ania
/ˈʔanja/
The Ilocano word for the English interrogative pronoun "what" is ania.
Meaning: what? (interrogative pronoun) (pron)
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈʔanja/
Did you know?
- While ania asks 'what', Ilocano uses a completely different word, asinno, when asking for a choice between specific items.
- The word ania is part of a larger system of Austronesian languages, meaning it shares a distant ancestral root with words for 'what' in Malay or Indonesian.
- To say 'What is your name?', you do not use ania for 'what' but rather a phrase that translates to 'What is your called-name?'
Examples in context
- Ania kadi ti UFO?What is a UFO?This example shows how to use ania to ask for a definition.Tatoeba #4724242 by saluyot, translation #30165 by CC
- Ania ti adda kenka?What do you have?This sentence uses ania to ask about the possession of an object.Tatoeba #4674455 by saluyot, translation #69589 by CK
- Para iti ania daytoy?What is it for?This demonstrates using ania to ask about the purpose of something.Tatoeba #4675339 by saluyot, translation #3738435 by CK
- Anya ti problema?What's the problem?
- 80 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ricardo and Angel are talking in their living room.
- RicardoAnia ti kayatmo?What do you want?
- AngelKayatko ti agkaasi.I want to ask for a favor.
- RicardoAnia dayta?What is that?
- AngelMaysa a tulong laeng.Just a little help.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “what” translations and entries ania, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
