tagbisi
tagbísi with stress marks
a famine
Usage Note
Tagbisi denotes a period of severe food scarcity or famine, often linked to crop failure, drought, or prolonged flooding. It is a formal and somewhat literary term; taggutom is more commonly used in everyday speech for hunger-related scarcity. Tagbisi appears in historical accounts of pre-colonial and colonial-era food crises.
Examples
" Nagkaroon ng tagbisi noon. "
Natural Translation
There was a famine before.
Literal Translation
Had of famine before.
" Nagkaroon ng tagbisi noong nakaraang taon. "
Natural Translation
There was a famine last year.
Literal Translation
Had of famine last past year.
" Nang sumiklab ang tagbisi dahil sa matagal na tagtuyot, marami ang napilitang lumikas papunta sa kalapit na bayan. "
Natural Translation
When the famine broke out because of the prolonged drought, many were forced to flee to the neighboring town.
Literal Translation
When broke-out the famine because of long drought, many the forced to-flee toward at neighboring town.
Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.
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