Ilocano (also Ilokano; ; Ilocano: ) is an
Austronesian language spoken in the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
, primarily by
Ilocano people and as a
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
by the
Igorot people and also by the native settlers of
Cagayan Valley
Cagayan Valley ( ilo, Tanap ti Cagayan; fil, Lambak ng Cagayan), is an administrative region in the Philippines, located in the northeastern section of Luzon Island. It is composed of five Philippine provinces: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nue ...
. It is the
third most-spoken native language in the country.
As an Austronesian language, it is related to
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
(
Indonesian
Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to:
* Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia
** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago
** Indonesian ...
and
Malaysian
Malaysian may refer to:
* Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia
* Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia
* Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...
),
Tetum,
Chamorro Chamorro may refer to:
* Chamorro people, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific
* Chamorro language, an Austronesian language indigenous to The Marianas
* Chamorro Time Zone, the time zone of Guam and the Northern Mari ...
,
Fijian,
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
,
Hawaiian,
Samoan,
Tahitian,
Paiwan, and
Malagasy. It is closely related to some of the other Austronesian languages of Northern Luzon, and has slight
mutual intelligibility
In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...
with the
Balangao language
Balangao or Balangaw (also called Balangao Bontoc) is an Austronesian language spoken in northern Luzon, Philippines. It is spoken in the central area of Mountain Province, and into Tanudan municipality of Kalinga Province ; tl, Lalawigan ng Ka ...
and the eastern dialects of the
Bontoc language
Bontoc (Bontok) (also called Finallig) is the native language of the indigenous Bontoc people of the Mountain Province, in the northern part of the Philippines.
Dialects
''Ethnologue'' reports the following locations for each of the five Bontok ...
.
The Ilokano people had their indigenous writing system and script known as
''kur-itan''. There have been proposals to revive the ''kur-itan'' script by teaching it in Ilokano-majority public and private schools in
Ilocos Norte and
Ilocos Sur
Ilocos Sur, officially the Province of Ilocos Sur ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Sur; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Sur), is a province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region in Luzon. Located on the mouth of the Mestizo River is the capital o ...
.
Classification
Ilocano, like all Philippine languages, is an Austronesian language, a very expansive language family believed to originate in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. Ilocano comprises its own branch within the Philippine
Cordilleran language subfamily. It is spoken as a
first language
A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
by seven million people.
A
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
of the northern region of the Philippines, it is spoken as a secondary language by more than two million people who are native speakers of
Ibanag,
Ivatan, and other languages in Northern Luzon.
Geographic distribution
![Ilocanodistribution](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Ilocanodistribution.jpg)
The language is spoken in northwest Luzon, the
Babuyan Islands,
Cordillera Administrative Region
The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR; ilo, Rehion/Deppaar Administratibo ti Kordiliera; fil, Rehiyong Pampangasiwaan ng Cordillera), also known as the Cordillera Region and Cordillera (), is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...
,
Cagayan Valley
Cagayan Valley ( ilo, Tanap ti Cagayan; fil, Lambak ng Cagayan), is an administrative region in the Philippines, located in the northeastern section of Luzon Island. It is composed of five Philippine provinces: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nue ...
, northern parts of
Central Luzon
Central Luzon ( pam, (Reyun ning) Kalibudtarang Luzon, pag, (Rehiyon na) Pegley na Luzon, tgl, (Rehiyon ng) Gitnang Luzon, ilo, (Rehion/Deppaar ti) Tengnga ti Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...
,
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...
, and scattered areas in
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
(the
Soccsksargen
Soccsksargen (officially stylized in all caps; ), formerly known as Central Mindanao, is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region XII. Located in south-central Mindanao, its name is an acronym that stands for the region ...
region in particular).
The language is also spoken in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, with
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
and
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
having the largest number of speakers.
It is the third most spoken non-English language in Hawaii after Tagalog and
Japanese, with 17% of those speaking languages other than English at home (25.4% of the population) speaking the language.
In September 2012, the province of
La Union
La Union (), officially the Province of La Union ( ilo, Probinsia ti La Union; Kankanaey'': Probinsyan di La Union;'' Ibaloi'': Probinsya ne La Union;'' pag, Luyag/Probinsia na La Union; Tagalog'': Lalawigan ng La Union),'' is a province in th ...
passed an ordinance recognizing Ilocano (Iloko) as an official provincial language, alongside Filipino and English, as national and official languages of the Philippines, respectively.
It is the first province in the Philippines to pass an ordinance protecting and revitalizing a native language, although there are also other languages spoken in the province of La Union, including Pangasinan and Kankanaey.
Writing system
Modern alphabet
The modern Ilokano alphabet consists of 28 letters:
Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Ññ, NGng, Oo, Pp, Qq, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Yy, and Zz
Pre-colonial
Pre-colonial
Ilocano people of all classes wrote in a syllabic system known as
Baybayin
(, ''pre-kudlít'': , ''virama-krus-kudlít'': , ''virama-pamudpod'': ; also formerly commonly incorrectly known as alibata) is a Philippine script. The script is an abugida belonging to the family of the Brahmic scripts. Geographically, it ...
prior to European arrival. They used a system that is termed as an ''
abugida
An abugida (, from Ge'ez language, Ge'ez: ), sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental Writing systems#Segmental writing system, writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units; ...
'', or an alphasyllabary. It was similar to the
Tagalog and
Pangasinan
Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...
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
Virama ( ्) is a Sanskrit phonological concept to suppress the inherent vowel that otherwise occurs with every consonant letter, commonly used as a generic term for a codepoint in Unicode, representing either
# halanta, hasanta or explicit virā ...
– 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 a consonant not succeeding a vowel is read or not, for it is not written. Vowel apostrophes interchange between ''e'' or ''i'', and ''o'' or ''u''. Due to this, the vowels ''e'' and ''i'' are interchangeable, and letters ''o'' and ''u'', for instance, and ('shop-assistant').
Modern
![Book of Mormon - Iloko](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Book_of_Mormon_-_Iloko.jpg)
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. Most older generations of Ilocanos use the Spanish system.
In the system based on that of Tagalog there is more of a phoneme-to-letter correspondence, which better reflects the actual pronunciation of the word. The letters ''ng'' constitute a
digraph and count as a single letter, following ''n'' in alphabetization. As a result, ('humility') appears before ('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. Words of English origin may or may not conform to this orthography. A prime example using this system is the weekly magazine ''
Bannawag
''Bannawag'' (Iloko word meaning "dawn") is a Philippine weekly magazine published in the Philippines by Liwayway Publications Inc. It contains serialized novels/comics, short stories, poetry, essays, news features, entertainment news and article ...
''.
Samples of the two systems
The following are two versions of the Lord's Prayer. The one on the left is written using Spanish-based orthography, while the one on the right uses the Tagalog-based system.
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Comparison between the two systems
''Notes''
''1.'' In Ilocano phonology, the labiodental fricative sound // does not exist. Its approximate sound is //. Therefore, in words of Spanish or English origin, // becomes //. In particular (yet not always the case), last names beginning with // are often said with //, for example ''Fernández'' /per.'nan.des/.
''2.'' The sound // only occurs in loanwords, and in the negative variant ''haan''.
Ilocano and education
With the implementation by the Spanish 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
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
. Constitutionally, Ilocano is an auxiliary official language in the
regions where it is spoken and serves as auxiliary media of instruction therein.
In 2009, the
Department of Education instituted Department Order No. 74, s. 2009 stipulating that "mother tongue-based multilingual education" would be implemented. In 2012, Department Order No. 16, s. 2012 stipulated that the mother tongue-based multilingual system was to be implemented for Kindergarten to Grade 3 Effective School Year 2012–2013. Ilocano is used in public schools mostly in the Ilocos Region and the Cordilleras. It is the primary medium of instruction from Kindergarten to Grade 3 (except for the Filipino and English subjects) and is also a separate subject from Grade 1 to Grade 3. Thereafter, English and Filipino are introduced as mediums of instructions.
Literature
![10 commandments in Ilokano](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/10_commandments_in_Ilokano.JPG)
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
Angalo
Angalo is a legendary creation giant from Ilocano mythology with pre-Hispanic origins in the Ilocos region of the Philippines. Angalo was the first man, and son of the god of building. Angalo's head touched the sky and he could easily walk from ...
, 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 (), dances (), poems (), riddles (), proverbs (), literary verbal jousts called (named after the writer
Pedro Bucaneg
Pedro Bukaneg (March 1592 – c. 1630) was a Filipino poet. He is considered the "''Father of Ilocano literature''." Blind since birth, he is the believed to have authored of parts of the Ilocano epic '' Biag ni Lam-ang'' (''Life of Lam-ang'' ...
, and is the equivalent of the
Balagtasan of the
Tagalogs
The Tagalog people ( tl, Mga Tagalog; Baybayin: ᜋᜅ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔) are the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering at around 30 million. An Austronesian people, the Tagalog have a well developed society due to their cu ...
), 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 older Abagatan (Southern) dialect employs six.
* Amianan: , , , ,
* Abagatan: , , , , ,
Reduplicate vowels are not slurred together, but voiced separately with an intervening glottal stop:
* : 'no'
* : 'thorn'
The letter in bold is the graphic (written) representation of the vowel.
For a better rendition of vowel distribution, please refer to the
IPA Vowel Chart.
Unstressed /a/ is pronounced in all positions except final syllables, like ('cannot be') but ('mouth') is pronounced . Unstressed /a/ in final-syllables is mostly pronounced across word boundaries.
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
The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.
In ...
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: 'cook'
** 'to cook'
*** 'to cook (something)'; example:
Instances such as , ''
You will manage to find it, to need it', are still consistent. Note that is, in fact, three morphemes: (verb base), (pronoun) and (future particle). An exception to this rule, however, is ('west'). Also, ''u'' in final stressed syllables can be pronounced
like for ('water').
The two vowels are not highly differentiated in native words due to fact that was an
allophone
In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...
of in the history of the language. In words of foreign origin, notably Spanish, they are
phonemic.
Example: 'use'; 'bear'
Unlike ''u'' and ''o'', ''i'' and ''e'' are not allophones, but ''i'' in final stressed syllables in words ending in consonants can be , like ('child').
The two closed vowels become
glides when followed by another vowel. The
close back rounded vowel
The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.
In ...
becomes before another vowel; and the
close front unrounded vowel , .
Example: 'money'; 'bitter melon'
In addition,
dental/
alveolar Alveolus (; pl. alveoli, adj. alveolar) is a general anatomical term for a concave cavity or pit.
Uses in anatomy and zoology
* Pulmonary alveolus, an air sac in the lungs
** Alveolar cell or pneumocyte
** Alveolar duct
** Alveolar macrophage
* ...
consonants become
palatalized before . (See
Consonants below).
Unstressed /i/ and /u/ are pronounced and except in final syllables, like ('beauty') and ('fear') but ('other side') and ('grace/blessing') are pronounced and . Unstressed /i/ and /u/ in final syllables are mostly pronounced and across word boundaries.
= Pronunciation of
=
The letter represents two vowels in the non-nuclear dialects (areas outside the Ilocos provinces) in words of foreign origin and in native words, and only one in the nuclear dialects of the Ilocos provinces, .
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/, /aw/ and /uj/ occur. In the
orthography
An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation.
Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...
, vowels in sequence such as ''uo'' and ''ai'', do not coalesce into a diphthong, rather, they are pronounced with an intervening glottal stop, for example, 'hair' and 'sew' .
The diphthong is a variant of in native words. Other occurrences are in words of Spanish and English origin. Examples are (from Spanish , 'queen') and ('trainer'). The diphthongs and may be interchanged since is an allophone of in final syllables. Thus, ('fire') may be pronounced and ('pig') may be pronounced .
Consonants
All consonantal phonemes except may be a syllable
onset
Onset may refer to:
*Onset (audio), the beginning of a musical note or sound
*Onset, Massachusetts, village in the United States
**Onset Island (Massachusetts), a small island located at the western end of the Cape Cod Canal
*Interonset interval, ...
or
coda
Coda or CODA may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* Movie coda, a post-credits scene
* ''Coda'' (1987 film), an Australian horror film about a serial killer, made for television
*''Coda'', a 2017 American experimental film from Na ...
. The phoneme is a borrowed sound and rarely occurs in coda position. Although the Spanish word 'clock' would have been heard as , the final is dropped resulting in . However, this word also may have entered the Ilokano lexicon at early enough a time that the word was still pronounced , with the ''j'' pronounced as in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
, resulting in in Ilokano. As a result, both and occur.
The glottal stop 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 , 'use'. When prefixed with ''ag-'', the expected form is . But, the actual form is ; the glottal stop disappears. In a reduplicated form, the glottal stop returns and participates in the template, CVC, . Glottal stop ''sometimes'' occurs in coda in words ending in vowels, only before a pause.
Stops are pronounced without aspiration. When they occur as coda, they are not released, for example, 'answer', 'response'.
Ilokano is one of the Philippine languages which is excluded from - allophony, as in many cases is derived from a
Proto-Austronesian *R; compare (Tagalog) and (Ilokano) 'new'.
The language marginally has a trill which is spelled as ''rr'', for example, 'to enter'. Trill is sometimes an allophone of in word-initial position, syllable-final, and word-final positions, spelled as single , for example, ''ruar'' 'outside' [] ~ []. It is only pronounced flap in affixation and across word boundaries, especially when vowel-ending word precedes word-initial . But it is different in proper names of foreign origin, mostly Spanish, like ''Serrano'', which is correctly pronounced . Some speakers, however, pronounce ''Serrano'' as .
Prosody
Primary stress
The placement of primary stress is lexical in Ilocano. This results in
minimal pair
In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, spoken or signed, that differ in only one phonological element, such as a phoneme, toneme or chroneme, and have distinct meanings. They are used to demonstrate th ...
s such as ('wood') and ('you' (plural or polite)) or ('class, type, kind') and ('see'). In written Ilokano the reader must rely on context, thus and . Primary stress can fall only on either the
penult or the
ultima of the root, as seen in the previous examples.
While stress is unpredictable in Ilokano, there are notable patterns that can determine where stress will fall depending on the structures of the penult, the ultima and the origin of the word.
* Foreign words – the stress of foreign (mostly Spanish) words adopted into Ilokano fall on the same syllable as the original.
* CVC.'CV(C)# ''but'' 'CVŋ.kV(C)# – in words with a closed penult, stress falls on the ultima, except for instances of where it is the penult.
* 'C(j/w)V# – in words whose ultima is a glide plus a vowel, stress falls on the ultima.
* C.'CV:.ʔVC# – in words where VʔV and V is the same vowel for the penult and ultima, the stress falls on the penult.
Secondary stress
Secondary stress occurs in the following environments:
* Syllables whose coda is the onset of the next, i.e., the syllable before a geminate.
* Reduplicated consonant-vowel sequence resulting from morphology or lexicon
Vowel length
Vowel length coincides with stressed syllables (primary or secondary) and only on open syllables except for ultimas, for example, 'tree' versus (second person plural ergative pronoun).
Stress shift
As primary stress can fall only on the
penult or the
ultima,
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
ation causes a shift in stress one syllable to the right. The vowel of open penults that result lengthen as a consequence.
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.
Ilocano uses a highly complex list of affixes (prefixes, suffixes,
infixes
An infix is an affix inserted inside a word stem (an existing word or the core of a family of words). It contrasts with ''adfix,'' a rare term for an affix attached to the outside of a stem, such as a prefix or suffix.
When marking text for int ...
and
enclitics
In Morphology (linguistics), morphology and syntax, a clitic (, Back-formation, backformed from Ancient Greek, Greek "leaning" or "enclitic"Crystal, David. ''A First Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics''. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1980. Print.) ...
) and
reduplication
In linguistics, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word (or part of it) or even the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change.
The classic observation on the semantics of reduplication is Edwa ...
s 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
Foreign accretion comes largely from
Spanish, followed by
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and smatterings of much older accretion from Hokkien (
Min Nan
Southern Min (), Minnan (Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...
),
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
and
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
.
Common expressions
Ilokano shows a
T-V distinction.
Numbers, days, months
Numbers
Ilocano uses two number systems, one native and the other derived from Spanish.
Ilocano uses a mixture of native and Spanish numbers. Traditionally Ilocano numbers are used for quantities and Spanish numbers for time or days and references.
Examples:
Spanish:
:
: 'How old are you (in years)?' (Lit. 'How many years do you have?')
:
:'Twenty one.'
:
: 'Open your Bibles to the book of John chapter three verse sixteen.'
Ilocano:
:
:'How many kilos of rice do you want?'
:
:'Ten only.'
:
: 'He has two fish.' (lit. 'There are two fish with him.')
Days of the week
Days of the week are directly borrowed from Spanish.
Months
Like the days of the week, the names of the months are taken from Spanish.
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.
To mention time, Ilocanos use a mixture of Spanish and Ilocano:
: 1:00 a.m. (one in the morning)
: 2:30 p.m. , in Spanish: (half past two in the afternoon)
: 6:00 p.m (six in the evening)
: 7:00 p.m (seven in the evening)
: 12:00 noon (twelve noon)
More Ilocano words
* = beside; wedding party
* = parents-in-law
* = study (Southern dialect)
* = far
* = affirming the presence or existence of a person, place, or object
* = younger sibling; can also be applied to someone who is younger than the speaker
* = slave
* = to take
* = know
* = perseverance, patience (depends on the usage)
*/ = what
* = go; to go
* = fight, argument; ice cream cone
* = why
* = grandparent
*// = grandmother
*// = grandfather
* = build, work (Southern dialect)
* = door
* = near
* = long
* = none / nothing
*/ = oh, Jesus/oh, my God!
* = ancient; old
* = clothes; outfit; shirt
* = one's body; ownership
* = gold
* = same as
* = spoiled food
* = (to) tell/speak
*/ = crazy/bad word in Ilokano, drunk person, meager
* = young female/lass
* = mung beans
* = house
* = infant/child
* = stink/unpleasant/spoiled
* = young male/lad
* = study (Northern dialect); read (Southern dialect)
* = same as
* = few, small, tiny
* = fault, wrongdoing, sin
* = spank
* = slow
* = sea; bay
* = 25 cents/quarter
* = bladed tool / sword
* = destroy/ruin
* = bad
* = big; large; huge
* = later
* = to arrive at
* = punch
*// = wall
* = come
* = spend
* = unripe
* = hundred
* = reach
* = go home
* = simultaneous
* = thunder
* = no
* = holding
* = to give
* = cards
*/ = tomorrow
* = niece / nephew
* = horse
* = new
* = loofah
*/ = sibling
* = cover
* = always
* = neighbor
* = want
* = wood
* = yellowish brown
* = yellow
* = hold hands
* = startle
* = lightning
* = pinch
* = hoping for
* = mother
* = boast/arrogant
* = light/not heavy
*/ = intelligence
* = wide
* = vehicle
* = hate
* = older sister or relative; can also be applied to women a little older than the speaker
* = how many/how much
* = older brother or relative; can also be applied to men a little older than the speaker
* = female friend/mother
* = also, too
* = work (Northern dialect)
* = good morning
* = salty
* = spicy
* = beautiful/pretty (woman)
* = high/above/up
* = leave
* = close male friend
* = priest
* = danger(ous)
* = (to) break/ruin/damage
*= tear
* = strength; strong
* = died; passed away
* = wrath
* = root
* = bet, wager
* = window/s
* = wake up
* = hardship
* = start; beginning
* = dirt/not clean
* = weed/s
* = face
* = outside; out
* = broom
* = dance
* = arm wrestling
* = find; need; search
* = (it) hurts
* = noun for fish, main dish, side dish, viand
* = fish bone/thorn
* = kind/obedient
* = corner
* = (to) write
* = dumb
* = sharpness (use for tools)
* = steal
* = coward/afraid
* = hard (texture)
* = eggplant
* = fall down
* = to play music or a musical instrument
* = rude
* = rain
* = (to) sit
* = anything to sit on
* = chair; seat
* = grill
* = inherit(ed); heritage
* = kid; baby; child
* = welcome
* = very much
* = uncle
* = even though/wait
* = me too; even I/me
* = head
* = hen
* = stop it
* = string beans
* = mouse/rat
* = fart
* = yes
Also of note is the
yo-yo, probably named after the Ilocano word .
See also
*
Ilokano grammar
*
Ilokano numbers Ilocano has two number systems: one is native and the other is derived from Spanish. The systems are virtually used interchangeably. Yet, the situation can dictate which system is preferred.
Typically, Ilocanos use native numbers for one through 10 ...
*
Ilokano particles
Ilocano particles are an aspect of Ilocano grammar. Grammatical particle, Particles lack a meaning independent of a phrase or clause. For the most part, they impart meaning to the phrase or clause in which they occur.
Ilocano has two morphologica ...
*
Ilokano verb
While other word categories in Ilocano are not as diverse in forms, verbs are morphologically complex inflecting chiefly for aspect. Ilocano verbs can also be cast in any one of five foci or triggers. In turn, these foci can inflect for different ...
Notes
Citations
References
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External links
The Online Ilokano Dictionary Project (TOIDP)– A free Ilokano dictionary application for people to utilize so that they may overcome the language barriers existing between the English and Ilokano languages.
Android Mobile Application - Ilokano Search– A free Android application that allows users to search our database of entries for Ilokano/English translations.
iOS Mobile Application - Ilokano Search– A free iOS application that allows users to search our database of entries for Ilokano/English translations
Tarabay iti Ortograpia ti Pagsasao nga Ilokano– A free ebook version of the Guide on the Orthography of the Ilokano Language developed by the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) in consultation with various stakeholders in Ilokano language and culture. Developed back in 2012 as a resource material for the implementation of the Department of Education's K-12 curriculum with the integration of MTB-MLE or Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education.
Bansa.org Ilokano DictionaryMaterials in Ilocanofrom
Paradisec
The Pacific and Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures (PARADISEC) is a cross-institutional project that supports work on endangered languages and cultures of the Pacific and the region around Australia. They digitise reel-to ...
Ilocano.orgA project for building an online Ilokano dictionary. Also features Ilokano songs, and a community forum.
Ilokano Swadesh vocabulary list– Webpage by linguist Dr. Carl R. Galvez Rubino, author of dictionaries on Iloko and
Tagalog.
Iluko.compopular Ilokano web portal featuring Ilokano songs, Iloko fiction and poetry, Ilokano riddles, and a lively Ilokano forum (Dap-ayan).
mannurat.comblog of an Ilokano fictionist and poet written in Iloko and featuring original and Iloko fiction and poetry, literary analysis and criticism focused on
Ilokano Literature, and literary news about Iloko writing and writers and organization like the
GUMIL (Gunglo dagiti Mannurat nga Ilokano).
samtoy.blogspot.comYloco Blog maintained by Ilokano writers Raymundo Pascua Addun and Joel Manuel
Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Databasedadapilan.com– an Iloko literature portal featuring Iloko works by Ilokano writers and forum for Iloko literary study, criticism and online workshop.
Vocabularios de la Lengua Ilocanaby N.P.S. Agustin, published in 1849.
TugotA blog maintained by Ilokano writer Jake Ilac.
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Ilocano culture
Northern Luzon languages