Tags
Agta, Aklanon, Batak, B´laan, Bikol, Bisayan, Bontok, Butuanon, Cebuano, Filipino, Hanunuo, Hiligaynon, Ifugao, Ilokano, Ilonggo, Inabaknon, Inibaloi, Ivatan, Kalinga, Kallahan, Kapampangan, languages, Mamanwa, Manobo, Mansaka, Palawano, Pangasinan, Philippines, Subanon, Tagalog, Tausug, T´boli, Wary-waray, Yakan, Yami
“The number of individual languages listed for Philippines is 185. Of these, 181 are living and 4 are extinct. Of the living languages, 43 are institutional, 70 are developing, 45 are vigorous, 13 are in trouble, and 10 are dying.”
-Ethnologue [1]
First things first: I am not a linguist and I am not a geographer/ cartographer. I am a physicist who is in dire need of a stress reliever. Mapping this is therapeutic while in the thick of preparing a manuscript for submission. Yup, the paper is now submitted and the anxiety level just went up in anticipation of the review. I probably can map the whole of Indonesia´s and Malaysia´s now!
This map is my rendering of data used by ref [2] where they propose an algorithm whose goal is to reconstruct the ancient proto-Austronesian language. The proto-Austronesian language gave birth to the modern Austronesian languages. Comprised of 1000 to 1200 languages, the Austronesian language family is the largest language family in the world. Geographically, it is spoken from Madagascar to the Easter Islands, and as far North as Taiwan and Hawai’i, and as far South as New Zealand. The languages of the Philippines are part of this large family.
The authors of course, tested their algorithm with what the Linguists have and they say that their reconstructed relationship between languages does not differ much from what the linguists have obtained. They just have a different goal when they study the language relationship.
I specifically chose the results of the paper above because it listed 77 languages from the Philippines, the most number in recent studies about the Austronesian languages.
I will be writing a post or two about the Austronesian languages with the paper above and three or four more papers which study the Austronesian languages and societies. What´s the occasion? It´s my birthday week! I always wanted to write a post about these papers but I can´t find time. I am doing this as a birthday gift to myself.
In this post, I write how I made the map and a somewhat guide to understanding its details.
Let´s start with the concept of the Phylogenetic tree.
Relationship between languages in the paper was drawn as a phylogenetic tree which I retained in my rendering.
A phylogenetic tree is a concept in evolutionary biology. It is a branching diagram showing the inferred evolutionary relationships among various biological species based on similarities and differences in their physical and/or genetic characteristics [wiki].
Since languages also evolve, one can make a tree that represents the relationships between the languages. I will not discuss in detail on how they determine the lengths of the branch but it is based on mutation probabilities of the languages (read: probabilistic model of sound change at the level of phonemes).
The first thing I did is to sift through the whole phylogenetic tree that the paper presented and choose all the branches with Philippine languages. It is quite easy as the Philippine languages are well connected to each other.
The major groups of languages from the Philippines and map details
I’ve found 5 Philippine groups whose parent language is the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) language. These are: the Northern Philippine Languages, the Meso-Philippine Languages, the Southern Philipppine Languages, the South Mindanaon or Bilic Languages, and the Sama-Bajaw Languages.
Then I measured and assigned values for the branch length. The lengths are translated into node sizes in my map. The translation gave me the flexibility to move the position of the labels/languages for aesthetic reasons. (I know that it is not as straight forward as seeing lengths to denote distances but I make sure that I placed the node such that it is almost relatively similar when the length is used.) The bigger the node, the closer it is to the PMP branch. The smaller it is, the farther the language to the PMP branch.
The thickness of the line, which depends also on the node size, gives the relative closeness of sibling languages. For example, Aklanon and Cebuano are farther separated from each other than Hiligaynon and Ilonggo, and the separation of Hiligaynon and Iloilo is similar to the separation of Tausug and Butuanon (see map below).
As much as possible I like to be accurate in pointing where the languages are spoken. But is has been difficult because: 1) I don’t have data on where the people speaking these languages are exactly, and 2) there are overlapping regions and my resolution is only at the provincial level.
The good thing is that languages in similar branches tend to be geographically near each other. This allows me to give a particular color to certain branches in certain regions. I chose to color only those branches with many subbranches, for instance, the Subanon, the Manobo, and the Marao-Iranun branches are colored differently.
There are exemptions like Inabaknon and Tausug Jolo. These languages are “geographically odd”. I initially thought that I made a mistake mapping them.
Sometimes you will see that I bunched up many languages in one bracket (e.g., Manobo Ata up, Ata down, Tigwa). This means I cannot really pinpoint their exact location or they have the same location, or they are closely related. I signify that I made a bracket if you see that my end point has a node. I made this for the languages in Batanes, the B’laan languages and so on.
Please comment below if I miss anything that is worth explaining or I did something grossly wrong in the map. I welcome comments.
Meet some siblings
How many of you were taught that our set of languages is a subset of the Indonesian or Malaysian languages? Raise your hands. So far, science is saying that this is not true. There is no empirical fact (yet) that says our languages came from them. We have “similar” languages because the languages came from the same parent language. The Indonesian and Malaysian languages are siblings to ours. I also made a rough map on the relative position of the Philippine languages with some languages in Indonesia and Taiwan based on the phylogenetic tree in [1] (the map above).
If you like the maps, share them, use them, or improve on them. Just cite properly the references I used. But please do not use these maps to discriminate between peoples or use as an empirical data about language superiority over another. Let me be clear that I neither believe in the concept of race nor the superiority of one language from another.
I learned a lot from doing these maps. I´ll end this post by saying:
New knowledge reframes our consciousness, always.
______________________
Visit also my reply to comments post (click here). More details about the study can be read there.
______________________
Reference:
[1] http://www.ethnologue.com/
[2] Bouchard-Côté A, Hall D, Griffiths TL, & Klein D (2013). Automated reconstruction of ancient languages using probabilistic models of sound change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110 (11), 4224-9 PMID: 23401532
Tomás said:
Beautiful. I so want a Spanish version of this.
Nath said:
Gracias Tomás.
Jon Villasper said:
great work! congratulations on this map.
Nath said:
Thanks!
Pong Javier said:
I come from Pangasinan where Pangasinan and Ilocano are the major languages. I speak both, a little less of Ilocano. There are, however, some languages spoken in the NW tip of the province. Where is Bolinao, Anda, etc., in the chart where the languages are spoken in small island towns there?
Nath said:
Thanks Pong for visiting my blog. I’ve been to Pangasinan and I love your mangoes, bangus and tupig. I also went to Bolinao and an Ilocano friend commented that he can’t understand the people there.
Ethnologue says the Bolinao’s language is related to Sambal Botolan’s but unfortunately, I am limited by the languages included by the study.
GLENN TABAREJOS said:
Hi! I’m from Bolinao Pangasinan.You might want to Google “Miirgu-Irgo Atamo” (Let’s Dialogue) which is a Bolinao dictionary :)
Ed said:
From what i know, Hiligaynon and Ilonggo are the same. Negros Occ. and Iloilo speak the same language. the one that is somewhat different is Karay-a or Kinaray-a which is spoken in Antique, Panay.
Nath said:
Thanks Ed for the comment. You might be correct. There are also comments from my friends that they are the same.
But I am basing this on my reference[2]. According to the paper I cited there is a slight difference. I am referring you to http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=467 for Ilonggo and http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=193 for Hiligaynon.
thedoe said:
Your work on this map is cool! It gives us a new way of looking at language and their relationships. But as for the difference between Hiligaynon and Ilonggo, would have to agree with Ed on this one. When I looked at Ethnologue though it lists Ilonggo as an alternate name for Hiligaynon. At the same time it lists Hiligaynon as a dialect of Hiligaynon, perhaps to distinguish the standard dialect from variants.
And as Ed pointed out Kinaray-a is one other distinct language in Region VI together with Hiligaynon and Akeanon.
thedoe said:
Your work on this map is cool! It gives us a new way of looking at language and their relationships. But as for the difference between Hiligaynon and Ilonggo, would have to agree with Ed on this one. Ethnologue lists Ilonggo as an alternate name for Hiligaynon. At the same time it lists Hiligaynon as a dialect of Hiligaynon, perhaps to distinguish the standard dialect from variants.
I’m also curious why Waray-Waray is grouped in the same node as Hiligaynon/Ilonggo but not Aklanon (and Kinaray-a which is missing). From the logic of typical geographical dispersal of language, it’s a little odd that Waray-Waray which is farther away would have the same roots with Hiligaynon while Aklanon which is spoken in the same island has a different origin. A friend has also told me before that Kiniray-a/Hiniray-a has been proposed as the mother language for Hiligaynon, Akeanon and present day Kinaray-a. I will ask my friend for a reference if you’re interested.
Nath said:
Thanks thedoe! I know that this Hiligaynon and Ilonggo differentiation will be controversial. During the first iteration of this map, some of my Ilonggo friends already told me that they are the same. But I am basing the relationship on the paper I referenced [2] and I just couldn´t change it.
I also looked at Ethnologue and they say that they´re the same but in the paper I cited, the authors used the word list of http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/ and there they found differences.
In my next post, I´ll try to be more detailed in how the authors look at the relationship. It has to do with sound changes.
You are also correct on the grouping of Waray-waray. On my next post, you will see that the relations between the Central Philippine languages is vague because of a lot of borrowing between languages and linguists say that it is difficult to make a tree.
However, geography alone is not as good as an indicator of closeness. If you noticed, Inabaknon is spoken somewhere near Samar but is grouped in Sama-Bajaw. Same with Tausug Jolo.
Thank for your interest. So far, this is the map based on reference [2] and the authors of that study are not Filipinos. Maybe it is also time that we study our own languages with the tools from science that are available now.
And please, send me the reference of your friend!
Patrick Hall said:
Hi Nath,
Thanks for sharing the interesting post and beautiful map. At the grad program in linguistics at UCSB, we’ve been working with a speaker of Hiligaynon/Ilonggo for the past year. He refers to himself as an Ilonggo person who speaks Hiligaynon. Sometimes “Ilonggo” is used loosely to refer to the language as well, but “Hiligaynon” is not used to refer to the people. The differences in the data between the two data sets on the Austronesian database are ascribable to the the authors’ differing orthographic practice, different morphological forms of the same word, or occasional homonyms.
For instance:
‘to suck’
supsup
supsupón
‘to sew’
tahiʔ
tahión
Each of these pairs differ only in the presence of the -ón suffix, they are the same stems.
Here’s an orthographic difference:
‘snake’
manʔog
man-og
ʔ is a glottal stop, which is (sometimes) represented in Hiligaynon orthography by a dash. So these two and several other cases are precisely the same word. Other orthographic differences have to do with whether stress is marked:
‘stick/wood’
káhoy
kahoy
‘dog’
idu
idú
‘mouth’
bâbâ
bâbà
‘tongue’
dilâ
dilà
In standard orthography stress is never marked, but linguists often add it because stress is a complicated topic in Hiligaynon. But again, these are the same words.
There is very little to suggest that the two sets are from distinct languages.
This of course in no way reflects on your paper, just the data in the Austronesian database. Perhaps I should try to get in touch with the authors of that amazing project!
Looking forward to your future posts. Salamat!
GL said:
Cool map! and yes, the debate on hiligaynon vs Ilonggo will be a long one.
Just a note though, people from Iloilo are called Illonggos and the language there is called hiligaynon. People from Negros Occidental/Oriental are called Negrense but the majority of people from Negros Occidental speak hiligaynon. While Negros Oriental is a mix of hiligaynon and bisaya/Cebuano speakers.
Ron said:
Someone from Iloilo explained to me that Hiligaynon is the language, and Ilonggo is the dialect that is spoken in Iloilo. Naturally, there are slight differences.
Lovely Map !!! ^_~d
Ernesto Muyco Villote said:
From the western part of Panay Island which is Antique Province, to the north eastern part of Iloilo province Karay-a Dialect are spoken although with different intonation.
On the western part of Panay like the whole province of Antique and the adjoining towns of Iloilo Province like San Joaquin, Miagao, Guimbal. Igbaras, Oton, Tubungan, San Miguel,then going northeast following the Iloilo highway to Lambunao the Karay-a dialect is spoken with a harsher intonation.
Following the Iloilo highway towards the City of Passi, towns like Zarraga, Pototan Dingle, Duenas, Passi, and interior towns like San Enrique, San Rafael and Lemery, our Karay-a are softer.
Hiligaynon is a minority dialect in the province of Iloilo which is mostly spoken in the city only although coastal towns like Dumangas, Barotac Nuevo and Viejo and all the way to the eastern part of Iloilo Province, they speak a mixture of Tsinina or Hiligaynon and Karay-a terminology with the accent of the hiligaynon dialect.
In the interior towns of Iloilo, we say” He/she must be from the city because he speak “Sina”. We don’t say he speak Hiligaynon.
We push for the Ilongo(this is the old spelling of Ilonggo in the 50’s) designation because Hiligaynon dialect does not fully represents us Karay-a speaking Ilonggos.
Nath said:
Thanks for the info! I am really learning a lot.
Dennis A Pendon said:
part of guimaras island speaks karay-a or kinaray-a too… because they are facing the town of san joaquin, iloilo..the last municipal town of iloilo near antique boundary
RG said:
Tausug is related to Butuanon because many Butuanons migrated to Sulu in the 12th or 13th century, after the Butuan river silted up and became non-navigable.
Nath said:
Thanks RG! That is an interesting fact. Do you have any reference I could read?
Aron said:
They maybe related yet still Culturally and Traditionally Non-related.
The Tausug of Butuan is called “Butuanon” where as the Tausug of Sulu is simply called “Tausug” or “Bahasa Sug”.
Further, both Butuanon and Tausug are member of the Visayan Language Family.
try to compare the similarity in this phrase that i will provide below as follows:
“Ha uno na kaw?”
“Mayta kaw yan dupang?”
“Bunal tuod!”
“Bukon adja kita madtu pa Bay.” ‘bay’ refers to House in English.
“Isyu ngan mu?”
“Di ako makahati!”
“Maingat ako magbisara sin Tausug tiyu-tiyu da.”
Lawrence A. Reid said:
Pallesen, A. Kemp. 1977. Culture contact and language convergence. Berkeley: University of California
vanessa said:
I really aapreciate this piece of work. Am from the Cordilleras, I guess our dialect has been missed out, we call it Kankanaey, it is rich with words and a very interesting one, you may want to look into it. Congrats!
Nath said:
Thanks Vanessa! Honestly, I don’t know how the authors in my reference [1] chose the languages to include. I guess they want to sample all the languages from different places around the whole Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Here I found your language: http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=681
Also, I didn’t know that Kankanaey is different from Kankanay!
Thank you for letting me know.
visualpains said:
Hi, Vanessa. Kankana-ey/Kankanaey is a language and it belongs to South-Central Cordilleran languages which makes it a direct sister to the likes of Pangasinan
csundita said:
This is pretty awesome! I am a Ph.D. student of linguistics based at Cornell University. I specialize in Philippine languages. If you have some questions, I’d be glad to be of some help. As you probably already know, there are some huge obstacles involved as far as accuracy is concerned. But I think many of them can be addressed.
Nath said:
Thanks Chris! I guess you read the PNAS paper. I will ask you. I have plenty of questions. But forgive my questions if they sound stupid ok? Thanks for liking the map!
Melo said:
There are a number of Bikol languages, not just the Bikol Naga one. There is the Rinconada, and the Buhinon, both of which are different from each other and both are in Camarines Sur. The languages in Catanduanes, Albay, and Sorsogon are also different, although I am not so familiar with how different they are from each other. I speak the Bikol Naga, and can understand Rinconada.
Nath said:
Thanks Melo for dropping by! Yes, there are different languages in Bicol. Unfortunately, the authors only used Bikol Naga.
Oliver P. Casuncad said:
just want to express my deep appreciation of your study…
i am a bicolano but did not live all my years there. bikol, too, has a lot of variations as i met several but had quite a time getting used to the other variations. there is bikol-daet (cam. norte), bikol-rinconada, bikol-albay and if i’m not mistaken those from masbate speak a combination of bikol and waray (i guess). i’d be delighted if there’d others to elaborate more and agree with my opinion on the bikol dialect.
anyway, congratulations on your great work!
Nath said:
Thanks Oliver for appreciating the map I made. I based it on the study I referenced in [2]. Unfortunately, they only included Bikol Naga City in their study.
Thanks for the comment! I am really learning a lot. (I have Bicolano connections through my dad.)
FamArch said:
Reblogged this on FamArch.
Coffee said:
No Chavacano?
Nath said:
Thanks Coffee for dropping by! Unfortunately, Chavacano is not considered an Austronesian language. I would probably look at the map of Creole languages of the world. Maybe you´ll find Chavacano there. :)
Aron said:
but again you should have change your “title” from Filipino/Philippine Language to Philippine/Filipino Austronesian Languages… because, with your Title alone, you’re already implying Discrimination towards the Zamboangueño Ethnic Group and/or Towards us as a Distinct Filipino Cultural Ethnic Group – Zamboangueño, where in fact, we are also one of the Filipino Cultural Ethnic Groups.
Aron said:
Yes Coffee!
This is also the issue what i’m trying to raise here. it seems that we as a Distinct Filipino Ethnic Group called “Zamboangueño” are always being discriminated everytime they wrote the title “Philippine/Filipino Languages” but i couldn’t even find our Zamboangueño Language and/or even the languages of other Filipino Ethnic Groups as well..
If no one will raise this issue, whatever they may post here in the internet will become the basis of the correct information when people are coming here to know more about our Country’s Languages.
even in all textbooks, you will never heard about “Zamboangueño” as a people, as our language and cultural identity which is distinctively unique from any other Filipino Ethnic Groups.
How i wish, if only the Americans didn’t interfere with the “Acta de La Independecia del Filipinas” por los Guerilleros Filipino del Filipinas. Zamboanga formerly known as “La Republica de Zamboanga” where “Zamboangueño is our Official Language, which gain her independence on May 1899 after España Surrendered to the Zamboangueño Revolutionary Government and España formally accepted their defeat and turn over everything to the Zamboangueño. hereafter, the Zamboangueño elected their/our First Presidente. though our Republic was lost on 1904 when the Americans took over control of our country and ceded to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines.
Because at that time “Las Islas Filipinas” is only comprises the Islands of Batanes, Luzon and Visayas. FYI
hmmm…. a Disappointed Zamboangueño as always!
No wonder, i will always advocate for the Abolition of the “INVENTED” national language called ‘filipino language’ where it is still clearly “tagalog”. and i will always dram for a FEDERALISM based on “Ethnicity/Language” that all Filipino LanguaGES shall be Auxilary Official and/or Co-Official LanguaGES of Filipinas. thus, these Filipino LanguaGES shall be an Official Language in their respective Estado or State.
Nath said:
Hi Aron! I admire that you are very passionate about your ethnicity. If you feel that I discriminate against your ethnicity, I’m sorry I didn’t mean it.
There are 181 living languages in the Philippines, one of them is your language. I am plotting language relations and not the Philippine languages per se. I would have loved to know what is the relationship of your language to other Philippine languages but it was not up to me to decide. I based my map on a paper that studies the Austronesian languages.
The study only included 77 out of 181. So it’s not only your language that is excluded. How was the languages chosen? I don’t know. I am guessing that the authors have a mathematical basis in doing so. They are mostly statisticians.
If there is a new study (published in a reputable scientific journal) you could point me about your language, I will be happy to feature it especially that I know that your language is one if not the only creole language in Asia. And an old creole at that!
The authors are Americans. Maybe this study also highlights the need for Filipinos to study our own languages with mathematical sophistication that are available now.
Keep being passionate about your identity. Thank you for your comments.
Divina Telan Robillard said:
i notice no dialects are identified in the Cagayan Province. I was raised speaking Ybanag (or Ibanag), primarily spoken in Tuguegarao, the capital town. Now it is a city with a lot of Ilocano spoken there. I also know some people who spoke Itawes. i am sad that less and less is known about the Ybanags and Itawes.
Nath said:
Hi Divina, thank you for stopping by. The authors did not include Ibanag in their study. That´s the study that I based the map on. But they included other members of the Ibanagic languages (Atta Pamplona, Gaddang, and Isneg Dibagat-Kabugao). Thanks again! I am learning a lot from the comments.
Li Xu said:
hi, in the words from my history teacher, Ilonggo is not a language but the name of the people who lives in Iloilo. Also, you might have missed Kinaray-a, a dialect widely spoken in Antique in the island of Panay. I love the map! :)
Nath said:
Thanks Li Xu!
toynbeeconvector said:
Thank you for this. :) Very interested in learning more about our languages
–plus I love that you map for fun!
Nath said:
Thanks toynbeeconvector! I had a lot of fun doing this.
toynbeeconvector said:
Sharing this post in a sec. Also, sir, would love to speak to you about disaster risk reduction. :) You’re with DOST pala. – Nash
Nath said:
Hi Nash, I´m not with DOST. I am currently based in Europe. This is my personal blog.
Whela said:
Thanks Nath for this study. I am an Inabaknon speaking Capuleno. Yeah, you’re right, our language seemed odd due to its linguistic difference to its geographic neighbors.
Nath said:
Cool! Now I know someone who speaks Inabaknon (Capuleno). Thank you for visiting.
Ron said:
Wiki says it’s from the Sama-Bajaw language group. I had a classmate in college who’s from Capul. I speak Cebuano and a bit of Waray-Waray. I would ask her to talk to me in Capuleno and I couldn’t understand a bit. Nothing similar with Cebu or Waray or Bicol. Sadly, I forgot the phrases she’s taught me.
Sama-Bajaw must have migrated and settled the island. What a lovely story if one could trace the origins. ♥
Aron said:
With due respect,i just want to inform or clarify regarding “Zamboangueño” our Language Spoken and was born in the Latin City of Zamboanga (formerly known as La Republica de Zamboanga)?
I am a Zamboangueño Native Speaker, kept on wondering where the heck on the map I/We could find our Zamboangueño Ethnic group/People who has a distinct Identity, Culture, Tradition, Beliefs and Language.
Buenas Noches!
From a Concerned, Zamboangueño!
Nath said:
Thanks for dropping by! The Chavacano/ Zamboangueño is not in the map because it is not considered part of the Austronesian family.
Aron said:
But it Clearly Says “Philippine Language(s)”… therefore, we’re not talking only About Filipino Austronesian Languages only but as whole.
Fedz said:
Hi! I commend you for making this! It makes everything easier!
However I noticed though that there are some languages that are missing.
Cuyonon, for example is not listed there. From what I have read, it still belongs to the Visayan language family, spoken on the Cuyo Islands and some parts of Palawan. Wikipedia has more details on this language.
Also, I noticed that the Maguindanao language is also not printed on the map when in fact, officially recognized major languages in the country and also spoken alongside Iranun in some parts of the province.
But overall, nice job! In my honest opinion, it still needs revisions though.
Fedz said:
typo:
… map when in fact, it’s regarded as one of the officially recognized major languages in the country and also spoken alongside Iranun in some parts of the province…..
Nath said:
Hi Fedz, Thank you for appreciating my map! I only included the languages from the study I referenced [2]. I agree that there should be a revision but since I am not a linguist or part of the authors of the research I cannot just change or alter the results. Thanks again.
indprincess said:
Nice map! It somehow captures the cultural diversity we have here in our country. For most foreigners who never heard of the Philippines, or set foot in our land to hear the different tongues, or only knows English-speaking Pinoys, this would be mind-blowing. I recently did a workshop in Germany for secondary students on Philippine cultural diversity, and they are blown away with the idea of the diversity we have. If this blog entry (and map) existed 2 weeks, it would be a nice infographic to drive home my point. ;)
Nath said:
Thanks indprincess! It is really hard to explain to people that such a small country could be diverse.
indprincess said:
Very true. We need to expand the verbal cues associated with the Philippines beyond nice beaches, Manny Pacquiao, and beauty pageant contestants.
Your article, and the preceding comments, also points to the opportunities available to expand academic research on our ethnolinguistic diversity. If you only rely on your public school Elementary and Secondary Social Studies classes, your Filipino language count wouldn’t even reach 50. The idea that we have 100+++ languages, and communities defined by the diversity of these languages, might sound foreign to most young Pinoys. The task to inform young Pinoys on how deep our cultural diversity is, and making us appreciate it and its impact to the social ecosystem our country is in, should be a challenge to all educators. So kudos for your contribution to that advocacy.
Nath said:
Yes, I agree.
I had a Dutch friend who says we should be proud of our diversity. It is a strength. It is just bad that this diversity is never highlighted in our schools.
You’re correct that we should have more academic studies about our ethnolinguistic diversity. The study I referenced is from a group from the USA. Almost all studies about our languages came from non-Filipinos.
Thanks for your comments.
Glenn said:
Great Work!!!
You might be interested in this page as well. A lot of Austronesian linkage.
http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/research.php
Nath said:
Thanks Glenn! I visited the website several times when I was doing this post. That’s the site where the authors of my reference got their data.
Thanks for dropping by!
Raul J. de Vera Jr. said:
I admire your humility, despite your great achievement in doing this. You have just made a fan out of me. Please do tag me in your future works, if any. Impressive, most impressive!
Nath said:
Thanks Raul! Will do.
Nestor Khastanu said:
I have gone through a number of reports and essays. I must say that this one, yours is well thought, widely research for evidences and analysis and of superbly written. It is interesting to see further compounding of your report for adissertation and wide publication.
Nath said:
Thanks Nestor!
Mariza Sollano Elteibi said:
Thank you for sharing this knowledge. This proves the diversity and richness of our cultures that is so little understood even by ourselves and more so outside of the Philippines.
Looking forward to read more from your study. Bulahang adlaw nga natawhan.
Nath said:
Thanks for dropping by!
I agree that we are diverse and we should be proud of it.
Emmanuel R. Cayabyab said:
In Cavite, chavacano is the language and not the same as from Zamboanga chavacano! In addition, Ilokano in various places in the Philippines already evolved! and therefore the ilocano version in Pangasinan, Benguet and in Cotabato are all different ilocano language though with common words.
Nath said:
Thanks Emmanuel. The authors of the study used a database of Austronesian languages that are compiled by linguists.
I agree that languages evolve and they borrow from other languages. I have an upcoming blog on the rate of Philippine language evolution from linguists. It’s not as fast as you think.
About the Chavacano languages, I haven’t seen a recent study about them. I love to feature them sometime.
Thanks for dropping by!
Jimid Mansayagan said:
Maraming salamat sa pagpupunyaging magawa ang mapang ito. Paumanhin at hindi ko mapagkatiwalaan ang natutunan kong kunting English. (Kaya sa Tagalog ko na lang isusulat ang gusto kong sabihin). Napupuna ko na ang aming lingguwahe (Erumanen ne Menuvu) ay nasulat na Iliyanen. Ito ang naging pagkakilanlan namin sa mga dokumento ng misyonaryo ng Summer Institute Linguistics-SIL. Ang Iliyanen ay isa lamang sa 13 vansa (literally translated as “collective dignity”) ng Erumanen ne Menuvu’. Kami ay isa lamang sa maraming Manobo sa Mindanao. Napakapahusay nitong ginawa ninyong mapa na sana magsilbing ilaw para sa lahat sa pag-uunawa na tayo’y galing sa iisang puno–walang majority o minority.
Nath said:
Maraming salamat po. Sana nga po nakatulong ako sa isang maliit na paraan.
Dr. Agustin Nunez Arcena said:
Nath, Ilonggo is not a language, it refers to person living in Iloilo. Our language is HILIGAYNON and KINARAY – A… text me so you can coordinate with me, 09239445469. DR. ARCENA. By the way, i will be presenting a paper in Australia, my topic is about Mother – Tongue based language education.
Nath said:
Thanks Dr. Arcena. I only based this map on a study. You may also read the reply to questions about this map here: http://wp.me/pVB8v-2lg.
Thanks again for visiting.
Nath said:
Thank you Dr, Arcena. A lot of my Ilonggo friends already told me that but because I just based it on a study, I could not just correct it. I am very interested on how MT has affected education. Goodluck on your presentation and if you published your work, can you give me a heads up so that I may write something about it in this blog?
Connie said:
Thank you for this :) It is really interesting! My mom is from Palawan, particularly in Cuyo and the language they speak is cuyunon and it is completely different from palawano language.
Nath said:
Thanks Connie.
roelm said:
Hi Nath,
Very nice … It is clear that many of our countrymen are not up to date with regards to the latest scholarship regarding the origins of the present inhabitants of the Philippines. Some still say that we are descendants of Malays and Indonesians … Most probably, it is the other way around, as the Austronesian language family came from Taiwan and spread southwards through our country on the way to Indonesia and Malaysia …
roelm
Nath said:
Thanks Roelm, I will probably try to explain better in a sort-of-Q and A manner in my next blog. There are a lot of questions and I think it came from the fact that we have plenty of misconceptions that we learned from our not-so updated textbooks.
Rio Palma said:
That was based on the old Taiwan Express theory based on pottery artifacts and languages. New mtDNA evidence showed the other way around (Science magazine).
Nath said:
Hi Rio Palma. Thanks again for commenting. I am not aware of the Science magazine article that says it is the other way around. Maybe this was before the detailed analysis of the Max Planck researchers? Can you give the full citation so that I can read it? Thanks in advance.
Based on recent evidences (http://wp.me/pVB8v-sR, http://wp.me/pVB8v-286, and http://wp.me/pVB8v-OT), there was a fast colonization of the Philippines of neolithic population from Taiwan (~5000 years ago) and then an in situ diversification. This is of course different from two earlier colonization around 45,000 years ago and ~10,000 years ago, respectively.
A month ago I blogged about the recent research from Max Planck that said that the Liangdao remains from South China, “carries an ancestral haplogroup E mtDNA sequence that strongly links him with contemporary aboriginal Taiwanese, he provides a link to southern China, and he has the most ancestral haplogroup E sequence found among extant Austronesian speakers.” It seems that they have rooted the oldest Austronesian genetic trait in a find in South China and invalidated the study that says the haplogroup E is 30,000 years old and can be traced in Island southeast asia.
The more evidence is uncovered the more we understand. I guess, as a scientist my self, I am really excited on what researchers can bring in the discussion.
marvel said:
You have missed Ibanag and Yogad for region 2. I think VP BInay is one of those who can speak Yogad.
Nath said:
Thanks Marvel for dropping by. Yes, the study I referenced just listed 77 languages out of 181. So yes, I missed most of the languages. But this is the largest number of Philippine languages in a study I know of.
Quintin said:
@Marvel: VP Binay speaks Ibanag, not Yogad. :)
@Nath: You missed Ibanag, Itawes and Gaddang, all from Cagayan province. :) Ibanag is the lingua franca of Region 2. :)
Nath said:
Thanks Quintin. Your correct, the paper I referenced only have Gaddang. I think I did not missed Gaddand in my plot.
Thanks again.
isi said:
whoa! this is pretty cool. may I attach your map to a short write-up sheet I’m doing for the Philippines?
Nath said:
Sure Isi. Just make sure you cite me. Thanks.
Pingback: Philippine language relations: Reply to comments… | Imprints of Philippine Science
aura said:
Hi Nath,
I hope you get a good review for the submitted paper to give you more adrenalin to make the Indonesian languages map!
As it is quite massive (700): http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daftar_bahasa_di_Indonesia
But I love to see how you are very productive in doing what you love to do!
Nath said:
I know Aura! There are 700++ languages of Indonesia. But I guess the biggest problem I will have in mapping Indonesia is I really don´t know the geographic areas.
I would really love to do it. May be during some spare time. :)
Thanks for visiting the blog.
boyet said:
kudos to you, you came up with a very informative phil language/dialect tool. yup agree with some comments stated here, phil is a very diverse country-language/dialect wise. to mention a few, say the dialects spoken by our brother indigenous peoples (IP), as per NCIP(Nat’l Commission on indigenous Peoples) data base, there are 110 listed Tribes speaking 110 different dialects distinct from each other. a very diverse indeed.
Nath said:
Thanks for visiting. Please visit my other post about the map if you have more questions about the study.
tumarae said:
Bonjour, en polynésie française, à Raivavae, appelé autrefois GANIHAVAI, le mot Taro veut dire OVAIGAGO. En tagalog le mot taro veut dire URARO. Est-ce que finalement, le peuplement de cette île se trouvant au sud-est de Tahiti s’est fait à partir des philippines? Pourquoi cette différence en Polynésie?
Alan said:
This is excellent. For a physicist not claiming to be a linguist or historian this is one helpful illustration of the phylogenetic tree of the Austronesian family. I am a Filipino Engineer who, unlike you, cannot draw simulations like this one. But I passionately study geographical linguistics though not very systematically and formally. I just know a lot. Because I know some details, I think I can pinpoint some inaccuracies, no offense. For example the divergence of Waray and Hiligaynon from their parent Central Philippine languages in your illustration seem to suggest Waray has a more ancient form and HIligaynon is a more recent result of that splinter? Hmmm… I’ve read quite a few literature regarding the hierarchy of Philippine languages and I’ve not encountered something that proves Waray is more archaic than Hiligaynon. I understand the complexity of this whole concept and I salute you for this effort. For one the study regarding the origin of the Austronesian languages originating from Taiwan is just recent so details regarding the hierarchical structure of even the Philippine languages is vague. Again, from the Hiligaynon nation, salamat nga madamo! (thank you very much)
roelm said:
The linguistic tree by itself does not say anything about which is more archaic among the languages included. The drawing above merely states that Waray-waray is more distinct from Ilonggo and Hiligaynon than Ilonggo and Hiligaynon are from each other. You can take this to mean that Waray-waray split from the Ilonggo-Hiligaynon group before that group itself broke up.
Bo said:
How does the distance between the major Philippine language compare to the distance between major European languages. For instance, Ilocano, Bicol, Tagalog, Cebuano, Kapampangan, are they comparable to the relatedness of Romance languages? or is there a greater distance between them?
Nath said:
I don´t know actually. This was done on the Austronesian languages only. But living here in Europe for quite some time gives me the impression that Italian, Catalan, French and Spanish are are related as Tagalog and Bikolano. I guess I will not know unless the researchers of the paper I referenced do it with the European languages.
arondayot Zamboangueño said:
Simply because all these Romance Languages such Spanish, Aragonese, Portuguese, Italian, French, Romanian, Basque, Catalan and other romance Languages evolve from Latin Language.
Same goes with the Chavacano Language which came and/or evolve from the Old Spanish with Influences from Native American Languages and from Austronesian Languages such as Tagalog, Ilocano, Sama, Subanon, Tausug, Waray, Ilonggo, Yakan, Zambal and, Japanese and Chinese (this for the Castellano Abakay of Davao).
roelm said:
Just in terms of time since the last common ancestor, Philippine languages as a whole are probably more distant from each other than Romance languages are since Latin just broke up sometime in the second half of the first millennium AD. However, rates of linguistic change vary of course. Just to take an example, French is more modified from Latin than Spanish and Italian are.
Bai Xue Potoak said:
awesome work!
Nath said:
Thanks!
Maria Aguanta said:
A monumental work indeed! Congratulations!
As regards the Mangyan languages, every tribe speaks a different language from the others. For example: Hanunuo, Buhid, Alangan, Bangon, Tadyawan, Tao-Buhid, Ratagnon etc.
Cebuano too has evolved into different branches. Cebuano in Cebu is different from that of Bohol’s and Mindanao’s. The intonation and vocabulary are different. Nevertheless, we could have commonalities and similarities somehow.
Nath said:
Thanks Maria. I guess the study where I based my map from did not include the other Mangyan languages. Please read also the my reply to comments post here: http://wp.me/pVB8v-2lg.
Thanks again.
Lawin Alwin said:
awesome work! thanks!
Nath said:
Thanks!
koikoi said:
Hiligaynon ang tawag sa dialect ng mga taga Iloilo. Ilonggo ang tawag sa mga tao na taga rito at ung sa mga bundok dito na nag sasalita pa ng kinaray-a Ilonggo pa rin sila. sa case naman ng mga taga Bacolod Hiligaynon din yang salita nila nagkaiba lang kami sa tono ng salita pero pareparehas lng nag mga words na ginagamit namin same as sa Capiz. Bacolodnon o Negrense ang tawag sa mga inhabitants ng Bacolod o Negrense. Ilonggo ang tawag sa nga tao sa Iloilo. Capiznon ang tawag sa mga taga Capiz at hiligaynon ang salita namin lahat ung iba malalalim lng which ung maga lolo at lola nalng manim ang nakakintindi ng iba. dahil sa generation na dumaan nahaluan narin ng ibang language o nag evolve narin ang mga salita na ginagamit namin. naging generic na tawag nalang yang Ilonggo sa lahat na nagsasalita ng hiligaynon. paro kami taga Iloilo ay mga ilonggo kasi pinangalanan ang iloilo sa ilog nito an hugis Ilong. hindi tama yang akala ng lahat.
Nath said:
Salamat po sa trivia! Salamat din po sa pagbisita sa blog.
Melba Marginson said:
This is a fantastic work already! Thank you for commencing this work as it will now only grow as the social media bring more enthusiastic scholars into your web. It seems to me the Philippines could be one of the most ethnoliguistically diverse countries in the world. Am I right to say this?
Nath said:
I guess we are ethnolinguistically diverse but to say that we are one of the most? May be not. Indonesia and India and even Mexico have more languages than the Philippines. There is really no competition in the world for the most ethnolinguistically diverse country. The most important thing is that we celebrate our diversity and be proud of our own heritage.
Rio Palma said:
Well, from various responses… you stirred the hornets nest. I noticed a lot of patriotism regarding our native dialect. We rely on other people research i.e. Bouchard et. al. to explained the Philippine ethnic languages. It is then that we found discrepancies and missing native dialects not listed. I think we need to charge the Philippine govt. to put a detailed study on our ancient language as it relates to the Austronesian language. With your map, I noticed that Tagalog is spoken by a minority of people. I think we need to think twice on basing the national Filipino language to Tagalog. I don’t want to rock the boat but something to think about. I am an Ilonggo an I speak Hiligaynon. I am proud of my mother tongue and once former Sen. Roding Ganzon proposed to sing the Philippine National Anthem in Hiligaynon!
Madamo gid nga salamat.
Nath said:
Thanks again for the comments. I agree that we should study our languages as there are subtleties that foreign people wouldn’t know. I hope they make an institute, something like Institute of Philippine Languages. This is to emphasize that we are a diverse nation with different languages.
Unfortunately, the map doesn’t say something about Tagalog as a minority language. Tagalog is spoken by 22 Million Filipinos:it is not a minority language based on that fact. I am Tagalog because I was raised in Metro Manila but my parents are Ilokana and Bikolano.
I’m happy with the development of using the mother tongue in Philippine education. It evokes a sense of place and a pride of heritage.
I believe that our diversity should be celebrated.
Jody said:
I agree with Nath that the Philippine government should form a group that would study the languages/dialects formed in the philippines, to give us a better picture of the roots of the evolution of these. I am however, reacting to the philippine national anthem being sung in another dialect (if i’m not mistaken, a senator of Cebu proposed that the national language and therefore the national anthem be sung in Cebuano, proposed at the time( I may be wrong) that a good percentage of filipinos speak Cebuano. I’m formerly Metro Manilan as well, and can speak a little Cebuano as well. However, If there is a uniting force in the country, one of the uniting forces would be language. And I agree that a good majority of filipinos, still understand each other through Tagalog, I know this because I am out of country now. and I have not met a filipino, that has not conversed with me in tagalog.
Carl Cervantes said:
Pucha, idol. If this is your stress-reliever, I want to read your real-real stuff.
Ipagpatuloy po ninyo ang inyong kagalingan. Mabuhay ka, sir.
Nath said:
Salamat Carl. I am a Physicist and you can visit my google scholar index (http://scholar.google.es/citations?user=6g6FtH4AAAAJ&hl=en) to see what I really do.
Roi said:
hi! read your post with great interest. I am an ilocano married to an ilongga. my mom is cebuana. I have traveled quite a bit in the country so am generally familiar in some commonalities of dialects (languages) in the Philippines. one thing strikingly noticeable is the similarity in saying the ‘numbers” from Ilocano down to tausug. when my wife & her family converse in hiligaynon, i often catch some ilocano words in their conversation. so i gave my general conclusion that by origin – our dialects originated from 1 “mother tongue”….and evolved separately because of geography and migration patterns.
Speaking of geography & migration, its interesting that some islands in central philippines have “multiple languages”. Like Masbate (regionally bicol) but if you go around the island, you have at least 3 dialects/languages. That part of the island facing Capiz has hiligaynon speaking communities. That side facing Cebu speaks differently. Even Negros island have 2 provinces “divided” by reason of dialect.
On a final note, I hope there will be more efforts to document and promote/develop our languages by teaching kids and adults to read, write and speak in their local dialects. There are lots of Pinoys who can speak Ilocano, Hiligaynon, Waray-waray etc…but cant read or write them. And I dread the thought that some of our dialects are going extinct… =(
Great work on the map!
Nath said:
Thanks Roi. Language is indeed fascinating! I think one way to start preserving other languages is translating great literature works in the native tongue.
onin said:
“and the separation of Hiligaynon and Iloilo is similar to the separation of Tausug and Butuanon” ~MY COMMENT: Iloilo is a province in central Philippines, the people are called Ilonggo and the language spoken is Hiligaynon. I was born in Iloilo and I speak Hiligaynon, but there’s another language you missed to include, it’s called Kinaray-a or Karay-a.
Nath said:
Thanks Onin! Here is my reply to your comment: http://wp.me/pVB8v-2lg
Alan Oliver said:
How did it get to this…185 languages? I am from Britain, we are a small island race of people with a very long and varied history dating back centuries. We were invaded by the Roman’s, The Vikings and the Normans and yet we have few languages. There are the Scots, the Welsh the Irish and the English each has a language but that only makes four. So how does an island/s with the same land mass and up to about 40 years ago the same population find itself with 185 languages? Great website, very impressive. Alan
Ronan Paul said:
The Philippines/Filipinas does not only have more than 185 languages. In fact these so called languages are being spoken or the native language or own language or mother tongue of each and every Ethno-linguistinc Nations in the Philippines.
In other words, the philippines has more than 185 Ethno-linguistic Nations and each has their own language or mother tongue, culture, identity, literature, tradition and history.
Like in my case, I am a Filipino CITIZEN of Zamboangueño Ethno-linguistic Nation or simply “Zamboangueño Ethnic”, whose native language called “Zamboangueño Chavacano”, a one of the 6 dialects of Chavacano language. Chavacano language is a member of the Austro-Iberian Language Family, since it is a product of Austronesian and Latin through Castilian and Portuguese.
Nath said:
Thank you Alan.
The current understanding is that the Philippines was settled by Austronesian speakers about 5000 years ago. There are other people who settled in the islands older than 5000 years ago but it is the Austronesian language that gave birth to most if not all of the Philippine languages. The settlement was fast but because of the relative difficulty of contact between islands and areas between and on mountain ranges, there was speciation of the languages. Hence, the diversity.
Prior to the Spanish colonization, it was thought that the population of the Philippines was already high. Some historians said that we also experienced a sort of pruning similar to countries in Latin America. It was just not so drastic.
Also, prior to the Spanish colonization, there was no singular kingdom/sultanate/government that could have imposed a common language. There was enough time for speciation and diversification. A new language is formed every 1600 years for each lineage in the Philippines according to linguists.
This is what the current literature is telling us. The understanding of the languages of the Philippines is still evolving.
Thanks again. Nath
roelm said:
“Prior to the Spanish colonization, it was thought that the population of the Philippines was already high. Some historians said that we also experienced a sort of pruning similar to countries in Latin America. It was just not so drastic.”
Hi Nath, I wonder what the evidence is for this. If there was pruning, it also happened to the Spaniards themselves, as there are indications of relatively high mortality for them. The significant pruning in the Americas was through disease and I have not heard of any such major epidemics. We were exposed in pre-Hispanic times to diseases from the rest of Asia unlike the Americas and genetic diversity is significantly greater here compared to the inhabitants of the New World. Also, if I remember correctly, the early estimate (late 16th century) for the population of the Spanish ruled areas was only about half a million: correct me if I’m mistaken about this.
Nath said:
During the 16th century, it was believed that the native population is around 500,000 already and that only included people living in regions where the Spaniards can go (see for example Cruz and his references below). Maybe the half a million only included Latin America?
Yes, absolutely there was pruning for both the native and settlers. Gov. Tabora in the early 17th century once said that there are sudden deaths in both native and settlers.
_______________
Cruz, P. (2014). The Spanish Origins of Extractive Institutions in the Philippines Australian Economic History Review, 54 (1), 62-82 DOI: 10.1111/aehr.12035)
Blair, E. H. , and Robertson, J. A. (B&R), eds (1903–1907) The Philippine Islands: 1493–1803, 55 volumes (Cleveland: The Arthur H. Clark Company).
Corpuz, O. (1989) The Roots of the Filipino People, Vol. I and II (Quezon City: Aklahi Foundation, Inc.).
roelm said:
Hi Nath, I seem to remember from my readings that there was indeed a decline in population in the 17th century but this decline applied to Southeast Asia in general. In that case, the cause was probably due to some cycle in the climate … This is only from my not necessarily reliable memory: I still have to check my books.
Ardee said:
Why do many people here refer to other Philippine tongues aside from Tagalog/Filipino as mere dialects. They should be treated as full-fledged languages, right?
Also, I would like to reiterate this once more that Ilonggo is an ethnologic term denoting people living in Iloilo (as are Capiznon from Capiz, Antiquenyo from Antique, and Negrense from Negros Island) and many other groups in the Philippines that traces their ancestry from the said province.
Hiligaynon is the linguistic term referring to a language spoken in the province of Iloilo (it shares with Kinaray-a), most parts of Negros Occidental, Capiz, Guimaras, Sultan Kudardat, and South Cotabato, and some parts of North Cotabato, Masbate, and Maguindanao. It has many variants (dialects) including the one from Capiz which is now considered by many linguists as a separate language.
This problem arose [possibly] because many Ilonggos, even many of the highly educated ones, also refer to their language, Hiligaynon, as Ilonggo thereby effectively interchanging the two terms.
I am an Ilonggo (living in Iloilo) but I exclusively speak Kinaray-a at home and even in our community unless I visit Iloilo City, a Hiligaynon stronghold.
:)
perahucadik said:
The New Fact,Our Ancestors Are Not From Southern China Or Taiwan,But Africa >>> http://www.bradshawfoundation.com/journey/
perahucadik said:
There Some Similiarties Between Philippine Languages With Sulawesi/Celebes Languages >>> http://tunogngtagalog.blogspot.com/2013/10/magkatulad-ang-mga-wika-tagalog-at.html
arondelaverdad said:
Hi!
I’m Ronan Paul, a Filipino Citizen of Zamboangueño Ethnic and Native Ethnic of Zamboanga City. Our language called is Chavacano Language but I speak one of its Dialects called “Zamboangueño Language”.
As per the title of this article, it says “Philippine LanguaGES” or “El maga lenguajes del Filipinas” – na Lenguaje Zamboangueño or in Castellano “Los Idiomas del Filipinas”.
In other words, I don’t know whether this was one intentionally or not discriminating us Zamboangueño Ethno-linguistic Nation by NOT including our Language and our Ethnicity as a people native to the Philippines.
To be honest, I find this somewhat discriminatory or racism against us Zamboangueño Ethnic.
Regards,
Ron
arondelaverdad said:
Hi!
I’m Ronan Paul, a Filipino Citizen of Zamboangueño Ethnic and Native Ethnic of Zamboanga City. Our language called is Chavacano Language but I speak one of its Dialects called “Zamboangueño Language”.
As per the title of this article, it says “Philippine LanguaGES” or “El maga lenguajes del Filipinas” – na Lenguaje Zamboangueño or in Castellano “Los Idiomas del Filipinas”.
In other words, I don’t know whether this was one intentionally or not discriminating us Zamboangueño Ethno-linguistic Nation by NOT including our Language and our Ethnicity as a people native to the Philippines.
To be honest, I find this somewhat discriminatory or racist against us Zamboangueño Ethnic.
Regards,
Ron
In cases this was not your intention, you should have said a different TITLE for this article to avoid confusion.
Nath said:
Dear Ronan Paul,
I already answered this issue here: https://imphscience.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/reply-to-comments/. The gist: (1) it is a map of the relationship of Philippine languages not a map of the Philippine languages and (2) The relation is solely for Austronesian languages.
Thanks.
Nath
Ronan Paul said:
Dear Ronan Paul,
I already answered this issue here: https://imphscience.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/reply-to-comments/. The gist: (1) it is a map of the relationship of Philippine languages not a map of the Philippine languages and (2) The relations is solely for Austronesian languages.
Thanks.
Nath
>>>
Hi, Nath!
Yes, I do aware of that but again you’ve just mention that it is about:
(a) “(1) it is a map of the relationship of Philippine languages”. Our language is also one of the Philippine Language/s.
(b) ) “The relations is solely for Austronesian languages”. You didn’t this mention this in your article or the title of your article does’nt refer to about Philippine Austronesian Alone. I think you must change your Article’s title in order NOT to create confusion because for now, your article can be used by other people as reference and then later they might be thinking that these are just the Philippine languages when in fact what you’re trying to imply in your article are only about Austronesian Languages.
Further, Our language was born in Zamboanga City, the former Kingdom of Jambangan and our roots and lineage is from the later ruler of this Kingdom.
our language is a product of Austronesian and Iberian, said to say this is referred by Linguist as a member of the “Austro-Iberian Language Family” in other words, Chavacano Language with its Six Dialects: Bahra, Ermitense, Caviteñ, Cotabateñ, Castellano Abakay and Zamboangueño Dialects can be classified either under Austronesian Language OR Iberian Language from Latin through Castellano.
Becaue I couldn’t really bareat looking at your map when all of a sudden the tip portion of the Peninsula de Zamboanga is just nameless for our Ethnicity “Zamboangueño”.
My and our only issue here is “recognition” that we exist!
arondelaverdadAron said:
Dear Ronan Paul,
I already answered this issue here: https://imphscience.wordpress.com/2013/10/27/reply-to-comments/. The gist: (1) it is a map of the relationship of Philippine languages not a map of the Philippine languages and (2) The relation is solely for Austronesian languages.
>>> The title of this article is MISLEADING!
It says “Relationship of Philippine Languages” and NOT “Solely for Austronesian Languages”.
I think you should change the title of your article because it is racist towards us Zamboangueño Ethnic. because we are also part of the Philippine Islands…
Seriously, this is RACIST and BIGOTRY!
If you have wrote your title specifically, then it is understandable.
Ravin' Ray said:
Ron,
Allow me to weigh in on your complaints about the title of the article being misleading, and hence the article itself being possibly racist, bigoted, and discriminatory. You said that Nath should have explicitly titled his article to mention Austronesian languages of the Philippines to make it clear that Spanish-based creoles like Zamboanga Chavacano (or my mother’s own Cavite Chavacano, for that matter), are excluded. This I disagree with, for the simple reason that the term “Philippine languages” can have more than one meaning. In a broad sense it can mean the native Austronesian languages in the Philippines and non-Austronesian based creoles that have accumulated words, grammar and sentence structure rules from the native languages. But in a narrower sense it can refer specifically and exclusively to the Philippine subgroup of Austronesian languages. Both uses of the term “Philippines languages” are valid and accepted by scholars, and really it’s the matter of context as to which definition is used. As the article makes very clear, Nath was using the term in the narrow sense. Examples of context-based usage of words and phrases are all over the place. Take for example “fruit”. Many food items that are fruits such as tomato, eggplant, and others are in common language not called “fruits” but rather “vegetables” when in fact scientifically they are fruits but from a culinary perspective they are not. From my own profession, geology, the word “marble” refers strictly to calcite-based metamorphic rocks that retain no trace of the parent sedimentary limestone rock, and yet commercially there are “marbles” that are in fact still limestones that have only undergone partial metamorphism into marble, and yet such usage of the word “marble” is accepted.
Having established that, it is not necessary, nor is it misleading, for Nath to specify in his article title Austronesian languages only. Other scholarly articles about Philippine Austronesian languages use the term “Philippine languages” by itself. It’s a matter of personal preference for each author, and Nath made no mistake here. For what it’s worth, I’ve known about Austronesian languages and creoles since back in the 1980’s when I first read about them in our classic Encyclopædia Britannica collection at home, and which I read more about as I dabbled in phonetics and linguistics in my college days by reading linguistics books in both the UP Diliman’s Main Library and the Asian Center library. One glance at the first map in Nath’s article and I immediately knew it was about Austronesian languages. Actually, even without looking at the map, I guessed it would be about Austronesian languages only, due to my familiarity with the topic.
So please, refrain from labeling Nath’s article title as discriminatory (little sidebar, discrimination isn’t necessarily wrong; food connoisseurs are often described as having “discriminatory” tastes), racist and bigoted, because clearly it is not.
Aron said:
Stop this nonsense Political Correctness!
It is no matter what “Discriminatory” against NON-Austronesian Languages since the title says it “Philippine Languages” (Los Idiomas de Filipinas). By the title alone, it is already inclusive rather than exclusive.
If the author wants it to be exclusive it has to be written as “Philippine Austronesian Languages” instead!
Ravin' Ray said:
Sorry Ron, but you totally missed the point. My explanation has nothing to do with being politically correct. All I am saying is that in the context of linguistics, “Philippine languages” refers exclusively to the Austronesian languages. Show this article to any linguist (those at the Summer Linguistics Institute of Siliman University in Dumaguete, for example) and see if they have the same complaint as you. Why shold Nath have to bend over backwards to add “Austronesian” to the title? In fact, the simple and straightforward title he is using drives home the point I was mentioning earlier about linguistic context.
By the way, look up “Philippine Languages” in Wikipedia and see how it is used.
Do you see me complaining that my mother’s Cavite Chavacano is excluded?
You’re making a big fuss about the title is not helpful.
Aron said:
“Philippine Languages” Whether you like or not, The title implies all languages in the Philippines regardless of their Language Family. Unless you always want to stick with the current Status Quo.
As long as this article won’t change its name to Philippine Austronesian Relation In A map”, then It will always implies Racism. After all, Most Filipino Citizens are racists! specially the political dominant Ethnicity in the country are racist towards the non-politically dominant and influential Ethnicities…
Aron said:
“Philippine Languages” Whether you like or not, The title implies all languages in the Philippines regardless of their Language Family. Unless you always want to stick with the current Status Quo.
As long as this article won’t change its name to Philippine Austronesian Relation In A map”, then It will always implies Racism. After all, Most Filipino Citizens are racists! specially the political dominant Ethnicity in the country are racist towards the non-politically dominant and influential Ethnicities…
Lastly, you’re wrong…. It is not bend backward but move forward towards Pro-Intellectualism rather than your Anti-Intellectualism attitude. People like you who doesn’t want to accept the fluidity of our society are one of the many reasons why most of us are stagnant pinoymonkeys.
Ravin' Ray said:
Well Aron, the tone of your last post says it all. If you want to descend into bashing and name-calling instead of keeping the discussion on an intellectual level as most of the other posters here have, that’s your choice. I will not return the favor by labeling you unsavory terms. I do wonder though, what the Linguistic Society of the Philippines (http://www.lsphil.net/) would have to say about your rant about Nath not adding “Austronesian” to the title of his article. Or for that matter, linguist Lawrence A. Reid (http://www2.hawaii.edu/~reid/) who has posted several comments here and in Nath’s other article (where you too, complained about the title) and who doesn’t have an issue with the title.
Lastly, you don’t know anything about my educational achievements, or my interests and knowledge and comprehension skills, to call my attitude Anti-Intellectualism. Don’t make the mistake of prejudging people you only know about from postings on the Internet.
Lawrence A. Reid said:
This is a very nice picture, and the relationships match quite well with what historical-comparative linguists have claimed about Philippine languages. There are a few issues that need to be looked at however.
1. The first is that the map shows two close sister languages, Bontok Guinaang and Bontoc Guinaang. The names Bontoc and Bontok are spelling variants. Bontoc is the name of the municipality where the Guinaang barangay is located. Bontok is the name of the language. Ethnologue shows at least five different languages in the Bontok group. Guinaang is a dialect of the Central Bontok language.
2. The languages of the geographical northern Philippines consist of two very distinct linguistic groups, the Northern Luzon group, which contain a number of distinct subgroups, a) the Cagayan Valley languages; b) the Northeast Cagayan languages, consisting of mostly Negrito languages scattered along the northeast shores of Luzon; c) the Central Cordilleran group, of which Kalinga, Bontok, Kankanaey, Balangao and the Ifugao languages are representative; and d) the Southern Cordilleran group consisting of Ilongot, Pangasinan, Inibaloi, Karaw and other languages. The other group of northern Philippine languages are the Central Luzon languages consisting of the Sambalic languages and the various dialects of Kapampangan. Ethnologue shows the current understanding of the relationships of these groups. There is no support at all for a Northern Philippine group of Philippine languages.
3. The island of Mindoro shows only Hanunóo in the map. Its position is in the south of the island, not the center as shown on the map. The three northern languages of the island form a distinct subgroup from the other languages of the island (including HanunóoI. Again see Ethnologue for the names and positions of these languages.
Alan Oliver said:
Lawrence A. Ried in his comment says…’The other group of northern Philippine languages are the Central Luzon languages consisting of the Sambalic languages’ Shouldn’t this have been…’Zamblic’ as the province is called Zambales?
Alan Oliver said:
I meant ‘Zambalic’…not Zamblic spelling error.
Lawrence A. Reid said:
This is true for one group of Central Luzon languages, but not the whole family which includes languages in Pampanga, Bulacan, and Bataan.
Lawrence A. Reid said:
Actually the language family is named not for the provinces in which they spoken but for the main language spoken in the area, which is Sambal, not Zambal.
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Jdc said:
I’m quite saddened with my fellow Chavacano speakers commenting a bit rudely here. Yes, we speak a Philippine language as we are apparently part of the Republic of the Philippines. However, since the article is pertaining to the relationship between Philippine Languages, we must admit the fact that aside from similarly calling ‘kutchara, la mesa, maga numero’ etc. in both Chavacano & neighboring Visayan/Filipino languages, we are but a distinct people speaking a language classified as a Spanish-creole language with very little influence from our fellow filipino brothers’ austronesian native tongues. It doesn’t make us a less of a filipino though. We are just unique in this part of the country. Embrace it. Be proud of it.
alunsina said:
This is amazing work! Congratulations! I just want to second the suggestion above that Kinaray-A is one of the languages spoken in Antique. On a trip to Palawan some years ago, an indigenous tribe there was also speaking it! My mother’s roots are in Antique, so I hope you’ll understand my interest. Thanks! Looking forward to more updates!
Rj Villanueva said:
you miss to add the nearly xtnct language of camiguin del sur.
Lech Catacutan said:
Pleasant day! I would like to ask, “Why is hiligaynon separated from Ilonggo?”
As far as I know, Ilonggo originaly, is the term used for people who live in Iloilo.
In Iloilo City, we speak hiligaynon.
While in other municipalities, they speak karay-a. I’m concluding that you might have mistaken hiligaynon with karay-a, or ilonggo from hiligaynon. Thanx in advance for the reply.
Rheeno said:
It’s a pretty good and informative map. Thanks for this. I did notice some things but we’re all still learning. This is still awesome. Maybe we need a book or two to solve the some of the issues hahaha kudos! Awesome!
Oh, I’m from Iloilo and I speak Kinaray-a and Hiligaynon, my grandfather spoke Cebuano, and some of my cousins speak Bisaya (Mindanao).
I can only understand Cebuano and Bisaya but not speak them. (The map doesn’t show Bisaya-Mindanao) but I don’t know another name to call it. Haha)
Growing up listening to my grandfather, I can fairly see the connections between the languages I’m familiar with. I noticed that some of the Bibles used by Catholic priests locally in the area, I believe, are pretty understandable for a Kinaray-a speaker, Hiligaynon speaker, and a Cebuano speaker. From my standpoint, they should be able to. Haha But it could also only be my perspective because I’m familiar with said languages.
Still, this map is amazing.
Tony Abad said:
Thank you.
guitarlessguitarist said:
This inspires me to break down the Bikolano language and create a chart of its dialects. Haha
Alan Oliver said:
It’s mind blowing that such a small group of island has so many of languages. I struggle to get my head around the number. l too come from a small group of islands with approximately the same land mass. Whicht has a long and rich history… but as far as l know does not have the number of languages you have. Of course the islands l refer to is the British Isles which is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Island, which l suppose equates roughly to Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. I suppose it goes to show that Filipinos have always done a lot of talking even though some of their compatriots may not have known what they were talking about… nothing much has changed you might add. I guess that you have the advantage that when a foreign country stakes claim to one of your islands…you can always swear at them in 185 languages!
Zac Faelnar Camara said:
Great work! Please get in touch with my dad, Atty. Manuel Lino G. Faelnar, a linguist and advocate who works in cooperation with DepEd .
Roy Flores said:
I was born in a tiny island in the Philippines that spoke the Inabaknon language (I live in New York City now). Growing up I was really fascinated by how different the language is from the languages spoken in neighboring islands/towns. Seeing your map got me even more fascinated! It’s crazy to find out that there is nothing that sounds like it within the Visayas region. I’m so curious how that language got to the island itself. Nonetheless, this inspires me to brush up on the language. I’m gonna have to force myself to have conversations with my mother in Inabaknon so I can polish it up and be fluent in it again! :)
Manny Faelnar said:
Chavacano’s lexicon may be about 90% Hispanic (mixture of Castllian, Catalan, Pirtuguese) but the syntax and grammar are definitely Austronisian. For example: English: I have not read it yet. Spanish: Yo no he leido todavia. Chavacano: No hay pa yo lee’. Cebuano: Wa pa ko Kansas. Word for word the syntax of Chavacano is Cebuano. On this basis, Chavacano is Austronesian. I also posit that Pissin or Pidgin, an official language of Papua New Guinea is Austronesian by syntax.
Alma Anonas-Carpio said:
Thank you for taking the time to do this. Yes, you did miss a few of the languages, but I’ve lived in the Philippines all my life and been all over the country (I’m a journalist, traveling about here is part of my job) and tried to pick up what words I can from each locality. I’m pretty okay with Cebuano (one of the most dominant Visayan languages) because my mother speaks it and is from Ormoc City on the island of Samar in the Central Visayas. My father is from Central Luzon and he speaks Sambali Botolan (though there are many variegations on Sambali from town to town across the municipalities in Zambales province) I also speak Tagalog because I was born and raised in Manila and I married a man from Metro Manila. I speak and write best in a language not my own, however, English. I also understand Spanish, since that is the other common language between my parents, who had to learn each other’s mother tongues just to get along.
This map you’ve made is a wonderful picture of the diversity of cultures and languages in the Philippines, one I hope to keep exploring, both as a journalist and as a Filipino. This is fascinating, especially when I look at all this from your point of view.
playamoth said:
In support of the supposition that our people came from Indonesia, I heard from an Indonesian friend that ‘halimaw’ to them is a tiger. We are still using the term even if there are no tigers here. It has taken an imaginary monster image.
Jerry Tang said:
There are a number of Filipino (including the dialects) that are similar with Indo-Malay languages.
Nasi- rice (Kapampangan)
Kucing (kitten)
Ikan (fish) Zambaleno), just to name a few.
unli said:
I guess you forget the chavacano in zamboanga.
Aron said:
Stop this nonsense Political Correctness!
It is no matter what “Discriminatory” against NON-Austronesian Languages since the title says it “Philippine Languages” (Los Idiomas de Filipinas). By the title alone, it is already inclusive rather than exclusive.
If the author wants it to be exclusive it has to be written as “Philippine Austronesian Languages” instead!
Aron said:
Well, Mr. Manny Faelnar:
They do not want to move forward towards pro-intellectualism instead they always want to stay backward by upholding the status quo.
The title says “Philippine Languages Relation In A Map’yet our Mother TOngue is not included here.
This absurd! a total abomination on our part!
Aron said:
I’ve read from other Article, the Chavacano Language with its Six Dialects are considered a member of the Austronesian Language Family although not part of the Malayo-Polynesian Language Family where most Philippines languages are part, instead the Chavacano language is a member of the Austro-Iberian Language Family (Austronesian-Iberian Language Family).
Val V. Verde said:
Thank you for this profound interest on our language sir! awesome!
just to clarify, apparently, Hiligaynon is a LANGUAGE spoken by the majority of the peoples of Northern Iloilo (Ajuy, Viejo, Estancia) and the large portion of Negros Occidental. Ilonggo refers to the PEOPLE (primarily in Western Visayas) that speak the language of Hiligaynon and its relative (not dialect) KINIRAY-A (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karay-a_language). So its like, Hiligaynon is the language of the Ilonggo(s). ;)
Rad Rizzy said:
Wow! This is very interesting. Thanks for posting this. I’m sure this will be cited in someone’s Dissertation or Masters Thesis. I’m always on a search to learn things about the Philippines Pre-Spanish Colonialism. I’ve always been fascinated by languages and always noticed similarities in Tagalog with some Indonesian and Malaysian words I see friends of mine write on FB. Great work!
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Ric Schwenk said:
Fascinating map and discussion. I could not stop reading for the last hour or more. My wife is Ilocano and I lived in the RP for about 25 years. It is our second language. Now I want to learn where the Ilocano language came from. I know is distinctly different.