LAMBING AS A CULTURE-SPECIFIC CONCEPT
Many of the things we say have meanings beyond the words we speak. We communicate with one another by pahiwatig—doing or saying things to send messages we don’t explicitly articulate. Lambing is one of the ways by which pahiwatig is expressed.
Lambing is also called pamamalimos ng haplos or begging for affection. When we want to ask someone to do something for us, many times we don’t just go and ask; we use the charms of lambing, which for many is also an expression of affection. Because meanings lie outside the realm of words when we show lambing, we use our feelings to understand the messages sent to us. This is why lambing is for people in our lives who will make the effort to try to understand what we’re trying to say beyond the words we speak.
How do we use the word lambing?
Malambing na boses.
May lambing ang anak kong ganon.
Isang magandang lambing yan sa kaniya.
Naghahanap ng lambing.
Makukuha sa lambing.
Bumigay sa lambing.
Kulang sa lambing.
Super lambing.
Sobrang lambing.
Konting lambing.
How do we say lambing in English?
Bilingual dictionaries gloss lambing as “caress, affection, fondness, tenderness.” These English words have meanings distinct from the meaning of lambing because words and the concepts they embody are inextricably linked to the culture of the people using the language to which the words belong. Meaning is not fully transferable from one language to another, which is why a Filipino concept like lambing has no exact equivalent in English.
When our minds inhabit a world of two or three languages, and we think about the meaning of a word like lambing, we perceive how a concept embodied in a word in one language cannot be adequately expressed in another word which belongs to a different language.
When we explore the meaning of a concept specific to our ways of feeling, ways of seeing, and ways of talking, we also learn more about ourselves and who we are.
Gising na ang araw at umaakyat na sa itaas,
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As the sun wakes up and climbs higher in the sky,
Gising na ang araw at umaakyat na sa itaas,
Balong of Bayombong watches his Papang
feed their carabao some freshly cut grass.
Balong gently rubs the carabao’s neck
as it playfully sways its head and snorts.
Balong pats the carabao’s head and says,
“We have a lot of work to do, my friend nuang.”
Ni Balong iti Bayombong ket buybuyaenna ni Papang
na nga agpakpakan ti nalangto nga ruot.
Inin inayad ni Balong nga apaprusan iti tengnged
ti nuang nga ingilngilangil na ti ulo na ken nagbanang-es.
Taptapiken ni Balong diay ulo ti nuang ket kinunana,
“Adu ti trabaho nga ubraen ta, gayyem ko nga nuang.”
In the kitchen of a tidy townhouse in Quezon City,
three sisters scramble to make breakfast.
Janet, Beng and Rina help each other
fry eggs and fish and set the table for Mommy.
They run up the stairs to Mommy’s room and say,
“Surprise! Happy Birthday Mommy Millie!”
Sa kusina ng isang napakalinis na townhouse sa Quezon City,
Nagkukumahog ang tatlong magkakapatid sa paghahanda ng almusal.
Nagtutulungan sina Janet, Beng, at Rina sa pagpriprito ng isda at itlog
kasabay ng paghahanda ng mesa para kay Mommy.
Agad silang tumakbo paakyat sa kuwarto ni Mommy sabay sabing,
“Surprise! Happy Birthday Mommy Millie!”
Before Daddy gets ready for his meetings in Makati, he picks baby up and gives him a warm, yummy, bubbly bath.
Daddy says, “A-baby-baby-Lee, baby-Lee, baby Leeee.
”Baby Lee Baby Lee gives Daddy a big, tender, ear-to-ear smile.
gurgles, “Ah-deee.”
gurgles, “Ah-deee.”
Abot-tainga ang matamis na ngiti ni Baby Lee para kay Daddy.
Bago magbihis si Daddy para sa kanyang mga miting sa Makati,
kinuha niya si baby at pinaliguan nang maligamgam na tubig.
kinuha niya si baby at pinaliguan nang maligamgam na tubig.
Sabi ni Daddy, “A-baby-baby-Lee, baby-Lee, baby Leeee.”
Sagot naman ni Baby Lee, “Ah-deee.”
“Nay, nay, can I go with you, please, can I go?”
Nina goes to Balintawak market with her Nanay.
There she sees a bracelet of blue, red, and yellow glass beads.
She pulls Nanay’s dress, tightens her grip on her hand and says,
“Nay, nay, can you please buy me this...sige na, please?”
“Nay, nay, sama po ako ha, nay, sige na, nay, ha?”
Sumama si Nina kay Nanay sa palengke ng Balintawak.
Nakakita siya doon ng babasaging pulseras na asul, pula, at dilaw.
Hinila niya ang damit ni Nanay at kumapit nang mas mahigpit,
“Nay, nay, ibili po ninyo ako niyan, ha nay, sige na po, Nay.”
Now the sun, a gigantic orb of light, spreads its beams and
Ang araw ay isa nang napakalaking bola ng liwanag at
Mama Anita, in her charming Iloilo home,sits and sighs and smiles as she looks into her son’s eyes.Her wrinkly hand touches his arm as she softly whispers,“Pangga, can you please play your flute for me, ha pangga?”
Si Nanay Anita, sa iya makagalanyat nga balay sa Iloilo,Nagapungko, nagapanghayhay, kag nagayuhumsamtang ginatulok niya ang mga mata sang iya bata.Gin-apuhap sang iya kurinot nga kamot ang bukton sini kag iya ginhutikan,“Pangga, palihog man ay, pabatia ako sang tokar sang imo plauta. Ha, pangga?”
The water and the wind sing a lullaby duet
in the mountains of Sinuda where Mama Mimi squats
beside a winding crystal river to wash Daday’s clothes.
Daday stretches her arms to touch her mother’s face and coos,
“Muh-mah, MUH-mah, muh-MAH, muh-MAAAAA.”
Nagduyog ug kanta ang tubig ug hangin
sa kabukiran sa Sinuda kung asa si Mama Mimi mipungko
dapit sa kristal nga suba aron maglaba sa mga sinina ni Daday.
Migakos si Daday ug mihikap sa nawong sa iyang mama, unya niagumod,
“Muh-mah, MUH-mah, muh-MAH, muh-MAAAAA.”
Ben the birthday boy is surrounded by his cousins
in Antipolo where his Titos and Titas live.
Tito calls him Benjamin, Papa calls him Ben,
But his cousins have a special name just for him:
“Bentot! Bentot Potpot! Happy Birthday, Bentot!”
Napaligiran si Ben ng kaniyang mga pinsan
sa Antipolo kung saan nakatira ang mga Tito at Tita niya.
Benjamin ang tawag ni Tito sa kaniya, Ben ang tawag ni Papa,
Pero mga pinsan niya may kakaibang pangalan para sa kaniya:
“Bentot! Bentot Potpot! Happy Birthday, Bentot!”
Mama Marivic works in Bologna, Italy.
She puts in toys and towels and dolls and candies
in a box for May-May and Jing-Jing in Butuan.
She smiles as she picks up a toy train and sticks a label on it. It reads:
“For Dodong.”
Gatrabaho si Mama Marivic sa Bologna, Italy.
Iyang gibutangan ug dulaan, toalya, munyeka,
ug kendi ang karton nga para kang May-May ug Jing-Jing sa Butuan.
Mipahiyum siya pagpikit niya ug ngalan sa tarak-tarak. “Para kang Dodong.”
As the sleepy sun sinks into its bed in the sky,
Paghiga ng antok na araw sa kaniyang kama,
RJ asks his mom to help him with his homework.
In their Ortigas condo where Mommy reads him a book,
RJ plants a garden of tiny kisses on her arms.
He giggles and says, “For you, Mommy, for being a good mom.”
Binabasahan ni Mommy ng libro si RJ sa kanilang condo sa Ortigas.
Doon nagpatulong si RJ sa mommy niyang gumawa ng takdang-aralin.
Pinupog niya ng mga munting halik ang braso ng mommy niya.
Humagikhik siya sabay sabi: “For you Mommy, you’re a good mom, eh.”
Maya rushes to the door to give Papa her welcome hug.
Papa Jun gives Maya her favorite pasalubong:
warm siopao asado from Binondo's Chinatown.
She then pulls off Papa Jun’s shoes and socks as she says,
“Here are your slippers, Papa.”
Dali-daling sinalubong ng yakap ni Maya si Papa.
Inabot ni Papa Jun kay Maya ang paborito niyang pasalubong:
Mainit-init pang siopao asado mula sa Chinatown ng Binondo.
Tinanggal ni Maya ang sapatos at medyas ni Papa Jun at sinabing,
"Eto po ang tsinelas nyo, Papa"
Six-year-old Loloy of Cebu hums a lullaby
as he slowly rubs his head against his brother’s forehead.
Baby’s eyes move up and down, half-open, half-shut
as he looks up at Loloy and whispers, “Oo-yaaaaaaa.”
Loloy kisses his forehead and says, “Good night, Koy.”
Si Loloy nga taga Cebu miawit ug awit ipakatulog para sa iyang manghod
samtang gi hinayhinay niya ug nudnud ang iyang agtang sa agtang niini.
Nagliraw-liraw ang mata sa bata, misimag, mipiyung, unya
mitan-aw siya ni Loloy ug mihunghong, “Oo-yaaaaaaa.”
Gihalukan ni Loloy ang iyang agtang ug miingon, “Good night, Koy.”
Do you remember how
Balong stroked his friend nuang’s neck?
Janet, Beng, and Rina prepared a surprise for Mommy Millie?
Daddy gave Baby Lee a bath?
Nina asked Nanay to buy her a bracelet?
Mama Anita asked her son to play his flute for her?
Daday touched Mama Mimi’s face?
Ben’s cousins gave Ben pet names?
Mama Marivic wrote Dodong’s name on the toy train?
RJ kissed his Mommy?
Papa Jun brought Maya pasalubong and Maya, her Papa’s slippers?
Loloy put his brother to sleep?
It’s one of the ways by which we
say something to people close to us
without really blurting things out.
How about you? How do you show
lambing.
