Tagolilong & Reduplication
Hello! I am learning some Bisaya (and some Tagalog) and I have a question about the word "tagolilong"=invisible in English.
To me this word looks like a combination of "tago"=conceal;disguise;hide + "lilong"=conceal (meanings from Binisaya.com dictionary). This looks like a reduplication of meaning, not the usual reduplication of roots or syllables.
Does the word "tagolilong" read as "conceal-conceal" to bisdak ears? Why not say "tagotago" or "lilong-lilong"? Is the meaning of tagolilong somehow different from the meanings of tagotago or lilong-lilong? Or is this a "sounds better to bisdak ears" thing?
I know Cebuano likes to make new words from contractions, for example "bisdak"="bis-dak"="bisayang dako". And all Filipino languages seem to use reduplication to form new words or add emphasis. But tagolilang="tago-lilang" is different I think. No?
Another example might be "tangkas"=undo;unravel. This might be derived from "tangtang"=remove;unfasten + "kakas"=detach what is stitched. Do bisdak ears hear it this way? There are actually many reduplicated words with similar meanings to tangkas:
katkat=unravel ?= ikat x2;
tangtang=unfasten ?= tanggal x2
tastas=unstitch
matmat=unravel
badbad=untie
So why "tang-kas"? What is new and different about this combination? The two source words seem to cover a similar range of meanings. Is this a contraction of "tangtang-kakas"? Or a reduplication of meanings "untie-untie"? Or something more subtle?
Daghan kaayong salamat,
-briceman
tagolilong
A "tagolilong" does not fully translate into the English "invisible". An invisible person is surely a "tagolilong". However, an invisible air is not "tagolilong" but "dili makit-an". It's more of a mystical word. As the lore that been retold, if you get hold of the "invisible" egg a certain nightjar you will posses this power of invisibility. (btw, this bird is also called as a "tagolilong").
Reduplication is a hallmark of Austronesian languages in which Binisaya is a family member. "Tagolilong" is treated a whole and not just a reduplication. It does not have the ring of the word "tago-tago" which is a game of "hide an seek". "lilong-lilong" derived from the second meaning of the word which is "dizzy".
Reduplication translates into English as follows:
rootword is a : meaning
noun : like the noun (e.g. balay: house -> balay-balay: toy house)
verb : repeated action (e.g. hapak: hit -> hapak-hapak: repeatedly hit)
adjective: comparative (e.g. gamay: small -> gamay-gamay: smaller)
Nobody really knows where "tangkas" came from. It is theorized that the polysemous nature of language that creates these groups of inter-related words. Polysemy is also found in English and Binisaya is no exception.