Word Connectives / Ligatures
Keep In Mind:
Ligatures merely connect two words to indicate a relationship, and don't have definition on their own.
Word connectives or "ligatures" are a unique part of the Filipino language that are used to link two words together.
When to use Ligatures
There are a variety of grammar patterns that require words to be connected by ligatures.
The first pattern to learn, is that you should connect nouns and the adjectives that describe them using ligatures.
For example, in the phrase: "the red car", the words "red" and "car" should be connected with a ligature in the Filipino language.
Three Types of Ligatures
1.) If the first word ends in a vowel, the ligature
-ng is attached to the end of that word to connect it to the next word.
Examples:
kawa wa + ba tà
kawa wang ba tà (pitiful child)
mabi sà + gamó t
mabi sang gamó t (effective medicine)
matabâ + lala ki
matabá ng lala ki (fat man)
matandâ + baba e
matandá ng baba e (old woman)
Examples:
kawawa + bata
kawawang bata (pitiful child)
mabisa + gamot
mabisang gamot (effective medicine)
mataba + lalaki
matabang lalaki (fat man)
matanda + babae
matandang babae (old woman)
2.) If the first word ends in the letter N, the ligature
-g is attached to the end of that word to connect it to the next word.
Examples:
maya man + lala ki
maya mang lala ki (rich man)
sabó n + mabangó
sabó ng mabangó (fragrant soap)
pinggá n + mali nis
pinggá ng mali nis (clean plate)
masunu rin + má mamayá n
masunu ring má mamayá n (obedient citizen)
Examples:
mayaman + lalaki
mayamang lalaki (rich man)
sabon + mabango
sabong mabango (fragrant soap)
pinggan + malinis
pinggang malinis (clean plate)
masunurin + mamamayan
masunuring mamamayan (obedient citizen)
3.) If the first word ends in any
consonant other than "N", the word
na is used to connect two words.
Examples:
maa lat + pagka in
maa lat na pagka in (salty food)
mabaí t + estudya nte
mabaí t na estudya nte (nice student)
malusó g + ba tà
malusó g na ba tà (healthy child)
mahimbí ng + natutu log
mahimbí ng na natutu log (sleeping soundly)
Examples:
maalat + pagkain
maalat na pagkain (salty food)
mabait + estudyante
mabait na estudyante (nice student)
malusog + bata
malusog na bata (healthy child)
mahimbing + natutulog
mahimbing na natutulog (sleeping soundly)
Changing of Sequence
Changing the sequence of words
does not change the meaning of the phrases. It retains the denotation and
follows the same rules for using ligatures .
Examples:
salty food
maa lat na
pagka in pagka ing maa lat kind student
mabaí t na
estudya nte estudya nteng mabaí t healthy child
malusó g na
ba tà ba tang malusó g effective medicine
mabi sang gamó t gamó t na
mabi sà fat man
matabá ng lala ki lala king matabâ old lady
matandá ng baba e baba eng matandâ fragrant soap
sabó ng mabangó mabangó ng sabó n obedient citizen
masunu ring má mamayan má mamayang masunu rin Examples:
salty food
maalat na pagkain
pagkaing maalat
kind student
mabait na estudyante
estudyanteng mabait
healthy child
malusog na bata
batang malusog
effective medicine
mabisang gamot
gamot na mabisa
fat man
matabang lalaki
lalaking mataba
old lady
matandang babae
babaeng matanda
fragrant soap
sabong mabango
mabangong sabon
obedient citizen
masunuring mamamayan
mamamayang masunurin
