ARTICLES.
There are three classes:
| Definite: | an | (the) |
| Indefinite: | in | (a) |
| Personal: | hi or si | (no equivalent in English). |
The definite article, as well as the indefinite, is used in Bisayan in the same manner as its equivalent in English. The definite article, however, is sometimes used before proper nouns, and it is very often used before the demonstrative and possessive pronouns. Examples:
| Nacánhi an batà | (the boy or girl has come) |
| Nacánhi in batà | (a boy or girl has come) |
| An Dyos[1] macagagáhum | (God is omnipotent) |
| An iní nga bucád | (this flower) |
| An acon calò | (my hat) |
The personal article is always used before the names of persons; it is also used before the personal pronouns, except the third persons. Examples.
| Hi Pedro | (Peter) |
| Hi acó | (I) |
| Hi icao | (you) |
Instead of hi, si may be used.[2]
These articles do not change in gender. Examples: an amáy (the father), an iróy (the mother); hi Juan (John), hi María (Mary).
The definite and indefinite articles change in the plural in the following way: [[8]]
| SINGULAR | PLURAL |
| an | an mg̃a[3] |
| in | in mg̃a |
The personal article does not change, in person or number, except in the third person plural where it takes the form of the third personal pronoun third person, plural number. Examples:
| Hi quitá | (we) |
| Hi camó | (you, in plural) |
| Hirá Pedro ng̃an hi Juan | (Peter and John) |
DECLENSION.—Articles have two cases: nominative and objective.
| SINGULAR | PLURAL | |||||
| NOMINATIVE: | an | in | hi or si | an mg̃a | in mg̃a | hirá or sirá |
| OBJECTIVE: | han or san | hin or sin | ni, can | han mg̃a or san mg̃a | hin mg̃a or sin mg̃a | nira, canda |
Examples:
| An batà nagbahása han surát ni Pedro | (the boy reads Peter’s letter). |
| Hirá Carlos ng̃an hi Juan naghátag canda Tomás ng̃an hi Pedro hin mg̃a bucád | (Charles and John gave flowers to Thomas and Peter). |
The objective case covers all the different cases used in other languages after the nominative, that is to say, the genitive, dative, accusative and ablative cases.
RULES. 1. The Bisayan articles are used immediately before the words to which they refer.
2. The definite article may be used without expressing the object to which it refers, having, in this case, the nature of a relative pronoun. Examples:
| An nagtótoon, nahabábaro | (He, who studies, learns). |
| An mg̃a nagtututdò ha aton | (They who teach us.) |
[[9]]
3. The personal article is always necessary before the names of persons. It is not correct to say “Pedro nagsusurat”; hi is needed, and it must be: “hi Pedro nagsusurat” (Peter is writing).
EXCEPTIONS. 1. Between the definite article and the word to which it refers, other words may be placed, in some instances, as in this phrase:
| An iní ng̃a baláy | (this house), or |
| an maopay ng̃a batà | (the good boy or girl). |
The regular order in constructing the last phrase is:
| an batà ng̃a maopay. |
2. When the names of persons are in the vocative case, the personal article is not used. Thus we say:
| Mariano, cadí dao | (Mariano, come, please). |
| Pamatì, Juan | (listen, John). |
3. In the objective case of hi, can is used before the verb, and ni after the verb. Examples:
| An can Juan guinsurát | (what John wrote) |
| An guinsurát ni Juan | (what John wrote) |
N.B.—The indefinite article, when needed at the beginning of the sentence, is replaced by the phrase “usa ng̃a” So, if we wish to say “a boy came yesterday,” we should not say
| in batà nacánhi cacolop; but |
| usá ng̃a batà nacánhi cacolóp. |
This phrase usá ng̃a is not a perfect article, but it has the character of an adjective, even when used as an article. Therefore, both the indefinite in and the phrase usá ng̃a may be used in the same sentence. So, we can say, changing the regular order of the last sentence:
| Nacánhi cacolóp in usá ng̃a bata | (a boy came yesterday). |