Blaan, also known as Bilaan, is an
Austronesian language of the southern Philippines.
Classification
Blaan belongs to the Bilic microgroup of the
Philippine language subgroup, along with Giangan
Manobo
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
,
Tiruray, and
Tboli.
Distribution
There are two major varieties of Blaan: Koronadal Blaan (Tagalagad) and Sarangani Blaan (Tumanao).
According to the ''
Ethnologue'', Koronadal Blaan is spoken in:
*eastern
South Cotabato Province
South Cotabato ( hil, Bagatnan Cotabato; ceb, Habagatang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pagabagatan Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤاڬابڬتن كوتاواتو; tl, Timog Cotabato), officially the Province of South Cotabato, is a province in the Philippine ...
*
Sarangani Province
Sarangani, officially the Province of Sarangani ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sarangani; hil, Kapuoran sang Sarangani; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sarangani'', Jawi: دايرت نو سارڠني; fil, Lalawigan ng Sarangani), is a province in the Philipp ...
*
Sultan Kudarat Province (
Lutayan area)
*
Davao Occidental Province
Sarangani Blaan is spoken in:
*almost the entire area of
Sarangani Province
Sarangani, officially the Province of Sarangani ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sarangani; hil, Kapuoran sang Sarangani; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sarangani'', Jawi: دايرت نو سارڠني; fil, Lalawigan ng Sarangani), is a province in the Philipp ...
*
South Cotabato Province
South Cotabato ( hil, Bagatnan Cotabato; ceb, Habagatang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pagabagatan Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤاڬابڬتن كوتاواتو; tl, Timog Cotabato), officially the Province of South Cotabato, is a province in the Philippine ...
(
General Santos and north)
*
Davao Occidental Province (language area across from
Sarangani Province
Sarangani, officially the Province of Sarangani ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sarangani; hil, Kapuoran sang Sarangani; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sarangani'', Jawi: دايرت نو سارڠني; fil, Lalawigan ng Sarangani), is a province in the Philipp ...
's northern border)
Phonology
Blaan has fifteen consonant and seven vowel phonemes. Unlike most other Philippine languages and Austronesian languages in general, Blaan (as its related language
Tboli, permits a variety of consonant clusters at the onset of a syllable. This is evident in the name of the language, . This contraction of the original schwa sound exists in other Austronesian languages (such as
Javanese, a major language of
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
in
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
), but is rarely seen outside of the
Bilic group within the Philippines.
are also heard as . can also be heard as within syllables.
Syntax
Blaan uses word order to indicate the thematic roles of nominal elements in the sentence.
Similar to other Philippine-type Austronesian languages, Blaan uses verbal morphology to indicate voice (or focus, as it is usually called in the literature).
Here are some examples of voice/focus types in Blaan:
Agent voice/focus (-m-)
Patient voice/focus (-n-)
Vocabulary
References
Languages of South Cotabato
Languages of Sarangani
Languages of Davao Occidental
South Mindanao languages
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