B, b – the 2nd letter in the Sugboanon Bisaya alphabet; pronounced as ‘ba.’ Below are some of the new bisayan words i’ve learned that starts with B,b:

babaylan per wikipedia is a Visayan term identifying an indigenous Filipino religious leader, who functions as a healer, a shaman a seer and a community “miracle-worker” (or a combination of any of those). It is quite an amazing experience to meet babaylans and for folks in Northern California, do check out Center for Babaylan Studies‘ upcoming events.

baluto (see photo)

bigiw (see photo)

butbot is the “coconut apple” that is refreshing to the palate.

It takes practice; pronouncing the words are fun and yes, it takes practice. one of our core members is from the wailaki tribe of northern california. as i shared about lakbayjuan’s bigiw design, this wailaki person kept mispronouncing bigiw, no, it’s not big-eww, not bi-gew, lips were shaping the -iw as if there was something gross nearby, like —eeeeuuwww! with a stress on the exclamation point. try it, say it. maybe you’ll have as much fun as we did with bigiw.