Pangasinan language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pangasinán
Spoken in: Philippines 
Region: Central Luzon
Total speakers: 1.54 million
Language family: Austronesian
 Malayo-Polynesian
  Borneo-Philippines
   Northern Luzon
    South Cordilleran
     Pangasinán
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: pag
ISO 639-3: pag

The Pangasinan language (Pangasinan: salitan Pangasinan; Spanish: idioma pangasinense) belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family. Pangasinan is spoken by more than two million Pangasinan people in the province of Pangasinan, in other Pangasinan communities in the Philippines, and by a significant number of Pangasinan immigrants in the United States. Pangasinan is the primary language in the province of Pangasinan, located on the west central area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf. It is the dominant language in central Pangasinan.

The Pangasinan language is one of the twelve major languages in the Philippines. The total population of the province of Pangasinan is 2,434,086 (National Statistics Office: 2000 Census). The estimated population of the indigenous speakers of the Pangasinan language in Pangasinan is 1.5 million.

Panggalatok is a slang term of Pangasinan of doubtful etymology mistakenly used by non-Pangasinans to refer to the Pangasinan language or its native speakers.

Contents

[edit] Classification

The Pangasinan language belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian languages branch of the Austronesian languages family. Pangasinan is similar to the Tagalog and Ilocano languages that are spoken in the Philippines, Indonesian in Indonesia, Malay in Malaysia, and Malagasy in Madagascar. The Pangasinan language is very closely related to the Ibaloi language spoken in the neighboring province of Benguet and Baguio City, located north of Pangasinan. The Pangasinan language is classified under the Pangasinic group of languages. The Pangasinic languages are:

  • Pangasinan
  • Ibaloi
  • Karao
  • I-wak
  • Kalanguya
  • Keley-I
  • Kallahan
  • Kayapa
  • Kallahan
  • Tinoc

The Pangasinic languages are spoken primarily in the provinces of Pangasinan and Benguet, and in some areas of the neighboring provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, and Ifugao.

Pangasinan is an agglutinative language. Linguistics studies suggest some Pangasinan word correspondences with the ancient Sumerian language[verification needed], the first known written language. The Sumerian language, which was spoken in the ancient land of Sumer in southern Mesopotamia, is also an agglutinative language like Pangasinan.

[edit] Distribution

Pangasinan is the primary language of the province of Pangasinan, located on the west central area of the island of Luzon along Lingayen Gulf. The province has a total population of 2,343,086 (2000), of which 1.5 million speak Pangasinan. Speakers of the language are concentrated mostly in central Pangasinan. Pangasinan is spoken in other Pangasinan communities in the Philippines, mostly in some areas of the neighboring provinces of Zambales, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, and Benguet, and by a significant number of Pangasinan immigrants in the United States.

[edit] History

Austronesian-language speakers settled in Maritime Southeast Asia during prehistoric times, perhaps more than 5,000 years ago. The indigenous speakers of the Pangasinan language are descended from these prehistoric settlers, who were probably part of the prehistoric human migration that is widely believed to have originated from Africa about 100 to 200 thousand years ago.

The word Pangasinan, means “land of salt” or “place of salt-making”; it is derived from the root word asin, the word for "salt" in the Pangasinan language. Pangasinan could also refer to a “container of salt or salted-products”; it refers to the ceramic jar for storage of salt or salted-products or its contents.

[edit] Grammar

[edit] Sentence Structure

Like other Malayo-Polynesian languages, Pangasinan language has a Verb–Subject–Object word order.

[edit] Pronouns

  Absolutive Independent Absolutive Enclitic Ergative Oblique
1st person singular siák ak -k(o) ed siak
1st person dual sikatá ita, ta -ta ed sikata
2nd person singular siká ka -m(o) ed sika
3rd person singular sikató - , -a to ed sikato
1st person plural inclusive sikatayó itayo, tayo -tayo ed sikatayo
1st person plural exclusive sikamí kamí mi ed sikami
2nd person plural sikayó kayó yo ed sikayo
3rd person plural sikara ira, ra da ed sikara

[edit] Numbers

The following lists the numbers from one to ten in English, Tagalog, and Pangasinan.

English Tagalog Pangasinan
one isa sakey, isa
two dalawa duara, dua
three tatlo talora, talo
four apat apatira, apat
five lima limara, lima
six anim anemira, anem
seven pito pitora, pito
eight walo walora, walo
nine siyam siamira, siam
ten sampu samplura, samplu

[edit] Phonology

Asi has sixteen consonants: p, t, k, b, d, g, m, n, ng, s, h, w, l, r and y. There are four vowels: a, e, i, o, and u. This is one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from [ɾ]-[d] allophone.

[edit] Orthography

See also: Filipino orthography

Pangasinan already had a writing system before the arrival of Europeans in 1571. The ancient Pangasinan script is related to the Tagalog Baybayin script and the Javanese Kavi script of Indonesia; it was probably influenced by the Brahmi script and Tamil script of ancient India.

The Latin alphabet was introduced during the Spanish colonial period. Pangasinan literature, using the indigenous syllabary and the Latin alphabet, continued to flourish during the Spanish and American colonial period. Pangasinan acquired many Spanish and English words, and some indigenous words were Hispanicized or Anglicized. However, use of the ancient syllabary has declined, and not much literature written in it has survived.

[edit] Pangasinan Literature

Only a few Pangasinan journalists, newspaper columnists, authors, and poets continue to write or publish their works in Pangasinan. Many of the older books about Pangasinan or written in Pangasinan are now out-of-print or of limited availability. Today, not many new books, newspapers or magazines are being published in Pangasinan. However, many Christian publications in Pangasinan are widely available.

Most Pangasinans are now multilingual. Many Pangasinans have become proficient in Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines; English, a global language; and Ilokano, a neighboring language. However, the spread and influence of the other languages is contributing to the decline of the Pangasinan language. Some Pangasinans are organizing to encourage the use of Pangasinan in the print and broadcast media, internet, local governments, courts, and schools in Pangasinan.

[edit] Sample: Malinak lay Labi (a Pangasinan folksong)

Malinak lay Labi
The night is late
Oras la’y mareen
The hour is peaceful

Mapalpalna’y dagem
A gentle breeze
Katekep to’y linaew
Along with it is the dew

Samit da’y kugip ko
So sweet is my dream
Binangonan kon tampol
Right away I awake

Lapu’d say limgas mo
Because of your beauty
Sikan sika’y amamayoen
You are the only one I will love

Lalo la bilay
Best of all, my life
No sika la’y nanengne'ng
When I see you

Napunas lan amin
All wiped away
So ermen ya akbibiten
The sorrows that I bear

No nanonotan
When I remember
Ko la'y samit day ugalim
Your sweet kindness

Ag ta ka nalingwanan
I will not forget you
Angga’d kauyos na bilay
Till life is gone[1]

[edit] Dictionaries and further reading

The following is a list of some dictionaries and references:

  • Lorenzo Fernández Cosgaya. Diccionario pangasinán-español and Vocabulario hispano-pangasinán (Colegio de Santo Tomás, 1865). This is available in the Internet at the University of Michigan's Humanities Text Initiative.
  • Anastacio Austria Macaraeg. Vocabulario castellano-pangasinán (1898).
  • Kabunyan Palaganas. A Pangasinense "mansya kayo'd siyak, taga Pangasinan ak met"
  • Mariano Pellicer. Arte de la lengua pangasinán o caboloan (1904).
  • Felixberto B. Viray. The Sounds and Sound Symbols of the Pangasinan Language (1927).
  • Corporación de PP. Dominicos. Pasion Na Cataoan Tin JesuChristo (U.S.T. Press, 1951).
  • Paciencia E. Versoza. Stress and Intonation Difficulties of Pangasinan Learners of English (1961).
  • Paul Morris Schachter. A Contrastive Analysis of English and Pangasinan (1968).
  • Richard A. Benton. Pangasinan Dictionary (University of Hawaii Press, 1971).
  • Richard A. Benton. Pangasinan Reference Grammar (University of Hawaii Press, 1971).
  • Richard A. Benton. Spoken Pangasinan (University of Hawaii Press, 1971).
  • Richard A. Benton. Phonotactics of Pangasinan (1972).
  • Ernesto Constantino. English-Pangasinan Dictionary (1975).
  • Julio F. Silverio. New English-Pilipino-Pangasinan Dictionary (1976).
  • Alta Grace Q. Garcia. Morphological Analysis of English and Pangasinan Verbs (1981).
  • Philippine Bible Society. Say Santa Biblia (Philippine Bible Society, 1982).
  • Philippine Bible Society. Maung A Balita Para Sayan Panaon Tayo (Philippine Bible Society and United Bible Societies, 1983).
  • Mario "Guese" Tungol. Modern English-Filipino Dictionary (Merriam Webster, 1993).
  • Church of Christ. Say Cancanta (Church of Christ, n.d.). Translations of English songs like "Joy to the World," and "What A Friend We Have in Jesus" are included.

A favorite traditional folk song of Pangasinan is Malinak Lay Labi, which is translated "Calm is the Night." An English translation of this song can be found in the Internet along with some Pangasinan poems and literature.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Wikipedia
Pangasinan language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia