A Contrastive Analysis of English and Bisayan Languages: Cases of Pronouns in Focus

Abstract

The Bisayan language, a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, has a sound system that is representative of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. It is used as a means of communication in the provinces of Cebu, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Southern Leyte, Southern Masbate, and almost anywhere in Mindanao. Bisayan speakers constitute the second-largest ethno-linguistic group in the world. With the implementation of MTB-MLE, studying the similarities between English, the universal language, and Bisaya is considered significant. The objective of this contrastive study is to provide an overview of the patterns of personal pronouns in Bisaya in comparison to English. Specifically, the study focuses on the usage of pronouns in both English and Bisaya languages. Pronouns serve as replacements for a noun, noun phrase, or clause in a sentence. To achieve the goal of this study, children's stories written in Bisaya and translated into English were utilized as the study corpus. One notable finding of this study is that all pronouns in the Bisaya language can be used to refer to individuals of all genders, which differs from English. While the majority of the findings in this study align with previous investigations and provide supporting evidence, it is highly recommended that future research explore other linguistic aspects to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the distinctions and similarities between these two languages.