Note 5 — INTRODUCTION

This dictionary is a comprehensive listing of approximately 25,000 Cebuano roots with English explanations of their meanings and uses and an indication of the affixational system to which each root is subject, with ample illustrations. Most of the forms here listed are taken from written sources or from taped oral sources of Cebuano of nearly a million words, gathered from all over the Cebuano speech area and covering a wide range of topics and styles. The written sources are some 400 issues of Cebuano publications: Bisaya, Silaw, and Bag-ong Suga, a few novenas, novels, and other collections that have been published.5 About ninety percent of the forms here listed come from these oral or printed sources. Forms which did not occur in these sources but which were well known to me or at least one of the members of the staff that composed this dictionary are also included. Further, any form which occurred in our sources which was not known to our personnel was not included.6 Although there are numerous published sources of Cebuano forms—dictionaries and anthropological and biological studies, we have not taken any forms from them that could not be confirmed directly from our texts or informants.