Distribution and dialects
There are approximately at least 50,000 speakers of the language, most of whom are concentrated inWriting system
Matigsalug is typically written using eighteen graphemes: a, b, d, e, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, u, w, and y. The graphemes c, f, j, o, q, v, x, and z are used in recently borrowed words and the names of people and places. The glottal stop is represented by a hyphen when it occurs word medially, but not where it occurs intervocalically. For example, the word 'again' is written as , while the word 'carry on the shoulder' is written as .Phonology
Vowels
Matigsalug has four vowels: . Long vowels do occur in Matigsalug, albeit rarely. The orthographic convention for long vowels is to write two vowel segments. For example, the word 'bread' is written as . This is in contrast with the spelling convention of most other Philippine languages, where sequences of identical vowels are separated by a glottal stop, e.g. Tagalog ().Consonants
There are 14 Matigsalug consonants. All the stops are unaspirated. TheStress
Stress in Matigsalug always occurs penultimately, that is, on the second-to-last vowel. Because it is completely predictable, stress is not marked orthographically. Matigsalug does have small one-syllableMorphosyntax
Noun phrases
Nouns are preceded by a case marker. There are three types of case markers in Matigsalug. First, similar to the better-studied -marking in Tagalog, the language also employs a case-marking reserved for the noun with which the verb agrees (via focus/voice morphology). This marker exhibits allomorphy depending on whether the noun is a proper noun or a common noun. is the allomorph used when the noun is a proper noun or a kinship term; is used when the noun is a common noun or a possessive noun phrase. Second, when the verb shows agreement with any other noun other than the agent/experiencer, the agent/experiencer is marked with a separate case marking. In other words, this would be comparable with the by-phrase in an English passive. This case marking also exhibits allomorphy depending on whether the agent/experiencer is a proper or a common noun. is the allomorph used when the noun is a proper noun or a kinship term; is used when the noun is a common noun or a possessive noun phrase. Lastly, there is case marking reserved for non-focused non-agent/experiencer roles in the clause. This case marking also exhibits allomorphy depending on whether the agent/experiencer is a proper or a common noun. is the allomorph used when the noun is a proper noun or a kinship term; is used when the noun is a common noun or a possessive noun phrase.Focus/voice morphology
Characteristic of Philippine-type languages, Matigsalug verbs carry what is known in the literature as focus morphology. This piece of morphology indicates the semantic roles of the participants in the clause with respect to the verb. Matigsalug can put the agent/experiencer (AF), goal (GF), location (LF), and instrument (IF) into direct focus. In the first example, the prefix ''eg''- indicates that the ''ka''-marked noun functions as the agent, that is, the entity doing the kicking. In the second example, the prefix ''eg''- in combination with the suffix ''-en'' together indicate that the -marked noun is the goal, that is, the entity being kicked.References
Sources
* {{Languages of the Philippines Manobo languages Aeta languages Languages of Bukidnon