“Mouth” in every Philippine language
Mouth across 9 languages, and what the differences tell you.
Last updated
Side by side
| Language | Mouth |
|---|---|
| English | Mouth |
| Tagalog | Bibig |
| Ilocano | Ngiwat |
| Cebuano | Baba |
| Hiligaynon | Baba |
| Waray | Baba |
| Bikol | Nguso |
| Kapampangan | Asbuk |
| Pangasinan | Sangi |
What the pattern shows
Visayan 'baba' is a mouth; Tagalog 'baba' is a chin, and with different stress it is also 'down'. Neighbouring body parts, different words.
Where they agree
- Baba — Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray
Standing alone: Tagalog (Bibig), Ilocano (Ngiwat), Bikol (Nguso), Kapampangan (Asbuk) and Pangasinan (Sangi).
Watch out
nguso does not mean the same thing everywhere:
- A snout; pouted lips in Tagalog
- A mouth in Bikol
Same body region, different animal: the Tagalog word is for a snout or pouted lips, the Bikol one is the mouth itself.
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.