“Fire” in every Philippine language
Fire across 9 languages, and what the differences tell you.
Last updated
Side by side
| Language | Fire |
|---|---|
| English | Fire |
| Tagalog | Apoy |
| Ilocano | Apuy |
| Cebuano | Kalayo |
| Hiligaynon | Kalayo |
| Waray | Kalayo |
| Bikol | Kalayo |
| Kapampangan | Api |
| Pangasinan | Apoy |
What the pattern shows
Visayan 'kalayo' is fire; Tagalog 'kalayo' would be parsed as 'distance'. The Luzon languages all keep apoy/apuy.
Where they agree
- Kalayo — Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bikol
- Apoy — Tagalog, Pangasinan
Standing alone: Ilocano (Apuy) and Kapampangan (Api).
Watch out
kalayo does not mean the same thing everywhere:
- Distance — parsed as ka- plus layo, 'far' in Tagalog
- Fire in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bikol
Tagalog reads it as ka- attached to layo, 'distance'. It is a single indivisible word in the Visayan languages.
More nature & weather
The whole category as a word list: Ilocano Words for Nature and Weather · Tagalog Words for Nature and Weather
Where this comes from
This row is one of 161 concept pages drawn from a parallel set of everyday vocabulary held across nine languages. You can browse all of them, download the whole set under CC BY-SA 4.0, or paste text to find out which language it is.
Compiled from published general reference and pending review by native speakers. If something here is wrong in a language you speak, please tell us.