Dialectal comparison of Central Bikol

Like other Philippine languages, Bikol has a number of loanwords, largely Spanish ones as a result of Spanish rule in the Philippines. These include swerte (suerte, 'luck'), karne (carne, 'meat'), imbestigador (investigador, 'investigator'), litro ('liter'), pero ('but'), and krimen (crimen, 'crime'). Another source of loanwords in Bikol is Sanskrit, with examples including words like bahala ('responsibility') and karma.

Consonants

There are 16 consonants in the Bikol language: /m, n, ŋ, p, t, k, ʔ, b, d, ɡ, s, h, l, w~ʋ, ɾ, j~ʝ/. Eight sounds are borrowed from loanwords: /f, v, ɲ, tʃ, dʒ, ʃ, ʒ, ʎ/.

The sound system of the language according to Mintz in 1971^[4] is as follows.

Vowels

Native words exhibit a three-vowel system whose vowels can be noted as /a, i, u/, with /u/ realized as [o] in the final syllable. Due to contact with Spanish, modern Central Bikol also has two marginal phonemes /e, o/ distinct from /i, u/.

Particles

Like many other Philippine languages, Bikol has a rich set of discourse particles.

• bagá – (Tagalog: diba/nga) used for emphasis determined by context
• bayâ – giving a chance to someone; polite insisting
• daa – (Tagalog: daw) quoting information from a secondary source
• pati - emphasizing the condition that intensifies the difficulties. (Mauranon pati)
• daw – (Tagalog: ba/kaya) interrogative particle
• dawà/maski - (Tagalog: kahit) although
• dángan - (Tagalog: tapos) then
• garó – (Tagalog: mukhang, parang) likeness or similitude. English: 'It looks like, it's as if'.
• gáyo – 'exactly'
• daing gáyo – 'not exactly, not really'
• gayód – (Tagalog: bakâ) 'maybe, could be'
• giráray/liwát – (Tagalog: [m]uli) 'again'
• kutâ (na) – 'I hope (something did / did not happen' ; 'If only ...' (conditionality of past events)
• lámang, lang/saná – (Tagalog: lang) 'only, just'
• lugód – hoping that something will happen, or expressing surrender/assent
• man – (Tagalog: din, rin) 'also' or 'ever' (such as ano man 'whatever' and si isay man 'whoever')
• malà - 1. relenting or agreeing (Mala, dumanan mo siya kun iyan an gusto mo) 2. one is yielding (Mala ta nagpahunod na siya.) 3. stating what actually happened (Mala iyan, inabotan mi sindang huruba.)
• mûna/ngûna – (Tagalog: muna) 'first' or 'yet'
• na – (Tagalog: na) 'now' or 'already'
• naman – (Tagalog: naman) 'again'
• nanggád – (Tagalog: talaga, nga) 'really, truly, absolutely' (adds a sense of certainty)
• niyako – 'I said'
• nganì – expresses fate ("This is helpless") or a plea for others not to insist
• ngántig – indicates to a person what they should say to another (Ini ngantig an dapat gibohon niya.)
• ngápit – 'in the future', 'later' (span of time)
• ngayá – expresses a hypothetical event/situation (Ini man ngaya an taguan ninda.)
• pa – (Tagalog: pa) 'still'
• palán – (Tagalog: pala) expresses surprise or sudden realization
• tabì – (Tagalog: po) politeness marker; po in some Bikol dialects due to the influence of Tagalog.
• harambili – 'lest' (Akuon ko na sana an ayuda kan barangay, harambiling makamati nin gutom. I'll just accept the help of the barangay, lest I will get hungry).
• túlos – (Tagalog: agad) 'immediately, right away'
• talagá – (Tagalog: talaga) 'really', 'truly'

Numerals

There exist two types of numerals in Bikol: native Bikol and Spanish numerals. Generally, Bicolanos use the Spanish terms when referring to time, as in the phrase a las singko ('5 o'clock'). However, the native terms can be read in literary books. The Spanish numerals are often encountered in pricing.