# diyan



## Seb_K

What is "diyan" and what is the usage of this word?


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## tanzhang

Diyan means there...

Naan Diyan means It is right there...

You can pronounce Diyan like this "jan"


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## Qcumber

Seb_K said:


> What is "diyan" and what is the usage of this word?


Seb, you probably have heard of the concept of grammatical focus applied to Tagalog.
There are three focus-related markers in Tagalog: _ang, sa, ng [nang]._
*Ang* is the focus marker; *sa* is the prepositional marker; *ng [nang]* is the non-focus marker. I won't use the abbreviation *ng* for *nang* in what follows.

Any nominal phrase must begin with one of these markers.
Let's translate: *"The teacher gave a book to the child."*
vocabulary: _bigáy_ "give", _títser_ "teacher",_ libró_ "book", _bátà_ "child".

1) focus on _títser _"teacher"
Nagbigáy *ang títser* nang libró sa bátà.

2) focus on _libró _"book"
Ibinigáy nang títser *ang libró* sa bátà.

3) focus on _bátà _"child"
Binigyán nang títser nang libró *ang bátà*.

Demonstratives follow the same system except that the marker is integrated into the word as a grammatical morpheme.
e.g.: iyán "that"

ang marker: *{ang + iyán} > *iyán*
Anó iyán? = What's that?
cf. Anó ang pangálan mó? = What's your name?

nang marker: *{nang + iyán} > *niyán *
Síno ang may-árì niyán? = Who is its owner? < Who is the owner of that?
cf. Síno ang iná nang bátà? = Who is the child's mother?

Bákit ganiyán? = Why is it like that?
cf. Bákitgalakí nang elepánte ang kalabáw mó? = Why is their buffalo as big as an elephant?

sa marker: *{sa + iyán} > *diyán*
Anó ang táwag diyán? = What is it called? < What is that called?
cf. Anó ang táwag sa táong gumawâ nang sapátos? = What do you call a person who makes shoes?


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## Seb_K

Oo ... I do understand!

Thanks!


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