Want to Learn Manobo?

I missed posting here! I wasn't able to update this blog for more than a week because I've been a fellow at a regional writing workshop. The schedule was crazy; there were so many literary works to read and plenty of kindred spirits to banter with. Now I'm back to the rut that is my real life, so I'm going to have enough time again for this blog.

To get the ball rolling again, I present you readers several gems that I've unearthed from the website of the Summer Institute of Linguistics. The site has downloadable publications that are just perfect for those who want to learn the language of the Dulangan Manobos. Here are the basic references:

• Ini sa Medoo Kagi Diya sa Epat Balangan Kagi: This is Words in Four Languages (1979) PDF 4MB
• Sa Libelu Kesetawit Diya sa Telu Balangan Kagi: A Phrase Book in Three Languages (1995) PDF 1.8MB
• Cotabato Manobo Grammar (1988) PDF 4.4MB

The first book above contains an exhaustive list of Manobo words and their respective equivalents in English, Tagalog, and Cebuano, so using the book, most Filipinos can learn Manobo. For more advance learners, listed below are some supplementary documents. I don't have any formal training on linguistics, so I can barely understand their contents:

• A Transition Network Grammar of Cotabato Manobo (1979) PDF 3.1MB
• Discourse Types and Tense Patterns in Cotabato Manobo (1979) PDF 0.5MB
• Hortatory Mitigation: The Case of the Camouflaged Backbone (1984) PDF 0.9MB

The website also offers downloadable documents that are about the Dulangan Monobos but not directly related to their language:

• Cotabato Manobo Ethnography (1988) PDF 1.7MB
• The Magic of the Cotabato Manobos (1988) PDF 0.7MB

That's all for today. Mesehaa ki pa kani. Dutu a de! (To know what I mean, see page 4 of A Phrase Book.)