Huy and Hoy

Communicating in Filipino is fun. I make no claims to speaking any of the Filipino dialects fluently but second best is sounding like you do. First thing to learn is how to "capture" someone's attention. There is "psssst." This is a soft hiss, meant only for the intended recipient of attention-capturing who might not even hear it but senses something in the atmosphere causing him to turn his head this way and that until he sees the hisser. The hissing is then acknowledged by exaggerated lifting of the eyebrows.

Then there is "SSSutttt!", with heavy emphasis on the ssss and ttttt. Dog Whisperer uses this to alert dogs to unwanted behavior. But Filipino parents have used this for centuries to alert their children to parental surveillance. with practice, the "SSSuttt" can be so loud as to be heard across a restaurant or department store. It means "Stop that, now!" The recipient of the "SSSuttt" instinctively drops everything and flinches at this sound. Perhaps because it can sometimes be accompanied by a "batok", a light but swift whack to the back of the head.

"Huy" and "Hoy" are other attention grabbers. "Huy" is more surreptitious and could indicate something conspiratorial like "Huy, can I copy your homework?". "Hoy" is outraged. "Hoy! Stop copying my homework!

The practice of these four sounds will surprise the market vendors in Hilo and Kona. They love to prattle in their native Filipino dialects, secure in their belief that no one understands them. Be indignant at their prices, "Hoy, that's too expensive! You think I'm rich?" And then follow with, "Huy, give me a discount, okay?"