“Hand” in every Philippine language
Hand across 9 languages, and what the differences tell you.
Last updated
Side by side
| Language | Hand |
|---|---|
| English | Hand |
| Tagalog | Kamay |
| Ilocano | Ima |
| Cebuano | Kamot |
| Hiligaynon | Kamot |
| Waray | Kamot |
| Bikol | Kamot |
| Kapampangan | Gamat |
| Pangasinan | Lima |
What the pattern shows
Three separate traps in one row: Ilocano 'ima' is Kapampangan for mother, Visayan 'kamot' is Tagalog for scratching, and Pangasinan 'lima' is the numeral five in every other language here.
Where they agree
- Kamot — Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bikol
Standing alone: Tagalog (Kamay), Ilocano (Ima), Kapampangan (Gamat) and Pangasinan (Lima).
Watch out
ima does not mean the same thing everywhere:
- A hand in Ilocano
- A mother in Kapampangan
Two Luzon languages a couple of provinces apart, three letters, nothing in common.
kamot does not mean the same thing everywhere:
- To scratch in Tagalog
- A hand in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bikol
Both turn up in instructions and descriptions of physical action, so the swap is easy to miss.
lima does not mean the same thing everywhere:
- Five in Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Bikol, Kapampangan
- A hand. The numeral five is limara in Pangasinan
The numeral came from the word for hand originally, and Pangasinan is the one language here that kept the older sense alongside the newer one.
More the body
The whole category as a word list: Ilocano Words for Parts of the Body · Tagalog Words for Parts of the Body
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.