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 vari ...

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 S ...

, 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 ...

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: ''Sindepan Mis'samis''; fil, Kanlurang Misamis), officially the Province of Misamis Occidental, is a province located in the region of Northern Mindanao in the Philippines. Its capital is th ...

of Northern Mindanao. There is also a sizeable Subanen community in Misamis Oriental. Most speakers of Subanen languages go by the name of ''Subanen'', ''Subanon'' or ''Subanun'', while those who adhere to Islam 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'' (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, sentences, and a traditional song {{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