Where does “walay alamag” come from?

walay alamag (Cebuano) comes from Cebuano wala, from Austronesian *wada, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian wada — to be.

walay alamag (Cebuano): unskilled; not having a skill or technical training

Definitions

  1. unskilled; not having a skill or technical training

Ancestry of “walay alamag”, step by step

walay alamag traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Cebuano wala

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Cebuanowalaindicates the nonexistence or absence of something; there is none, no one, nothing
2Austronesian*wada—
3Proto-Malayo-Polynesianwadato be

via Cebuano alamag

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Cebuanoalamagknow-how
Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian wada →Every word from Austronesian *wada →Every word from Cebuano wala →