Learning Waray: Waray-English and English-Waray Dictionary Vol. 2

This 2023 Revised Edition of the Dictionary (Purulungan) of Waray-English and English-Waray words supplements grammar and syntax learning of the Waray language. More than 5,100 Waray words in nearly 10,700 terms are defined in this Dictionary. Spanish-derived Waray words comprise 12% of borrowed terms, while a few come from English or American. This compilation of contemporary Waray vocabulary is the most current and comprehensive.

More than 112 million of the 7,641-island Philippines speak about 187 native languages and dialects. Waray (wah-râi) is the fifth most widely spoken after Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Cebuano, and Tagalog. Standardized Tagalog, dubbed Pilipino, and English are the official languages. Efforts to integrate the indigenous languages into a unified Filipino lingua franca could eventually absorb and render less spoken dialects extinct. The author feels obliged to write his mother tongue for his grandchildren and share this well-studied and fascinating language to learn with the present Waray-speaking generation and the rest of the world. Learning Waray is a two-volume reference book. The first volume is a friendly introduction to the language's Austronesian origins and Spanish and English speakers' influences, whose words became part of the lingua franca. The second volume, a Waray-English and English-Waray Dictionary (Purulungan), supplements the essential know-how by providing common words to practice speaking and writing the language.

Dr. Wilmo C. Orejola is a medical doctor, retired surgeon, inventor, and published author. His literary works include innovative scientific research articles published in peer-reviewed medical journals; a history book, An Basaynon: A History of Basey, Samar and Its People; a historical novel, Ghosts of the Insurrection; an epic poem A Mat Weaver's Story: The Legend of Bungansakit; and a dozen published short poems, including the award-winning Ode to Galileo Galilei. Born and raised in Basey, Samar, in the Philippines' Waray-speaking region, he resides in New Jersey with his wife, children, families, and grandchildren.