# Mahal na mahal kita



## Seb_K

Hi. 

A friend of mine from the Philippines sent me this ... Mahal na mahal kita ...

I know that mahal kita means I love you but what about mahal na? 

Thanks!


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## Jana337

Seb, you will soon be a member (as opposed to a junior member). It's time you learned how to choose thread titles. Please read the forum rules and have a look at the sticky thread here in Other langauges.

Jana


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## Oka-chan

Hi 
Ako ay si Oka-chan.

As you say, "Mahal kita" means "I love you."
And "Mahal na mahal kita" means "I love you very much"

In tagalog, the repeat of same word emphasizes the word.
At that time, these words are connected with a "linker"
The linker is "-ng" , "-g" or "na".

In the case the last letter of the word is vowel, the linker is "-ng"
In the case the last letter of the word is "n", the linker is "-g"
In the case the last letter of the word is other consonant, the linker is "na".

For example, "Masayang masaya ako" ..."I'm very happy"


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## Seb_K

Thank you for the explanation Oka-Chan.


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## Qcumber

You cannot put anything between the first adjective and the linker.
e.g. _*Masayá akóng masayá._ "I'm very happy." 
 e.g. *_Masayá ká báng masayá?_ "Are you very happy?"

[In the first version of this message, the passage above was wrong, hence the corrected version you can read now. Thanks a lot, ShroomS]

To turn these sentences into the negative, you add _hindî _at the beginning and the small words move leftward to place themselves behind it.
e.g. _Hindî akó masayáng masayá_. "I'm not very happy."
_Hindî ká bá masayáng masayá?_ "Aren't you very happy?"


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## Qcumber

*Mahál kitá. "I love you."*

This short and common sentence has two interesting features.

1) The verb is reduced to its stem. The full form is _minámahál._
This form is focused on "you"_,_ and the in-focus form for "you" is _ká_.
Since "you" is in-focus, "I" is out of focus. The out-of-focus form for "I" is _kó_. 

2) The sentence should be: *_Minámahál kó ká._
*_Kó ká_ doesn't exist. It is replaced by a synthertic pronoun that combines both: _kitá, _hence: _Minámahál kitá. > Mahál kitá_.


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## ShroomS

Qcumber said:
			
		

> You can put the pronoun between the first adjective and the linker.
> e.g. _Masayá akóng masayá._ "I'm very happy."
> 
> You can also put the interrogative _bá_ and other such particles in the same slot.
> e.g. _Masayá ká báng masayá?_ "Are you very happy?"



I've never heard or read such sentences before. The rules you stated are valid, but they can't be applied to sentences with doubled Tagalog words. As doubled Tagalog words are hyphenated and counted as one word. Hence, "Masayang-masaya", treated as one word which cannot be cut apart.

And so, translating "I'm very happy" to Tagalog using the word "masayang-masaya" is limited to either "Ako'y masayang-masaya" or "Masayang-masaya ako".


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## Qcumber

Oh, really? Thank a lot, ShroomS


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## ShroomS

No prob, Q. Anyway, I commend your enthusiasm in learning our language. Kudos!


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## Qcumber

ShroomS, perhaps the rule is: compounds cannot be split.
Take for instance _hánap-búhay_ "means of lving". We can say: 
_Hánap-búhay kó iyán._ "It's my living."
Now, can we say the following?
_Hánap kó'ng búhay iyán._


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## ShroomS

Well, you're right. Compound words cannot be split. However, to be more accurate and to further widen the scope of the rule, let's rephrase it to: Compound and repeated words cannot be split. 

In Tagalog, there's what we call repeated words, they fall under a different category from compound words. Repeated words are those that have their root word or their syllables repeated, whereas Compound words are made up from two different words. Like in the case of "Magandang-maganda" which is a "repeated adjective" (pang-uring inuulit), it is different from "Murang-bughaw" (light blue) which is a "compound adjective" (pang-uring tambalan). Both these words, as stated in the rule above, cannot be split.

Of course, same rule applies to compound nouns such as "Hanapbuhay" or "Hanap-buhay". They cannot be split... in the same way that you can't cut apart repeated nouns like "Bahay-bahayan" (playhouse). Cheers.


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## Qcumber

This is very interesting and useful, ShrooomS. Where to place short words in Tagalog is difficult to master. Thanks a lot.


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## Qcumber

I have modified my message about reduplicated adjectives so that readers who do not know Tagalog should not be misled.


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## Seb_K

Shrooms, can you explain why there are doubled Tagalog words? 



Still very, very new to this language. Hehe. Thanks.


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## ShroomS

Hello there, Seb!

Hmm... Well for Tagalog adjectives, the purpose in doubling or repeating the words is to double or at least heighten their intensity/effectivity/quality. It's pretty much like doubling the dose of medicines to optimize their effectiveness. As for Tagalog nouns, I think there's really no clear or definite purpose. Cheers.


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## Seb_K

Shrooms!

Thank you for the explanation. Now I know why. To make it more effective. By the way, how long does it take for one be to fluent and good is that person is studying alone. I may wanna do that after my exams. Mmm. 

Any advices?


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## Qcumber

As a European who has been studying Tagalog for several years, I can tell you it is difficult, but intellectually extremely enriching and rewarding. Indo-European languages are completly different from Austronesian ones, Tagalog in particular.

Of course, since you are a Malay, many things will be a lot easier for you.

Part of the difficulty is due  to the fact that in actual speech  Tagalogs do not speak Tagalog but a mixture of Tagalog and English called Taglish when Tagalog dominates, and Engalog (seldom used) when English dominates. Some people also say "mix-mix". Conversely the literature is in Tagalog.

Now if you turn to literature, you'll realize very soon that the number of books published in Tagalog is surprisingly small. Any Manila bokstores has plenty of books in English and only a tiny few in Tagalog.

The press is generally in English, too. I only found two newpapers in Tagalog aimed at an unsophistaced audience.

Finally, many Tagalogs refuse to speak Tagalog. They told me they only used it to address their servants.

Tagalog is hardly taught in schools and only used for its own teaching. As far as I could see there is no teaching of maths, physics, biology in Tagalog. All this is done in English. English was even recently reestablished as the medium of instruction by the current President.

This being said, Tagalog is nonetheless well and alive, and you will be surprised that it has survived the mass destruction organized by the powerful pro-English lobby.

It is a marvellous language that deserves serious studies.


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## Roshini

I agree with Qcumber, as I am a tagalog learner as well and had tedious problems at the beginning. But thanks to the soaps aired here in Malaysia, I have learned a lot and also people here in this forum being extremely nice in helping me. But then again, you have to do your homework first. Hehehe..


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## Seb_K

Q, I am a Malaysian but not a Malay. 

Will be looking forward to learn this language after my exams because I find Tagalog beautiful ... And this forum has been a great help for me to understand a little bit more about this language. 

And Roshini, thanks for the advice. Haha. Will find some homework to do.


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## Qcumber

Seb_K, since you are a Malaysian, I suppose you speak Malaysian, which is a variety of Malay.


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## Roshini

Mmm... seb K, I'm a Malaysian too but not a Malay, but I'm proud to say that I'm fluent in Malay....hehehe. And for the advise, no problem at all. Always feel free to ask. When one knows how to speak Malay, Tagalog just comes along.... of course with problems like arranging words in a sentence, di ba? Have fun!


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