This book is not intended to be a complete grammar, but is only an elementary work containing a collection of some principles governing the formation of the words and the construction of the sentences of the Bisayan1 dialect spoken on the islands of Samar and nearly half of Leyte, by about four hundred thousand people.

At random and at odd intervals as the author’s time permitted, he arranged, more or less in a logical grammatical order, the material gathered. Bearing in mind that there has never been any previous treatise on this subject worthy the name, the whole field therefore remaining practically unexplored, it will not be surprising that the use of spare moments covering only a short period has left much of the field undeveloped. However, what has been collected in this book will be found to be of primary importance to any one desiring to gain a quick acquaintance with the dialect for immediate practical use. After a careful study of the many examples under the different rules, coupled with a continuous practice, the user will be surprised—if he is a stranger—at the ease with which he acquires an Asiatic dialect, and—if he is a Filipino—how clear and logical is one of the most spoken dialects in his Mother-land.

The author had no intention of launching this work at the present time; but it is done at the behest of his American friends who have urged him to issue what has been collected, a portion only of what is intended ultimately to be a complete treatise and grammar of Bisayan, in order that this material may be available for the use of persons [VI]taking an interest in the Islands, thereby bringing about a common means of communication, which promotes a better feeling between the people born here and the newcomer.

The exposition of the different subjects is not in the modern didactic form generally used in this class of works. This is simply due to the lack of sufficient time. Thus the grammar is divided into the usual parts: orthography, prosody, etimology, and syntax. Some of these parts have been treated to a very limited extent, because time has not admitted of the collection of sufficient material and of the opportunity to weigh the relative values and eliminate the exceptions from the rules.

An appendix has been added where two topics are treated: notes on Rhetoric and Poetics of Bisayan, and notes on Filipino Dialectology consisting in a short comparative study of this dialect in reference to Tagalog, one of its sister-dialects in the Archipelago. The first notes are designed to complete the knowledge of Bisayan after the grammar is mastered; the second are intended to show the possibility of the formation of a common Filipino language2 out of the different dialects scattered thru out the Archipelago, in a similar way as the Modern High German has been formed out of the main primitive groups Frisian and Saxon. Frankish, Hessian, and Thuringian, and Alemannian and Bavarian.

We have to repeat that our work is far from being perfect, even complete, on account of lack of sufficient time. Owing to the same circumstance, many errors in printing have crept into this book, which we have tried to correct at the end under the heading Errata. But we sincerely admit that not all of the mistakes that may be found in this book are to be assigned to lack of time. Like any other product of human industry, this work bears marks of errors arising from the two sources pointed out by Horace

[VII]

Acknowledgement is hereby made for the help rendered by Messrs. W. W. Marquardt, Div. Superintendent of Schools of Leyte, P.I., Fred Shoemaker, and H. W. Halbourg, in correcting part of the proof, and for the collaboration of Mr. Henry E. Neibert, Former American Teacher of Jaro, Leyte, P.I. whose knowledge of both tongues, English and Bisayan, added much material to the work.

Hoping that this little volume may be of interest and real help, it is offered to an indulgent public for what it is worth.

Norberto Romualdez

Takloban, Province of Leyte,
Philippine Islands.
November 8, 1908. [IX]