Ambahan: This is a poem with 7 syllables per line, the final syllable of every line rhyming with all the others. Extensive use is made of archaic words which have dropped out of conversational usage.
The origin of the ambahan is unkown although the word occurs in some Bisayan dialects with the meaning of "song" of "poem" and be derived from the word amba (Hiligaynon) which means "to sign" . Alzina, in his "Historia de las Islas, e Indios de Bisayas ... 1668" also mentions the ambahan but his definition of the term does not fit the Mangyan ambahan. (P1.51, Postma, p.3)
Modern ambahan deal with everyday subjects and frequently have humorous or even bawdy undertones.
Says the monkey
(Magkunkuno ti amo)
having a head-ache
(Magkasakit kay ulo)
sitting on top of a stone:
(Babaw purantok bato)
Grandmother dear!
(Ido ido anito)
If you will call for a doctor,
(No ga bumalyan kawo)
don't get an inexperienced one.
(Danga sa barubago)
I need a very good doctor
(Sa balyanan matuo)
so that my headache
(Hampay ti sakit ulo)
will not come back.
(Ud yi waydi misalyo)
Or let it come back eventually,
(Sakit bago misalyo)
when I have grey hairs already.
(Mangabukay kang ulo)
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