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Nouns & Ang/Ng/Sa Articles

The three article sets: ang (topic), ng (genitive/object), sa (locative)
Full article paradigm table
complete article system for common and personal nouns
varies
Common: ang/ng/sa; Personal sg: si/ni/kay; Personal pl: sina/nina/kina
Ang-marked topic alternation
any semantic role can be topic with right focus verb
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Actor, patient, location, beneficiary, instrument can all be topic
Genitive ng as possessor marker
ng noun phrase marks possessor post-nominally
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Ang kotse ng guro = The teacher's car (possessor follows possessed noun)
Sa as goal/beneficiary marker
sa phrases mark direction, goal, or dative
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Pumunta siya sa tindahan = He went to the store
Definiteness and the article system
ang does not mark definiteness like English the
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Ang marks the topic role, not definiteness per se
Quantifiers with nouns
ilan, lahat, iba, ilang plus ng
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Lahat ng estudyante = all of the students
Nominal sentences with ay
ay is an inversion marker in formal/written Tagalog
ay
Si Juan ay doktor = Juan is a doctor (formal/literary)
Ay-inversion and register
colloquial Tagalog avoids ay; formal/written uses it
ay
Spoken: Doktor si Juan; Written: Si Juan ay doktor
Plural strategies beyond mga
reduplication and context for plurality
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Mga is default; sometimes context or quantifiers suffice without mga
Demonstratives in the article system
ito/iyan/iyon as topic-marked NPs
varies
Ang magandang iyan = that beautiful one; demonstratives take ligatures