[11] A sequence [ds] or [dy] does not occur in final position. When a suffix -s is added to a base ending with d the combination ds automatically becomes [j]: Pid ‘name’ plus -s ‘diminutive suffix’ = Pids [pij].
[12] Our transcription of diy for /dy/ is unequivocal, as I have come across no case where [diy] occurs in contrast to [dy].
[13] The exception to this rule is forms which contain dead affixes—affixes which are not part of the productive or even live Cebuano morphological (inflectional and derivational) systems. Examples are takílid ‘turn the back’, bakilid ‘slope’, which obviously have prefixes ta- and ba- respectively and are connected with the root kílid ‘side’. But since ba- and ta- are not part of the active Cebuano derivational system, we list them under takílid and bakilid (with a cross reference to the root kílid). Such forms behave like roots, and it would only complicate the task of the user if they were not to be listed with their dead affix.
[14] One difference which sets off roots that are basically verbs from roots that are basically nouns and adjectives is that verb roots may occur unaffixed with the meaning ‘action of [doing so-and-so]’ whereas nouns and adjectives may not: Thus, lakaw ‘walk’, túyuk ‘turn’ are verbs because they occur unaffixed as nouns meaning the action of walking, turning: káda lakaw níya, ‘each time he walked’; káda túyuk níya, ‘each time he turned around’; but karsúnis ‘trousers’, ayruplánu ‘airplane’ are not because they do not occur in this meaning. (To express ‘action of wearing trousers’ the prefix pag- must be added to the noun karsúnis: Gidilì ang pagkarsúnis dinhi, ‘It is forbidden to wear pants here.’ Similarly a pag- must be added to ayruplánu to make a noun meaning ‘action of ...’: Ang pag-ayruplánu makapadali sa byáhi, ‘Taking a plane hastens the trip.’
Roots that are basically adjectives are distinguished from noun roots in that they occur with a prefix ka- in exclamations to mean ‘how very [adjective]!’ whereas nouns do not. Thus buguy ‘tramp’ is an adjective because it occurs with ka- in this meaning: kabuguy níya ‘what a tramp he is’, whereas kutsi ‘car’ is not. (To express, ‘what a car!’ the suffix -a(←) is used, not ka-: Ngilngígang kutsíha uy! ‘My! What a car!’)
[15] The root is taken to be inum because the form containing mu- is muinum ‘will drink’.
[16] However, this is true only of the Cebu City dialect. Other dialects retain /ʔC/: kàna /káʔna/ ‘eat it’.
[17] Dialectally they change to /d/: hadkan, padngan.
[18] In the strictest sense, of course, no two forms are the same in meaning: in English, for example, rather pronounced to rhyme with father is different in meaning from rather pronounced [ræd̵ər]. One is a strange or affected word and the other is a normal word. But which form is normal is all a matter of what part of the country one comes from, and a dictionary which is not regionally biased must list them as synonymous. Similarly, in Cebuano for any given speaker, where several forms compete, usually only one form is normal; but, as in the case of the two rather’s in English, the two competing forms are most often synonymous from the dictionary’s point of view.
[19] The existence of forms similar in meaning with initial l and initial vowel, e.g. lárag—árag ‘for leaves to fall off’, shows that this sound change also crossed morphological boundaries when it was in effect.