On
Obra

Happy May Day! May 1 is International Workers' Day or Labor Day in the Philippines, and we salute all our Kapampángan and Filipino workers for their hard work and service towards the building of our modern Filipino society.


ÓBRA • (OB-ruh)
work, job, occupation, labor
Tagálog (Filipino): trabáho


Etymology and Tagálog Comparison:
Although Philippine languages share a lot of similar Spanish loanwords, there are instances when they use different or unique ones. An example would be the words for “work” or “job” between Tagálog and Kapampángan.


Tagálog uses the word “trabáho,” which comes from Spanish trabajo with the exact same usage (“labor, job”). This word is not used in Kapampángan.


On the other hand, Kapampángan óbra comes from Spanish obra, which means “work” in a general sense, such as a work of art. Tagálog uses “obra” (“work of art”) in a more similar way to its Spanish usage.


Derived Words
MAÓBRA • (muh-OB-ruh)
laborious, cumbersome
Tagálog (Filipino): matrabáho


KAPAGÓBRA • (kuh-puh-GOB-ruh)
co-worker
Tagálog (Filipino): katrabáho


TALAPAGÓBRA • (tuh-luh-puh-GOB-ruh)
worker, laborer, worker class
Tagalog (Filipino): manggagáwà (Root Word: gawâ “do, make”)


Example Phrase:
Aldó da ring Talapagóbra [Kap]
Araw ng mga Manggagáwà [Tag]
Workers’ Day / Labor Day [Eng]


Verb Conjugation
magóbra, mágóbra, migóbra – to work, make a living; to go to work (Actor Focus)
manigóbra, mánigóbra, ménigóbra – to take effect, work (Actor Focus)


Example Sentences:


(1)
Nánung óbrá na? [Kap]
Anong trabaho niya? [Tag]
What’s her/his job? [Eng]


(2)
Magóbrá ná ku. [Kap]
Magtatrabaho na ako. [Tag]
I’ll be working now. / I’ll go to work now. [Eng]


You may want to read:

  • Father Of The Labor Code Of The Philippines
  • Philippines First Labor Union