The Subanen languages (also Subanon and Subanun) are a group of closely related
Austronesian languages belonging to the
Greater Central Philippine subgroup.
Often described as a single language, they are considered by
linguists
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
as a
dialect cluster
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
more than a monolithic language. Subanen languages are spoken in various areas of
Zamboanga Peninsula
Zamboanga Peninsula ( tl, Tangway ng Zamboanga; cbk, Peninsula de Zamboanga; ceb, Lawis sa Zamboanga) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region IX. It consists of three provinces (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibu ...
, namely the
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
of
Zamboanga Sibugay
Zamboanga Sibugay, officially the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Zamboanga Sibugay; tl, Lalawigan ng Zamboanga Sibugay; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Zamboanga Sibugay''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Zamboanga ...
,
Zamboanga del Norte
Zamboanga del Norte ( Cebuano: ''Amihanang Zamboanga''; Subanon: ''Utara Sembwangan''; tl, Hilagang Zamboanga), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Norte, is a province in the Philippines situated within the Zamboanga Peninsula region in M ...
and
Zamboanga del Sur
Zamboanga del Sur ( Cebuano: ''Habagatang Zamboanga;'' Subanen: ''S'helatan Sembwangan/Sembwangan dapit Shelatan''; Chavacano: ''Zamboanga del Sur''; tl, Timog Zamboanga; mdh, Pagabatan Sambuanga), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Sur, ...
, and in
Misamis Occidental
Misamis Occidental ( ceb, Kasadpang Misamis; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Sindepan Mis'samis''; fil, Kanlurang Misamis), officially the Province of Misamis Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province located in the Regions of the Ph ...
of Northern Mindanao. There is also a sizeable Subanen community in
Misamis Oriental
Misamis Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Misamis; tl, Silangang Misamis), officially the Province of Misamis Oriental, is a province located in the region of Northern Mindanao in the Philippines. Its capital, largest city and provincial center is th ...
. Most speakers of Subanen languages go by the name of
''Subanen'', ''Subanon'' or ''Subanun'', while those who adhere to
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
refer to themselves as ''Kalibugan''.
Internal classification
Jason Lobel (2013:308) classifies the Subanen varieties as follows.
[
*Subanen
**Western
***'' Western Subanon''
***''Western Kolibugan''
**Nuclear
***West Nuclear
****''Tawlet-Kalibugan Subanen''
****''Salug-Godod Subanen''
***East Nuclear
****''Southern Subanen''
****''Central Subanen''
****''Northern Subanen''
****''Eastern Subanen''
Lobel (2013:308) lists the following innovations among each of the following subgroups.
*Nuclear Subanen: *k > Ø
*Western Subanen: *k > /k/
*East Nuclear Subanen: *r > /l/
*West Nuclear Subanen: *r > /r/
*Western Subanen: *r > /l/ (independently took place, likely due to contact with Tausug, Maguindanaon, Butuanon, Cebuano, and/or Ilonggo, which have also undergone the *r > /l/ shift independently of one another)
]
Proto-Subanen
The following phoneme inventory can be reconstructed for Proto-Subanen:
According to Jason Lobel (2013:304-305), the innovations defining Proto-Subanen from Proto-Greater Central Philippine are:
1. *h was lost in all positions in Proto-Subanen.
2. *ʔ was lost word-initially and word-medially, only being retained in word-final position.
3. Reduction of *a to *ə in prepenultimate syllables, as well as in closed penultimate syllables.
4. Addition of a word-initial *g- to all vowel-initlal words following the operation of the previous innovations.
5. Assimilation of consonant clusters into a sequence of either *kC, *gC, or a nasal cluster.
References
External links
"Subanon"
at ''Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'' (23rd ed, 2020).
* Audio recordings of Subanon are archived with Kaipuleohone Kaipuleohone is a digital ethnographic archive that houses audio and visual files, photographs, as well as hundreds of textual material such as notes, dictionaries, and transcriptions relating to small and endangered languages. The archive is stored ...
, including a word list
A word list (or ''lexicon'') is a list of a language's lexicon (generally sorted by frequency of occurrence either by levels or as a ranked list) within some given text corpus, serving the purpose of vocabulary acquisition. A lexicon sorted by f ...
, sentences
''The Four Books of Sentences'' (''Libri Quattuor Sententiarum'') is a book of theology written by Peter Lombard in the 12th century. It is a systematic compilation of theology, written around 1150; it derives its name from the ''sententiae'' o ...
, and a traditional song
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has be ...
{{Languages of the Philippines
Greater Central Philippine languages
Languages of Maguindanao
Languages of Zamboanga del Sur
Languages of Zamboanga del Norte
Languages of Zamboanga Sibugay
Languages of Misamis Occidental