Pakanengneng: The Pangasinense’s Sharp Sense of Sight

Pakanengneng: The Pangasinense’s Sharp Sense of Sight

The Pangasinan language is consistently nuanced even in the field of vision.

Pakanengneng is the basic term for sense of sight from the root word nengneng (to see).

Terms for eye movements include:

Limata - to open the eyes

Pikit, Kapot, Kupit, Sara - to close the eyes

Linggis -  to stare or look

Morikat, Bukas - to open the eyes without seeing anything

Mulagat, Muldag - to open the eyes wide

Kurarap - to open the eyes wide to see in the dark

Kunineng - to flap of the eyelids repeatedly to make out something in the dark

Kulirep - irap in Tagalog; to move the eyes in such a way as to briefly stare at someone sharply, with the eyes opening and closing within a second; almost like a squint, it is an expression of disgust

Kindat - to wink

Pultak - to make the eyeballs bulge as to seem to stick out of the eye sockets owing to sheer fright/terror, excitement, or surprise

Kirem - to open and close the eyes

Kespay - to flap the eyelids slowly as when sleepy

Birbir - to stare at someone intently and for a longish period of time to recall who the person is

Imaton - to observe

Laram - to feel uncomfortable when staring directly at strong light (glare)

Iwandag (so mata) - to look around carefully

Tiring - to calibrate one's line of sight in order to hit a target; a term used while using a slingshot or gun or while playing marbles

Pasikmatan - siglaw in Tagalog; to see something pass by in split seconds without consciously noticing it; root word is sikmat: naglahong parang bula or vanished into thin air; example: "Singa apasikmatan koy Pedro karuman ed dalan."

My grandmother also used to say bista and rebisa to mean inspect and review something (with one's own eyes, of course).

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In Old Pangasinan, according to Melchor Orpilla, we have the following terms:

Lanay - to show signs of sickness; example: Malanlanay so mata to. 

Lirág - to open wide in anger, like they are on fire or glaring or staring fiercely; example: "Manlirág so mata to."

Paknuyot - to keep an eye on someone or something; sundan ng tingin; to follow closely with one's eyes; example: Pakpaknuyotan to ak ya unlalabas ëd sular na abung to.

Apasikmaran/apasigmaran means you happen to see momentarily someone or something without meaning to (ya ag ginagala). 

Pasikyapan is a very momentary glance, usually hidden glance (panakaw na tingin) when you are interested in someone or something; gagagalaën iya (it is done on purpose).

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Even more interesting are the razor-sharp terms for when the someone stares from certain vantage points -- terms I am having a hard time finding one-word equivalents in Tagalog and English:

Lingaw - lingon; to turn around and see; to look back on; an old term for “to look back on” is lingayen

Tandag - to stare or observe from a ledge or higher position

Takiling - to stare at something high from down below

Tangay - to look up

Usdong - to look down on

Siim - to espy someone or take a peep (done in secret, of course)

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(Note: The terms for crying are also numerous, but let's skip this part for another time.)

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The eyes can be described in a number of ways:

Bulag (blind), gilabot, duling, or pangkis (cross-eyed), banlag (the pupils of the eyes are misaligned, with one or two in the opposite direction), bulding (one-eyed), bunineng (malabo ang paningin; blurry-eyed).

Dapurak lay pakanengneng to: eyes that can hardly see

Alaram so mata to: eyes that can’t see through the glare

Marmarlang so mata to - bright-eyed

Makmakden so linggis to - nanlilisik ang mata; eyes that look sharp like daggers due to anger or intensity

Malinlinew a mata - clear-eyed

Makarinyon mata - charming  eyes

Manmukat - eyes that are filled with motes

Unaapoy so mata to, singa demonyo - eyes that are livid with fury

For the shape and size of eyes, there’s muldagat or manmuldag (wide-eyed) and pikit (slit-eyed). Synonyms include: 

Impanmatay kulayot, impanmatay biroroko: wide-eyed

Matan singa bisokol (eyes as big as a snail) - big, bulging eyes

Mata'y dueg, (carabao eye) - muldagat; malaking mata; big-eyed

Chinky-eyed people like with Chinese ancestry are jokingly referred to as having mata’y pantat (catfish-eyed) or singa makakaugip or makagkaugip ya impanmata (sleepy-eyed), if not singkit.

Mangkidyam so mata to - agusgustuan toy anengneng to! ; eyes dazzling with delight!

Maatap ya inpanmata - eyes that hardly look at you in the eye

Mankirat - with one eye closing now and then?

Akamata - na-sore eyes

Akabosigat - one's eye are wide open

Abungaan - the eyes got infected presumably due to pamboboso (peeping)

Abulag - napuwing; to get the eyes irritated

Burareg, buragas - malabo sa paningin; blurry to the eyes

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Other eye-related expressions and idiomatic expressions are numerous:

Figuratively, gunaet is the word for vision.

Aga akireman (hindi nakisapmatahan, did not occur even in the twinkling of an eye) - mabilis gumalaw, singbilis ng kisapmata; ultrafast

Aga makalimatay bakes - kamuno uran et wala kayod luganan aga nanengneng so kasabatan ed dalan; di makita sa labo; zero visibility

Aga naaknit so linggis to. - literally: his/her gaze can't be set aside; The eyes are focused on her/him. Sara'y mata wala'd sikaton lanang. Ang mga mata ay laging nakatingin sa kanya.

Apatiran mata (four-eyed) - malabo ang mata; blurry-eyed

Mankespay lay mata to. (Kumukumpas? na ang mga mata niya.) - inaantok na; sleepy

Pinmuti lay mata tod panaalagar to. (His eyes have turned white while waiting.) - aga unsasabi o sinmabi so katongtong to, aga sinmabiy kasipanan to; in-indian siya sa kanilang usapan o tipanan; was stood up in his/her agreed-upon meet-up or romantic date; var. Amuti lay mata tod panaalagar to.

Amagaan lay mata ton manaalagar. ((His eyes have turned dry while waiting.) - ang tagal dumating nung kausap; one waited for so long for someone to show up or arrive 

Sankanengneng moy matam (You're looking at your eyes.) - no walay gagawaen et agka mangiba; not doing anything to help out or not giving a hand

Say mata so pananap, aliwan sangi (you use the eyes to search, not the mouth) - you keep on talking instead of looking (at the missing object)

Singa pinya’y mata to (his/her eyes are like pineapple) - tsismosa; gossip

Singa saksakulap (like an owl [Philippine frogmouth]) - angkakabaleg so mata to, nasilip, nalikas, naimano ton amin; has such big eyes that he can notice everything

Saray agnanengneng - those that can't be seen: spirits or particularly, the naughty and harmful elementals

Singsinga diyes so pakanengneng to'd tawen. (The way he sees heaven is just like ten centavos.) - an expression that refers to a man's reaction while appreciating a lady's voluptuous body 

Bulagkok refers to anyone who is unable to see something he is looking for due to carelessness. syn.: Alikdaraw 

Related Terms

The expression, "piyan walay pakanengnengan" means "so that (someday) we'll have proof or evidence or something to look back on (for all our hard work)"

Another related term is mamataen (iniismol in Tagalog), meaning looking down on someone or despising someone.

Alikdaraw ka means "Singa ka kabaw ta agmo ninengneng o careless ka."

What other eye-related terms and expressions do you know?

(Thanks to Efren Abulencia, Melchor Orpilla, Rolando Almazan, Tessie Reyes, and members of the Bayambang Culture Mapping Project for contributed terms and expressions)