoag."
Sikayo ngay?
"What about you? (plural) "

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!"
Adda kadakuada.
"He is at their house."

[edit] Enclitic Personal Pronoun Sequences

Enclitic personal pronoun sequences occur with goal oriented or transitive verbs, verbs that take both an agent and an object to complete its meaning. Enclitic personal pronouns may or may not combine when they occur in sequence, in the order of agent (in the ergative case, or -ko series) and goal (in the absolutive case, or the -ak series).

Agent	Patient
	1st Sing.	2nd Sing.	3rd Sing.	1st Dual	1st Plur. Excl.	1st Plur. Incl.	2nd Plur.	3rd Plur.
1st Sing.	[9]	-ka	-k(o)Ø [8]	-	-	-	-kayo	-k(o) ida
2nd Sing.	-nak	[9]	-m(o)Ø [8]	-	-nakami	-	-	-m(o) ida
3rd Sing.	-nak	-naka	[9]/-naØ [8]	-nata	-nakami	-natayo	-nakayo	-na ida
1st Dual	-	-	-taØ [8]	[9]	-	-	-	-ta ida
1st Plur. Excl.	-	-daka	-miØ [8]	-	[9]	-	-dakayo	-mi ida
1st Plur. Incl.	-	-	-tayoØ [8]	-	-	[9]	-	-tayo ida
2nd Plur.	-dak	-	-yoØ [8]	-data	-dakami	-	[9]	-yo ida
3rd Plur.	-dak	-daka	-daØ [8]	-data	-dakami	-datayo	-dakayo	[9]/-da ida

Notes

• The 3rd person is assumed when it is a patient. In other words, it appears as a zero morpheme. If there is a need for emphasis, then isuna, an idependent absolutive personal pronoun, may be used, for example, Nakitak isuna, I saw him.
• Ida never combines with any of the pronouns. As a result, other enclitics may occur between the agent and ida, for example, Nailutuannan ida, He cooked for them already.
• -ko and -mo forms only occur when more enclitics, such as the future particle, are added, Ipankonto ida, I will send them.
• -na appears to signal a singular agent regardless of person, where as, -da signals a plural agent.
• Some combinations do not exist, for example, 1st person singular agent and a 1st person plural patient. Typically, these non-existent forms are those where the agent is among the patients.

[edit] Reflexive

[edit] Nouns

Nouns are classed into the Common or Personal. The Personal nouns are introduced by the personal article ni. They may be introduced by ti, the common article, if the speaker is making a generalization or wants to refer to a conceptual. All other nouns, the common nouns, are introduced by ti.

[edit] Plural

Nouns can be made plural by using the appropriate form of the article.

In addition, plurality can be indicated in the noun form. Plurals formed in this way adds the nuance of distribution. Plurality is indicated using open or closed reduplication of the first syllable of the root. Or, a consonantal phoneme is geminitated as occurs with nouns denoting persons. Other nouns have a plural form that does not fall into the previous categories.

Open Syllable Reduplication
kayong brother-in-law
kakayong brothers-in-law

Closed Syllable Reduplication
ima hand
im-ima hands

Gemination
ubing child
ubbing children

Other
lalaki male
lallaki males

[edit] Adjectives

[edit] Root Adjectives

Root adjectives are not derived from any other roots and are characterized as not having any of the common derivational affixes, such as a-, na-, etc. Many root adjectives denote physical characteristics. A great number of them, especially, denote physical abnormalities.

Example
bassit  small
dakkel  big
baro    new
daan    old (applied to inanimate objects)
baket   old (applied to animate females)
lakay   old (applied to animate males)
buttiog having a pot-belly (applied to men)
tuleng  deaf
pangkis cross-eyed/cock-eyed

[edit] Derived Adjectives

• Na-

The most common prefix for deriving adjectives is na-. For example, from alsem (bitterness, acidity), naalsem (sour, acid).

• Ma-

Some roots have a derived adjective form that begin with ma-. For example, from sakit (sickness, pain, disease), nasakit (painful) but masakit (ill, sick).

• A-

A fixed number of roots begin with a-, a prefix that is fossilized and no longer productive, e.g. atiddog, (long). As a result, the prefix no longer has a meaning of its own.

[edit] Adjective degrees

• Positive

• Comparative

The comparative form of adjectives is used when comparing at least two nouns, where one has more of the characteristic denoted by the adjective.

• Superlative

• Intensive
• Moderate

[edit] Verbs

Main article: Ilokano Verb

Although other word classes in Ilokano are not as morphologically diverse in forms, verbs are about as morphologically complex as the classic Indo-European languages of Latin, Ancient Greek or Sanskrit. Ilokano verb forms are characterized by reduplication and heavy prefixation.

[edit] Adverbs

[edit] Locatives

Locatives correspond to here and there. They have a three-way distinction similar to the demonstratives: proximal, medial and distal. They can be used with nouns to specify location. In addition, they can replace a noun phrase in the oblique case that concerns location.

Locative Determiners

Space	Form	Gloss
Proximal	ditoy	here
Medial	dita	there
Distal	idiay sadiay	there or yonder (obs.)

Examples:

Napan iti balay.
He went to a house.
Napan idiay balay.
He went to that house (over there).
He went to the house.
Napan idiay.
He went there.

[edit] Manner

Ilokano has a set of adverbs that reference manner according to space. They are a combination of kas "like/as" and the abbreviated determiner forms 'toy, 'ta and 'diay.

Locative Determiners

Space	Form	Gloss
Proximal	kastoy	like this, this way
Medial	kasta	like that, that way
Distal	kasdiay	like that, that way

Examples:

Kinitak a kastoy.
I looked at him like this.
Apay sinuratmo a kasta?
Why did you write it that way?
Nagsala a kasdiay.
She danced like that (over there, like she is dancing).

As with many word categories in Ilokano, prefixing ag- (a verbalizing prefix) results in verbs that give a generality of the action, possibly accompanied by some imitating gesture.

Examples:

Nagkastoy.
He went like this/He did this.

Agkasta kunana.
She said that she would go like that/do that.

Nagkasdiayak.
I went like that/do that (over there). (Pointing to someone who is in the midst of the action in question)

Adding pa- (a directional prefix), direction is implied.

Examples:

Nagpakastoy.
He went/came here. He went/came through here.

Agpakasta kunana.
She said that she would go/come there. She said she would go/come through there.

Nagpakasdiayak.
I went/came (over) there. I went/came through (over) there.

[edit] Numbers

Ilokano has two number systems: one, native and the other, derived from Spanish. The systems are virtually used interchangeably. Yet, the situation can dictate which system is preferred.

Typically, Ilokanos use native numbers for one through 10, and Spanish numbers for amounts of 10 and higher.

Time is told using the Spanish system and numbers, for example, Alas dos (2 o'clock).

For dates, cardinal Spanish numbers are the norm, for example, 12 ti Julio (the twelfth of July).

[edit] Cardinal

Number	Ilokano	Iloko-Spanish	Spanish
one	maysa	uno	uno
two	dua	dos	dos
three	tallo	tres	tres
four	uppat	kuatro	cuatro
five	lima	singko	cinco
six	innem	sais	seis
seven	pito	siete	siete
eight	walo	otso	ocho
nine	siam	nuebe	nueve
10	sangapulo[10]	dies	diez
11	sangapulo ket maysa	onse	once
12	sangapulo ket dua	dose	doce
13	sangapulo ket tallo	trese	trece
14	sangapulo ket uppat	katorse	catorce
15	sangapulo ket lima	kinse	quince
16	sangapulo ket innem	diesisais	diez y seis, dieciseis
17	sangapulo ket pito	diesisiete	diez y siete, diecisiete
18	sangapulo ket walo	diesiotso	diez y ocho, dieciocho
19	sangapulo ket siam	diesinuebe	diez y nueve, diecinueve
20	duapulo[10]	bainte	veinte
21	duapulo ket maysa	baintiuno	veinte y uno, veintiuno
30	tallopulo	treinta	treinta
40	uppat a pulo	kuarenta	cuarenta
50	limapulo	singkuenta	cincuenta
60	innem a pulo	sesenta	sesenta
70	pitopulo	setenta	setenta
80	walopulo	otsenta	ochenta
90	siam a pulo	nobenta	noventa
100	sangagasut[11]	sien[12], siento	cien[12], ciento
101	sangagasut ket maysa	sientoiuno	ciento y uno
500[13]	limagasut	kinientos	quinientos
1 000	sangaribo[14]	mil	mil
10 000	sangalaksa[15]	diesmil	diez mil
100 000	sangagasut a laksa	cien mil	sien mil
1 000 000	sangariwriw[16]	milion	millón

[edit] Ordinal

[edit] Distributive

[edit] Particles

Main article: Ilokano particles

[edit] Morphology

[edit] Syntax

[edit] Typology

Ilokano employs a predicate-initial structure. Verbs and adjectives occur in the first position of the sentence, then the rest of the sentence follows.

[edit] Noun Phrases

[edit] Verb Phrases

[edit] Existential

[edit] Clauses

[edit] Coordination

[edit] Interrogative Words

Ilokano’s interrogative words are: aniá, apay, ayanná, intianná, kaanó, kasanó, kumustá, manó, and sinnó.

Aniá means what or which depending on the context.

Aniá daytóy?
What is this?

Aniá ti náganmó?
What’s your name?

Aniá ití duá ti kayatmo?
Which of the two do you want?

Apay means why.

Apay haán?
Why not?

Apay ngamín?
It’s because why?

Apay isuna ití Australia?
Why is he/she in Australia?

Apay isuda naladaw?
Why are they late? 

Ayanná means where but is used to pertain the location of an object and not used with verbs.

Ayanná ni Robert?
Where is Robert?

Ayanná ti Espania?
Where is Spain?

Espania is the Ilokano version of España, the Spanish name of “Spain”.

Ayanná ti sarmíng?
Where is the mirror?

Ayanná ti ragadi?
Where is the saw?

Intianná means where but is used to pertain the location of where the action was done.

Taga-intianná siká?
Where are you from?

Intianná ti residensia dagití iskuater?
Where is the residence of the squatters?

Iskuater is the Ilokano phonetic spelling of “squatter.”

Kaanó means when.

Kasanó is used to ask how something is done or happened.

Kasanó ti agluto ti kaldereta?
How will you cook caldereta?

Kaldereta is the Ilokano phonetic spelling of caldereta, a Spanish cuisine adopted by Filipinos.

Kumustá is used to ask how something is (are). It was derived from Cómo está/s?, the Spanish for “How are you?”, thus it is frequently as a greeting with the mentioned meaning.

Kumustá siká?
How are you?

Kumustá ti situasionna?
How is his/her situation?

Manó both means how many and how much depending on the context; the latter is used to pertain the price of something.

Manó ti populasión ti Pilipinas?
How many is the population of the Philippines?

Manó daytá kalkiuleytor?
How much is the calculator?

Kalkiuleytor is the Ilokano phonetic spelling of “calculator.”

Sinnó means who, whose or whom. It is both the absolutive, ergative, and oblique form.

Sinnó ni Alberto Fujimori?
Who is Alberto Fujimori?

Sinnó daytá?
Whose is that?

[edit] Notes

[edit] See also

• Ilokano language
• Languages of the Philippines