The Multidimensionality of Cebuano Pronominals - Avenues for a Qualitative Investigation

Abstract

The study explores the properties of Cebuano pronominals in written discourse. Using Cebuano texts that are accessed online as its corpus, close textual analysis was done that aimed at determining the position of the pronouns in the clauses of written discourse. Findings reveal the dynamic nature of Cebuano pronominals in relation to the other morphological elements preceded or are followed by them. First, if the pronoun is attached to the verb, the position of the personal pronouns changes depending on the affix attached to the verb as the affix functions to denote the time the action was taken by the agent. Second, in terms of syntactic structure, Cebuano and English pronouns are similar. Third, the syntax of the personal pronouns is relative to the morphological unit these are attached to. In the case of a negative clause, deletion of the verb the initial pronoun follows is observed. Fourth, Cebuano pronominals are context-dependent rather than gender-determined. In sum, the findings open interesting avenues for students in Applied Linguistics to further investigate. For one, these observations may be explored individually using qualitative mechanisms of analyzing Cebuano pronominals and how they spell power relationships. Additionally, a contrastive analysis may be done between Cebuano pronominals and other Asian or Indo-European languages.