The organization of the Balantak dictionary is root-based. That means that the Balantak headwords (entries) are roots, that is, words without affixes, whether prefixes, suffixes, or infixes. A root is the smallest or simplest part of the word, whereas a typical Balantak word may have various affixes. For example, the word mambalaki’kon ‘exalt, take priority’, is based on the root balaki’ ‘big, large’.
In order to find a word in the dictionary, determine what the root word is by first removing prefixes and suffixes (and in some cases infixes like -in- or -um-).
Consider the following examples:
Balantak word | meaning | root word | meaning | |
mambalaki’i | enlarge | balaki’ | big, large | |
nobalaki’mo | already large | balaki’ | big, large | |
mintidaa-daa | haughty, proud | daa | right, acceptable | |
daawan | have, own | daa | yes | |
kumaan | eat | kaan | (does not occur alone) |