Ilokano language

Ilocano
Spoken in  Philippines
 United States
Region Northern Luzon
Native speakers 7.0 million  (2000)[1]
3rd most spoken native language in the Philippines
Language family
Writing system Latin (Ilocano/Filipino alphabet);
Historically Baybayin
Official status
Official language in Regional language in the Philippines
Regulated by Commission on the Filipino Language
Language codes
ISO 639-2 ilo
ISO 639-3 ilo

Ilokano or Ilocano (Ilocano: Ti Pagsasao nga Iloco; also Ilocano, Iluko, Iloco, Iloco, Ylocano, and Yloco) is the third most-spoken language of the Republic of the Philippines.

An Austronesian language, it is related to such languages as Indonesian, Malay, Fijian, Maori, Hawaiian, Malagasy, Samoan, Tahitian, Chamorro, Tetum, and Paiwan.

Contents

History

The Ilocano people are an Austronesian-speaking people. Families and clans arrived by viray or bilog, or "boat". The term Ilocano, as commonly accepted, originates from i-, which denotes "from", and looc, meaning "cove or bay", thus giving them the name "People of the bay." Some modern scholars, however, argue that as far as the Ilocano tradition of giving names to their place of residency is concerned, the i + looc etymology is actually an exonym. These scholars suggest that the term Ilocano comes from "i-", "from", and "lucong", "the flat lands" or "the lowlands". Ilocanos also refer to themselves with the endonym Samtoy, a contraction of the phrase sao mi ditoy, meaning "this is our language".

Classification

Ilocano comprises its own branch in the Philippine Cordilleran family of languages. It is spoken as a native language by eight million people.

A lingua franca of the northern region, it is spoken as a secondary language by more than two million people who are native speakers of Pangasinan, Ibanag, Ivatan, and other languages in Northern Luzon.

Geographic distribution

Ilocanos occupy the narrow, barren strip of land in the northwestern tip of Luzon, squeezed in between the inhospitable Cordillera mountain range to the east and the South China Sea to the west. This harsh geography molded a people known for their clannishness, tenacious industry and frugality, traits that were vital for survival. It also induced Ilokanos to become a migratory people, always in search for better opportunities and for land to build a life on. Although their homeland constitutes the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Abra, their population has spread east and south of their original territorial borders.

Ilocano migrants flocked to the more fertile Cagayan Valley, Apayao mountains and the Pangasinan plains during the 18th and 19th centuries and now constitute a majority in many of these areas. In the 20th century, many Ilokano families moved to Metro Manila and further south to Mindanao, specificlly in North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Maguindanao, Sarangani, and the Zamboanga Peninsula but the bulk mostly settled in Sultan Kudarat Province. They became the first Filipino ethnic group to immigrate en masse to North America (the so-called Manong generation), forming sizable communities in the American states of Hawaii, California, Washington and Alaska. Ilokano is the native language of most of the original Filipino immigrants in the United States, but Tagalog is used by more Filipino-Americans because it is the basis for Filipino, the national language of the people of the Philippines.

A large, growing number of Ilokanos can also be found in the Middle East, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Canada, Australia and Europe.

Writing system

Pre-Colonial

Pre-colonial Ilocanos of all classes wrote in a syllabic system prior to European arrival. They used a system that is termed as an abugida, or an alphasyllabary. It was similar to the Tagalog and Pangasinan scripts, where each character represented a consonant-vowel, or CV, sequence. The Ilocano version, however, was the first to designate coda consonants with a diacritic mark - a cross or virama - shown in the Doctrina Cristiana of 1621, one of the earliest surviving Ilokano publications. Before the addition of the virama, writers had no way to designate coda consonants. The reader, on the other hand, had to guess whether the vowel was read or not, due to this vowels "e" and "i" are interchangeables and letters "o" and "u", for instance "tendera" and tindira" (shop-assistant)

Modern

In recent times, there have been two systems in use: The "Spanish" system and the "Tagalog" system. In the Spanish system words of Spanish origin kept their spellings. Native words, on the other hand, conformed to the Spanish rules of spelling. Nowadays, only the older generation of Ilocanos use the Spanish system.

The system based on that of Tagalog. Each letter receives one phonetic value, and better reflects the actual pronunciation of the word.[2] The letters ng, however, constitute a digraph and counts as a single letter, following n in alphabetization. As a result, numo humility appears before ngalngal to chew in newer dictionaries. Words of foreign origin, most notably those from Spanish, need to be changed in spelling to better reflect Ilocano phonology. The weekly magazine Bannawag is known to use this system.

Samples of the two systems

The following are two versions of the Lord's Prayer. The one on the left is written using the Spanish-based orthography, while the one on the right uses the Taglish-based system.

Amami, ñga addaca sadi lañgit,
Madaydayao coma ti Naganmo.
Umay cuma ti pagariam.
Maaramid cuma ti pagayatam
Cas sadi lañgit casta met ditoy daga.
Itedmo cadacam ita ti taraonmi iti inaldao.
Quet pacaoanennacami cadaguiti ut-utangmi,
A cas met panamacaoanmi
Cadaguiti nacautang cadacami.
Quet dinacam iyeg iti pannacasulisog,
No di quet isalacannacami iti daques.
Amami, nga addaka sadi langit,
Madaydayaw koma ti Naganmo.
Umay koma ti pagariam.
Maaramid koma ti pagayatam
Kas sadi langit kasta met ditoy daga.
Itedmo kadakam ita ti taraonmi iti inaldaw.
Ket pakawanennakami kadagiti ut-utangmi,
A kas met panamakawanmi
Kadagiti nakautang kadakami.
Ket dinakam iyeg iti pannakasulisog,
No di ket isalakannakami iti dakes.

Ilokano and education

With the implementation of the Bilingual Education System of 1897, Ilocano, together with the other seven major languages (those that have at least a million speakers), was allowed to be used as a medium of instruction until the second grade. It is recognized by the Commission on the Filipino Language as one of the major languages of the Philippines. Constitutionally, Ilocano is an auxiliary official language in the regions where it is spoken and serves as auxiliary media of instruction therein.[3]

In recent years, a movement in both the Lower and the Upper House of the Congress pressed for the usage of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction until the sixth grade.

Literature

Ilocano animistic past offers a rich background in folklore, mythology and superstition (see Religion in the Philippines). There are many stories of good and malevolent spirits and beings. Its creation mythology centers on the giants Aran and her husband Angngalo, and Namarsua (the Creator).

The epic story Biag ni Lam-ang (The Life of Lam-ang) is undoubtedly one of the few indigenous stories from the Philippines that survived colonialism, although much of it is now acculturated and shows many foreign elements in the retelling. It reflects values important to traditional Ilokano society; it is a hero’s journey steeped in courage, loyalty, pragmatism, honor, and ancestral and familial bonds.

Ilocano culture revolves around life rituals, festivities and oral history. These were celebrated in songs (kankanta), dances (sala), poems (daniw), riddles (burburtia), proverbs (pagsasao), literary verbal jousts called bucanegan (named after the writer Pedro Bucaneg, and is the equivalent of the Balagtasan of the Tagalogs) and epic stories.

Phonology

Segmental

Vowels

Modern Ilocano has two dialects, which are differentiated only by the way the letter e is pronounced. In the Amianan (Northern) Dialect, there exist only five vowels while the Abagatan (Southern) Dialect employs six.

The letter in bold is the graphic (written) representation of the vowel.

Ilokano Vowel Chart
Height Front Central Back
Close i /i/ e /ɯ/, u/o /u/
Mid e /ɛ/ o /o/
Open a /a/

For a better rendition of vowel distribution, please refer to the IPA Vowel Chart.

Unstressed /a/ is pronounced [ɐ] in all positions except final syllables, like madí [mɐˈdi] (cannot be) but ngiwat (mouth) is pronounced [ˈŋiwat].

Although the modern (Tagalog) writing system is largely phonetic, there are some notable conventions.

O/U and I/E

In native morphemes, the close back rounded vowel /u/ is written differently depending on the syllable. If the vowel occurs in the ultima of the morpheme, it is written o; elsewhere, u.

Example:
    Root: luto cook
          agluto to cook
          lutuen to cook (something)

Instances such as masapulmonto, You will manage to find it, to need it, are still consistent. Note that masapulmonto is, in fact, three morphemes: masapul (verb base), -mo (pronoun) and -(n)to (future particle). An exception to this rule, however, is laud /la.ʔud/ (west). Also, u in final stressed syllables can be pronounced [o], like [dɐ.ˈnom] for danum (water).

That said, the two vowels are not highly differentiated in native words, due to fact that /o/ was an allophone of /u/ in the history of the language. In words of foreign origin, notably Spanish, they are phonemic.

Example:
    uso use
    oso bear

Unlike u and o, i and e are not allophones, but i in final stressed syllables in words ending in consonants can be [ɛ], like ubíng [ʊ.ˈbɛŋ] (child).

The two closed vowels become glides when followed by another vowel. The close back rounded vowel /u/ becomes [w] before another vowel; and the close front unrounded vowel /i/, [j].

Example:
    kuarta /kwaɾ.ta/ money
    paria /paɾ.ja/ bitter melon

In addition, dental/alveolar consonants become palatalized before /i/. (See Consonants below).

Unstressed /i/ and /u/ are pronounced [ɪ] and [ʊ] except in final syllables, like pintás (beauty) [pɪn.ˈtas] and buténg (fear) [bʊ.ˈtɛŋ] but bangir (other side) and parabur (grace) are pronounced [ˈba.ŋiɾ] and [pɐ.ˈɾa.buɾ].

Amianan and Abagatan pronunciation of /e/

The letter e represent two vowels in the Abagatan (Southern) dialect, /ɛ/ in words of foreign origin and /ɯ/ in native words, and only one in the Amianan (Northern) dialect, /ɛ/.

Realization of 'e'
Word Gloss Origin Amianan Dialect Abagatan Dialect
keddeng assign Native kɛd.dɛŋ kɯd.dɯŋ
elepante elephant Spanish ʔɛ.lɛ.pan.tɛ ʔɛ.lɛ.pan.tɛ

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are combination of a vowel and /i/ or /u/. In the orthography, the secondary vowels (underlying /i/ or /u/) are written with their corresponding glide, y or w, respectively. Of all the possible combinations, only /aj/ or /ej/, /iw/, /aj/ and /uj/ occur. In the orthography, vowels in sequence such as uo and ai, do not coelesce into a diphthong, rather, they are pronounced with an intervening glottal stop, for example, buok hair /bʊ.ʔuk/ and dait sew /da.ʔit/.

Diphthongs
Diphthong Orthography Example
/au/ aw kabaw "senile"
/iu/ iw iliw "home sick"
/ai/ ay maysa "one"
/ei/[4] ey idiey "there" (Regional variant. Standard: "idiay")
/oi/, /ui/[5] oy, uy baboy "pig"

The diphthong /ei/ is a variant of /ai/ in native words. Other occurrences are in words of Spanish and English origin. Examples are reyna /ˈɾei.na/ (from Spanish reina, queen) and treyner /ˈtɾei.nɛɾ/ (trainer). The diphthongs /oi/ and /ui/ may be interchanged since /o/ is an allophone of /u/ in final syllables. Thus, apúy (fire) may be pronounced /ɐ.ˈpui/ and baboy (pig) may be pronounced /ˈba.bui/.

Consonants

Bilabial Dental /
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Stops Voiceless p t k (#[6][7] V/∅V∅/C-V)[ʔ][8]
Voiced b d g
Affricates Voiceless (ts, tiV) [tʃ][9]
Voiced (diV) [dʒ][9]
Fricatives s (siV) [ʃ][9] h
Nasals m n (niV) [nj][9] ng [ŋ]
Laterals l (liV) [lj][9]
Flaps r [ɾ]
Trills (rr [r])
Semivowels (w, CuV) w[9] (y, CiV) [j][9]

All consonantal phonemes except are /h, ʔ/ may be a syllable onset or coda. The phoneme /h/ is a borrowed sound and rarely occurs in coda position. Although, the Spanish word, reloj, clock, would have been heard as [re.loh], the final /h/ is dropped resulting in /re.lo/. However, this word also may have entered the Ilokano lexicon at early enough a time that the word was still pronounced /re.loʒ/, with the j pronounced as in French, resulting in /re.los/ in Ilokano. As a result, both /re.lo/ and /re.los/ occur.

The glottal stop /ʔ/ is not permissible as coda; it can only occur as onset. Even as an onset, the glottal stop disappears in affixation. Take for example the root aramat, use. When prefixed with ag-, the expected form is *ag-aramat /ʔɐɡ.ʔɐ.ra.mat/. But, the actual form is, in fact, agaramat /ʔɐ.ɡɐ.ra.mat/; the glottal stop disappears. In a reduplicated form, the glottal stop returns and participates in the template, CVC, agar-aramat /ʔɐ.ɡar.ʔɐ.ra.mat/.

Stops are pronounced without aspiration. When they occur as coda, they are not released, for example, sungbat [sʊŋ.bat̚] answer, response.

Ilokano is one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from [ɾ]-[d] allophony, as /r/ in many cases is derived from a Proto-Austonesian */G/, compare dugô (Tagalog) and dara (Ilokano) blood.

The language marginally has a trill [r] which was spelled as “rr”, for example, serrek [sɛ.ˈrɛk] to enter. But it is different in proper names of foreign origin, mostly Spanish, like Serrano, which is correctly pronounced [sɛ.ˈrano]. Some speakers, however, pronounce Serrano as [sɛ.ˈɾano].

Prosody

Stress

Lexical

Stress is phonemic or lexical in Ilokano. This results in minimal pairs such as káyo (wood) and kayó (you (plural or polite)) or kíta (class, type, kind) and kitá (see). In written Ilokano, stress is not indicated, thus kayo and kita. Regardless of that fact, phonemic patterns can be found that give a good indication how to determine the primary stress of a given root.

Pitch

Primary stressed syllables are lower in pitch compared to the rest of the prosodic word.

Grammar

Ilokano is typified by a predicate-initial structure. Verbs and adjectives occur in the first position of the sentence, then the rest of the sentence follows.

Ilokano uses a highly complex list of affixes (prefixes, suffixes, infixes and enclitics) and reduplications to indicate a wide array of grammatical categories. Learning simple root words and corresponding affixes goes a long way in forming cohesive sentences.

Lexicon

Borrowings

Ilokano's vocabulary has a closer affinity to languages from Borneo. Foreign accretion comes largely from Spanish, followed by English and smatterings of Hokkien (Min Nan), Arabic and Sanskrit.

Examples of Borrowing
Word Source Original Meaning Ilokano meaning
arak Arabic drink similar to sake generic alcoholic drink
karma Sanskrit deed (see Buddhism) spirit
sanglay Hokkien to deliver goods to deliver/Chinese merchant
agbuldos English to bulldoze to bulldoze
kuarta Spanish cuarta ("quarter", a kind of copper coin) money
kumusta Spanish greeting: ¿Cómo está? ("How are you?") how are you

Common expressions

English Ilokano
Yes Wen
No Saan

Haan

Madi

How are you? Kumusta ka?

Kumusta kayo? (polite and plural)

Good day Naimbag nga aldaw.

Naimbag nga aldawyo. (polite and plural)

Good morning Naimbag a bigatmo.

Naimbag a bigatyo. (polite and plural)

Good afternoon Naimbag a malemmo.

Naimbag a malemyo. (polite and plural)

Good evening Naimbag a rabiim.

Naimbag a rabiiyo. (polite and plural)

What is your name? Ania ti naganmo? (often contracted to Aniat' naganmo? or Ana't naganmo)

Ania ti naganyo?

Where's the bathroom? Ayanna ti banio?
I cannot understand Diak matarusan/maawatan.

Saanko maawatan (or Saanko nga maawatan).

I love you Ay-ayatenka.

Ipatpategka.

I'm sorry. Pakawanen nak.

Dispensaren nak.

Thanks Agyamannak apu
Goodbye. Agpakadaakon.

Kastan/Kasta pay. (Till then)
Sige. (Okay)
Innakon. (I'm going)
Inkamin. (We are going)

Numbers (Bilang), Days (Aldaw), Months (Bulan)

Numbers (Bilang)

Ilokano uses two number systems, one native and the other derived from Spanish.

Numbers
0 ibbong
awan (lit. none)
sero (English zero)
itlog (slang egg)
sero
0.25 (1/4) kakapat
0.50 (1/2) kagudua
1 maysa uno
2 dua dos
3 tallo tres
4 uppat cuatro
5 lima cinco
6 innem sais
7 pito siete
8 walo ocho
9 siam nuebe
10 sangapulo (lit. a group of ten) dies
11 sangapulo ket maysa onse
20 duapulo bainte
50 limapulo cincuenta
100 sangagasut (lit. a group of one hundred) cien, ciento
1,000 sangaribo (lit. a group of one thousand) mil
10,000 sangalaksa (lit. a group of ten thousand) dies mil
1,000,000 sangariwriw (lit. a group of one million) milion
1,000,000,000 sangabilion (American English, billion) bilion

Ilokano uses a mixture of native and Spanish numbers. Traditionally Ilokano numbers are used for quantities and Spanish numbers for time or days and references. Examples:

Spanish:

Mano ti tawenmo?
How old are you (in years)? (Lit. How many years do you have?)
Beintiuno.
Twenty one.
Luktanyo dagiti Bibliayo iti libro ni Juan kapitulo tres bersikolo diesiseis.
Open your Bibles to the book of John chapter three verse sixteen.

Ilokano:

Mano a kilo ti bagas ti kayatmo?
How many kilos of rice do you want?
Sangapulo laeng.
Ten only.
Adda dua nga ikan kenkuana.
He has two fish. (lit. There are two fish with him.)

Days of the week (Aldaw ti Lawas)

Days of the week are directly borrowed from Spanish.

Days of the Week
Monday Lunes
Tuesday Martes
Wednesday Mierkoles
Thursday Huebes
Friday Biernes
Saturday Sabado
Sunday Domingo

Months (Bulan)

Like the days of the week, the names of the months are taken from Spanish.

Months
January Enero    July Hulio
February Pebrero August Agosto
March Marso September Septiembre
April Abril October Oktubre
May Mayo November Nobiembre
June Hunio December Disiembre

Units of time

The names of the units of time are either native or are derived from Spanish. The first entries in the following table are native; the second entries are Spanish derived.

Units of time
second kanito
segundo
minute daras
minuto
hour oras
day aldaw
week lawas
dominggo (lit. Sunday)
month bulan
year tawen
anio

To mention time, Ilokanos use a mixture of Spanish and Ilokano:

1:00 a.m. A la una iti bigat (One in the morning)
2:30 p.m. A las dos imedia iti malem (in Spanish, Son las dos y media de la tarde or "half past two in the afternoon")

More Ilokano words

  • ading = younger brother/sister
  • awan = none
  • adda = there is
  • al-alia = ghost/spirit
  • ama = father
  • apan = to go
  • apay = why
  • apong = grandparent
  • apong baket = grandmother
  • an-nay! = ouch!
  • aso = dog
  • aysus! = oh, Jesus/oh, my God!
  • apong lakay = grandfather
  • babae = female
  • baboy = pig
  • bado = clothing / attire
  • badok = traditional jendo martial arts uniform/my attire/my uniform/my clothing
  • baket = old women / wife
  • balla (or bagtit, which is the most usable word) = crazy
  • bangsit = stink
  • baro = boy
  • basang = girl
  • (ag)basa = (to) read
  • bassit= small
  • basol = fault, wrongdoing, sin
  • bisin = hunger
  • (ag)buya = (to) watch
  • dadael = destroy/ruin
  • damdama = later
  • digos = bath
  • buneng = bladed tool / sword
  • gayyem = friend
  • kaanakan = niece / nephew
  • kabalio = horse
  • kabsat = sibling
  • kanayon = always
  • kasinsin = cousin
  • (ag)katawa = (to) laugh
  • kuddot/keddel = pinch
  • ina/inang/nanang = mother
  • laing = intelligence
  • lakay = old man / husband
  • lalaki = male
  • mabisin = hungry
  • manang = older sister or relative; can also be applied to women a little older than the speaker
  • mangan = eat
  • manong = older brother or relative; can also be applied to men a little older than the speaker
  • mare = female friend/mother
  • naimas = tasty/delicious/pleasurable
  • nalaing = brilliant/intelligent
  • nana = grandmother
  • nasam-it = sweet
  • naalsem = sour
  • napait = bitter
  • naapgad = salty
  • (na)pintas = beautiful (woman)
  • nataraki = cute (man, slightly impolite connotation, but properly used on an animal, as for a rooster), usually interchanged with 'handsome'
  • nataengan = adult
  • (nag)guapo = handsome (man)
  • (na)rago, (na)laad = ugly
  • pari = close male friend
  • padi = priest
  • (na)peggad = danger(ous)
  • (ag) perdi = (to) break/ruin
  • pusa= cat
  • pustaan = bet, wager
  • pimmusay(en) = died
  • rabii = night/evening
  • riing = wake up
  • rupa = face
  • sala = dance
  • (na)sakit = (it) hurts
  • (ag)sangit = (to) cry
  • (ag)surat = (to) write
  • takrot/tarkok = coward/afraid
  • tata = grandfather
  • tatang = father
  • (ag)takder = (to) stand
  • (ag)tugaw = (to) sit
  • (na)tawid = inherit(ed)
  • tun-bigat = tomorrow
  • turog = sleep
  • ubing = child
  • ulo = head

References and Notes

  1. ^ Philippine Census, 2000. Table 11. Household Population by Ethnicity, Sex and Region: 2000
  2. ^ The reverse is true for the vowel /u/ where it has two representations in native words. The vowel /u/ is written o when it appears in the last syllable of the word or of the root, for example kitaemonto /ki.ta.e.mun.tu/. In addition, e represents two vowels in the southern dialect: [ɛ] and [ɯ].
  3. ^ 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, thecorpusjuris.com (Article XIV, Section 7)
  4. ^ The diphthong /ei/ is a variant of /ai/.
  5. ^ The distinction between /o/ and /u/ is minimal.
  6. ^ The '#' represents the start of the word boundary
  7. ^ the symbol '' represents zero or an absence of a phoneme.
  8. ^ Ilocano syllables always begin with a consonant onset. Words that begin with a vowel actually begin with a glottal stop ('[ʔ]'), but it is not shown in the orthography. When the glottal stop occurs within a word there are two ways it is represented. When two vowels are juxtaposed, except certain vowel combinations beginning with /i/ or /u/ which in fact imply a glide /j/ or /w/, the glottal stop is implied. Examples: buok hair [buː.ʔok], dait sew [daː.ʔit], but not ruar outside [ɾwaɾ]. However, if the previous syllable is closed (ends in a consonant) and the following syllable begins with a glottal stop, a hyphen is used to represent it, for example lab-ay bland [lab.ʔai].
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Letters in parentheses are orthographic conventions that are used.

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