One of the first words we learn in Chamorro is åhe’, which means “no.” But did you know that there are different ways to say “no” in our language? And depending on the context, some forms of “no” are considered more rude or polite than others in spoken Chamorro. In this post, we will learn four key ways to say “no” in Chamorro, and the appropriate contexts for each. Un dångkulo na si Yu’os ma’åse to native speaker Ray “Mahettok” Barcinas for providing more in-depth explainations to our learning group on this topic. This post includes 22 question and answer drills with audio pronunciations voiced by Jay Che’le. Happy studying!

Contents
Åhe’ Munga’ Tåya’ Taigue

Åhe’

Our first word is åhe’, which translates to “no”. In general, we use åhe’ when we are giving a negative response to inquiries about information. If we don’t know something, haven’t done something, or are responding in the negative about a piece of information, we can use åhe’ in our response. To better understand the different scenarios where we can use åhe’, let’s practice with the question and answer drills below:

Chamoru	English
Kao un chagi i habbon? (Did you try the soap?)	Åhe’, ti hu chagi. (No, I didn’t try it.)
Kao un li’e’ si Juan gi gipot? (Did you see Juan at the party?)	Åhe’, ti hu li’e’ si Juan gi gipot. (No, I didn’t see Juan at the party.)
Kao listu hao? (Are you ready?)	Åhe’, ti listu yu’. (No, I’m not ready.)
Kao magåhet enao na estoria? (Is that story true?)	Åhe’, ti magåhet ini na estoria. (No, this story isn’t true.)
Kao kuattro åños idåt-ña? (Is she/he four years old?)	Åhe’, sinko åños idåt-ña. (No, she/he is five years old.)
Kao maolek hao muñangu? (Are you good at swimming?)	Åhe’, ti maolek yu’ muñangu. (No, I am not good at swimming.)

Munga’

The word munga’ means “no, not, don’t” and is used when we are declining something offered to us, or declining something that involves some kind of action. The phrase munga’ yu’ is what we should use in our replies, and is an equivalent to the English “no thank you”. Saying munga’ yu’ is considered the more polite way to decline something, while saying åhe’ in those situations is considered rude. 

If someone offers you something, asks if you want something, or asks if you want to do an activity, we can say munga’ yu’ to decline. Here are some question and answer drills to help us practice using munga’ yu’ when we are asked if we want something:

Chamoru	English
Kao malago’ hao kafé? (Do you want coffee?)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)
Kao malago’ hao humånao guatu gi kanton tåsi? (Do you want to go to the beach?)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)
Kao malago’ hao mamåhan magågu? (Do you want to buy some clothing?)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)
Kao malago’ hao chumule’ i ánkånno’? (Do you want to take the leftovers?)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)

We also use munga’ yu’ in situations to decline something being offered, even if we aren’t explicitly asked a question like in the above scenarios. Think about visiting an aunty who tries to make you take half the contents of her freezer before you go back home, as a way to show her love and care, but your own freezer is already packed. Or the cousins who want to take you out, but you can’t go with them because you work early the next day. In these situations, munga’ yu’ is still the response we can use to decline. 

Here are more simple examples to illustrate these scenarios. In real conversation, we may say more after the munga’ yu’, but here I am keeping it simple so we can understand the basics of how munga’ can be used:

Chamoru	English
Nihi ya ta fanhånao guatu gi gipot! (Let’s all go to the party!)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)
Chule’ i nengkånno’. (Take the food.)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)
Gimen kafé. (Drink some coffee.)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)
Bei fahåni kao kamuti. (I will buy you some sweet potatoes.)	Munga’ yu’. (No thank you.)

When to Say Munga’ Yu’ versus Åhe’

In the scenarios above, replying to those questions with åhe’ is considered rude in spoken Chamorro. So when is it considered appropriate to use åhe’? Remember that åhe’ is used as a negative response to inquiries about information, rather than to decline anything offered. Let’s compare and contrast a few examples with munga’ yu’ and åhe’ to understand the difference in their usage.

If someone asks you, “Do you want to go to the store?” or says to you, “Let’s go to the store” and you want to decline, reply with munga’ yu’. But if the question is, “Did you go to the store today?” and you didn’t go, use åhe’ in your response. In the first scenario you are declining to do something, in the second you are providing information.

You would also use åhe’ if you were being asked about someone else’s wants and preferences. If you are asked, “Does Rosa want coffee?” and you know that she doesn’t want any, you can use åhe’. In this scenario, you are conveying information about what Rosa wants, which is why åhe’ is appropriate.

Tåya’

Tåya’ means “nothing” or “does not exist” and is usually a word we learn very early on in our language studies. Use tåya’ to reply to questions that use the word guaha, which means “there exists.” In fact, if a native speaker asks you a question that begins with kao guaha and you reply with åhe’, expect to be corrected because the proper form in spoken Chamorro is to answer with tåya’. 

For native English speakers, this may actually feel unnatural at first, because questions using guaha in Chamorro can take some surprising forms when compared to English. For example: The question “Do you have work today?” would be answered in English with “No, I don’t work today.” The “no” at the beginning of our English reply makes it tempting to use åhe’ or åhe’ tåya’ when replying in Chamorro. But in Chamorro, we just use the tåya’. 

To practice this, let’s go through some question and answer drills. Please note that I put the word “no” in the English translations below, to help tåya’ become a more intuitive reply for us in Chamorro.

Chamoru	English
Kao guaha che’cho’-mu på’go na ha’åne? (Do you have work today?)	Tåya’ che’cho’-hu på’go na ha’åne. (No, I don’t have work today.)
Kao guaha ga-mu katu? (Do you have a pet cat?)	Tåya’ ga-hu katu. (No, I don’t have a pet cat.)
Kao guaha pugas gi gima’? (Is there uncooked rice at the house?)	Tåya’ pugas gi gima’. (No, there is no uncooked rice at the house.)
Kao guaha nai mama’tinas hao boñelos dågu? (Have you ever made yam donuts?)	Tåya’ nai mama’tinas yu’ boñelos dågu. (No, I have never made yam donuts.)

Tåya’ is Considered a Strong Word in Chamorro

Native speaker Ray Barcinas emphasized to us that using the word tåya’ can be considered a rude and rough form of speech, because it is very strong language to say that there is nothing, or that something or someone does not exist. Using tåya’ in response to the wrong questions makes your speech seem flippant, and it can also imply that you are foolish or lazy. It is also rude to use tåya’ when speaking to someone who is older than you, or above you in a hierarchy (i.e.: a teacher), unless you are replying directly to a guaha question. So in general, tåya’ is really only used amongst peers. If you speak to someone younger than you and you use tåya’, it implies that you are angry at them.

Taigue

Taigue translates to “absent, not present” and is also used when we need to give a negative response to questions that use gaige, which means “be present.” We also use taigue when we are looking for people, places or things and we cannot find them. Let’s go through two examples to understand how we give a negative response with taigue.

Example 1: Looking for Something

Let’s say a parent asks you to bring them their phone. They might say Nå’i yu’ fan ni tilifon-hu. (Please give me my phone). If you go to look for their phone and you cannot find it, we should tell them Taigue (it’s absent). In Chamorro, this is considered more polite than saying Ti hu sodda’ (I didn’t find it) or Tåya’ (it doesn’t exist). Why is this the case?

Saying Ti hu sodda’ is considered rude in Chamorro because it implies that you did not put enough effort into looking for the phone. It is disrespectful to the other person, and the implied lack of effort makes you look lazy and foolish. Using tåya’ is also considered very rude in this context because it’s flippant to say that the phone doesn’t exist, when it clearly does. This also sounds outlandish, which further reinforces the implication of being foolish and lazy. Finally, since you are speaking directly to a parent, using tåya’ would also be considered rude because they are older than you.

Example 2: The Door to Rapunzel’s Tower

While taigue indicates the absence of something, we can also use it if the person, place or thing in question is supposed to exist but doesn’t, or never existed at all. To illustrate this application of taigue, let’s turn to the Rapunzel fairy tale.

In the Rapunzel story, Frau Gothel traps Rapunzel in a tower with no door. When the prince arrives at the tower, he immediately looks for the door so he can make his way up to Rapunzel, but soon finds that there is no door to be found. In Chamorro we could say Ha aligao i petta, lao taigue (He searched for the door, but it wasn’t there). Even though the door doesn’t exist and never existed, using taigue aligns more with a Chamorro worldview. It is less strong than tåya’, and it avoids implying that the prince is foolish for not finding the door.

Now let’s do some drills to practice using taigue:

Chamoru	English
Kao gaige si Sus gi gipot? (Is Jesus at the party?)	Taigue si Sus gi gipot. (Jesus is not at the party.)
Nå’i yu’ fan ni remote. (Bring me the remote, please.)	Taigue. (It’s not there.)
Kao gaige i patgon guini? (Is the child here?)	Taigue i patgon. (The child is absent).
Kao gaige i bébende gi metkao? (Is the seller at the market?)	Taigue i bébende gi metkao. (The seller is not at the market).

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